I'm already worried I'm biting off more than I can chew here for a post, but I figured it'd be worth taking a look at the various subclasses and getting a sense of what has changed and what has stayed the same.
The biggest change to Druids overall has been the further tweaking of Wild Shape and the elimination of Channel Nature.
As a note: I think we're seeing a move toward greater conservatism in the design philosophy. Once again, rather than adding Channel Nature and then making Wild Shape the default option for it, they've got subclasses "expending a use of Wild Shape." I believe the intent here is to reduce confusion if a player who starts off with the 2024 books picks up, say, Tasha's, and wants to play a Wildfire Druid.
But I worry that this also reduces the opportunity to make meaningful and good changes to the game. Channel Nature is more elegant than "uses of Wild Shape" as a class element. And I wonder if this worry about backwards compatibility is going to hamper efforts to truly move past flawed game design concepts.
Druids have four 2024 PHB subclasses (like all classes do,) and here we have the Circle of the Land, of the Sea, of the Moon, and of the Stars.
So, the one we won't touch on here is Circle of Stars, because at least for this playtest, they're having people just use the version from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Stars is, I believe, a fairly popular and mechanically sound subclass, so even if they do make changes to it in a later test (or the final book) I doubt it will be anything huge.
Circle of the Sea is brand-new, so we'll have to do a thorough review of that.
Circle of the Moon we've touched on before, though I'll do a side-by-side comparison.
But let's start with Circle of the Land.
Land:
Circle of the Land was always meant to emphasize the Druid's spellcasting abilities, but I think it also suffered from the excess of restraint that a lot of PHB subclasses did in kind of not really giving you much that was interesting. So let's look at them side-by-side.
3rd level:
Given that the bonus cantrip is now one of your choices for your Primal Order, this is no longer part of the subclass. Actually, that's not really true - each land option comes with a damage cantrip now.
Circle Spells has a couple major changes, the first of which is that you can now swap out what your associated Land is on a Long Rest. As such, you have a very flexible set of bonus spells prepared.
However, there are also fewer land options. The new options are only Arid, Polar, Temperate, and Tropical. As far as I can tell, these don't really have much overlap with the existing spell lists.
Arid gets Fire Bolt, Blur, Burning Hands, Fireball, Blight, and Wall of Stone.
Polar gets Ray of Frost, Fog Cloud, Hold Person, Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, and Cone of Cold.
Temperate gets Shocking Grasp, Misty Step, Sleep, Lightning Bolt, Freedom of Movement, and Tree Stride.
Tropical gets Acid Splash, Ray of Sickness, Web, Stinking Cloud, Polymorph, and Insect Plague.
So, each of these includes at least one classic of a spell. Oddly, the wording does not say that these don't count against your spells prepared, but I'd assume that's the intent.
Land's Aid is a new feature that uses your Wild Shape to instead create a little burst that deals 2d6 Necrotic damage to enemies in a 10-foot radius sphere (Con save for half) and heals a single creature in the area for 2d6. The damage and healing goes up to 3d6 at level 10 and 4d6 at level 14.
This is pretty similar to the 2nd-level spell Wither and Bloom (the healing is a little simpler). So, effectively it lets you use Wild Shape to get another spell into the mix.
6th level:
Natural Recovery includes the old version (which is just a Druidic version of a Wizard's Arcane Recovery) but also now allows you to cast one of your non-Cantrip Circle Spells without expending a spell slot once per long rest. That's just one extra spell, but it could be a 5th level spell, so that's not too bad.
10th level:
Nature's Ward is way better (how often did you need to save against being charmed by an Elemental?). Now, you become immune to the Poisoned Condition and you have resistance to a damage type affiliated with your current Land. Arid gives Fire, Polar gives Cold, Temperate gives Lightning, and Tropical gives Poison.
14th level:
Nature's Sanctuary used to be a kind of permanent Sanctuary spell but for beasts and plants only. The new version lets you expend a Wild Shape use to create a 15-foot cube (on the ground... so really a 15-foot square) for one minute. You and your allies have half cover inside and you get to share the damage resistance of your Nature's Ward with any ally inside. You can also move this up to 60 feet as a bonus action on each turn.
So, I think that this subclass is looking fairly similar to its previous incarnation, but I think the improvements are significant enough to actually do a decent job of making this the "classic spellcaster Druid" that it was always meant to be. Being able to swap out land types (and getting some better spells from those options) is a big deal. And the damage resistances are going to be about infinitely more relevant than the old Nature's Ward.
Sea:
The brand-new subclass, Circle of the Sea, focuses on oceans and storms. Let's see how it works, mechanically.
3rd level:
First off, you get Circle Spells, which are: Ray of Frost, Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, Shatter, Thunderwave, Sleet Storm, Lightning Bolt, Control Weather, Ice Storm, Conjure Elemental, and Hold Monster.
Nothing mind-blowing here, though it looks like they're being a lot more liberal with Lightning Bolt as a spell Druids can get (setting aside its history as a classic Wizard spell, I actually think it makes perfect sense as a classic Primal spell, though I may be biased as someone who loves Shamans from World of Warcraft).
Also at 3rd level you get Wrath of the Sea. As a bonus action, you expend a Wild Shape to create an aura around you for 10 minutes. At the end of each of your turns, you can force a creature you can see within 10 feet of you to make a Con save or take Thunder damage equal to a number of d6s equal to your Wisdom modifier and get pushed back up to 15 feet from you (if it's Large or smaller).
So, this is actually a fair amount of damage (though with a save-for-none). We're talking about likely 3d6 each turn in addition to other things you're doing, and with no action beyond your initial bonus action, and graduating to 4d6 and 5d6 in short order. The downside is that you need to get close to your enemies, which you might not really want to do as a spellcaster (though taking the Warden option for Primal Order might make you less worried about getting into melee. The knockback is also pretty huge. I'll be honest, I was skeptical about this initially, but writing about it has made me think it might be good.
6th level:
Aquatic Affinity causes you to always have Water Breathing prepared and you get a Swim Speed equal to your walking speed, which is also included in your Wild Shapes (though the wording suggests that you don't get to use the beast's walking speed as a swim speed).
I think this could stand to be more generous - I realize that giving the spell allows you to grant Water Breathing to other party members, but it's odd that this is not really a Circle Spell, even if it kind of is. I'd love instead a way to give the whole party a swim speed, which would make them far more effective in underwater combat (along with the breathing).
10th level:
Stormborn gives you two bonuses: the first is that you get a Fly speed equal to your Speed. Then it also gives you resistance to Cold, Lightning, and Thunder damage.
So, that's a lot. And getting permanent, concentration-free Flight at level 10 is... very good. Any one of these resistances is decent on its own, but getting all three means it's a lot more likely to actually be relevant.
14th level:
Oceanic Gift lets you now manifest your Wrath of the Sea around an ally within 60 feet instead of yourself. You can also manifest it around that ally and yourself with a single bonus action, though this expends two uses of Wild Shape.
This is a little subtle for a capstone, but I suspect that you're going to get a lot more consistent use out of this feature by putting the aura on a Monk, Barbarian, or Paladin.
So, overall, Circle of the Sea is definitely flavorful, and I think might actually be good, but does sort of push you into a melee-brawling spellcaster mode. Definitely a prime candidate to pick up the Warden Primal Order.
Moon:
Now, we've touched on Circle of the Moon before, and unlike the others, this one's a revision of a revision. We can't really talk about this subclass without going into the changes to how Wild Shape works.
Once again, you're going to be picking stat blocks from the Monster Manual to determine things like Strength, Dex, and Con, attacks and attack bonuses, and other features and traits. However, at baseline, you're going to be using your own Hit Points - this does mean that you won't be knocked out of your Spider from when a guard steps on you, but as we'll see, it means that only Moon druids really get a defensive benefit to Wild Shape, while other Druids are basically going to only use it for utility, rather than combat.
The Moon Druid has also leaned a little more into, well, a Lunar theme.
3rd level:
Circle Forms once again bumps you up to CR 1 stat blocks when you pick up the subclass. You'll also get better scaling, but that doesn't actually kick in until level 6 (which is when it becomes relevant).
Combat Wild Shape has changed a bit - all Druids can now shift as a bonus action, so that's not included. The biggest feature here is that you can now keep your AC in your normal form when you shift into Wild Shape - though without including a Shield's bonus. Given that you can now get Medium Armor training with the Warden Primal Order option, that means that you can fairly easily get an AC of 16 in your Bear or Wolf form - a huge improvement over the inherent AC of these options.
Additionally, while you don't get the full HP of your Wild Shape form on top of your normal ones, instead now you get Temp HP when you shift that is equal to either the Beast's HP or three times your Druid level, whichever is lower. I suspect that in most cases it will be the latter - but 9 Temp HP at level 3 isn't terrible - it won't make you an absolute damage sponge, but it does help put you on-par with Fighters and Paladins who naturally have more HP. And with the chance to have a decent AC, this comes together pretty well.
Though I will say I think they should just let you have the Shield bonus as well.
You can now cast Abjuration spells that don't have a consumed or costly material component while in Wild Shape - which also includes most healing spells now, so you can heal while you're a Bear.
Finally, leaning into the Moon theme, you now have Moonbeam always prepared (your one Circle Spell) and you can cast it in Wild Shape.
6th level:
Improved Circle Forms gives you your level-scaling for Wild Shape, which is again your Druid level divided by 3 (rounded down,) which you'll note is 2 at level 6.
Additionally, because they're getting rid of the distinction between magical and non-magical "physical" damage, instead you now get the option to replace the damage of your Wild Shape weapon attacks with Radiant damage. This is also kind of interesting in that most such features are using Force, but it's thematic. Radiant is nearly as irresistible as Force, and of course shuts down things like a Zombie's undead fortitude and a vampire's regeneration, so this is probably fine (and hey, you'll be better at dealing with Helmed Horrors).
10th level:
Now, here's where things really get different. Rather than your Elemental forms, you now get Moonlight Step. As a bonus action (in Wild Shape or not) you can teleport 30 feet, and you get advantage on your next attack roll. You can do this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier per Long rest, though you can also regain uses with a 2nd level spell slot - essentially giving you an uncounterable Misty Step with a bonus. Misty Step is one of the best spells in the game, so while this comes well after you'd get 2nd level spells, I think this is great, especially with the several free uses.
That said, the Elementals were very powerful compared to the other Beast forms you have access to, and losing them might sting a bit (obviously we need to see what 2024 Monster Manual beasts look like). The Elementals didn't really make sense with the "Moon" theme (I think it was called that originally just because of the fact that the Moon's phases associate it with transformation,) and so I think if this were a brand-new subclass, I'd have no worries about this.
14th level:
The final feature is Lunar Form. Thousand Forms is one of those things I don't think anyone was writing home about, so instead we get a totally different feature. First is Movable Moonbeam, which lets you move your Moonbeam 60 feet at the start of your turn, no action required. The current version of the spell lets you move it, this distance, but requires your action to do so.
So, really this depends on whether Moonbeam is worth being your concentration spell at these levels. I'm a little skeptical that it will be, but at the very least if you start combat without a concentration spell or your concentration gets interrupted, it'll be easy enough to get Moonbeam running, and this makes it easier to use in addition to your attacks.
You also get Shared Moonlight, which lets you teleport a willing creature within 10 feet of you along with you when you use Moonlight Step. Shared teleportation is great, and you actually don't even need to be able to see the creature, so you could, in theory, grab a friend swallowed by a Banderhobb and bamf away with them.
So, I don't have any experience playing a Moon Druid. I suspect that this revision to Wild Shape and Moon's ability to get Temp HP and the benefits of Medium Armor in their beast forms might actually hit a sweet spot of actually making it work without being overpowered. Now, personally, I prefer the standardized templates for class features - I would have been fairly happy by just bumping up the ACs of the ones in the previous Druid playtest and maybe giving some Temp HP to the forms. The big problem I see is that the Beast forms will have kind of pathetic attack bonuses, but let me check that:
If we take a kind of "Standard Druid," we can expect them starting off with a +5 spell attack bonus at level 1, going up to +6 at level 4, +7 at level 5, +8 at level 8, +9 at level 9, +10 at level 13, and then +11 at 17, with possible bonuses from magic items like Moon Sickles and Wands of the War Mage (though the whole "while holding this" rider can be a problem for strict DMs).
So, at each of those thresholds, we're looking at CR 1 for the first three, then CR 2 for level 8, CR 3 for level 9, CR 4 for level 13, and CR 5 for level 17 (and then 6 at level 18).
What kind of bonuses to these CRs typically give?
CR 1: Dire Wolves and Giant Spiders get +5, Brown Bears get +6, though Giant Toads have only a +4, but we're still averaging around the same.
CR 2: Most of the Beasts in the Monster Manual at this CR gave a +6, with some at +7, which is a little behind the curve here.
CR 3: There are only three CR 3 Monster Manual beasts here, and they +7, +4, and +6, so we're falling behind a bit.
CR 4: Only one CR 4 beast in the Monster Manual, the Elephant has a +8 to hit, which is behind the 10 we're looking for.
CR 5: We now have just the Giant Crocodile, Giant Shark, and Triceratops, which have, respectively, +8, +9, and +9 to hit, when we're hoping for +11.
CR 6: Our one option, the Mammoth, has a +10 to hit, which is one shy of the +11 we'd be hoping for.
So, overall, the shift back to existing stat blocks, assuming these beasts remain unchanged, will result in having a worse bonus to hit than you'd be getting with the scaling stat blocks. It's not always a huge penalty, but I do think it's worth looking at.
Anyway, we'll skip Circle of Stars as it is, for now, unchanged. I think this is a decent showing for Druids, and covers a lot of bases. I do wonder if Sea will actually be popular, though. I think it needs a real Showstopper feature.
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