Wild Shape is a peculiar thing. Some things
work with it while others don't. Idea for this video came to me while trying to
do a build for Wild Shape Halsin. After playing a bit with Wild Shape options it is
clear that specific builds are not viable up until this point in the game which is
lvl 8. Reason is that building towards specific Wild Shape animal is not gonna lead
to any benefits for the animal in mind.
Every Wild Shape form receives same benefits
from humanoid form. Gameplay is gonna be vastly different depending on the animal but stat
gains from huamnoid form are gonna be the same. Instead gonna give you example
of how to build Wild Shape druid and go over everything that works and
doesn't worl while in beast form.
First let's go over attributes and
how they change while Wild Shaped. Each animal has their own set of physical
stats. STR, DEX and CON of your character do not matter as animal's physical stats
take over all the physical attributes.
Mental attributes INT, WIS and CHA are taken from
the druid, not the animal. So animal form does not have any effect on mental stats as they stay the
same with same saving throw bonuses applied.
Equipment, be it accessories, weapons or
armor, do not transfer their bonuses to animal form. None of it. So animal form
works like nothing has been equipped.
There are, however, some benefits to having good
saving throws from equipment. Reason is starting the fight in humanoid form. Druids can cast
spells before Wild Shaping and spell effects are gonna persist as long as concentration is
not broken. This is only beneficial if starting the fight as humanoid so that concentration is
not broken immediately in the first round.
Circle of the Land druid has access
to buffing spells such as Haste, Mirror Image, Blur, Stoneskin... All
very useful and can be used with Wild Shape as long as they have been cast before.
Be warned that spells like Haste and
Stoneskin require concentration that is easily broken in animal form. Thankfully
you can apply buffs through other means like throwing potions at them and casting
buffing spells with other party members. Barkskin is especially useful either through potion or another party member due
to most animals having low AC.
Spells that last until next long
rest like Longstrider and Speaking with Animals remain active in
animal form and outside of it. So no need to worry about if spells
like those are gonna be broken.
Insteresting thing about animal special attacks
like Pounce, Crushing Flight, Charge and so on. To succeed they require enemies to fail Saving
Throw. To increase DC of such special abilities, meaning to make enemies less likely to resist,
CHA modifier is used. I am not sure if this is some kind of bug as Wisdom is main ability for
Druids but it is what it is. CHA is definitely applied to DC of special attacks as things
stands atm. Not every though. Rupture from Owlbear doesn't use CHA but hard to tell what
it uses since description for it is bugged.
Considering the fact CHA is important
for Wild Shape focused druids, this is what ability distribution should look
like. We have no use of STR and DEX but CON is useful for concentration saving throws before
Wild Shape and for larger druid health pool. WIS and CHA should be at 16 as they affect all
the spells and animal special abilities.
Feat to take should be Tavern Brawler. It affects
attack rolls significantly but does not add to dmg like it would with for example Monk unarmed
attacks. +1 to CON from Tavern Brawler to make it 16 is also quite nice. Not sure which feats
would work like Tavern Brawler so feel free to add in comments if there are some especially
useful like Tavern Brawler for Wild Shape.
When it comes to multiclassing there are barely
any that offer benefits for Wild Shape. Barbarian Rage works but while entering Rage concentration
is broken on spells cast by the druid. Like Haste in this case. Spells and buffs still work if being
cast on druid from someone else even while Raging. Great thing about Rage is that it lasts
for 10 turns and reduces dmg taken. Doesn't add to dmg while Wild Shaped but damage
reduction helps a lot considering the low health of animals.
Stoneskin spell also reduces dmg taken like Rage but
concentration can be easily broken if it was cast by the druid on himself.
Rage is far more reliable. So 1 lvl into Barbarian is definitely something
to consider for Wild Shapers.
Monk and Barbarian unarmored defence do not
count towards animal AC so Barkskin spell and potion are quite useful. Chest piece for Wild
Shape Druids would be Forest Aegis as it grants Advantage to CON Saving Throws and Barkskin but
Barkskin is broken when Wild Shaping as it is part of equipment bonus. It does offer more
survivability and better concentration before Wild Shaping though which is why we can neglect
DEX ability altogether to invest into other more important abilities such as CON and CHA.
Considering all this info, how to buff and play Wild Shape Druid? Let me show with Circle
of the Land Druid due to available self buffs. First we can cast spells like Longstrider
that grant effects until Long Rest.
Then we need 1 concentration spell
combined with spells that don't require concentration like Mirror Image, Freedom
of Movement and Protection from Poison. So cast all 3 or how many you want
and then combine with concentration spell like Haste, Blur, Barkskin or Stoneskin.
Then Wild Shape.
With Rage it works a bit different. If you
went 1 lvl of Barbarian for Rage it needs to be used before Wild Shape. However be warned that
Rage breaks concentration on spells like Haste and Barkskin. There is a work around though.
Instead of Druid buffing himself with spells like Barkskin and Haste other party members
can throw Potion of Speed or cast Haste spell on Druid while in Wild Shape. That way Rage
won't have any affect on buffing spells.
Anyway that is all. Hope this video helps
in understanding Wild Shape and sy soon.
