Among my Dungeons & Dragons players, the Circle of the Moon subclass for druid was among the game’s most popular options for its sheer durability, but the 2024 revision severely weakens this beloved druid build. The Moon druid was able to enter Wild Shape as a Bonus Action instead of an action, and it gained access to considerably more powerful Beast forms than a typical druid. Monsters would need to get through the Hit Point total of a Beast form prior to even beginning to damage the druid’s true HP. This made them great tanks, being uniquely hard to kill.
Our experiments with the new rules confirmed the 2024 revision heightened DnD’s martial-caster divide. My players using paladin and monk are far weaker than their 2014 versions. Feats players relied on with their 2014 martial characters, like Great Weapon Master, Sharpshooter, and Crossbow Expert, are all worse in the 2024 rules. In most cases, spellcasting classes received entirely unnecessary increases in their power, but the Circle of the Moon subclass is a rare case among casters where the 2014 druid by far beat out its 2024 counterpart. What was once among DnD’s very best tanking builds is now simply mediocre.
The 2014 D&D Moon Druid Was Among The Best Tanks In The Game
The Wild Shape Master Was On Par With The Totem Warrior Barbarian For Durability
The 2024 DnD Player’s Handbook retains frustrating ambiguities in its rules, as Wild Shape kept the baffling absence of design that offloads the role of game designer to me, as the Dungeon Master. It states that, “the DM decides whether it’s practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment,” instead of providing actual rules for it. Despite this frustratingly nebulous game design, Wild Shape remains popular at my table, and I’ve created my own house rules for handling magic items in Beast forms. In the 2014 rules, Moon druids got excellent mileage out of their subclass features.
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My focus as a DM is on storytelling and immersive role-playing, but when I run DnD, its “Gamist” design absolutely factors in. I don’t run fake challenges in DnD; instead, I follow the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide on its recommended encounters per adventuring day, facilitating challenge by attrition and resource management. Because the encounters are balanced based on character levels, I don’t pull any punches, and run antagonists as lethally as possible, without holding anything back. The Moon druid’s Beast forms were a godsend for extending party resources across long adventuring days, soaking hits the heroes might have taken otherwise.
Moon was the best DnD druid Circle choice, according to many players, for obvious reasons. A level six Moon druid can turn into a CR 2 Beast, like a Polar Bear, which has 42 HP. Enemies had to chew through that 42 HP to even begin actually damaging the druid, and the druid can use Wild Shape to return to the Beast form as a bonus action if its HP is depleted. That HP total is right around a level 6 Cleric or Monk with a 12 Constitution score, so it is considerable for the level. 2024’s Moon druid suffers.
2024 D&D’s Revised Circle Of The Moon Is Much Weaker
Higher AC Does Not Compensate For The Massive Loss Of The 2014 Druid’s Hit Points
According to the new rules in the revised 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, druids no longer gain the HP total of the Beast form they take on, but only Temporary HP equal to their druid level, weakening Wild Shape across the board. The Circle of the Moon, instead, gains HP equal to three times their druid level, which is still a significant loss from the actual HP provided by Beast forms, per their statblocks. Instead of gaining 42 HP from a Polar Bear Wild Shape, like in the 2014 rules, level six moon druids only gain 18 Temporary HP.
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Once, the Moon druid was easily among DnD’s best character builds for tanking, but with the 2024 revisions, none of my players had any interest in playing the archetype any longer, and I don’t blame them. The subclass does potentially improve its Armor Class for its Wild Shape forms, now equal to 13 plus Wisdom modifier, which is often higher than the typically low AC of most Beasts. This does little to offset the massive HP loss, as damage comes from much more than attacks against AC, factoring in spells and monster abilities that are resisted by Saving Throws instead.
Dungeons & Dragons players have lost a valued playstyle with the Moon druid nerf.
There are many challenging high-level DnD monsters, and groups playing Tier 3 and 4 games may see some benefit from the level 14 Moon druid features. Wild Shaped Moon druids can deal an additional 2d10 Radiant Damage once per turn at this level and can help reposition party members with Moonlight Step. These small increases in damage and mobility don’t come close to making up for the Moon druid’s tanking potential being entirely gutted by the redesigned Wild Shape mechanics. Gaining a small damage bump doesn’t offset the fact that Wild Shape offers about half the HP it once did.
The New D&D Moon Druid Trades Power For Simplicity
A Subclass Being Entry-Level Friendly Does Not Make It Worthwhile In D&D
Products like the new DnD 2024 starter box set should absolutely aim for simplicity above all else, since these are typically designed to introduce brand-new players to the tabletop role-playing game hobby. The 5e system remains one of the simplest editions of DnD ever made, however, and the Moon druid changes seem aimed at making the subclass easier to play, even if it is far less effective. Gaining a flat amount of temporary HP based on character level certainly makes the subclass more manageable for brand-new players, but it also makes it less useful for veterans of the game.
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My players’ monks became useless in 2024, with the once-per-turn limit to Stunning Strike. Paladins similarly lost relevance, with Smite requiring a Bonus Action to trigger it. Fighter, barbarian, and ranger characters suffered due to the feats they relied on being significantly weakened. Where martial classes took a hit, most casters came out smelling like roses in the revision. The Moon druid was a rare character concept, as a full caster who could wade into melee and tank as well as a Totem Warrior barbarian. Dungeons & Dragons players have lost a valued playstyle with the Moon druid nerf.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Publisher
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
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2-7 Players
