Guidance vs. Mold Earth

[ATHATH]

I recently realized that my viashino Moon Druid 1/Paladin 2/Moon Druid 3 (so 4 levels of Moon Druid and 2 levels of Paladin, with a level of Moon Druid being my first level) got an extra cantrip known this level, and am wondering what cantrip to select.

It's a CoS campaign (with some dungeons from TftYP thrown in), with the following party members (other than me):

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Human Celestial Warlock 1/Abjuration Wizard 5 (dunno the order of those levels): Is near-suicidally reckless, running up to enemies and drawing aggro, touching weird things (before I can recklessly touch them first), jumping into raging whirlpools after enemies, etc. If not for the Cleric, they'd be dead several times over by now (literally; they have a justified "this new character is just like my old one" thing going that involves timelines and the Raven Queen). Generally just spams Eldritch Blast in battle, as they've taken almost no combat spells. Is quite creative with his utility spells, though, managing to (for example) kill (not just delay) 3 enemies that would have wiped the floor with the party with Arcane Lock. Always has a plan, although they won't always tell all of us of it. Consistently rolls incredibly poorly on/for initiative. Knows Shape Water and used to know Mending (but now does not).

Tabaxi Battlemaster Fighter 6: Is a recent addition to the campaign (and semi-new to 5e, I think); don't really know much about her. She generally uses her Maneuvers to trip enemies and move party members (the former more often than the latter).

Tiefling Assassin Rogue 6: Played by a new player; has a higher CHA than DEX. Has not had a single opportunity to sneak up on enemies and get a surprise round on them so far. Usually attacks with a bow, although they can fight in melee (and benefit from the flanking variant rule while doing so).

Forgot What Race Gunslinger 6: New player; used to be a Bear Totem Barbarian that hit stuff with a rifle (that he didn't know how to shoot); replaced his character with a Gunslinger (the homebrew class from Whatshisface). He has the subclass that lets him use a lot of different types of guns and switch between them at-will. Recently got all of his guns wet, making them inoperable until he takes a short rest per gun to fix them.

Forgot What Race Lore Bard 5/Alchemist Artificer (from UA) 1: New player; isn't able to attend the game half of the time due to college work and sleep issues.

Firbolg Grave Cleric 6: Arguably the most competent/useful member of the party; has saved all of us from death at least once each (I think). Is a Cleric of Khelemvor, god of the dead. Used to hand out Guidance a lot, but recently put into place a "you don't get Guidance unless it's an emergency or you haven't defiled a corpse within the past 24 hours". I'm basically permanently on his "no Guidance" list, as my character routinely loots skulls from humanoid foes/the environment (he's up to 26 of them now, and is saving up enough skulls for a skull throne). The DM has houseruled that he can use a bonus action cantrip and a leveled spell on/in the same turn.

My current cantrips known are Druidcraft and Produce Flame, and I think I've narrowed my options down to the following:
Mold Earth: A recent thread has warmed me up to this spell, and no one else in the party has it. It's a decent downtime cantrip, which means that it won't have much anti-synergy with Wild Shape.
Guidance: The Cleric in our party knows Guidance, but I'm on his "no Guidance ever, you corpse-defiler" list. The thing is, I'm gonna be spending most of my time adventuring/dungeoneering/not resting in Wild Shape, and those are the times/situations that I'd make the most skill checks in. It'd still be really handy for crafting and doing knowledge checks during downtime, though, so I'm still torn about it. Also, it might step on the Cleric's toes/gimmick a bit.
Mending: Our party's Wizard used to know this. It's a really nice utility spell, but I don't know if it's a better utility spell than Mold Earth.

So, which one should I pick?

[Mr.Spastic]

Does your party need the guidance? If not I would take mold earth.

I personally think that guidance is a bit overrated. Not that it's bad but it doesn't scale well and mold earth gives really fun utility.

Also, the makeup of your party in insanely crazy. I love it. Encourage your assassin to do more subterfuge.

[jiriku]

Guidance is substantially superior to mold earth. It is in close competition with minor illusion as the best non-attack cantrip in the game. If your party cleric is choking off access to guidance for you and other party members, it's the superior choice.

Also, assassin is trash outside of an urban/intrigue environment, and it sounds like your games involve more dungeon-crawling. You might want to encourage the assassin to petition the DM for a change of subclass. Scout, arcane trickster, or even thief will be a lot more useful in such games.

[Draken]

The Cleric will have to stop refusing to use Guidance on you after he wakes up a few times at the bottom of a ten foot hole.

[BoxANT]

Ideally take something other than Guidance, but since your cleric is being stingy, I would go with Guidance.

That being said, if you are able to talk with the cleric and find a compromise...

Then Mold Earth or Shape Water are both very useful.


On a side note, Thorn Whip is also very useful...

[Crgaston]

You’re a Druid. Would you rather be a little better at stuff sometimes, or have the power to mold the very earth to your will?

[Lonely Tylenol]

I’m of the mind that Guidance is probably just the best cantrip in the game, at least out of combat. Access to at least one source of Guidance is something most parties should secure. That said, you not having Guidance kind of sucks, but if most of the party still gets Guidance, one player not getting it is kind of... Less bad. Like, do what you need to in order to get it for yourself, but since the extra utility of you picking up Guidance is limited to self-casts, it limits the overall utility of the pickup. I’d probably go with Move Earth if the skills you are most responsible for aren’t as life-threatening or campaign-critical as the others.

[Lalliman]

I hate Guidance. It's a really good cantrip, but it's devoid of any character. It doesn't do anything thematically interesting, it just gives a small mechanical bonus. There are no creative uses and it doesn't add any kind of flavour to your character. You're just giving up one of your cantrips so that your party will have +2 on most of their checks. For that reason I will never choose it, and I wish it didn't exist.

If you care about being the most effective party you can possibly be, take Guidance. If you actually want to play your character and do druid things, take Mold Earth.

[ATHATH]

I hate Guidance. It's a really good cantrip, but it's devoid of any character. It doesn't do anything thematically interesting, it just gives a small mechanical bonus. There are no creative uses and it doesn't add any kind of flavour to your character. You're just giving up one of your cantrips so that your party will have +2 on most of their checks. For that reason I will never choose it, and I wish it didn't exist.

If you care about being the most effective party you can possibly be, take Guidance. If you actually want to play your character and do druid things, take Mold Earth.

+2.5 (on average), actually.

[Desteplo]

I played a way of the 4 element monk and guidance was the most thematic choice by far for magic initiate.

“May the wind guide you” before a long or high jump. If it succeeded I fluffed that a gust of wind swirled under then as they jumped.

“May the water calm your mind” if someone was doing a knowledge check. They heard a drip of water that helped them enter a moment of zen.

Guidance isn’t devoid of theme. It’s a blank slate. Like any form of faith, it’s how you see it.

Mechanically it’s boring and incredibly useful for an unlimited cantrip