The Stars Druid: d4 #88

my friends hi how's it going welcome  to d4 d d deep dive this is the show   where each week we take a deep dive into one  sometimes two specific character builds for   dungeons and dragons we theory craft about them we  crunch numbers about them with the intent not to   tell you the only way or the right or the  best way to play a character necessarily   but to explore one potential option for  building and playing a character in-game   with the hopes of creating something that is  both really powerful but also really fun to play   so if you enjoy creating characters for d d  almost as much as you enjoy playing the actual   game itself or if you're just looking for tips or  ideas on a character that you would like to play   then welcome home this is where you belong and i'm  really really glad that you're here so thanks for   being here my name is colby i feel like it's been  a while since um since i've recorded something and   for you that's probably not the case but i  actually went out of town for a week and enjoyed   a nice spring break vacation with my family but i  was able to get some writing done while i was gone   so even though i didn't record last week i  still wrote an episode and now i've kind of   lost my buffer but i'm still able to keep up on  that weekly schedule and you probably don't care   about any of that couple of housekeeping things  really quick first up i am going to be at pax east   in boston um at the end of april the 24th through  the 27th or whenever the dates are i'm really   excited i've never actually been to pax before  and so it's gonna be cool i've got some old world   of warcraft guildies that live back east in the  boston area and i'm gonna be hanging out with them   that's really fun and also i'm going to be on  a panel uh with my friend from extra credits   so if you are in the area or  considering going to pax east   come check out the panel come say hi i'm not going  to be like at a booth or anything otherwise i'll   just be probably walking around and eating good  food and checking out all the cool nerdy stuff so   anyway keep an eye out for me i guess so maybe  i'll post something in the community channel   to like meet up at a certain time at a certain  place and we can say hi so anyway that'll be   fun looking forward to that also uh merch yeah you  know cool hoodie link in the video description for   the merch store it's it's pretty rudimentary basic  design stuff hopefully we'll get some stuff that's   cooler and more complicated one day but for now  we're keeping it simple this hoodie's really soft   and comfy though oh you should check it out all  right let's jump in a long time ago like over   a year ago one of my very first episodes i did  a breakdown of what i thought were the highest   damage dealing sustained spells in game there  that is spells that you can cast once and then   usually with concentration continue to do damage  with them round after round until that time i   hadn't realized i don't think what a potentially  potent spell moonbeam could be and ever since i've   wanted to build a character that focuses on trying  to build around the moonbeam spell now to be sure   there are some drawbacks to the moonbeam spell  but let's actually break it down a little bit   first off it does 2d10 radiant damage which is  really quite good for a second level spell even   better it goes up by 1d10 for each level that you  upcast it making it one of the best scaling spells   damage wise in game it does radiant damage like i  said and that's nice because that's a damage type   not frequently resisted by enemies in 5th edition  and it does have a small area of effect it's only   a 5 foot radius that means it would be like a 2x2  on the grid if you snapped it to the grid anyway   but the best part about the spell in my  opinion at least is that it has that wonderful   magical wording that only a few lucky spells in  dnd have namely when a creature enters the spell's   area for the first time on a turn or starts its  turn there they suffer the effects of the spell   now we've done builds in the past taking  advantage of spells with this kind of   wording namely cloud of daggers like in the  catch-22 build or more recently spirit guardians   in the uh nature cleric build that i did a few  weeks ago but we've yet to try to build a round   moonbeam in this regard and it's actually a little  ironic that i haven't used moonbeam yet because   moonbeam is the spell that prompted i think the  sage advice compendium entry to teach us how these   when a creature enters the spells area or starts  its turn there spells work mechanically so let's   review here's what the sage advice compendium says  about moonbeam and spells with similar wording and   i'm quoting moonbeam for example creates a beam  of light that can damage a creature who enters   the beam or who starts its turn in the beam  creating the area of effect on the creature or   moving it onto the creature doesn't count but if  the creature is still in the area at the start   of its turn it is subjected to the area's effect  also entering such an area of effect needn't be   voluntary that's important and then later in  summary a spell like moonbeam affects a creature   when the creature passes into the spell's area of  effect and when the creature starts its turn there   so if we can move a creature into the spell's area  of effect and they start their turn there they can   potentially suffer the spell's effects twice in  one round capisce okay so is moonbeam better than   say cloud of daggers for trying to take advantage  of this tactic i would say both yes and no on the   one hand moonbeam does potentially a little more  damage it's 2d10 versus 4d4 at second level anyway   but of course the beauty with cloud of daggers  is that there is no saving throw the creature   just takes the damage with moonbeam they do  get to save for half damage and what's worse   they get to make a constitution saving throw or  take half damage and constitution is usually the   worst saving throw to be targeting for us since  so many enemies in 5th edition have good bonuses   to their constitution saves that said as we'll  see when we get into the numbers spells that   do have damage on a save still put out pretty  decent and more importantly i think reliable   damage think about it this way weapon attacks and  spell attacks typically do full damage if they hit   but nothing if they miss right with saving throw  based spells barring damage immunity from the   enemy you are always at least doing some damage  to them and that's really fantastic the other nice   things about moonbeam versus cloud of daggers the  area of effect for moonbeam though small is still   much bigger than cloud of daggers which is only a  5 foot cube more importantly i think unlike cloud   of daggers moonbeam can be moved on your turn with  your action and that's actually a pretty big deal   because cloud of daggers is static and can't be  moved once you cast it i feel like it's really   hard to build a character around the spell in a  way that we could call it sustainable damage sure   you could do big damage with it a couple of times  pretty reliably in a single round but after the   enemy that you're attacking dies or runs away it's  really hard to assume i think that you'll just be   able to get enemies into the spell effect round  after round but with moonbeam since we can move   it every turn suddenly it's a lot easier to argue  that you could reliably do at least some damage   with it every turn so yes today we're going to  try to build a sustained dpr character who uses   moonbeam for most of their damage though i need  to put a little asterisk when i say sustained   as we'll discuss when i get into it i'm also  though really excited to be checking something   else off my to-do list with the build today that  i've been wanting to do for a really long time   almost a year ago i did a twilight cleric  circle of stars druid that was a pure healer   and in that video i said one day i'm going to do  a damage dealing character built around the stars   druid well today is that day and so i proudly  present episode 88 the moon and stars big thanks   to randall hampton as always for the fantastic  artwork that he puts together for each of my   character concepts i love this one it reminds  me a little bit of like hank from the old 80s   d d cartoon it's so cool i love the pose i love  the effect of like that archer cosmic arrow and   the bow it's awesome randall does fantastic work  if you're interested in following him i will put   links in the video description as always on how to  follow him and reach out to him so thanks randall   let's jump into the build all right at level one  for our class we are actually going to start off   as a druid surprising many of you i'm sure there  is some multi-glassing that i plan on doing with   this character but i would just as soon start  druid i think both to establish like the story   of this character but also because i prefer the  saving throw proficiencies that druids get versus   the other classes that we're going to be dipping  into so when we first meet our character they are   not just your typical nature loving stonehenge  building druid i think but they are a druid who   seeks to harness the power of the cosmos  they've been trained to read the stars   and to see portents in those visions as for  our race i thought of trying to do like a   gem dragonborn and go crystal dragon for our  ancestry because we're going to be doing a   ton of radiant damage and that just felt cool  thematically or maybe even like the new asomar   coming out soon and monsters of the multiverse  for similar reasons but at the end of the day   i just really need a feat to make this build  work and it's hard to beat a free feat to bring   a character online as quickly as possible so yes  we're gonna go with variant human for this one   you could of course do custom lineage instead  there's just there's not a half feet that gives us   a wisdom bonus that i feel super strongly about  with this build though there are always some   decent options but i'm gonna take variant human to  get plus one in two stats as opposed to plus two   in one stat but i can absolutely see you going  custom lineage instead if you'd like to pick up   like a nice half feet for this build most notably  i think would be telekinetic but we will have a   consistent use for our bonus action so i'm gonna  pass on telekinetic i think this time though i   think there's a good argument for taking it as for  the free feet that we're going to pick up we are   going to take crusher just in case you don't know  with crusher if you hit an enemy with an attack   that does bludgeoning damage you can move it five  feet in any direction kind of oddly not just push   it away from you but it can be any direction so  long as the space you move it into is unoccupied   and the creature is no more than one size larger  than you you also do get to add plus one to your   constitution or strength score and if you get a  critical hit that deals bludgeoning damage then   all attacks against that creature are made with  advantage until the start of your next turn it's a   fantastic feat as moving an enemy with damage just  presents us with so many fun and powerful options   as for our ability scores i assume point  by as always i'd recommend starting with   a 15 wisdom and taking one of your plus ones  there a 15 constitution and then taking the   plus one from crusher there so we've got 16  in both a 13 charisma and taking your other   plus one from your racial there i think and  then a 12 dexterity as for our equipment i'd   recommend going with the gold buy route and  picking up a shield wooden shield of course   hide armor and then whatever other necessities  you might have i'm not going to get into the does   will not wear metal armor mean can not wear metal  armor debate i've done it in the past feel free to   have that argument in the comments if you'd like  at our table it's allowed i'm just gonna assume   that you can't or have decided not to which  means that the best we can do for now is hide   armor or studded leather unless the studs in the  setted leather count as won't wear metal armor   but if that's the case then it makes me wonder  what we're using for like buckles on our armor   bone stone i don't know anyway that's going  to put us at a 15 armor class which isn't   great and it's actually kind of heavily influenced  the way that i've decided to build this character   to be honest more on that later as a druid at  level one we get druidic which is like the secret   coded language that druids get to speak to each  other leaving sort of signs in the bushes um   anyway and we do get spells of course as for which  spells i'd recommend you know i'd get the usual   suspects here but not guidance because we're gonna  get that for free later but so yeah healing word   good berry i mean nothing that i'm going to plan  on using for sustained damage here so pick your   favorites and yes many of the best druid spells  are utility and support spells so even though   we're building this character for sustained  dpr don't be afraid to and in fact please do   lean into those support and utility options you  have because it will make you that much more   versatile and fun and powerful to play i think  i will maybe just make special mention of thorn   whip here thorn whip would give us another way  to move enemies around on the battlefield which   could come in handy once in a while especially  with this build you cast on whip as an action   you make a spell attack on an enemy within 30 feet  and if it hits you do damage and then you pull the   enemy up to 10 feet towards you i'm just gonna say  keep that arrow in your quiver at level two druids   get wild shape which tells us that twice per short  rest we can transform into a beast of challenge   rating one quarter or less that scales later they  can't have a flying or swimming speed yet again   that changes later there's a bit more to it than  that but i'm not actually planning on using wild   shape to transform into a beast on this character  so i'm not going to go into further detail on it   for us i think this will largely be used really  only for utility we need to squeeze through a hole   in the wall so we turn into a mouse something like  that and i mean hey sometimes that's really cool   right turn into a little house cat and spy on a  conversation that your enemies are having without   drawing attention to yourself maybe i don't know  lots of fun cool useful uses for wild shape just   none that we're planning on using in combat  because no for us our wild shape uses will   largely be used for something else as at level 2  druids get their subclass their druidic circle and   as i said we are going with the circle of stars  let's read what wizards of the coast has written   about circle of the stars the circle of stars  allows druids to draw on the power of starlight   these druids have tracked heavenly patterns since  time immemorial discovering secrets hidden amid   the constellations by revealing and understanding  these secrets the circle of the stars seeks to   harness the powers of the cosmos many druids of  this circle keep records of the constellations   and the star's effects on the world some groups  document these observations at megalithic sites   which serve as enigmatic libraries of lore these  repositories might take the form of stone circles   pyramids petroglyphs and underground temples  any construction durable enough to protect the   circle's sacred knowledge even against a great  cataclysm so as a stars druid we get a cool   little star map first up that's like a tablet  or a scroll etc and can serve as a spellcasting   focus for us also in addition while we're holding  it we know the guidance can trip awesome and we   have the guiding bolt spell prepared and it's a  druid spell for us and we can even cast guiding   bolt proficiency bonus times per day for free  without spending a spell slot and you know what   i wasn't actually planning originally on making  much use of guiding bolt in this build but the   more i thought about it the more i decided that i  really really wanted to because it's a pretty cool   little feature so let's do it guiding bolt is a  decent little first level spell you cast it as an   action you make a ranged spell attack and  then it does 4d6 radiant damage again on   hit and then the next attack roll made against  that target before the end of your next turn   is made with advantage now 46 isn't crazy damage  but it's not half bad it does up cast by 1d6 per   spell slot but i'm not going to assume that we're  up casting this when i crunch the numbers because   i am trying as i said to make a sustained  damage build and i have to assume that   the you can cast this proficiency bonus times  per day without spending a spell slot means that   we can cast it at the first level in this way and  this brings me to the little asterisk that i said   i had to include when talking about this character  being a sustained damage dealing character   as i've said many times in the past my goal when  building characters for sustained damage per round   is to spend as little resources as possible in  order to do consistent damage but the minimum   requirement is that you're able to do the level  of damage we calculate for at least an entire   combat encounter now currently we could cast  guiding bolt at the first level twice for free   our proficiency bonuses too and then three more  times with our spell slots giving us five first   level castings per day most combat encounters last  four to six rounds so i'm gonna say this meets our   minimum requirement for a sustained damage build  but yeah barely not super sustainable i get it   at least not yet that will get much better as  we level and of course we will have more than   just first level spell slots right as well as can  trips of course but still just be aware of this   little asterisk when we talk about sustained dpr  here right and we also as a stars druid get the   super awesome starry form feature here which tells  us that as a bonus action we can expend a use of   our wild shape and take on a starry form causing  our body to become luminous with glowing joints   and lines that connect them as though we were  like a heavenly constellation we otherwise   retain all of our game statistics but can choose  between one of three starry forms to take on   chalice form lets us add 1d8 plus our wisdom  modifier in healing whenever we heal with a spell   and that's something that i've actually used a  couple times now on some different builds dragon   form lets us treat anything rolled lower than a 10  on an intelligence wisdom or concentration check   to be treated instead as just a 10 and that's  situationally really nice but we are here yes   for the archer form which tells us that as a bonus  action we can make a ranged spell attack hurling a   luminous arrow that targets one creature within  60 feet of us doing 1d8 plus wisdom modifier   radiant damage again on hit and that's a decent  little weaponized bonus action but also just so   on point for us thematically for the way that  i envision this character right a ranged damage   dealer who's hurling multiple bolts of luminous  radiant energy at enemies each turn to great   effect keep in mind of course that if you hit with  guiding bolt first this bonus action attack from   archer would be made with advantage and that's  nice at level three i want to take a level or   maybe two of warlock with this build i'm not a  hundred percent sure when the best time to do it   would be frankly i'm gonna take it now but you can  delay it i think maybe at least till next level   uh instead i wanna be able to establish what we're  going to be doing in combat tactically as soon as   possible so i'm going to go ahead and take it  now but i also like the story twist that it   throws into our character early on in our career  more on that in a second as a warlock at level 1   of course we get spells i'm probably going to  pick spells that either just work or that are   utility and or support focused since warlock  spells depend on our charisma to work well   and our charisma is only a 14 right so eldritch  blast is not going to do a lot for us but minor   illusion might or press the digitization armor of  agathis to improve our survivability and return   some damage if we get hit in melee things like  comprehend languages provide some nice utility   those i think would be my go-to type spells  for this character do keep in mind that though   warlock spell slots and spell slots from other  classes don't mix warlock spell slots do reset   on a short rest which is really nice for us since  we're trying to get as many castings of guiding   bolt as we can in a day right we only have one  warlock spell slot currently but considering that   we're going to be able to use it at least a couple  of times a day most likely if not more thanks to   resetting on a short rest makes me feel a little  better about the sustainability of our damage   but the real reason that we're here in warlock  is because at level one warlocks get their   otherworldly patron their subclass and we are  going to take yes the genie patron and as a genie   warlock we have to choose what kind of genie our  patron is and of course we are going with dao so   the burning question that must be answered here  i think is this why is your head in the clouds   fascinated with the heavens and the cosmos  druid suddenly making a pact with the noble   genie of the earth perhaps they were simply  tricked into service or maybe coerced into   service an earthquake swallowed up the library  where your fellow druids starry records were kept   and in order to exhume it from the depths you had  to make a pact with this dow genie that agreed to   bring it up from the dregs of the earth in  exchange for your commitment to let them be your   patron my preference i think would be something  like your circle fascinated as they are with the   cosmos captured a great dao who they vanquished  in battle maybe many years ago sort of an old like   sky realm versus earth realm war that has waged  for centuries perhaps for whatever reason you   have now been entrusted with this genie's care or  maybe they tricked you into freeing them i don't   know i really love the juxtaposition between the  heavens and the earth in this character here and   i think it could make for some really great  character development and even potential character   conflict which always makes for a great story  right but as a dow genie warlock we get access to   some additional spells which i'm not going to get  into as i won't plan on using them during combat   but you might but we also get the genies vessel  feature which i just love so you're given a ring   or a lamp or a bottle etc from your genie which  you can as an action once per day enter into for   two times our proficiency bonus hours at this  level it's not much more than a nice little   resting place for you that can essentially serve  as a humongous bag of holding or like a bank   vault almost but most importantly for us is the  genie's wrath feature of course which tells us   that once per turn when we hit with an attack roll  it doesn't have to be a weapon attack we can deal   extra damage equal to our proficiency bonus and  because we are a dow genie that extra damage is   bludgeoning damage so yes when we hit with an  attack we can add bludgeoning damage and thus   trigger our crusher feet and move our target thus  at level 4 we'd go back to druid and here's where   it all sort of comes together because at druid 2  we get second level spells and that means yes we   get moonbeam in addition of course to all of the  other great options here like past without a trace   lesser restoration hold person heat metal healing  spirit spike growth but moonbeam is what we're   building around i've pretty much explained already  how it works in the preamble so i'm not going to   repeat myself here but it's just such a fitting  spell for this celestially focused character i   think and i love it now we can be bringing down  radiance from the sky in a big pillar and hurling   radiant bolts at our enemy pushing or pulling them  back into that moonlit radiance ideally and it is   glorious at level 5 we would be a druid 4 and  we get our first ability score increase or feat   seeing as how pretty much all of our damage is  going to be improved by increasing our wisdom   not to mention the buffs and the healing that  we get from it as well i think would be crazy   not to cap wisdom before taking other feats  or ability score increases personally so   we're going to bump our wisdom to an 18 here  at level six the reality with this character   is this i don't think anything is going to  do more for our sustained dpr than just up   casting moonbeam thus if we were to consider  any more multi-classing we should be very very   careful i think about taking levels in anything  other than a full caster so as to not hamper   our spell slot progression at the very least so  with that in mind there is another class that   i'd like to dip into here that some of you are not  going to like and it's cleric namely peace cleric i know many of you think it's overpowered i don't  necessarily disagree if you'd rather skip peace   cleric go right ahead it won't actually have  a huge impact on this build one way or another   but for us i'm thinking that perhaps the  patronage of our dow genie has started to   weigh on our character this tao may have an evil  or at least particularly violent bent to their   own desires i think and it started to affect us as  such we might be seeking solas here in a temple of   eldar or rao to recenter ourselves or perhaps  just learn some meditative techniques from a   fellow cleric party member to help us maintain  the balance between the violent pull of our patron   and our own personal goals and desires whatever  your reasons yes we're taking a single level of   cleric here so we get spells of course and there  is a fair bit of redundancy between low-level   cleric and druid spells so i'm just going to say  pick your favorites with maybe the exception of   the toll the dead can trip now that we're past  level five told the dead will do 2d12 damage to   an enemy if they fail their wisdom save and that  will be a decent backup damage wise to the guiding   bolt spell if you're out of uses of guiding bolt  it doesn't have the nice you get advantage on the   next attack kicker nor would it count as an  attack and so wouldn't benefit from the dow   extra damage and thus crusher but it's something  and we still of course could use that dow damage   and push our target with our archer form attack if  that hits at level 11 told the dead will actually   outpace guiding bolt by itself for pure damage as  it will go to a 3d 12 right i guess i'll also make   mention of the word of radiance can trip it could  be a nice little aoe can't trip to use in a pinch   if you're surrounded by lots of weak enemies i  suppose and it just it sticks with our radiant   theme and of course bless and bane are worth  consideration as well for some nice support and or   debuff options do keep in mind that because  we multi-classed into cleric now we do have   third level spell slots if we wanted to upcast  moonbeam oh we want to but the main reason that   we're here of course is for the benefits of  the subclass that clerics get at first level   their divine domain and as i said we're going  with the peace domain as such we get some bonus   spells a bonus proficiency and the emboldening  bond feature which tells us that proficiency   bonus times per day we can choose a proficiency  bonus number of creatures so three currently   including ourselves and as an action bond them  together magically then for the next 10 minutes   so long as you remain within 30 feet of each other  you can add a d4 to 1 attack roll ability check or   saving throw per turn is this powerful sure it's  kind of like a poor man's blessed spell but that   doesn't require a spell slot or concentration  i really wanted a way to increase our chance to   hit with guiding bolt since if it hits our archer  form attack gets advantage but guiding bolt itself   could use a little bump to the chance to hit now  we could use another use of our wild shape to   summon a familiar like via the fine familiar spell  that's a new feature that druids get post tasha's   cauldron of everything but since we only get two  per short rest i mean maybe if at your table you   usually only have one combat encounter per short  rest might be worth considering and then you could   get advantage on your guiding bolt maybe piece  cleric dip wouldn't be so necessary but you know   emboldening bond does require action to use has  a limited number of uses and it can only benefit   us once per turn it's very good but honestly  there will be plenty of times when we're not   going to be using it whether because we're just  out of uses or we just don't want to spend an   action to get it up and going let's discuss in our  first damage report here at sixth level so here's   how i envision it all working ideally if possible  we'll have emboldening bond up when combat begins   i appreciate that won't always be possible but  considering that it lasts 10 minutes and it isn't   a spell so it doesn't seem to need any kind of  verbal component it can't be counterspelled etc   i'm gonna assume when i crunch the numbers  that it's up if combat breaks out and you   don't have it going i might not take an action to  get it going honestly that's gonna depend on your   current resources on your party members who you're  fighting etc but anyway on round one we would want   to cast moonbeam as our action potentially at the  third level right next to our target not on them   right whether behind them in front of them or to  the side it doesn't really matter because with   the crusher feet we can move them in any direction  right then as a bonus action we'd use starry form   change to archer form and make an attack we can  do so with the same bonus action that we use to   transform that's nice assuming we hit we add our  dow bludgeoning damage which activates crusher and   we move them into moonbeam dealing moonbeam damage  then on their turn they're going to take damage   for being in moonbeam right at the beginning and  then move out i'm assuming now in a perfect world   they won't be more than five feet outside of the  moonbeam spell so it's important to talk with your   allies here i think and encourage at least one  of like your beefier melee allies to position   themselves five feet outside of the area of effect  encouraging the enemy that's in moonbeam to move   up to them and attack them on their turn you don't  really want to be the one to position yourself   there because of your low armor class and because  all of your attacks are going to be ranged attacks   and you don't want the disadvantage that having  an enemy within five feet of you would impose   that said if you don't love how this feels  tactically and or you would prefer to mix   it up in melee with your archer form and or you  want to be a straight druid with no multi-classing   stay tuned in the final thoughts i'm actually  going to go over an alternative to this build   that does all of those things it's straight  druid and a melee focused one as well but   who's still a star druid for us assuming that the  enemy has moved outside of moonbeam on our turn we   hit them with guiding bolt applying the dow damage  pushing them back into moonbeam for more damage   and then following up with an archer attack rinse  repeat obviously if no enemy is in our moonbeam or   just outside it on our turn we can move moonbeam  and then push them in alternatively if there's one   enemy just on like the other side of your moonbeam  spell let's say within 10 feet and another within   five feet of it otherwise we could thorn whip as  an action on one dragging them into moonbeam and   bonus action archer form on a second using crusher  to move them in as well but assuming the ideal   scenario as always against just a single target  here i'm just going to calculate for single target   damage that the moonbeam area of effect is just  too small to assume otherwise i think we would do   3d10 for moonbeam twice once on their turn once on  ours right plus 4d6 for guiding bolt plus 1d8 plus   our wisdom modifier for our archer form attack  plus 3 for our dow damage on the first attack   that lands for a total of 46 plus 1 d8 plus 60 10  plus 7 and thus against an enemy with a 10 armor   class and a plus zero to their constitution saving  throw we would do 55 damage per round on average   and against an enemy with a 15 armor class and a  plus 5 to their save it would be 48 dpr and that   is really solid damage putting us right near the  top of tier 1 when compared to other sustained   dpr builds that i've done to date at this level  check the video description to see those graphs   and comparisons though i do appreciate that it  won't always work out perfectly on the battlefield   in this way to help you get these numbers  every single round right especially if you   tend to have a lot of combats per day at  your table but even if you're needing to   move moonbeam on your turn and use cantrips for  your action it's still going to be solid damage   and more importantly i think a lot of fun at  level 7 we would be a druid 5 and that means   we get third level druid spells so yeah sure take  conjure animals i mean you gotta have something to   fall back on if you run into radiant damage immune  enemies right then you'd probably end up doing   more damage with this spell than with everything  else we've worked so hard to achieve stupid spell   but yes revivify dispel magic plant growth  etc pick your favorites um again lots of   great choices for control utility and support  as usual and though some of you will be tired   of hearing it don't forget to lean into those  options when you can and when it's needed but   yeah nothing that i would plan on using here for  sustained dpr anyway at level 8 would be a druid   6 and as a stars druid we get the cosmic omen  feature it's actually quite good something that   i really wanted to get in my re-roller build that  i did a while back at the beginning of the day   you roll a die if you get an even number then  proficiency bonus times per day you can use your   reaction to add a d6 to an allies  attack saving throw or ability check   and if you roll an odd number then proficiency  bonus times per day you can subtract a d6 from   an enemy's attack saving throw or ability check  unfortunately you have to do this before the roll   is even made but it's still a really cool fun  and potentially powerful ability to use when   something really needs to work or really needs to  fail you do have 4th level spell slots as well now   for 4d10 moonbeam damage if you want i  want at level nine we'd be adruid seven   and we get fourth level druid spells some of my  favorite druid spells are fourth level spells   divination really adds to the read the omens and  the stars thing that you've got going on here   polymorph of course wall of fire dominate beast  blight for some decent area of effect burst damage   again nothing that i'm gonna plan on using for  sustained damage so pyf for our level 9 damage   report nothing has really changed for us tactics  wise we've simply gained a proficiency bonus a   lot of potential support control and utility and  we can now upcast moonbeam24d10 as i said if we   wanted to which in and of itself will provide  some nice damage scaling should we choose to   burn a fourth level spell slot on a lowly second  level spell and thus against an enemy with a 10   armor class and a plus zero to their saving throw  we would do 67 dpr on average and against an enemy   with a 16 armor class and a plus 6 to their saving  throw it would be 57 dpr we have slipped just a   tad compared to other sustained dpr builds at  this level landing us more kind of middle of the   pack tier one and yes with the same asterisks as  before with our better proficiency bonus now and   all of the spell slots that we have available i do  feel a little better about being able to keep up   this level of damage or even better maybe if we're  using second level spell slots for guiding bolt   right or maybe thorn whipping a second enemy into  moonbeam but yeah this level of damage for maybe   a couple of combat encounters per day now but  sure it's still more like semi sustainable i   think unless you're playing at our table where  we really do tend to have one or two combat   encounters per long rest most of the time and  then you get one day from hell where you have like   seven and you blow all of your resources in the  first two combat encounters and you're left just   throwing rocks for the rest of the time that's  rough at level 10 we would be a druid 8 and we get   another ability score increase or feat and again  i think priority number one is bumping wisdom so   we're gonna cap it here at 20. and then we do have  fifth level spell slots now for upcasting moonbeam   at level 11 we'd be a druid nine and we get fifth  level druid spells so many good and fun and really   fairly unique fifth level druid spells things  like tree stride anti-life shell awaken   wrath of nature and then of course there's  greater restoration gesh nothing that we're gonna   plan on using for sustained damage but know your  options and use them to benefit your entire party   pick your favorites at level 12 we'd be a druid  10 and we get twinkling constellations this is a   really fantastic feature for star druids not only  does our damage from archer form and healing from   chalice form scale a bit going from a 1d8 to a  2d8 but dragon form now gives us 20 feet of flying   speed including hover which is nice in case we get  knocked prone while we're in the air or something   most potently i think while in our starry form  we can now change which form we are in at the   beginning of each turn without even needing to use  a bonus action or a reaction or anything to do so   this versatility is really pretty incredible  did an ally just go down no worries switch   to chalice form before your turn and throw  a big heel on them before going back into   archer form next turn for more damage got  an enemy up on a ledge behind full cover   swapped a dragon form fly up to get him i just  really love the options this gives us in combat   and it will make the already great versatility you  bring to the battlefield as a druid that much more   powerful and fun remember we do have six level  spell slots now too for up casting but at level 13   i think with twinkling constellations secure i  would probably take one more dip back into warlock   with this character there's there's not a lot more  scaling or damage we'll get with more druid levels   aside from higher spell slots of course and i  think it worth a quick detour to pick up some   nice things from one more warlock level in fact i  can actually see taking this dip a lot sooner with   this character maybe right after warlock 1 even  maybe going druid 3 first then 2 levels of warlock   then back to druid though that would have slowed  down our dpr by just a smidge so maybe at this   point in your character's career there's there's  a new agreement that must be entered into with   that dow maybe you're in a bind and you need a  little more power and you have to sacrifice or   bind yourself a little bit more tightly to them  not something that you love but as a warlock ii we   get eldritch invocations which means we can take  the eldritch mind invocation and get advantage on   our concentration checks since we don't have  constitution saving throw proficiency and   just a good but not great 16 constitution and so  much of our damage is coming from moonbeam which   is a concentration spell there's a really good  argument for getting to this sooner since we are a   ranged damage dealing character i worried about it  a little less but yeah get this sooner if you want   as for the second invocation that we get i'm  gonna say pick your favorite if you don't have   good magical armor by now um you could take armor  of shadows which lets you cast mage armor at will   that would give you a small bump there's plenty of  others to consider though devil's sight fiendish   figure etc the other reason why i wanted to get  warlock 2 though is because we would then get   a second warlock spell slot and having two first  level spell slots that reset on a short rest just   feels a lot better than one and it makes me feel  like our damage is a lot more sustainable now than   it once was with our higher proficiency bonus more  first level spell slots two warlock spell slots   that reset on a short rest we can cast guiding  bolt a lot more frequently than we used to be   able to for our level 13 damage report then our  tactics haven't changed all that much still but   we've capped our wisdom we've gotten another  proficiency bonus bump we've added a d8 of damage   to our archer form attack and can potentially cast  moonbeam as a sixth level spell now for 6d10 not   to mention the nice defensive support and utility  features that we've picked up as well so against   an enemy with a 10 armor class and a plus zero  to their constitution saving throw we would do 96   dpr on average and against an enemy with  a 17 and a plus seven it would still be 82   showing again like i said at the beginning that  even if they make their constitution saving throw   we're still going to be doing pretty solid  reliable damage and yeah we're still holding   strong at about mid tier one compared to other  builds at this level and again feeling a lot   better about our ability to sustain that level of  damage for at least a couple of combat encounters   per day if not more especially considering that we  could be using told the dead for 3d 12 instead of   guiding bolt right and yeah with the understanding  that as a druid we very well might be pausing the   radiant devastation to heal or cure an ally and  if so that's awesome but at level 14 we're coming   down the home stretch and i can at this point  actually see the character taking a few paths   i mean another cleric level would get us channel  divinity and that could mean turning undead or   another nice healing option from peace cleric or  even just recovering more spell slots via harness   divine power and it wouldn't even slow down our  spell slot progression right worth considering i   can also see us maybe going just one more  level into warlock for both second level   warlock spells and spell slots resetting on a  short rest and a packed boon and i'd probably take   pact of the chain i think to have an invisible  familiar giving us advantage on our guiding bolt   attacks among other things that would be awesome  but knowing that i'm going to stop this build   at level 17 like i always do i personally really  wanted to get back and stick to druid for the   rest of this character's career for one because  i think of this character as having like a firm   grip on the relationship with their dow patron not  giving in to any further temptation of more power   but mechanically i really wanted to get to the  stars druid like capstone feature with this   build as well and so we would be i drew at 11 at  this level we'd get sixth level spells and i mean   so many good ones bones of the earth so cool you  cause six pillars to rise up out of the ground   underneath your enemies right and if and if you're  in a room with a ceiling that's lower than 30 feet   you just smash the enemy between the pillar and  the ceiling dealing damage and restraining them   if they fail they're safe come on that's so cool  but yeah druid grove heal for a massive heal   heroes feast so good transport via plants for some  serious teleporting around the world nothing that   i'm going to use when crunching numbers but so  many awesome options pick your favorites at level   15 we'd be a druid 12 we get another ability score  increase or feat and with our wisdom score capped   now i think i'm probably looking to shore up my  defenses i can see taking the tough feat for a lot   more hit points or taking resilient constitution  for constitution saving throw proficiency and   thus concentration checks right or maybe even  compromise and just bump your constitution by   two to get to 18 to give a little benefit to both  our hit points and our saving throws you decide   keep in mind we do have seventh level spell slots  now as well at level 16 we'd be a druid 13 and we   get seventh level spells not a huge list to choose  from but a lot of potent ones reverse gravity is   probably my favorite for both power and hilarity  um firestorm is potentially potent regenerate will   be fantastic when you need it plane shift if you  really need to get to another plane of existence   pyf and then finally for us at level 17 we'd  be a druid 14 and we get full of stars this   is the stars druid like capstone ability that i  mentioned and it's a pretty good one while in your   starry form you have resistance to all bludgeoning  piercing and slashing damage whether it's magical   or not and as we've discussed many times on this  channel that tends to be the vast majority of   damage that characters are subject to in 5e  at most tables in most campaigns and that is a   very welcome boon considering how low our armor  class probably is and are decent but not great   hit points this is going to indirectly help with  our concentration checks as well right we also   do get eight level spell slots as well now for 8  d10 of moon beam damage so for our damage report   our final damage report the only real increases  come are coming from our proficiency bump and our   potential ability to up cast moonbeam to 8d10 like  i said if we wanted you might be crazy to do so   but again considering that the vast majority of  our damage now is coming from moonbeam and that   we can potentially do that damage twice on a  turn i'd at least consider it depending on the   fight speaking of foolishly upcasting low-level  spells some of you may be thinking that it'd be   pretty easy for us to be up casting guiding bolt  now at least occasionally with like a second or   third level spell slot and shouldn't we be trying  to add that into our damage calculation somehow   i'd consider it you know if i were out of first  level spell slots and warlock spell slots and   proficiency bonus free uses i suppose but an  extra d6 or two of damage is really not a lot   at this level the main reason that we're using  it is to try and push an enemy into moonbeam   and give ourselves advantage on our archer  form attack you know in fact thornwhip now   at this level does 4d6 damage the same amount  as guiding bolt and so you might want to just   consider thorn whipping instead of guiding bolting  guiding bolting just to conserve those spell slots   right especially if that's going to let you get a  second enemy into the area of effect but against   an enemy here with a 10 armor class and a plus  zero to their constitution saving throws we would   do on average 121 dpr we broke the centennial  barrier and against an enemy with an 18 armor   class and a plus eight it would still be 100 right  on and although our scaling has plateaued a bit as   we've leveled we're still tier one compared to  other sustained dpr builds at this level though   maybe sort of bottom half of tier 1 now still  incredibly strong if we can get everything going   like we want and need and so final thoughts the  tier score for this character if you average   all of the damage that we do at all of the  enemy armor classes and saving throws that we   calculated for at each of the damage reports  is 73 putting us comfortably in the middle   of tier 1 right between the original hex blade  character that i did episode one and the death   cleric whose damage was being dealt to two enemies  per turn but in fact compared to just other single   dpr builds the only ones that i've done to  date that do more sustained damage per round   are the cheese grater and the blade singer so  yeah i love this character i love the story   i love the versatility and variety and  i love being a druid that can do really   solid damage because they have such great support  and utility spell options that it's almost like   you wouldn't be a jack of all trades master  of none you'd be like a master of all trades   especially i think once we can jump between starry  forms at will and i mean of course as i've sort of   said a couple of times there will be plenty of  times i think when you'll be able to get two or   maybe even three enemies into the area of effect  of moonbeam and that would make the total damage   numbers anyway that i've calculated a lot  higher of course maybe i've undersold this build   probably not i did promise an alternative build  here in the final thoughts that's both a little   more melee but also a straight druid without  any multi-classing so let me summarize it here   really quickly basically we'd be using the  chileli cantrip and making quarter staff   wisdom-based attacks we'd want to pick up the  polar master feat i think in addition to crusher   and probably find a way to get booming blade via  either a race that gets a wizard can trip like   an elf for example or maybe a feat like  magic initiate but in combat then we would   chalele before the fight ideally before combat  breaks out and it is a cantrip with one minute   duration so you could potentially be just casting  it all of the time unless that would cause your dm   to strangle you but then anyway in combat you're  casting moon beam and then your enemy is moving   up to you you're standing you know five feet  away from where the moon beam spell ends right   and ideally the enemies taking moon beam damage  on their turn moving up to you you're hitting   them with a reaction thanks to pore arm master and  then we're probably taking some damage but then on   our turn we would booming blade with our action  and use crusher to push them back into moonbeam   and now since they are no longer within five  feet of you you use your bonus action archer form   attack to hit them for some additional damage and  then assuming that on their next turn if they're   still alive they're moving up to you again to try  and attack you they're going to take that booming   blade damage for moving right going this route is  potentially as much or actually maybe a little bit   more damage per round on average especially if  you can get that booming blade movement damage   but it kind of requires them to move up to attack  you which they might not always do and if and   when they do you're probably going to be getting  hit with your low armor class it would be fun to   try out i think it's pretty feet heavy to really  get going but i think it could be a fun kind of   glass cannon build which as you guys know i'm not  at all opposed to playing i think i'd probably   be a lot more prone to try this if your druid  could wear metal armor and thus have a better ac   so yeah it's a little more high risk high reward  but it's also a bit more sustainable because   you're less reliant on using guiding bolt and thus  potentially burning through spell slots i do think   it would work best if you had someone else in  your party who is able to provide you protection   and or damage reduction for you or healing or all  of the above right but again i am really pleased   with the stars druid we ended up with they truly  call on the power of the moon and the stars   for massive consistent radiant damage and bring  so much support and utility to boot that i just   can't wait to play them in game and i hope you get  to very soon as well so anyway that's the build   for the week i love you guys you're so awesome  thank you for watching and liking and commenting   and subscribing and all of those things i hope you  have a wonderful day and a fantastic week and that   you're good and kind and safe and i hope to see  you again really soon but until then take care bye well i got some sun in arizona i'm looking a little  oompa loompa-ish the stars are ours tonight   they sparkle and shine so bright because  you're mine tonight the stars are ours microphone problems the moon that's up  in the sky it's shining for you and i   because you're mine tonight the stars are ours wait i've got another puzzle for you  don't even say that where did it go   come on come back to me i lost  it or don't say that since we um drew it uh seventh level druid spells and i  mean we very rarely even talked about well we   kind of actually did talk about that so don't  say that i think i might be out of cards power   and hilario um i think that's true  unless i'm wrong in which case   ignore everything that i just said yeah yeah i'm  right of course i'm right i'm never wrong ever

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 90,305

Keywords: D&D Optimized, dnd, dungeons & dragons, Stars Druid, Genie Warlock, Dao, moonbeam, moon beam, dpr, damage, support, heal, healing, character creation, tips, tricks

Id: zVen13HcTk0

Length: 55min 25sec (3325 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 19 2022