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I am building a druid6/beastmaster4 as a backup character for a game I am in and wanted to know what would be some good feats for him? Also what are some must have items for him? I plan on him being a melee combatant mostly.
Books available-
PHB, DMG, PHB2, Complete adventurer, Magic item compendium.
Also what are the general opinions on what are good animal companions? I plan on his second companion being a mount since I can only use the 1st level list to draw from for it (camel or heavy horse), but his big guy I was thinking of doing something odd like a Rhino, Tiger or Lion. Seems like everyone takes a Bear or Croc for the grapple.
Anyway any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
To get the most out of your animal companion try the Natural Bond feat from Complete Adventurer to gain a +3 to your effective level for the main companion. If you use a basic 1st level companion you get up to 16th level benefits, alternatively you can get a companion such as a Roc, Dire-tiger, or even a Tyranosaurus!
Also consider Companion Spellbond (PHB2) to help spread those buff spells to the both of you.
Enjoy
- edit: damn, forgot you cant raise your effective druid level above character level. oh well, your second companion can still gain the benefits.
I played an elf druid archer from level 2 to level 16-ish. I always stuck with a wardog animal companion (riding dog trained for war). They're really tough, most communities aren't as scared of dogs as they are of tyrannosaurus rexes, and they get free Armor feats for being trained in war. My animal companion always had the highest AC in the group, plus he eventually had the Spring Attack feat chain, which really reduced attacks on him anyways.
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Yeah, Natural Bond just doesn't work with the build, but I like Companion Spellbond.
The riding dog sounds neat but I can give a tiger the combat riding stuff, slap on some barding and a saddle and Pounce into battle on my very own Battle-cat!
Any ideas on items for the druid? I was thinking that +2 Beastskin Studded Leather would be nice, and a +2 Darkwood Shield is nice also, but what else?
Actually although Natural Bond won't help you will be able to get up to effectively a 13th level druid because the beastmaster does allow for higher than total level animal comp (in fact, the example given for stacking druid and beastmaster was Drd 5/Bstmstr 2 has animal comp equal to that of Drd 10). As for items, there have been a few Class Acts articles in Dragon over the years with useful material (can't think of the exact issues but 349 I think has some things that may be useful
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Actually although Natural Bond won't help you will be able to get up to effectively a 13th level druid because the beastmaster does allow for higher than total level animal comp (in fact, the example given for stacking druid and beastmaster was Drd 5/Bstmstr 2 has animal comp equal to that of Drd 10). As for items, there have been a few Class Acts articles in Dragon over the years with useful material (can't think of the exact issues but 349 I think has some things that may be useful
Yeah, it is cool with the beastmaster.
I don't have issues 340+ of dragon so I don't know what is in there...
Yeah, Natural Bond just doesn't work with the build, but I like Companion Spellbond.
The riding dog sounds neat but I can give a tiger the combat riding stuff, slap on some barding and a saddle and Pounce into battle on my very own Battle-cat!
Any ideas on items for the druid? I was thinking that +2 Beastskin Studded Leather would be nice, and a +2 Darkwood Shield is nice also, but what else?
BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!!!!
How about a Greatsword that lets you use Tenser's Transformation?
I liked the monk's belt because it applied Wisdom bonus to AC, and could stay put when wildshaped (at least my DM ruled that). Karma beads are nice. My druid was built for versatility, so he was the party diplomat/"locksmith" (summoned critters that melted stone!)/artillery/transporter/archer/healer/tank/battlefield controller/blaster/counterspeller/scout/lookout/sailor.
I beleive natural bond could be used to bump the effective druid level of the secondary animal companion from Beastmaster.
If you envision having some room to manuver, the rhino powerful charge ability can unload some great damage on a charge, plus the rhino has fairly robust HP and AC for an animal. I had a druid who practically lived in rhino form in my Savage Tide last year.
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I beleive natural bond could be used to bump the effective druid level of the secondary animal companion from Beastmaster.
If you envision having some room to manuver, the rhino powerful charge ability can unload some great damage on a charge, plus the rhino has fairly robust HP and AC for an animal. I had a druid who practically lived in rhino form in my Savage Tide last year.
Yeah, I keep looking at the Rhino......seems to be a hard to kill beastie.....
Beastmaster and Druid don't stack for secondary animal companions and Natural Bond only increases the effective druid level so it doesn't help with the Beastmaster Animal Companions. At least that's how it reads.I need to work up a Rhino and see where it stands compared to a Tiger.
If you envision having some room to manuver, the rhino powerful charge ability can unload some great damage on a charge, plus the rhino has fairly robust HP and AC for an animal. I had a druid who practically lived in rhino form in my Savage Tide last year.
Yeah, I keep looking at the Rhino......seems to be a hard to kill beastie.....
Some other feat options are the Wild Feats from Complete Divine and Complete Adventurer. Add in a Druid's Vestment & the Extra Wildshape Feat/Fast Wildshape Feat and your animal forms become more versatile and frequently used in battle. Also on the equipment side I'd rather go for the Wild armour (if you can afford it). Thematically you may want to look at the Rhino hide armour as well, plus it has bonuses if you plan to regularly charge into battle.
As an update of my earlier post I know that there are a fair number of druid ranger animal companion related items even in issues of Dragon in the 320s and 330s (old format class acts covering each class each month rather than the 4 archetypes(not sure if this helps but thought I'd throw it out there)) Also the races of books and Arms and Equipment have some stuff that could prove useful. Also there is a magic item from OA: the Wilding clasp, which allows amulet/periapt/necklace body slot item and/or robe/cape body slot item to stay active while wilshaped and I realize you are focusing on companion but it could still have uses. HTH