The Circle of the Titan Druid, newly updated in the Villainous Options Unearthed Arcana, feels a lot more like a giant monster now.
The Circle of the Titan Druid got a fresh update in the latest Unearthed Arcana. If you missed it the first time around, the Circle of the Titan Druid is a “villainous” Druid because they’re dedicated to preserving nature, sometimes at the cost of wiping out a civilization. How do you wipe out the encroachment of civilization? By becoming a giant monster and laying waste to the environs.
With a “titan” form inspired by famous kaiju like Godzilla and Mothra, it had a lot of flavor. Unfortunately, the mechanics didn’t often back it up. Especially since the “titan” form was restricted to being merely Large for the first ten levels of the class. Combined with a bit of lackluster damage and healing, it just felt like a worse Moon Druid. Though the newest update hopes to change that, balancing Titan Form with a shorter duration but a greater impact. Let’s take a look.
Circle of the Titan Druid – A Titanic Update
There are a few big changes to the core subclass, but I think the biggest (pun intended) comes in an update to Titan Form. It’s the core mechanic of the class, so it makes sense that the biggest change would be here. In case you missed it the first time around, here’s how it works.
As a bonus action, you can Wild Shape into a Titan form. You pick from one of three stat blocks:
- Behemoth, a giant rampaging monster that can breathe incandescent fire
- Leviathan, a sea monster that comes out of the depths
- Insectoid, basically a giant flying insect that spreads helpful pollen. But the changes can be found in the individual stat blocks that correspond to the titanic forms.
Across the board, each of the titan forms has been buffed. Each form has had its AC raised from 11 + Wisdom Modifier to 13 + Wisdom Modifier. Also, the titan forms get 4 x Druid Level in temporary hit points instead of the previous 2 x Druid Level. This is a substantial increase that makes them feel actually capable of mixing it up in the frontlines. Which is good because you’d want a kaiju to feel like it has a bunch of hit points.
Each form has also had individual tweaks. The Behemoth has had its incandescent breath buffed, to be 2d10 radiant damage per spell level spent on it instead of 2d8. The Insectoid’s Energizing Pollen feature now includes a movement effect along with its healing aura, allowing the Druid to fly around and heal the party. Weirdly the Leviathan loses out, getting a straight nerf instead. It loses its Ink Cloud reaction and has its level 10 feature cost a spell slot now instead of just being an always on aura.
It’s an upgrade overall. But I do miss features like the Insectoid’s “hive mind” which adds a telepathic hub effect to the transformation, but since each Titan Form now only lasts 10 minutes, I can see why they removed it. While we’re on Titan Forms, at a base level, they now are Large only. However, another change has opened up new options for the Circle of the Titan.
For that we look at the list of Circle of the Titan Spells, which is markedly improved from the lackluster earlier version. It loses out on spells that felt unthematic like Cure Wounds and Longstrider, replacing them instead with Thunderwave (for kaiju stomps) and Enlarge/Reduce, allowing you to go from Large to Huge (for the cost of a spell slot) or at higher levels from Huge to Gargantuan.
Higher Level Titan Time
One thing that bears mentioning is the higher level features of the titan forms, which the Circle of the Titan Druid doesn’t get until level 10 have also been updated. At level 6, Dire Impact has been upgraded significantly. The Shock Wave feature of that ability lets the Druid create a shock wave any time they move at least half their speed, potentially knocking creatures in a 10-foot emanation prone. Feels very much like a giant monster.
At level 10, Primal Havoc gains some much needed updates. Now, the Circle of the Titan Druid can spend a level 1+ spell slot to gain a Toughened Hide. This gives them a bonus to armor class equal to half the level spent on the feature. Again, it makes the titan form feel a little bit more tanky without necessarily stepping on the Moon Druid’s toes.
Finally, the capstone feature, Monstrous Appetite actually feels like a level 14 feature now. The latest change is a huge buff to the damage dealt when swallowing an enemy whole. At level 14, a Circle of the Titan Druid in titan form can swallow an enemy, and while swallowed, now instead of just 2d8 acid damage, a swallowed creature takes [Wisdom Modifier]d12, most likely 5d12, every round.
All in all, I like the changes to this subclass. It definitely needed a boost to feel like the calamity that WotC wants it to. Honestly, I think it could still use a little nudge up in terms of power. But ultimately this is in a much better place. But that’s just me. As you can see from the changes, WotC is clearly taking the community’s feedback and rolling with it – so you should let them know what you think when the survey opens up on June 25th.
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
