I'm playing a druid for the first time in a new campaign. We're starting at level 2 with a 19 point buy and 4300 gp, and we probably won't play past level 8 or 9.
The rest of the party is an oracle of life, a melee-focused investigator, and a TWF ranger. I really want to play a dinosaur-focused druid, and those seem to be best at melee, but I'm going for a hybrid approach since we don't otherwise have a controller. Please critique my build!
Note: The GM has a house rule that all PC's get a number of traits equal to 2 + Cha modifier, which means Charisma doesn't make a good dump stat. Just about anything "loose core" (CRB, APG, ARG, UC, UM, UE, ACG, all bestiaries) is allowed, except for certain restrictions on arcane magic.
Druid Build
Human druid 2 (saurian shaman)
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 15 (+1 at 4th level), Cha 12Feats: Spell Focus (conjuration), Augment Summoning, Power Attack (3rd), Natural Spell (5th), Superior Summoning (7th)
Traits: Dirty Fighter (+1 damage when flanking), Reactionary (+2 initiative), Missionary (+1 DC/CL for euphoric cloud, aqueous orb, slowing mud)
Animal Companion: Spinosaurus with Light Armor Proficiency & Power Attack
Gear: Horn lamellar armor (dragonhide is disallowed), masterwork scythe, chain shirt barding for spinosaurus, cloak of resistance +1, Dire Collar, Armbands of the Brawler, various mundane items, alchemical items, and scrolls
The spinosaurus is a melee beast at 2nd level with 1d4+5 claws/1d6+5 bite (including Power Attack), and the dire collar ups this to 1d6+6 claws/1d8+6 bite when active. I figure in most battles I'll cast for a round or two (including activating the dire collar or my totem transformation) and then wade into melee.
Saurian Shamans are just beastly, as long as you take Augment Summoning you really can't go wrong.
The only thing I question is the 8 Int. I guess being human makes up for it somewhat, and you can use your FCB on skills, but even just 3 skill ranks/level is pretty rough if you want to participate outside of combat. I would personally drop Str to boost your Int for the skill ranks, but that's just my personal preference.
The only thing I question is the 8 Int. I guess being human makes up for it somewhat, and you can use your FCB on skills, but even just 3 skill ranks/level is pretty rough if you want to participate outside of combat. I would personally drop Str to boost your Int for the skill ranks, but that's just my personal preference.
Thanks for the suggestion! Are there any skills in particular that you would recommend? I'd been planning to max Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), Survival, and Perception, but I could get an extra one or two maxed skills by spending my FCB and/or decreasing my Strength to 15.
Ah sorry, I was thinking druids get 2+Int skills, not 4+Int. That is not nearly as bad as I thought.
Also, one great trick with a Saurian shaman is to take the Feather subdomain of the Animal domain. You get your animal companion anyway at level 4, and at the cost of one feat (Boon Companion) it's full-leveled, PLUS you get domain spells and a scaling boost to Perception, among other things. You'll have to go a couple levels without your spinosaurus, but they payoff is very much worth it.
Also, one great trick with a Saurian shaman is to take the Feather subdomain of the Animal domain. You get your animal companion anyway at level 4, and at the cost of one feat (Boon Companion) it's full-leveled, PLUS you get domain spells and a scaling boost to Perception, among other things. You'll have to go a couple levels without your spinosaurus, but they payoff is very much worth it.
Wow, that's cool! I couldn't take Boon Companion until 7th level (since Natural Spell is so important at 5th), but the whole Feather Domain is certainly better than my planned 7th-level feat.
It seems like the best thing would be to start with the build I have and then retrain around 7th level to use the Feather Domain. I'll have to ask my GM what he thinks about retraining!