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I am a newer D&D player. I am currently running through The Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure for 5e. My party consists of a Half-Elf Cleric, a Moon Elf Ranger, and myself (Hill Dwarf Circle of the Moon Druid). We have just reached level 4, and I am trying to choose my first feat.

Since I am probably the more tanky of our party, I was leaning toward either Resilient (Con) or Sentinel. I know War Caster is also a highly recommended choice; however, I don't spend much combat time outside of wild shape, and I haven't reached the level where I can cast spells in wild shape form yet, so I can really only use the advantage on con saves that feat offers. This adventure doesn't get you past level 5 or so; therefore, I don't see me getting much mileage of War Caster in this adventure.

Which of these feats would be the better feat considering our party and the adventure we are running?

My general character theme is as follows:
My druid was raised by Dire Wolves. While he is not very social, he has a pack mentality ingrained into him, so he wants to protect allies he thinks are weaker or more vulnerable than him. While these two feats seem to be the best two choices, if another feat helps to meet my goals better -- good tank, protect the weaker members of the party -- then that will make for an acceptable answer.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I think this question would be better suited to a forum, rather than the stack exchange. This is a hard question to provide a 'Factual' answer for \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 16:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ The question is well on its way to being answerable here; we've done optimization questions in the past. But we need a goal, or some measure to say what makes a feat "better" to you. What, exactly, is the ultimate goal for your character. What is it that you want to be better at that we could use to say, for sure, that one feat is better for you rather than another? \$\endgroup\$
    – Adam
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 16:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Adam, thanks for helping me clarify. Since you have to forego ability point increase to take a feat, I would ideally like a feat to provide several benefits, which would make it feel more rewarding to take. I would ideally like to be better at using concentration spells like Flaming Sphere or Barkskin while in Wild Shape and having more battlefield control. My druid was raised by Dire Wolves. While he is not very social, he has a pack mentality ingrained into him, so he would naturally want to protect allies he thinks are weaker or more vulnerable than him. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erunamo114
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 16:20

2 Answers 2

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Sentinel will best help protect

Resilient (Con) will help a druid to have more humanoid-form HP and to maintain concentration checks. You say, however, that you're spending very little combat time outside of wild shape, reducing the perceived benefits of this, since wild shape replaces your physical stats. While wild-shaped, this feat essentially nets you just a proficiency bonus to CON saves. Having advantage on concentration checks instead is significantly stronger at the levels it seems you'll be playing at (citation needed, but incoming), meaning Warcaster is actually a better choice for your requirements than Resilient (CON).

Those two feats mostly help you though, rather than your weaker allies, unless you've got a plethora of concentration spells that you're using to protect your party.

Sentinel will instead allow you to get more opportunity attacks and be more "sticky" to your enemies, which can help keep them off your allies, protecting them, making Sentinel the more obvious choice for your prescribed goals.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Beauty, previous comment removed. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 18:32
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Sentinel will see more usage

You can spend at least 2 x 2 hours in Wild Shape right now, and soon you will be able to cover the full adventuring day, especially with short rests.

Even if you are never beaten out of concentration, no spell lasts this long.

Other benefits of Resilient

While concentration will not come up often, the importance of Con saves is only comparable to Wis saves.

If you have an odd Con attribute, this feat is even me valuable. Depending on your DM, the +1 Con might also improve your Wild Shapes.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ apropos of your last line: rpg.stackexchange.com/a/71349/23970 \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 20:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ @nitsua60 even Miniman said in another reply that feats apply, and the +1 Con is part of a feat. \$\endgroup\$
    – András
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 21:03

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