Circle of the Shepherd Druid Guide to Fuzzy Fury

[Nhym]

Thank you for the in-depth comment!
Through responding to this I notice a pattern in a lot of your responses. You seem to present a lot of situations where spells/items/feats/races CAN be chosen used to great affect and while I may agree for those situations, they are exactly that: Situational. I am more interested in the things that will work well a majority of the time rather than the thing that will work amazingly 10% of the time.

Lucky is just three attack rolls or ability checks you can reverse. Alert is a half-guarantee you can be the first to act in fight and immediately put enemy army in disarray. This one should be first or second grade, not near-last. Lucky should be "medium" at most, it's really not that impressive compared to every other great feat a Druid can grab.

I agree with the fast that Alert should be higher and have changed that. Lucky, however, is better than you give it credit for because you left out that it can be used on saving throws. Enemy controllers can be a huge issue for a Shepherd Druid and being able to reroll a failed save is a game changer.

I don't get Mobile either: mobility is one can make you simply avoid melee attacks (out of range) or ranged attacks/magic effects (back behind cover) in the first place. And you can at least try to attack if you need to Disengage.

Feats are a precious resource and should not be taken lightly. Good positioning and summoned creature management can replace an extra 10 feet of movement and save you a feat. If the enemy is ranged, you shouldn’t be in line of sight anyway after casting your Conjures and if the enemy is in melee distance, get your summons between you and the enemy. The melee attack disengage can be nice, but again there are better feats to choose from. I’ll move it to orange though.

ELVES should be put one rank higher: free cantrip (High) means having a good weapon attack when close range is here, while free short-rest Misty Step (Eladrin) can save your hide more often than not. And it also opens up access to neat racial feats and provide you a great regular attack for the first levels (ranged weapons proficiencies) where you are the most exposed.

I added Eladrin and Moved Wood Elves higher just because of the first few levels. I disagree with High Elves though because while Fey Step is excellent at any level, I don’t think a free Wizard cantrip adds enough to warrant a spot. I don’t disagree that it can’t be useful, but I don’t think it’s optimal.

Magic Initiate: agreed on the specific Find Familiar case. It's not all there is though, not at all. If you went for a bulky race that goes to town with his wolf pack, Booming Blade can actually be a good pick. Otherwise, with Druid having such little choice in cantrips compared to everyone else, expanding your utility with some elemental classics (Shape Water, Mold Earth, Create Bonfire) or Wizardry (Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion) can be largely worth, as well as grabbing some WIS-based cantrips from Cleric or even from your own Druid. And you could also learn spells either for that one big emergency (aka Shield), or as a way to simply get a utility you can use often enough for the cases arising (Comprehend Languages, Catapult, Command, Disguise Self, Expeditious Retreat, Grease, Hex for a few examples).
Should really be rated at least black, because it can allow you to tailor your character concept in so many ways.

Melee Shepherd Druid is never a good idea. Your suggestions are all situational, so I do agree it should be bumped up to orange for situational. I can’t justify any higher because not every Shepherd is going to be able to benefit from it like some other picks.

Observant: should be rated at least one rank higher

Agreed. Changed it.

Warcaster: …
So it's really essentially the advantage on concentration checks that Warcaster brings, and while that is good, if you already picked Resilient (which brings less at low level but is the best of both in the long run) you can do without.

I agree that the majority of use of Warcaster comes from the advantage of concentration, but I still say it is essential because comparing it Resilient, advantage on concentration checks is MUCH better than applying proficiency. I advise picking both because maintaining concentration is essential for a Shepherd, but statistically, Warcaster is better for that than Res [Con].

I don't see why Firbolg is just black. +1 STR is not great, but it can be used. Starting with 17 WIS for upcoming Observant feat or +1/+1 ASI is very handy. And every other thing is either a great utility for anyone (free Disguise Self recharging on short rest means basically you can spend all day Disguised, free Invisible every short rest means possibly avoiding a nasty blow to your important concentration spell) or complete synergy with Shepherd (ability to talk to ALL plants, including those who don't have Sylvan, AND advantage on all Charisma checks towards beasts and plants!!).

I missed the part of advantage on Charisma checks with beasts and plants so I moved it up, but I do think that Strength is wasted and post level 5, your damage will be coming from your summons so high Wisdom doesn’t matter as much as it does on other Druids. Post level 5 Con is more important in combat. The utility is great though.

Human variant is far from being overpowered imo, in general, but even more here: Druid is not a class craving for ASI unless you have a specific mix of feats in mind.
It's sometimes much better to start with a 17 that you'll top off later with a "half-feat".

In combat, a Shepherd Druid’s strength comes largely from its summons which aren’t affected by the Druid’s stats beyond its ability to maintain concentration so I’d argue that feats are more important than stats in this case.

Or do we? As you say yourself, Shepherd is all about herding, hiring and manipulating beasts. It's its schtick. Secondary schtick being a great support.
So, wouldn't having a good CHA make for a great Herder? Especially if you pair that with
Inspiring Leader and/or Prodigy. First makes another great cushion of THP to use before Druid's Aura (useful especially if you feel Unicorn should be used instead of Bear for current situation). And, if you really lean into the "beast/plant army", can really make a difference in your allies's survivability during a scout or harass mission. Second can make you extra good at spying, scouting, sneaking, convincing, whatever you'd like.

That’s a good character concept. That’s what it is though; a concept. You can make a Shepherd Druid a million different ways but since Charisma doesn’t benefit it in any mechanical way, you are starting to get into the realm of RP, which this guide is not about.

Aarakocra should be rated at least one rank less.

Agreed.

Overall agree but Stealth is readily missing!

Druids don’t get to choose Stealth as a skill proficiency.

Just one thing: Ring of Spell Storing should be rated HIGHEST. Period. Why?

I put it a but higher but the biggest thing you didn’t mention is that this requires attunement to use, so it can’t be thrown around willy nilly around your party like you suggest. I do concede that it can be useful for allies to store defensive spells for you, but past that it entirely depends on campaign, party composition, situation, etc… It does have a lot of potential but it’s not going to be able to be the best in every situation like some of the other items are. Also, the equipment section is equipment for you, not necessarily for your team. That falls under one of those things where yes it CAN be useful in certain situations, but if I were here talking about every good combination you can have with certain items with certain party members, I’d be here forever.

Warding Wind: … If you're going for non-conjured animal armies, and otherwise use cantrips and Healign Words to support party, it *can* be worth. If you're going for a frontliner with Mobile and weapon cantrips, it is worth.

That is far too situational to be rated out of situational.

Wind Wall: "better make a wall of flurry": absolutely NOT. First, army of flurry would provide a half-cover at best, and it would require huge micro management to really make them act as an efficient arrow barrier (in addition to possibly hindering your own pals's movement). Second, Wind Wall make all ranged weapon attacks auto-miss. It's hugely better. So yeah, it's kinda a situational spell, but largely worth keeping it prepped unless you're pretty sure ranged enemies are non-existent in encounters to come. I do love Sleet Storm as an alternative, but Sleet Storm people can cross and get out of.

My point is that your concentration is almost always better spent on summons; I don’t mean a literal wall of summoned creatures. “So yeah, it's kinda a situational spell”. Exactly. That’s why I put it as orange. Orange doesn’t mean “Don’t pick it”, it means “Situational”.

Spike Growth: should be ranked one tier more at least, unless you're really the only one in party with push/pull abilities.

Agreed.

Water Breathing: allows underwater short and long rests. Just think this should be stressed. :)

Didn’t think of that. Added.

Elemental Bane: should be at least black. Yeah, it's situational, but immunities are rare until very high level, whereas resistances start getting common when you get the spell.

It being very situational AND requiring concentration means I can’t justify putting it higher than orange.

Healing Spirit: can be equally worth casting IN fight, when you really want to help a few creatures tank a frontline. Also, remember the bit about Ring of Spell Storing? Perfect to have for example a ranged Rogue/Fighter keep your Conjure Animals healthy.

Its efficiency is much less during a so unless you have plenty of spell slots left, it would be a waste as in combat, you can’t get nearly the healing that you can out of combat. Also regarding spell storing

Wall of Fire: "creatures can just walk through the wall". Yeah, sure. Except they *just take it*, no save. And it's triggered "first time on a turn". So its damage scales greatly with whatever push/pull (preferably push though, since it blocks view) your party has a whole may have.
Beyond that particular and wildly YMMV use-case, since it blocks view, it also force casters to come and cross it (putting themselves close to you) since many spells require sight and ranged attackers to do the same or aim blindly. Big win in both cases.

Again, this is situational, lending it to being in the “Situational orange” category.

Storm of vengeance: should be rated one rank higher at least. Of course it takes time, hopefully it takes time! It affects a MILE LONG RADIUS.

I changed it to green and stressed that it’s not supposed to be used as an in-combat spell.