FormerlyHemlock
Hero
There are three classes who have access to the Conjure Animals spell: druids, rangers, and bards (via Magical Secrets). Like Conjure (Minor) Elemental(s), it is a one-hour spell which gives you a big chunk of minion HP and damage for pretty cheap. Unlike Conjure (Minor) Elementals, it is only 3rd level, and you can get the double-sized version with twice as many creatures by spending a 5th level slot instead of a 6th level slot--and I don't need to tell you how much more precious 6th level slots are than 5th!
Here's a few things which are good to summon:
Wolves, a classic. CR 1/4, +4 at advantage for 7 points of damage per hit. 11 HP AC 13, 40' movement, pushes prone. Add these to the mix to help any melee party by shoving enemies prone so you can beat on them with advantage.
Giant owls, death from above. CR 1/4, +3 for 8 points of damage per hit. 19 HP AC 12, 60' flying, flyby, 120' darkvision, stealth. Add these to the mix to either engage flying enemies or just to strafe melee enemies for 64 HP of damage per round. They're also stealthy (+4) and perceptive (+5) and have darkvision as good as drow AND Int 8 (like a mildly dimwitted human), so in short you should be able to use them as scouts whenever you're worried about enemies in the dark. Additionally, they are large enough and strong enough (Str 13) that grappling enemies of up to Huge size and flying away with them is a viable tactic: after the initial grapple they can fly 60' straight up by Dashing each round, which is kind of like a guaranteed eventual 6d6 (21) points of falling damage instead of a measly 8 points of damage IF the your +3 lands. Plus being grappled and lifted into the air tends to panic many creatures (including PCs), making the owl a top-priority target, which is great when you've got 304 HP worth of Giant Owl out of a single 5th level spell.
Giant wolf spiders, sneaky webwalkers. CR 1/4, +3 for 4 plus 7 poison (DC 11 Con for half). 11 HP AC 13, 40' movement, climb 40'. Stealth (+7) and ignores web movement restrictions (but not restraining). These guys are really quite stealthy, if you're a Lore Bard with Stealth expertise they can shadow you pretty well during scouting and add to combat without blowing your chances of a surprise round + advantage on enemies. Due to Blindsight they also combo well with Fog Cloud/Darkness, gaining advantage to attack, so if you have a Devil's Sight warlock in the party you might as well get wolf spiders instead of wolves for the extra poison damage. But see below about King Cobras.
Pythons (constrictor snakes). CR 1/4, +4 for 6 plus restraining per hit. 13 HP AC 12, 30' movement with 30' swim, blindsight. The most interesting thing about pythons is that they restrain the enemy on a hit, which gives advantage to attack them and also prevents them from attacking anyone else. Use these guys when you're trying to help allies who are not melee-based, e.g. a Sharpshooter fighter or a horde of skeletal archers or hobgoblin hirelings. If your allies are all melee-based these guys are mildly inferior to wolves, except in the water and in the dark.
King Cobras (giant poisonous snakes). CR 1/4, +6 for 6 + 10 poison (DC 11 for half) per hit, 11 HP AC 14, move 30' swim 30', blindsight. These guys are notable for having AFAIK the highest attack and damage among the CR 1/4 creatures, the best AC, and blindsight. If you're not worried about raw HP for meatshields or about proning or restraining enemies for your allies to kill them--that is, if you want your animals to do the actual killing--there's probably nothing better than a swarm of giant King Cobras under a mobile Darkness spell, unless your foe happens to be immune to poison.
Final word of advice: if you have Inspiring Leader and a way to communicate with the beasts (e.g. warlock telepathy), you could in principle give animal minion a pre-battle pep talk. In theory you could therefore get e.g. 16 * (19+25) = 704 HP worth of Giant Owls out of a single spell and thirty minutes of talking, at twentieth level. Even at mid levels an extra 13 or 15 HP per animal isn't anything to sneer at. This can smooth out the differences between animals and make some animals such as Pythons more attractive for doing their restraining/grappling job. Check with your DM first to see if he considers this abusive and absurd or just part of normal 5E play that lets you tackle Deadly fights with aplomb.
Here's a few things which are good to summon:
Wolves, a classic. CR 1/4, +4 at advantage for 7 points of damage per hit. 11 HP AC 13, 40' movement, pushes prone. Add these to the mix to help any melee party by shoving enemies prone so you can beat on them with advantage.
Giant owls, death from above. CR 1/4, +3 for 8 points of damage per hit. 19 HP AC 12, 60' flying, flyby, 120' darkvision, stealth. Add these to the mix to either engage flying enemies or just to strafe melee enemies for 64 HP of damage per round. They're also stealthy (+4) and perceptive (+5) and have darkvision as good as drow AND Int 8 (like a mildly dimwitted human), so in short you should be able to use them as scouts whenever you're worried about enemies in the dark. Additionally, they are large enough and strong enough (Str 13) that grappling enemies of up to Huge size and flying away with them is a viable tactic: after the initial grapple they can fly 60' straight up by Dashing each round, which is kind of like a guaranteed eventual 6d6 (21) points of falling damage instead of a measly 8 points of damage IF the your +3 lands. Plus being grappled and lifted into the air tends to panic many creatures (including PCs), making the owl a top-priority target, which is great when you've got 304 HP worth of Giant Owl out of a single 5th level spell.
Giant wolf spiders, sneaky webwalkers. CR 1/4, +3 for 4 plus 7 poison (DC 11 Con for half). 11 HP AC 13, 40' movement, climb 40'. Stealth (+7) and ignores web movement restrictions (but not restraining). These guys are really quite stealthy, if you're a Lore Bard with Stealth expertise they can shadow you pretty well during scouting and add to combat without blowing your chances of a surprise round + advantage on enemies. Due to Blindsight they also combo well with Fog Cloud/Darkness, gaining advantage to attack, so if you have a Devil's Sight warlock in the party you might as well get wolf spiders instead of wolves for the extra poison damage. But see below about King Cobras.
Pythons (constrictor snakes). CR 1/4, +4 for 6 plus restraining per hit. 13 HP AC 12, 30' movement with 30' swim, blindsight. The most interesting thing about pythons is that they restrain the enemy on a hit, which gives advantage to attack them and also prevents them from attacking anyone else. Use these guys when you're trying to help allies who are not melee-based, e.g. a Sharpshooter fighter or a horde of skeletal archers or hobgoblin hirelings. If your allies are all melee-based these guys are mildly inferior to wolves, except in the water and in the dark.
King Cobras (giant poisonous snakes). CR 1/4, +6 for 6 + 10 poison (DC 11 for half) per hit, 11 HP AC 14, move 30' swim 30', blindsight. These guys are notable for having AFAIK the highest attack and damage among the CR 1/4 creatures, the best AC, and blindsight. If you're not worried about raw HP for meatshields or about proning or restraining enemies for your allies to kill them--that is, if you want your animals to do the actual killing--there's probably nothing better than a swarm of giant King Cobras under a mobile Darkness spell, unless your foe happens to be immune to poison.
Final word of advice: if you have Inspiring Leader and a way to communicate with the beasts (e.g. warlock telepathy), you could in principle give animal minion a pre-battle pep talk. In theory you could therefore get e.g. 16 * (19+25) = 704 HP worth of Giant Owls out of a single spell and thirty minutes of talking, at twentieth level. Even at mid levels an extra 13 or 15 HP per animal isn't anything to sneer at. This can smooth out the differences between animals and make some animals such as Pythons more attractive for doing their restraining/grappling job. Check with your DM first to see if he considers this abusive and absurd or just part of normal 5E play that lets you tackle Deadly fights with aplomb.
Last edited:
