#always funny when companions mental stats are higher than yours

[spitterskag]

ollie's only braincell is actually kept by his wildfire spirit pip

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #38: Cú Chulainn (Caster)

That’s right, the good boy with the good boys is back once again for another DnD build. CasCú’s a Wildfire Druid, which replaces his wildshape ability with the ability to summon a flaming elemental to crush his enemies (convenient, huh?). 

As always, there’s a spreadsheet for the build, or you can check out the level-by-level breakdown below the cut!

Race and Background

You’re the son of the sun, meaning you’re still an Aasimar. We’re changing things up a bit this time, though! Thanks to your dedication to being a guide in this spearless form, you’re not a fallen Aasimar, but a Protector Aasimar instead!. This gives you +1 to Wisdom and +2 to Charisma, 60′ of Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, Healing Hands that can heal your level in HP per long rest, and the Light cantrip.

Your background is a trickier question. You could have the same background as your other selves, but you seem to know a lot more than you’re letting on. That and your self-imposed ‘druid’ shtick should be just enough to push you into the Hermit background, giving you proficiency in Medicine and (It should be religion, but let’s swap it out for Arcana. Nobody will notice).

Stats

Your goal is to guide others, so your Wisdom and Intelligence are pretty high. You’re no Emiya, but you also don’t try to sit people down for a lecture in the middle of Fuyuki, so you’ve got that going for you. Next is your Dexterity, you may not have a spear but you do have your training. Following that is your Constitution; you’ve been trained by one of the most brutal masters out there, so even as a caster you’re pretty tough. After that is Charisma, you’re still pretty rough when it comes to dealing with other people outside of mentoring them. Finally, dump Strength. We don’t need it, nor do we want it.

Class Levels

1. As stated in the opening, you’re a Druid, and first level druids learn Druidic and how to cast Spells. Druidic is a secret written language that only you and other druids know and requires a perception check for others to even find, let alone decipher. You prepare spells from the druid spell list, and use your wisdom to cast them. Because they’re swapped out so easily, I won’t be covering individual spells here.

As a druid, you also get proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saving throws, as well as in two skills from the druid list, here Nature and Survival.

On top of their spells, druids get two cantrips, so grab Guidance because that’s what you do (and it won’t be useful past level one anyway) and Shillelagh because sometimes you’ll have to deal with people who refuse to learn. Shillelagh has the additional bonus of being almost as difficult to sound out as your own name.

2. At second level you gain Wild Shape, a.k.a. the reason druid won’t be showing up that often in these builds. At this level, you can use your action to transform into a beast with CR 1/4 or lower, as long as it doesn’t have a flying or swimming speed. A beast shape lasts for half your druid level in hours, and you can use it twice per short rest. In beast mode, you have the beast’s physical stats, your mental stats, and combine your proficiencies, using whichever is higher. You can’t cast spells, but you can use actions of spells you’ve already cast. Technically, we never see Cu turn into a bear in FGO, but we never see him say he can’t, so technically we’re still canon compliant.

You also join the wildfire circle this level, letting you Summon Wildfire Spirit. With this feature, you can burn a wild shape charge to instead create your Wicker Man, sort of. The wildfire spirit you can summon is technically small and can fly, but it’s nothing a little creativity won’t solve. You summon the spirit somewhere within 30′ of you, and every creature within 10′ of where it comes in must make a dex save vs your spell DC or take 2d6 fire damage. The spirit is friendly, but you have to use your bonus action each turn to give it orders. The spirit sticks around for an hour, until reduced to 0 hp, or until you summon another spirit.

You can also use your Wild Shape uses to summon a Wild Companion, giving you a free casting of Find Familiar. It’s not quite a wolf, but it’s something.

You also also get Circle spells, like Burning Hands and Cure Wounds. Good for you.

3. Third level druids get second level spells, including your circle spells Flaming Sphere and Scorching Ray. A little extra fire power (ha ha, funny pun) never hurt anyone-except who you want it to.

Also, your solar ancestry kicks in and you become a Radiant Soul. You can spend your action to transform in a different way for one minute, making your eyes glow and giving yourself spectral wings. You gain a flying speed of 30′, and can deal radiant damage equal to your level to something you’re already hitting once per turn. You can use this feature once per long rest.

4. You get a Wild Shape Improvement, letting you transform into beasts of CR 1/2 that can swim. You also get an Ability Score Improvement, which we’re spending on the Elemental Adept feat, because spoilers, we’re going to be using a lot of fire. Now you ignore resistance to fire, and you count 1s rolled on fire damage as 2s. Unfortunately, I don’t think this applies to Wicker Man, as they’re their own person.

Speaking of fire damage, you get another cantrip at this level, so grab Produce Flame to produce some flames.

5. Fifth level druids get third level spells, including your circle spells Revivify and Plant Growth. The latter gives you more stuff to set on fire, and the former will help out any teammates who wander too close to your firing range.

6. You now have an Enhanced Bond with your Wicker Man. While your wildfire spirit is active, you can add 1d8 to your fire or healing spells. This bonus only affects the damage or healing of one creature. You can also cast spells with a range longer than self from your wildfire spirit. This means your spirit can now cast Hold Person, which is the closest we’re getting to a proper rendition of your NP in this build.

7. You can now prepare fourth level spells! Your new circle spells are Aura of Life and Fire Shield. The latter is a good multipurpose “don’t hit me” spell, and the former is nice if your teammates refuse to stop dying in front of you.

8. Your Wild Shape improves once more, and you can now transform into any beast of CR 1 or lower. You’re pretty smart when it comes to using rune magic, so use your next ASI to become a Ritual Caster. When you get this feat, you learn two first level rituals from the wizard spell list, and you can learn even more by coming across other spells that have been written down. The spells you copy have to be half your level, rounded down.

9. You learn 5th level spells, including Flame Strike to marry your fire damage and radiant damage halves and Mass Cure Wounds to try and keep your various lancer forms from shindeiru-ing.

10. At tenth level, you get another cantrip. Druidcraft lets you see the future, and unlike most clairvoyance spells has no chance of being wrong. Forcing your DM to stick with a decision can be very powerful in the right circumstances. As a wildfire druid, you also learn to create Cauterizing Flames. When a small or larger creature dies near the Wicker Man, a spectral flame pops out of their corpse for a minute. You can use your reaction when a creature enters the same space as the flame to either heal them or deal fire damage. In either case, it’s 2d10+ your wisdom modifier. You can react this way a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

11. You get 6th level spells, and unfortunately you no longer get any circle spells. I would suggest looking at Sunbeam for more radiant damage or Find the Path to enhance your role as a guide to others.

12. Use your next ASI to finally improve your ability score, specifically boosting Wisdom.

13. You get 7th level spells, and I’d suggest Fire Storm, for the obvious connection it has with your build.

14. Your last wildfire bonus is your Blazing Revival. If your spirit is nearby when you drop to 0 HP, your spirit can take the hit instead, healing you to half your hit points. You can use this once per long rest. Dying is for the other yous.

15. You gain the ability to prepare 8th level spells, including Sunburst.

16. Max out your Wisdom with this next ASI.

17. You can now prepare and cast any spell in the cleric spell list, including 9th level spells, including Foresight in case you want to be right in literally every way.

18. You now have a Timeless Body, which ages one year for every 10 that pass. You also get the Beast Spells feature, letting you cast spells from your wild shape, so long as they don’t have material components.

19. Put your last ASI into Constitution for better concentration and a little more survivability.

20. You become an Archdruid, giving you unlimited wild shape uses. You can also cast any spells in your wild shape, so long as it doesn’t include materials that cost money.

Pros: High level druids are already difficult to kill thanks to their wild shapes. You take it to a whole new level by cheating death with your Blazing Endurance, then immediately healing yourself back up with your Flames of Life. Your wildfire spirit is also very useful for casting spells at range. Picking up Ritual Caster also gives the build a lot of utility that doesn’t require your wild shape or spell slots to be useful.

Cons: Your wicker man doesn’t really hold up at higher levels. It will always have a low AC, and 1d6+6 fire damage per turn doesn’t mean much at level 20. Combined with your own reliance on fire damage, you may find yourself in situations where you can’t really use a major part of your build.

Looking on the positive side, this is just another chance for you to step back and help other members of the party be their best, which is the most in-character thing you can do.

Next time: We’re going swallow hunting.