Ways to gain wild shape if your not a druid.

[Lastoutkast]

So I'm rolling a feral Hunter/invulnerable rager gesalt character but it looks like a regular Hunter would be better. My problem is I love wild shape and I'm looking for some kind of way to keep it.

[Avoron]

Is there a reason you aren't just going Druid//Invulnerable Rager? That seems like a more effective mix overall.

If druid doesn't work, consider taking a look at the Totemic Skald archetype or one of the several oracle revelations that grant polymorph abilities.

[Crimlock NL]

There are some options, some wildshape like or lycanthrope like:
Skinwalker race from blood of the moon, some races have a feat which let you change into an animal. In wayfinder 13 are addintional options which give animal shapes options, but these are from fan content (don't know if you want that).
There is a skald archtype which has a wildshape variant, lesser than a druid or feral hunter, don't know the name right now.
Ranger shapeshifter archtype, not wildshape but animal aspects.
You could play a natural lycanthrope?
There is a spell less ranger from 3rd party, he gets wildshape.

These are some options i know about, but what are the things you really want in the character? Sounds to me you should Exchange the feral hunter for a druid. Great spells, animal companion and wild shape. The rager gives other great benefits...

[haremlord]

Crimlock NL wrote:

There is a skald archtype which has a wildshape variant, lesser than a druid or feral hunter, don't know the name right now.

Totemic Skald, but don't take it if your goal is wild shaping. The wording leaves room for interpretation (some say that you are stuck only able to shape into a small or medium animal of your totem, even if there is no such thing, others say it scales with your level) and you get VERY limited on how often you can use it (1/day at 5th, 2 at 11th, and 3 at 17th).

[Lastoutkast]

Yeah, started with a druid but couldn't find any build for a druid/barbarian, anyone told me I should be a druid/monk...which I don't want to be, I would like to keep the RP vary nature based. I think I've just been hung up on animal focus.

[Dukeh555]

There are probably plenty of magical items that can give you polymorphing capabilities, an example being the cloak of the manta ray. Obviously a manta ray isn't the type of form you want, but there are other items with the same capabilities, just more useful forms.

[Lastoutkast]

Dukeh555 wrote:

There are probably plenty of magical items that can give you polymorphing capabilities, an example being the cloak of the manta ray. Obviously a manta ray isn't the type of form you want, but there are other items with the same capabilities, just more useful forms.

Been looking unsuccessfully :/

[Avoron]

Druid//Barbarian is actually one of the best gestalt options available, at least in my opinion.

To start out, you have full BAB, d12 hit dice, good Fort and Will saves, DR, and 9th level spellcasting.

You can boost your Str and Con enormously with wild shape and rage.

Rage powers that grant natural attacks, such as Animal Fury, Lesser Beast Totem, and Lesser Abyssal/Draconic Blood, work in conjunction with Wild Shape, granting you an enormous number of natural attacks (and probably pounce).

And for your animal companion:
Ferocious Mount/Beast means your animal companion gets rage.
Amplified Rage and a Horsemaster's Saddle means both of you get better bonuses from rage. (If you're not riding your companion, a Ring of Tactical Precision could work as a substitute.)
Greater Ferocious Mount/Beast means your animal companion gets many natural attacks, save bonuses against spells, attack bonuses, DR, or whatever else you get from your rage powers.
Spirit Steed can also serve as a source of some DR for your mount.

And you can still get some of the normal things that are great for barbarians or druids: Evolved Companion, Natural Spell, Power Attack, Raging Vitality, Spirit's Gift, etc.

And to top it all off, the Mammoth Rider prestige class is a thing.

Honestly, playing a Barbarian//Druid gestalt is like being a little kid in a candy store; you just pick whatever options you like best for your character.

I could post a sample build, if you'd like, as long as you tell me a level and a couple of the things you want me to focus on.

[Lastoutkast]

Thanks!!!

Melee who fights with bite and claws in and out of wild shape. Mass summoning and just a creator of chaos on the battlefield

First level, background is he a half orc who's druid tribes have been overrun by orcs, he was 10 when it happened and survived by having a wondering host of animals around him, ranging from rabbits to wolf's. Now in his 30s he is a protecter of the outer Forrest of freeholt(reskined sandpoint) where the people more fear him than like him.

I'm going for a swamp thing but with animals instead of plants, like he is slowly forgetting what it is to be a "man"

[Scott Wilhelm]

You can Wildshape with 4 levels in Druid. You can then take the Feat Shaping Focus, and your nondruid levels count as Druid levels for the purposes of Wildshape.

Consider the Spells Monstrous Physique and Beastshape. You can turn into a Kasatha, a 4-armed Sahaugin, or a Giant Octopus. With only 1 level in Alchemist, you could use these in Wand form, should you ever find such wands. PFS characters could buy them.

[Avoron]

I noticed a druid archetype that I believe could work particularly well with your character concept: Feral Shifter. It swaps out your animal companion for an animal focus ability. An optimized animal companion is probably more powerful, but is feat intensive and wouldn't necessarily mesh well with the rest of the build. You were looking at Feral Hunter, and Feral Shifter seems to be a step up from that.

Anyway, here's the sample build I promised:
Half-Orc Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager)//Druid (Feral Shifter)
Traits: Fate's Favored, Tusked
1: Power Attack
2: Superstition
3: Raging Vitality
4: Lesser Abyssal Blood
5: Natural Spell
6: Lesser Fiend Totem
7: [whatever you want]
8: Reckless Abandon

Not sure if you're using point buy or rolling, but
Str>Con=Wis=Dex>Int>Cha
With 20 point buy, I'd go
Str 16+2, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 14, Cha 7

Miscellaneous: Sacred Tattoo alternate racial trait, favored class bonuses to superstition

You mentioned summoning, which is difficult to do with Wild Shape and Rage making spellcasting more difficult, not to mention being quite feat intensive. But I put in Natural Spell, so you could do a little summoning at the start of a battle, although I'd recommend focusing on utility spells out of combat and buffing before combat, when there's free time.

For your first three levels, you'd have to fight with a two-handed weapon and your bite attack. But from level 4 on, you can fight with your bite and claws both in and out of wild shape. I'll need to look into it a bit more before I can figure out the best Wild Shape forms for this build; the ability to grow your own claws changes things a bit.

[Bandw2]

you're

*walks back to the Nationalist Socialist grammar convention*

[Tsutsuku]

Ring of Seven Lovely Colors, Lion Cloak, Pelt of the Beast, Animal Totem Tattoo

All of these give you limited wild-shape or wild-shape-like things. If you really wanted earth elemental form you can also do Elemental Earth Belt. Alternately, play a skinchanger, Tengu, or Kitsune for racial shapechange abilities.

[Scott Wilhelm]

Lastoutkast wrote:

Thanks!!!

Melee who fights with bite and claws in and out of wild shape. Mass summoning and just a creator of chaos on the battlefield

First level, background is he a half orc who's druid tribes have been overrun by orcs, he was 10 when it happened and survived by having a wondering host of animals around him, ranging from rabbits to wolf's. Now in his 30s he is a protecter of the outer Forrest of freeholt(reskined sandpoint) where the people more fear him than like him.

I'm going for a swamp thing but with animals instead of plants, like he is slowly forgetting what it is to be a "man"

Based on your character's background, at least 4 levels in Druid really does seem like the way to go. Have a look at the animal Shaman Archetypes. Lots of them get Claw and Bite attacks by level 2. Of course, your realize that as a half orc you can get a Bite Attack as either a racial trait or a Feat. You might also consider the Keen Scent Feat.

Maybe then focus on some kind of martial build features with 3 levels in Monk with Monastic Legacy, Feral Combat Training, and Improved Natural Attack on your Claws, turning into a Dire Tiger. Get yourself a suit of Tiger-Shaped Barding with Armor Spikes for your Tiger Form. That way, you will get Armor Spike Damage every time you use your Grab-and-Rake-ability.

[BadBird]

Even without gestalt, it's easy to just throw Shaping Focus on four levels of Druid and have day-long wildshape. Wildshape also gives you access to the Aspect of the Beast for permaclaws.

[Lastoutkast]

Avoron wrote:

I noticed a druid archetype that I believe could work particularly well with your character concept: Feral Shifter. It swaps out your animal companion for an animal focus ability. An optimized animal companion is probably more powerful, but is feat intensive and wouldn't necessarily mesh well with the rest of the build. You were looking at Feral Hunter, and Feral Shifter seems to be a step up from that.

Anyway, here's the sample build I promised:
Half-Orc Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager)//Druid (Feral Shifter)
Traits: Fate's Favored, Tusked
1: Power Attack
2: Superstition
3: Raging Vitality
4: Lesser Abyssal Blood
5: Natural Spell
6: Lesser Fiend Totem
7: [whatever you want]
8: Reckless Abandon

Not sure if you're using point buy or rolling, but
Str>Con=Wis=Dex>Int>Cha
With 20 point buy, I'd go
Str 16+2, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 14, Cha 7

Miscellaneous: Sacred Tattoo alternate racial trait, favored class bonuses to superstition

You mentioned summoning, which is difficult to do with Wild Shape and Rage making spellcasting more difficult, not to mention being quite feat intensive. But I put in Natural Spell, so you could do a little summoning at the start of a battle, although I'd recommend focusing on utility spells out of combat and buffing before combat, when there's free time.

For your first three levels, you'd have to fight with a two-handed weapon and your bite attack. But from level 4 on, you can fight with your bite and claws both in and out of wild shape. I'll need to look into it a bit more before I can figure out the best Wild Shape forms for this build; the ability to grow your own claws changes things a bit.

Awesome build, thank you. Would lesser beast totem work for gaining claws as well ?

[Avoron]

Lesser Beast Totem would work for gaining claws, but it can't be combined with Lesser Fiend Totem, so you couldn't get a gore attack as well. Maybe you could ask your GM if you could reflavor Lesser Fiend Totem and Lesser Abyssal Blood to avoid making your character overly demonic - after all, they're just natural weapons.

[Avoron]

About your Wild Shape options:

The standard wild shapes that are generally considered to be best for combat are Deinonychus (medium), Dire Tiger (large), and Allosaurus (huge). These are still excellent options for you, but your ability to grow claws onto a form that doesn't already have them makes almost any option effective - although from 6th level on, you'll probably want to use forms with pounce most of the time.

If you turn into a quadruped, such as a leopard or a tiger, you can grow claws on your feat and use them when you pounce. This is especially useful for levels 6 and 7, when you'll have pounce but not rake. In all reasonableness, this probably wouldn't stack with rake, which works out fine because the allosaurus, the standard huge form for pouncing and raking at 8th level and beyond, is a biped, so it can't get claws on its feet anyway. Your gore attack, on the other hand, is going to be useful for your entire wild shaping career.

[Lastoutkast]

Avoron...you awesome.
took me a bit to get the bloodline/totem powers. Now I just want to run around in dire ape form with a shilelle, horns and claws :)

[Taenia]

Eagle is actually not bad for small either, and if you need flight.

[Scott Wilhelm]

Avoron wrote:

This is especially useful for levels 6 and 7, when you'll have pounce but not rake.

If he becomes a Lion Shaman Druid, he will be treated as 2 levels higher when Wildshaping into cats, so he can take that archetype to gain Rake sooner.

Taenia wrote:

Eagle is actually not bad for small either, and if you need flight.

Eagle Shamans can Wild Shape into Rocs, and represent the only Druid Option for Wildshaping into Gargantuan monsters.

[Efreeti]

To make a real monstruosity:

Add to your original gestal the variant multiclasing rules from unchained. Lets you trade half your feats for wildshape.

[Lastoutkast]

Bloodrager is an interesting classes.

[Lastoutkast]

Efreeti wrote:

To make a real monstruosity:

Add to your original gestal the variant multiclasing rules from unchained. Lets you trade half your feats for wildshape.

but im already taking druid levels

[My Self]

Really late to the party, but totemic skalds get a limited version.