Ideals on making a CORE wild shape druid


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

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I am making a CORE wild shaping druid. I think I want to start with Barbarian at level one to get a power boost when needed and then go into druid.

Any tips?
What animal companion would you recommend?
What wild shape is most effective?

Liberty's Edge

Go straight druid, that full BAB and d12 hit die may look good at first level, but when you're delaying all of your access to wildshape improvements you'll regret it.

For a wildshape focused druid, you need strength for hitting and damage, dexterity because your AC sucks unless you have barding, constitution because you will be more likely to take hits, and wisdom for spells so you'll have to spread your points out a bit more than usual for a caster. Luckily you don't need your wisdom higher than the bare minimum for casting your spells as you will spend most of them on buffs. As far as companions go, if you're looking at strictly combat it's hard to beat a big cat (although personally I think Deinonychus is cooler). Same answer for wild shape; but there are a lot of utility options there that can come in handy.


Way back in the day Treantmonk wrote a really good core only druid guide. Including a whole section on building a wildshaping druid. It should help you

Treatmonk Wildshape


I'm going to disagree a bit with Sheahan, being a barbarian at level 1 is just fine. You're able to grab power attack right away, and 1 level dip means you gain wildshape at the same time you have a feat slot for natural spell, so you don't have to turn back into your base form to cast your buffs.

I recommend grabbing power attack, extra rage, and natural spell for your first 3 feats.
Equipment I would look at would be 1 or 2 lesser rods of extend spell, for various buffs including longstrider, barkskin, greater magic fang. You'll need a standard rod for air walk, which is a nice buff to have for your pounce forms or for just going over an entangle or plant growth spell.

For wild shapes you generally want pounce or a movement type that will be advantageous to the current situation. Later on a thing you can do is take the vital strike line of feats and combine that with turning into a t-rex or behemoth hippo and casting strong jaw on yourself.


Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
and combine that with turning into a t-rex or behemoth hippo and casting strong jaw on yourself.

Not in core you cannot.

I would recommend, later down the line, using the elemental forms. Elementals can wear armour and use weapons which makes dealing with things like DR down the line much easier. At 10th you can access large elemental form, this makes you immune to crits and sneak attack and reach will give you extra opportunity attacks.

Silver Crusade

andreww wrote:


I would recommend, later down the line, using the elemental forms. Elementals can wear armour and use weapons which makes dealing with things like DR down the line much easier. At 10th you can access large elemental form, this makes you immune to crits and sneak attack and reach will give you extra opportunity attacks.

While I definitely agree with Andrew one thing to note is that changing to elementals DOES merge your stuff. So, you have to take stuff off and put it back on. Not a problem in general but worth keeping in mind.

But its hard to beat an earth elemental or air elemental for flexibility (earth glide and fly, respectively, just rock).

Depending on GM you may also need multiple sets of armour for different forms.

Restrict yourself to a couple of forms and barding becomes practical. Wild armour just isn't worth it until quite high levels.

If you're going to make it to level 17 shapechange is a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL spell. But your wild shape feats (like natural spell) do NOT apply.

Make sure that you have a reliable way of getting mage armour (pearl of power for your caster friend is generally best) including emergency ways to re-up it if it gets dispelled (and it WILL get dispelled if the GM is paying attention :-(. Just ask Andrew :-))

Keep in mind that one role druids excel at is scout. Doesn't need much investment beyond skill ranks and cheap magic items to be decent at low-mid levels (when everything has some exotic way to spot you :-()


andreww wrote:
Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
and combine that with turning into a t-rex or behemoth hippo and casting strong jaw on yourself.

Not in core you cannot.

I would recommend, later down the line, using the elemental forms. Elementals can wear armour and use weapons which makes dealing with things like DR down the line much easier. At 10th you can access large elemental form, this makes you immune to crits and sneak attack and reach will give you extra opportunity attacks.

I don’t believe you get the elemental sub type when wildshaped. You don’t get crit immunity.

Grand Lodge

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pogie wrote:
andreww wrote:
Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
and combine that with turning into a t-rex or behemoth hippo and casting strong jaw on yourself.

Not in core you cannot.

I would recommend, later down the line, using the elemental forms. Elementals can wear armour and use weapons which makes dealing with things like DR down the line much easier. At 10th you can access large elemental form, this makes you immune to crits and sneak attack and reach will give you extra opportunity attacks.

I don’t believe you get the elemental sub type when wildshaped. You don’t get crit immunity.

From elemental body III

Quote:
You are also immune to bleed damage, critical hits, and sneak attacks while in elemental form.


Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
and combine that with turning into a t-rex or behemoth hippo
andreww wrote:
Not in core you cannot.

Not anywhere you cannot! I love the idea, but AFAIK, you can't use Wildshape to grow above Size Huge. You can become an Allosaurus, but not a T-Rex.

I was thinking take a few levels in Barbarian eventually so you can take Beast Totem and get Claws that do 1d6 at Size Medium. Then Wildshape into a Triceratops with a Gore that does 2d10, then go into a Rage and grow Claws and a Bite on top of your Gore, sized up to 2d6 because you are Size Huge. And of course +4 ST for your Rage on top of your Size bonus for Wild Shape.

Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
and casting strong jaw on yourself.

Let's check CRB to make sure that's where Strong Jaw is, but I think that that you can do! Take a couple of more levels in Druid at least you can cast Strong Jaw, doing 5d8 for your Gore and 4d6 with your Claws and Bite.

Another way you can go is just Druid/Monk. Don't use your Natural Attacks at all: Just Flurry of Blows with your Unarmed Strikes, and using Wildshape just to grow 2 sizes and be able to fly, burrow, breathe water, or whatever.

Barick74 wrote:
What animal companion would you recommend?

None. To my experience, Animal Companions only exist to give the GM something to kill when he doesn't want to kill you.

I wrote:
You always keep killing my Animals and Henchmen!
My GM wrote:
Scott, why do you think I keep giving them to you?

A couple of years ago I was in a campaign where the party Druid ended up seeing like 4 Animal Companions in 4 sessions get possessed by demons forcing the PC to kill all of them in turn. He was trying to pick another one when I exclaimed, "Come on! You know he's just going to kill it! FFS, ask the GM if you can take a Domain instead!"

That being said, I do have an idea about a Companion to take. Rather than take an Animal Companion, take the Leadership Feat! Make your Cohort a Cavalier or something that can use a Lance while mounted on you! I think it will be kind of funny to make the Faithful Steed the Hero and the Knight in Shining Armor be the sidekick. Anyway, you couldn't have a Mount or Animal Companion cooler than a Druid Wildshaped into a Killer Whale, a Triceratops, or a Pterodactyl!


Strong Jaw is note a core spell. It's from the APG.


Nowadays there are ways to get your companion a higher save, at least those who have a shoulder slot. You have to spend money on them for a cloak of resistance and additional traits for fate's favoured and a lucky horseshoe isn't a bad idea either. Halflings get a racial FCB to give their companions a luck bonus to saves.


wraithstrike wrote:
Strong Jaw is note a core spell. It's from the APG.

Too bad.

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