Yeah it does look a bit dumb, but remember druids don’t lose their intelligence when they wild shape. They could navigate a ladder in beast form, albeit in most cases it would be slower than when a humanoid. Of course, some ladders are not going to take the weight of a polar bear!

On another note, since I haven’t had time to get into patch 4 yet... are we still able to change our prepared spells at any time that suits us? Or is it locked to long rests now like it should be?