Spell Slot Table 5e
As a warlock, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
The table also shows what the level of those slots is; all of your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your warlock spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a short or long rest. For example, when you are 5th level, you have two 3rd-level spell slots. The Wizard table shows how many Spell Slots you have to cast your Spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these Spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended Spell Slots when you finish a Long Rest. You prepare the list of Wizard Spells that are available for you to cast.
Hit Dice: 1d8 per warlock level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per warlock level after 1st
- D&D 5e Multiclassing Spell Slot Calculator This calculator uses the multiclassing rules found in the 5th Edition Player's Handbook, with the assumption that artificers will be treated as half-casters, like paladins and rangers.
- The “Arcane Knight Spellcasting Abilities” table lists the number of spell slots you have. When casting these spells, you must also consume a spell slot no lower than the spell’s ring level. The spent spell slots can be recovered by completing a long rest.
- The Wizard table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended slots when you finish a long rest. You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available for you to cast.
Proficiencies
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose two skills from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, and Religion
Armor: Light armor
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a component pouch or (b) an arcane focus
- (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) a dungeoneer’s pack
- Leather armor, any simple weapon, and two daggers
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Cantrips Known | Spells Known | Spell Slots | Slot Level | Invocations Known |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Otherworldly Patron, Pact Magic | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1st | – |
| 2nd | +2 | Eldritch Invocations | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1st | 2 |
| 3rd | +2 | Pact Boon | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2nd | 2 |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2nd | 2 |
| 5th | +3 | – | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3rd | 3 |
| 6th | +3 | Otherworldly Patron feature | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3rd | 3 |
| 7th | +3 | – | 3 | 8 | 2 | 4th | 4 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 9 | 2 | 4th | 4 |
| 9th | +4 | – | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5th | 5 |
| 10th | +4 | Otherworldly Patron feature | 4 | 10 | 2 | 5th | 5 |
| 11th | +4 | Mystic Arcanum (6th level) | 4 | 11 | 3 | 5th | 5 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 11 | 3 | 5th | 6 |
| 13th | +5 | Mystic Arcanum (7th level) | 4 | 12 | 3 | 5th | 6 |
| 14th | +5 | Otherworldly Patron feature | 4 | 12 | 3 | 5th | 6 |
| 15th | +5 | Mystic Arcanum (8th level) | 4 | 13 | 3 | 5th | 7 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 13 | 3 | 5th | 7 |
| 17th | +6 | Mystic Arcanum (9th level) | 4 | 14 | 4 | 5th | 7 |
| 18th | +6 | – | 4 | 14 | 4 | 5th | 8 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 15 | 4 | 5th | 8 |
| 20th | +6 | Eldritch Master | 4 | 15 | 4 | 5th | 8 |
Patron
At 1st level, you have struck a bargain with an otherworldly being of your choice. Only details for the Fiend were released as Open Game Content by Wizards of the Coast. Additional options are listed below.
Your choice grants you features at 1st level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.
The beings that serve as patrons for warlocks are mighty inhabitants of other planes of existence—not gods, but almost godlike in their power. Various patrons give their warlocks access to different powers and invocations, and expect significant favors in return. Some patrons collect warlocks, doling out mystic knowledge relatively freely or boasting of their ability to bind mortals to their will. Other patrons bestow their power only grudgingly, and might make a pact with only one warlock. Warlocks who serve the same patron might view each other as allies, siblings, or rivals.
Subpages
- Warlock Patrons
Pact Magic
Your arcane research and the magic bestowed on you by your patron have given you facility with spells.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from the warlock spell list. You learn additional warlock cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Warlock table.
Spell Slots
Table: The Warlock shows how many spell slots you have. The table also shows what the level of those slots is; all of your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your warlock spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a short or long rest. For example, when you are 5th level, you have two 3rd-level spell slots. To cast the 1st-level spell thunderwave, you must spend one of those slots, and you cast it as a 3rd-level spell.
Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
At 1st level, you know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the warlock spell list. The Spells Known column of Table: The Warlock shows when you learn more warlock spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher than what’s shown in the table’s Slot Level column for your level. When you reach 6th level, for example, you learn a new warlock spell, which can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level. Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the warlock spells you know and replace it with another spell from the warlock spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your warlock spells, so you use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a warlock spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one. Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use an arcane focus as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.
Eldritch Invocations
In your study of occult lore, you have unearthed eldritch invocations, fragments of forbidden knowledge that imbue you with an abiding magical ability. At 2nd level, you gain two eldritch invocations of your choice. Your invocation options are detailed at the end of the class description. When you gain certain warlock levels, you gain additional invocations of your choice, as shown in the Invocations Known column of the Warlock table. Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level.
See this page for complete list of eldritch invocations.
Pact Boon
Each Pact Boon option produces a special creature or an object that reflects your patron’s nature.
Warlock Spell Slot Table 5e
Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is more cunning than a typical familiar. Its default form can be a reflection of your patron, with sprites and pseudodragons tied to the Archfey and imps and quasits tied to the Fiend. Because the Great Old One’s nature is inscrutable, any familiar form is suitable for it.
Pact of the Blade. If your patron is the Archfey, your weapon might be a slender blade wrapped in leafy vines. If you serve the Fiend, your weapon could be an axe made of black metal and adorned with decorative flames. If your patron is the Great Old One, your weapon might be an ancient-looking spear, with a gemstone embedded in its head, carved to look like a terrible unblinking eye.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows might be a fine, gilt-edged tome with spells of enchantment and illusion, gifted to you by the lordly Archfey. It could be a weighty tome bound in demon hide studded with iron, holding spells of conjuration and a wealth of forbidden lore about the sinister regions of the cosmos, a gift of the Fiend. Or it could be the tattered diary of a lunatic driven mad by contact with the Great Old One, holding scraps of spells that only your own burgeoning insanity allows you to understand and cast.
At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. You gain one of the following features.
Pact of the Arrow (3pp)
SourceAoM:HP (3pp)
You can use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You can choose the form that this ranged weapon takes each time you create it, and you do not require any ammunition to use this weapon as ammunition will be created for you each time you use the weapon. You are proficient with it while you wield it. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to non-magical attacks and damage. Your pact weapon disappears if it is more than 5 feet away from you for 1 minute or more. It also disappears if you use this feature again, if you dismiss the weapon (no action required), or if you die. You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. You can then dismiss the weapon, shunting it into an extradimensional space, and it appears whenever you create your pact weapon thereafter. You can’t affect an artifact or a sentient weapon in this way. The weapon ceases being your pact weapon if you die, if you perform the 1-hour ritual on a different weapon, or if you use a 1-hour ritual to break your bond to it. The weapon appears at your feet if it is in the extradimensional space when the bond breaks.
Pact of the Chain
You learn the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. The spell doesn’t count against your number of spells known. When you cast the spell, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite. Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack of its own with its reaction.
Pact of the Blade
You can use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it. You are proficient with it while you wield it. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. Your pact weapon disappears if it is more than 5 feet away from you for 1 minute or more. It also disappears if you use this feature again, if you dismiss the weapon (no action required), or if you die. You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. You can then dismiss the weapon, shunting it into an extradimensional space, and it appears whenever you create your pact weapon thereafter. You can’t affect an artifact or a sentient weapon in this way. The weapon ceases being your pact weapon if you die, if you perform the 1-hour ritual on a different weapon, or if you use a 1-hour ritual to break your bond to it. The weapon appears at your feet if it is in the extradimensional space when the bond breaks.
Pact of the Skull (3pp)
SourceSPCM
Your patron gives you a magical pact skull, generally a humanoid or ghoul skull collected from a graveyard with at least one hundred bodies. Using this skull, you can cast spells you know with the ritual tag as rituals.
Additionally, the skull whispers magical secrets that only you can hear. When you choose this feature, choose two 1st-level spells with the ritual tag from any class (not necessarily the same class), including this one. The chosen spells are warlock spells for you. While the skull is within 5 feet of you, you know those spells and they do not count against your number of warlock spells known, but you can’t cast them using spell slots as normal. You can cast them as rituals or as formulas (if they have the formula tag).
You can also use this class feature to cast one of the chosen spells as an action without expending a spell slot while your pact skull is within 5 feet of you. Once you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Each time you gain a warlock level, you can replace one of the chosen spells with another ritual spell that is of a spell level lower than half your warlock level (rounded up, minimum 1). On your adventures, you can also add other ritual spells to your pact skull. When you find such a spell, you can add it to the skull if the spell’s level is equal to or less than half your warlock level (rounded up) and if you take the time to teach the spell to your skull. For each level of the spell, the teaching process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp for the rare incense that you must burn in your pact skull while reading the spell aloud to it.
If you lose your pact skull, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to receive a replacement from your patron. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous skull. Your pact skull crumbles to sand when you die.
Pact of Stolen Power (3pp)
SourceAoM:HP (3pp)
You can perform a special 1-hour long ritual on one magic object such as a rod, wand, or staff to obtain its power. You can perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest which uses one charge from the object. You can then dismiss or summon the magic object at will, but when you summon the object it is a shadow object possessing half the charges or uses of the magic object, rounded down while expending another charge from the original object. You can use the shadow object until all the charges are used up, and after a long rest, you can summon another copy of the object to use its charges again, but you still expend an additional charge from the original object every time you summon the shadow object.
Pact of the Tome
Your patron gives you a grimoire called a Book of Shadows. When you gain this feature, choose three cantrips from any class’s spell list (the three needn’t be from the same list). While the book is on your person, you can cast those cantrips at will. They don’t count against your number of cantrips known. If they don’t appear on the warlock spell list, they are nonetheless warlock spells for you. If you lose your Book of Shadows, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to receive a replacement from your patron. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous book. The book turns to ash when you die.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Mystic Arcanum
At 11th level, your patron bestows upon you a magical secret called an arcanum. Choose one 6th- level spell from the warlock spell list as this arcanum. You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again. At higher levels, you gain more warlock spells of your choice that can be cast in this way: one 7th- level spell at 13th level, one 8th-level spell at 15th level, and one 9th-level spell at 17th level. You regain all uses of your Mystic Arcanum when you finish a long rest.
Eldritch Master
At 20th level, you can draw on your inner reserve of mystical power while entreating your patron to regain expended spell slots. You can spend 1 minute entreating your patron for aid to regain all your expended spell slots from your Pact Magic feature. Once you regain spell slots with this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Warlock Spells
Cantrips (0 Level)
1st Level
2nd Level
3rd Level
4th Level
5th Level
6th Level
7th Level
8th Level
9th Level
Warlock Origins
SourceAoM:HP (3pp)
People become warlocks for a number of reasons. Here are twenty reasons why a warlock might make a pact with a patron. If you need a quick way to build a character background, choose an origin or roll a d20 and see what path fate chose for you.
| d20 | Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | Revenge. Your patron promised you a chance to hurt those who hurt you. This revenge isn’t what you wanted. |
| 2 | Anger. Your anger at someone in your family drove you to find power through any means necessary. You patron seized on that hate to have you sign the deal. |
| 3 | Opportunity. Your patron provided a quick solution to a debt, an obligation, or an arrangement in your life. This solution was not what you expected. |
| 4 | Survival. You were going to die, and you patron appeared offering you a chance to live again at a cost! |
| 5 | A Life Preserved. Someone you cared for would have died. You sold your soul to keep them alive. Now they live for as long as you serve. |
| 6 | Exile. You were exiled from your people for a serious crime. Your patron offered you a home that you thought you wanted. |
| 7 | Immense Riches. You grew up in poverty, and your patron offered you wealth beyond your imagination. Wealth is not worth your freedom now. |
| 8 | Power. You’ve been preyed upon your whole life. Your patron offered you a chance to turn the tables. |
| 9 | Admiration. You’ve seen other warlocks and always wanted to be one yourself. You were young and foolish then. |
| 10 | Spurned by the Gods. The gods have never heard your prayers or stopped hearing them suddenly, but something much darker listened instead. |
| 11 | Destiny. Your patron engineered all the steps in your life to lead to you signing the deal. |
| 12 | Lord of the Cult. Not all dark powers need priests, but they do want servants. You joined a cult that gave you power beyond a clerics limited imagination. |
| 13 | Family Ties. All members of your family signed the pact, and so did you. Do you regret this rite of passage? |
| 14 | Family Abandonment. You grew up in a family where you were shown neither loved or kindness. Something else filled that void, and all it asked of you was one thing-your soul! |
| 15 | A Quicker Path. You were on the right path, but it would have taken too long. A dark power offered you a quicker path for the small price of your loyalty. |
| 16 | Life or Death. Your life was on the life, and the only way to survive was to sign the pact. Death would have been a mercy. |
| 17 | A Debt Paid. Someone used you to pay their debt. You could have refused, but they would have paid the ultimate price. Maybe the price for them would have been less than what has happened to you. |
| 18 | The People’s Chosen. Your town, family, or kingdom regularly sacrifices one to the patron. You were the “lucky” winner. |
| 19 | Curiosity. You read words from a tome or ruins, not knowing the deal you were making. That was a mistake. |
| 20 | Love. You love your patron. The patron has taken advantage of this and asked for the one thing only you could give it. |
Amongst the Druidic Circles are those who deal entirely in the Wilderness. Unimpressed with other orders’ usage of magic, the Circle of the Moon works together as beasts, and with beasts. They assume whatever form is required in any situation; they might become a spider in one moment, a massive octopus the next, and a giant bear immediately after. Introduced in The Player’s Handbook, this circle is aggressive towards their goals, and highly individualistic in nature. Can these sheltered beastmasters cooperate with an average adventuring party? Let’s check it out, in our Circle of the Moon 5E Guide.
The Wild Side: Circle of the Moon
The Circle of the Moon is a melee frontliner at heart. Using Wild Shape to provide massive health barriers and choosing forms that lock enemies down, the Moon Circle is by far the best Wild Shaper. You’ll not see the other Circles provide quite as much combat control while in animal shape. And the Moon Circle druid will continue to be a force of nature throughout every level.
Combat Wild Shape
Multiclass Spell Slot Table 5e
To begin, the Moon Circle grabs some fantastic action economy and a way to burn spell slots while a Bear. Nice!
When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you gain the ability to use Wild Shape on your turn as a bonus action, rather than as an action.
Additionally, while you are transformed by Wild Shape, you can use a bonus action to expend one spell slot to regain 1d8 hit points per level of the spell slot expended.
Isn’t that stellar!
Being able to Wild Shape as a Bonus Action is, obviously, fantastic. This allows you to turn into something with a great movement speed, move up, and attack. For a lot of creatures, that also means you can start combat by grabbing your opponent. That’s often a death sentence, especially at level 2. Even without the grabbing, doing damage twice with something like the Brown Bear, or tripping with the Dire Wolf, can lead to problematic combos for your enemies.
Alternatively, if you weren’t quite ready for combat, you can cast a spell. While you can’t cast magic while in a Wild Shape, you can still concentrate. That means you can begin combat by casting Barkskin or Call Lighting, transform to get a massive health barrier, and then move. That’s a really efficient first round! Once you get to level 3, the Barkskin spell is one of the most likely candidates for this action; 16 AC will trounce whatever AC your animal form has!
The additional utility of burning spell slots to heal is fantastic for you. You’re not going to need quite as many spell slots as a typical druid, so spending slots to d8 yourself isn’t bad. Please try and prepare as many useful spells as you can, in case you need to problem solve. But, if you’re about to lose your animal form during a problematic combat, then you can keep yourself up, rather than relying on your Cleric.
Circle Forms
The big problem with Wild Shape is that most forms are only useful for scouting. You want that high Stealth bonus and the Tiny size so you can look ahead and get info. The Circle of the Moon throws that to the side.
The rites of your circle grant you the ability to transform into more dangerous animal forms. Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Wild Shape to transform into a beast with a challenge rating as high as 1. You ignore the Max CR column of the Beast Shapes table, but must abide by the other limitations there.
Starting at 6th level, you can transform into a beast with a challenge rating as high as your druid level divided by 3, rounded down.
Needless to say, a CR 1 creature is about the equivalent of a level 2 adventurer. A party of level 1s are likely to have a tricky time, and a level 2 adventurer might have some troubles putting it fully down. That’s expected. So now, you’re draping that CR 1 creature over your head.
At level 2, a Druid is likely to have between 9 and 20 HP, on average. The Dire Wolf, a CR 1 monster? Do you know how much HP it has? 37. That can give you four times as much health, as an overshield.
What?!
In addition, a lot of these creatures are going to be rather dangerous with their attack action. The aforementioned Dire Wolf deals 2d6+3 on a hit, and has a save to knock prone. A Brown Bear can attack twice. Once you can fly, even creatures like the Giant Eagle can look promising, though at that point, you can get CR 2 monsters.
That’s right; the scaling of this class gets crazy! You get up to CR 6 beasts by level 18. That doesn’t change too much; your Beasts are likely to have low attack rolls and will require aid to hit most of the time. But, your high-level spell slots will help out a bit. And once you become a Mammoth, a +10 to hit isn’t horrific.
Your late-game options are ridiculously limited. At CR 3, you get 3 options. At CR 6, you get 1. This can limit what you can actually do with your animal forms, unfortunately. If your GM really likes making statblocks, consider talking with them about getting a few additional options.
You won’t be in a perfect position here, by any means. Wild Shape still doesn’t scale quite perfectly. But, if your GM is good with magic items, you’ll find that these animal shapes will do just fine.
Primal Strike
A huge problem with druids is that it’s so hard to enchant natural weapons. You’re almost completely reliant on artifacts or very specific upgrade paths. This changes that.
Starting at 6th level, your attacks in beast form count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
It’s a bit niche, and most GMs will likely throw you a bone of some kind to help out their Bear friend. But, in the case that you’re dealing with a new GM, or the module you’re running doesn’t have much for Druids, then this is essential. The moment something gets resistant to nonmagical attacks, the Moon Druid becomes much weaker. You essentially have to drop Wild Shape and start casting spells.
Thankfully, very few creatures get anything related to magic weapons before this level. It’s difficult for martial characters to actually fight those creatures before now. Therefore, you’re getting this at around the correct time.
Remember to get the correct spells prepared to help deal with problems; if a creature has resistance to magical weapons, then maybe Electricity will work better.
Elemental Wild Shape
Druids have been known for their work with beasts. Now, you can touch another aspect of nature; the elements.
At 10th level, you can expend two uses of Wild Shape at the same time to transform into an air elemental, an earth elemental, a fire elemental, or a water elemental.
The elementals are all extremely potent for their own ways, and these four options put you in a unique position compared to other druids. You get four rather specialized options.
Air Elementals are extremely fast. At 90 ft flight, you’ll keep up with most other creatures in the game. Much better than your animal forms will! However, it’s only upside is speed. It has somewhat lackluster hitpoints, and low-ish damage. It’s Whirlwind ability can be rather devastating, but only in enclosed environments, and it only targets one creature.
Earth Elementals are the tankiest your Wild Shape can get, but have a weird Thunder vulnerability. The burrow speed is okay, but you can replicate it with a spell instead of two Wild Shapes. The damage is even worse than Air Elementals, due to a lack of the Whirlwind ability. At least you double damage to structures? Not exactly fantastic.
Fire Elementals are so, so strange. You’ve got a pretty decent pool of hitpoints, really bad damage with your touches (but they light on fire)… and then there’s Fire Form. I’m not sure who thought Fire Form was okay, but you can literally walk into someone’s square and they just take 2d10 damage, guaranteed. And if they attack you, they take 1d10 damage. You’ll literally only pick Fire Elementals for Fire Form, so it’s a good thing Fire Form deals so much damage to melee combatants. Your Touch Attacks are pitifully bad, but also light people on fire, so relatively fine in retrospect.
Water Elementals are the air elementals of the ocean. You get better tankiness, less damage, but slightly better combat control. The Whelm ability is aggressive and good at keeping creatures under wraps. It’s not awful out of water, but it’s a must-have while in water.
Overall, these elementals have poor damage outputs compared to most beasts, but slightly better tankiness without Barkskin. And most of them have extremely valid reasons to be turned into; Fire Elementals can make any creature with Vulnerability (Fire) disappear, for instance. You’ll be really happy to have these shapes when their scenarios show up.
Thousand Forms
Thousand Forms is perhaps the weakest aspect of the Moon Circle druid. And right at the finish line! Thank goodness Circle Forms scales so well!
By 14th level, you have learned to use magic to alter your physical form in more subtle ways. You can cast the Alter Self spell at will.
Alter Self is a 2nd level spell, so being able to cast it at will isn’t… bad?
The issue is that Alter Self is a problem solving spell. It’s here to give you a Swim Speed, a Disguise, or Natural Weapons… Why not just become an animal with a Swim Speed? Or become a tiny creature with amazing stealth? Or an Earth Elemental and go through a wall? The natural attack one does have a +1 to attack and damage with your unarmed strikes, but… who cares? Most Wild Shape options do insane damage by now.
Once you reach level 18 and can cast Alter Self after you Wild Shape, then you could get swim speed on a mammoth, I guess? That’s not really important, but you can do it if you really want.
Realistically, this is an okay utility spell at most, that solves less problems than Wild Shape does. Use it if you need a swim speed, and then consider burning one of your two short rest abilities and just Octopus it up.
Best Race for Moon Circle Druids
Moon Circle Druids are in an awkward situation. In a perfect world, you’ll always be in Wild Shape. You’ll use both your procs to be a beast during any combat… and thus you’ll never need good Physical Scores. Therefore, get your Wisdom as high as you can. Afterwards, the only other ability score you need is Constitution, in case you get slapped out of Wild Shape.
Lizardfolk
These Volo’s Guide monsters are absolutely spectacular Druids. +2 to Constitution, +1 to Wisdom is almost perfect; with Standard Ability Array, you can get to 20 Wisdom at level 8. With a shield, your out-of-Wild Shape durability is insane, since Natural Armor starts you at base 13. Hungry Jaws may (or may not) work with a Biting Wild Shape. If it does, that’s a massive boost to your durability! Finally, you gain two free proficiencies. What a choice!
Half-Orc
The Half-Orc takes a penalty to casting; +2 Strength, +1 Constitution is far from bad, but not perfect. However, you’re looking at the Half-Orc for racial abilities. Menacing is free Intimidation (and who says you can’t intimidate someone as a super-intelligent tiger!), and Darkvision is always nice. Relentless Endurance is nearly essential as a melee frontliner, and Savage Attacks works with natural attacks. Since a lot of your best late-game natural weapons are d10s, that’s a ton of damage! This is basically the only place where Half-Orcs are useful, and they’re dang good! Just, be wary that your Spell DCs will be a bit lackluster.
Conclusion – Our Take on the Circle of the Moon
The Circle of the Moon is a fantastic frontliner, and one of the best Multiclassers in the game; Get some Barbarian or Monk levels, and you can be either stupidly tanky or angrily aggressive. Even without Multiclassing, you’ll be one of the best frontline casters imaginable.