- I don't decide to ignore the versatility, I merely point out it's suboptimal because I can just grab my Laezel with Razglin's hammer and proceed to half HP Aunt Ethel in one turn and put her on frightened so I can kill her in the next 2 turns. She didn't even get the chance to call her illusions or set Myrena's cage on fire because all it took was Moonbeam from my druid and 3 attack turns from my Laezel.
If I had followed your lecture about versatility and tried to wildshape to a useless bear instead of staying caster so I can reposition moonbeam and melee with Sheleighlah for about 3-4 more damage in humanoid than my bear can ever hope for, while maintaining access to my healing spells as well, it is YOUR reasoning that is flawed because wildshape limits my options instead of widening them.
- Yes, because casters can be positioned so well to survive when getting hit by enemy archers and casters, who play by the same rules you do in terms of line of sight requirements to land spells. I guess I should hide them under a rock instead and let them be safely useless /s
I’m not sure what you are hoping for. You are asking to buff wild shape. Okay. But by your own admission, Ethel can be killed very easily now.
How is buffing wild shape going to make Ethel a balanced encounter? And surely you’d have to buff the other classes as well (as you alluded with Shadowheart). I mean Ethel won’t even be able to attack.
Or are you suggesting Ethel should have over 250 HP? We are starting to get to escalation of power then.
The Ethel fight wasn't trivialized by my druid. It was trivialized by a Githyanki fighter, which is the whole point that I'm making. Githyanki fighters are completely eclipsing the other classes because of how concentration and spellcasting currently works in this game, as well as wildshape.
Mate, I don't want to come across as confrontational, but it does seem you made some less than optimal choices and had some unrealistic expectations and are now blaming the whole system.
Firstly you're comparing your damage with a fighter. Seriously, this is supposed to be their forte, especially early game where menacing strike and action surge compare favourably with enemies health pools. What if your menacing strike missed or Ethel makes her save, which has happened in a few of my games. The later battle is tough just to blast it out in melee. The other classes add a lot to the later battle. Like I said before if you had have hit Ethel with an exposing bite it would have doubled Laezel's damage, certainly a lot more useful than whatever you got from moonbeam.
Casters' whole deal is supposed to be their versatility, at least early until they get their big spells later. Moon druids is their versatility in forms. Asking to do the same damage as a fighter that can attack twice with action surge is a bit much. Who would play as a fighter then?
Laezal's action surge doesn't do much in the githyanki fight with so many dangerous enemies. Also movement is a problem for fighters, especially facing foes that can teleport or jump great distances. Sure, she can cast jump as a racial spell, but that takes an action and is a racial ability not a native one to fighters.
If you want a really strong druid, roll a wood elf coastal land druid like I said. I have a feeling you'll enjoy the game a lot more.
It wouldn't have made a difference other than annoy me. Already did that fight earlier where in 3 turns Ethel was at 30 HP, I just had to reset it because for some ridiculous reason my Shadowheart kept saying the cage on fire was too far for her to cast create water on to turn it off, and Myrena fell.
If I didn't care for Myrena for completion's sake, I would have still trounced Ethel without the Fear save, and the exposing bite is dependent on saves as well, and the wolf's hit chance on Ethel is considerably worse than Lazael.
Ethel also starts way too far for your wolf to get a backstab exposing bite within one turn, so you actually get much more damage off by casting moon beam and getting off 3 ticks of 8+ damage on Ethel within 2 turns on top of then being able to melee her with Sheleighlah for another 11 damage.
And the Githyanki patrol is all about eliminating the dual wielder quickly. Once you kill off the melee leaders, the fight becomes a ton easier, and Lazael thrives in dispatching melee enemies.
Moreover, movement is not remotely an issue for Lazael because you easily get Amulet of Misty Step off Minthara early, completely removing the key weakness of the fighter class. It's not like Lazael does bad damage from range either; with a Longbow +1 she is doing more than double the damage Shadowheart can ever hope to do with Sacred Flame (won't even mention Guiding Bolt, considering that spell only hits when the planets align), and about as much damage as a level 1 spell from Gale or Wyll without eating up a spell slot.
Sounds like you might prefer playing a fighter.
Another nonsequitur.
I'm not interested in the slightest in playing a fighter or care much for Lazael as a character, which is why it annoys me to no end how much better fighters are currently to everybody else.
Removing Lazael from your group significantly gimps you in battles. It's that simple. And it needs to be balanced for people that want variety in composition without handicapping themselves.
