Today we get a look at the new 5.5E Druid. With improved Wild Shape, new subclasses, and more, let’s go au naturale.
Druids are one of the more powerful classes in Dungeons & Dragons. And that looks to still be true in D& 5.5E, where Druids have a lot more than just Wild Shapes and Spells to play around with, although it is still mostly just those features giving you cool things to do on every turn.
But! A lot has been refined for the 5.5E Druid. From some real nice quality of life upgrades that make the Druid feel a lot better at doing what they do, to a brand new approach to some classic subclasses, there’s a lot to love about the new version. So let’s dig right in.
5.5E Druid – Nature, Nurture, and Wrath
Druids get a few big overhauls in terms of their core mechanics. Wild Shape saw some pretty big love. Now, for everyone, it takes merely a Bonus Action to shapeshift. That’s already a cool bump. But then on top of that, now all Druids can still talk while in Wild Shape. Which is honestly something that should have been there from the beginning. Talking animals are a staple of fantasy stories.
It’s a surprise it took them a decade to get there. But, hey, now you can be a cat and talk trash to your enemies and it’s honestly reason enough to switch. But Wild Shape keeps going. You can select a number of “known forms” from up to a certain CR, depending on you level.
But you can do more with your Wild Shape, including using it to cast Find Familiar, so you can have an animal companion.
It keeps getting better, though. Druids also get to decide whether they want to focus on spellcasting or melee, and much like Clerics, they get to pick a Druid Style that determines whether they add their Wisdom Modifier to Cantrip Damage or gain medium armor and martial weapon proficiencies.
And at higher levels, you can get either Primal Strike which adds damage to your melee attacks, including while Wild Shaped, or Potent Spellcasting which adds more damage and, more importantly, 300 feet of extra range to your casting, so you can be in the air and sniping enemies with spells. Good times.
But even the subclasses have a lot to play with.
Druid Subclasses are Wild
Starting with the Moon Druid, aka the combat Wild Shape class. Though it is less exclusively focused on Wild Shape, which is nice. Moon Druids gain an AC improvement that uses either AC 13 + your Wisdom Modifier unless your Beast Form’s AC is higher. Plus you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to three times your Druid level.
But as you go, you also gain the ability to deal radiant damage, as you fight evil with the power of moonlight. And at higher levels still, you gain Moonlight Step, which is like Misty Step, but it gives you advantage on an attack roll before the end of your turn.
The Circle of the Land subclass has been pretty significantly reworked. Much as we saw in the Playtest, you get to select which Terrain type you’re drawing power from (a choice which you can change with surprising regularity) and the benefits it gives you. This includes bonus spells, and at higher levels, energy resistance, and more.
They also gain the ability to deal extra damage or healing with their spells, and can even confer your benefits on others in your party at higher levels.
Meanwhile, the Circle of Stars from Tasha’s Cauldron is basically unchanged from how it was. But the new Circle of the Sea Druid is pretty spicy.
This Druid is all about Storms and Seas. Which means a lot of Thunder, Lightning, and Cold damage stuff. Their big signature feature is an aurathat emanates from them and lets them deal damage and possibly even hurl enemies around just for being in your aura.
All this in the new Druid, coming Septemer 17th!
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