So I should go straight druid?
All though since I'm going lion shaman I might dip at lvl 19 and 20
Are their any druid archytypes that take out spellcasting and make them better fighters?
kk
So far.
LN Druid (lion shaman)/1
stats 17 str, 15 dex, 14 con, 10 int, 14 wis, 7 cha
14 hp AC 14 touch 12 flat footed12(leather armor) fort 4, ref 2 will 4
Acrobatics 4 knowledge nature 4 perception 6 spellcraft 4
feats: toughness, power attack
spells 0lvl. detect magic, read magic 1st. obscuring mist, entangle calm animal, magic fang
not sure which traits as of yet.
I love being a druid. It was my first ever player and I got a couple of things that really helped. One is in my opinion I would choose an animal companion. Some good one I think are a Roc which could be a mount later on and most dinosaurs(T-Rex and Spino are the best, they get better at lvl 7). The first feat you should get is the Leadership feat. It'll get you allies and then you will be powerful. My feat gave me a Nightmare, he's pretty cool. A good tip for later is to shape change at level 4+, it'll give you a range of attacks and the ability to fly, swim and burrow. Right now I'm level 9 and can do level 5 spells. These are awesome because I have awaken (give an animal or tree human intellect, they could talk, have an alignment and maybe take a weapon) and animal growth. When you reach level 17(if you go up that high) you get a spell that will turn you into a dragon. This may not be good info for you but: When you are level 9 you are immune to venom and poisons(no spell required). I needed that before because I needed to eat belladonna. It's a poisonous plant that is said to cure werewolves. You have a 50% chance you die and the other half is you are cured. Now I am not a werewolf anymore so I don't need it but it would've been 50% chance I'm cured and the other half is that I live, uncured. Well all I could say is good luck, and may nature be with you.
I love being a druid. It was my first ever player and I got a couple of things that really helped. One is in my opinion I would choose an animal companion. Some good one I think are a Roc which could be a mount later on and most dinosaurs(T-Rex and Spino are the best, they get better at lvl 7). The first feat you should get is the Leadership feat. It'll get you allies and then you will be powerful. My feat gave me a Nightmare, he's pretty cool. A good tip for later is to shape change at level 4+, it'll give you a range of attacks and the ability to fly, swim and burrow. Right now I'm level 9 and can do level 5 spells. These are awesome because I have awaken (give an animal or tree human intellect, they could talk, have an alignment and maybe take a weapon) and animal growth. When you reach level 17(if you go up that high) you get a spell that will turn you into a dragon. This may not be good info for you but: When you are level 9 you are immune to venom and poisons(no spell required). I needed that before because I needed to eat belladonna. It's a poisonous plant that is said to cure werewolves. You have a 50% chance you die and the other half is you are cured. Now I am not a werewolf anymore so I don't need it but it would've been 50% chance I'm cured and the other half is that I live, uncured. Well all I could say is good luck, and may nature be with you.
Thanks about the animal companion idea, I have animal domain so I will be able to get one, also since I am a lion shaman do I get a n animal companion(tiger)at 1st lvl like normal?
Calm Animal isn't worth it, and you can't have Power Attack yet, as you have no Base Attack Bonus. You do have another skill coming to you as a human, though. I recomend Survival. I'd also grab Hide Armor. AC 16 is definitely worth an Armor Check penalty, and probably a speed reduction too.
My animal companion will take survival.
I atomatically get calm animal
Do you think I not get the animal domain or not?
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Do you think I not get the animal domain or not?
Definitely not. The Animal Domain just isn't that good. Either go animal companion (it has to be a lion, but that's hardly a hardship, since lions are one of the best companions available) or one of the good Domains you get access to as a Lion Shaman, specifically Glory or Nobility.
With your specific build (clearly melee-combat focused), you'll likely get a lot more use out of a flanking budy than a Domain, so I'd go Companion.
And if you don't want to take Survival take something else, I was just noting that as a human you get a fifth skill. Though a single rank in Survival strikes me as a must on Druids for flavor reasons.
Do you think I not get the animal domain or not?Definitely not. The Animal Domain just isn't that good. Either go animal companion (it has to be a lion, but that's hardly a hardship, since lions are one of the best companions available) or one of the good Domains you get access to as a Lion Shaman, specifically Glory or Nobility.
With your specific build (clearly melee-combat focused), you'll likely get a lot more use out of a flanking budy than a Domain, so I'd go Companion.
And if you don't want to take Survival take something else, I was just noting that as a human you get a fifth skill. Though a single rank in Survival strikes me as a must on Druids for flavor reasons.
Ok animal companion it is.
my animal companion has survival
I assume the character was an elf, since you did not mention the feat you'd need to spend to have proficiency with bows.
The main reason an archer druid is considered sub-optimal is because you have to spend your feat slots on the archery feat tree (point blank shot, precise shot, rapid shot, manyshot...) and that means you can't focus on .
There are other ways to gain proficiency, in this case she is a custom race, half elf, half dryad with bow racial proficiency.
Thank's adamantine golem but I've decided to make a new build AMWILDDOUBLEPOUNCE.
I know you can get a stegosaurus as an animal companion, almost broken it's so powerful.
does it get pounce?
I want a pouncing druid with a pouncing companion
The tiger's more broken anyway 3 attacks of shere awsome.
lol i guess i didnt take into account special attacks I know the stego has one of the highest ACs and Damages of any animal I've found so far.
Thank's adamantine golem but I've decided to make a new build AMWILDDOUBLEPOUNCE.
I wasn't replying to you, it was clear you weren't interested in the archer approach from the word "sub-optimal".
srry I was harsh about your build adamantine dragon. I should have thought before I spoke also it's good for some and not for others like me who have hard times keeping a character alive.
Well, she's survived campaigns that have seen the deaths of two party rogues, a ranger and a cleric.
So I figure she's pretty survivable.
Of course I play her as if she wants to survive. And she doesn't go into melee much. That seems to help.
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I don't think spending 3 levels on monk is worth it. If you do it early you're giving up both spells and better wild shape forms. If you do it at 10+ you're giving up spells that become the dominant force in the game.
If you're a combat-focused druid running an AP that caps at 15 it might be fun multiclassing after level 11. You'll have level 6 spells and almost full wild shape and you'd be able to keep up your melee abilities to finish out the path. Still less powerful than straight druid.
Well the Feat: Shaping Focus would allow 4 level dip to keep wildshape it does not help with spell casing but that leads you back to what type of Druid you want to play.
Your powers of shapeshifting outstrip your dabbling in the druidic faith.
Prerequisites: Wild shape class feature, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks.
Benefit: If you are a multiclassed druid, your wild shape ability is calculated as though your druid level were four higher, to a maximum level equal to your character level.
Special: This feat has no effect if you are not a multiclassed druid.
I don't think spending 3 levels on monk is worth it. If you do it early you're giving up both spells and better wild shape forms. If you do it at 10+ you're giving up spells that become the dominant force in the game.
If you're a combat-focused druid running an AP that caps at 15 it might be fun multiclassing after level 11. You'll have level 6 spells and almost full wild shape and you'd be able to keep up your melee abilities to finish out the path. Still less powerful than straight druid.
Well the Feat: Shaping Focus would allow 4 level dip to keep wildshape it does not help with spell casing but that leads you back to what type of Druid you want to play.
Your powers of shapeshifting outstrip your dabbling in the druidic faith.
Prerequisites: Wild shape class feature, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks.
Benefit: If you are a multiclassed druid, your wild shape ability is calculated as though your druid level were four higher, to a maximum level equal to your character level.
Special: This feat has no effect if you are not a multiclassed druid.
I've thought about it but I also know I might need to cast spells once in a while, do you think it would be ok to lose some spell casting in the long run?
Thank's adamantine golem but I've decided to make a new build AMWILDDOUBLEPOUNCE.I wasn't replying to you, it was clear you weren't interested in the archer approach from the word "sub-optimal".
I should ask before I set my mind, yes I know you probably won't answer me because I was not very kind to you but at what point did your character get going since I'm guessing it's very feat heavy.
I should ask before I set my mind, yes I know you probably won't answer me because I was not very kind to you but at what point did your character get going since I'm guessing it's very feat heavy.Thank's adamantine golem but I've decided to make a new build AMWILDDOUBLEPOUNCE.I wasn't replying to you, it was clear you weren't interested in the archer approach from the word "sub-optimal".
This is a character that started at level 1, in a party of level 1 characters. At level 1 she had bow proficiency and she took as her first feat Point Blank Shot. As I think I've said, at that time she viewed herself entirely as a dryad, and in her mind dryads use bows. The party included a sorcerer, a cleric and a ranger. The ranger was by far the most effective ranged character, but between her bow, her wolf companion and her use of spells (usually entangle, which is also a dryad natural ability) she easily held her own.
At level 3 she took precise shot since the -4 to melee was causing too many times that she would instead rely on moving into melee or summoning animals to fight. By now the ranger had rapid shot and was very much more effective. Also, the ranger had been given a +1 bow by the town mayor, while she had to make do with her self-created masterwork bow.
At level 5 she took rapid shot and closed the gap on the ranger pretty effectively. By now her summoning spells were very effective and she had many other spell options in combat. It was somewhere between level four and level five that she became the acknowledged powerhouse of the party. Even though the ranger's bow attacks were still superior to hers, her buffing, summoning, battlefield control, animal companion and direct damage spells made her the go-to party member for ending encounters that were getting out of hand. When she began wild-shaping herself and entering melee it was clear that she was actually somewhat overpowered.
At level 6 the ranger died, and she became the main ranged combat force for the party. We took on a black dragon and her arrows did the majority of damage in defeating the dragon since the dragon had adopted a flyby attack strategy against the mostly melee party. The party sorcerer's magic missiles were the second most effective attack against the dragon.
At level 7 she purchased a belt of dexterity to get her Dex to 18 and took manyshot and her bow effectiveness was about the same as the ranger's effectiveness at the time he died.
The bottom line here is that she never was, and never will, equal a ranger or fighter in pure archery damage output. But rangers and fighters don't add animal companions, summoned animals, major party buffs and serious battlefield control to the party.
She is now the acknowledged leader of the party and is generally the deciding factor in most encounters.
UPDATE: Oh, she is a lion shaman druid. Although I've flavored her as a "tiger" shaman because I like tigers more than lions. She summons tigers in a standard action and she uses the lion shaman powers (like boosting her speed) very effectively in combat.
could you give me stats for her please?
I'm a lion shaman anyway.
Her build has been posted already for all intents and purposes. I'm not sure what point buy, array or technique for rolling that you are using, but unless its a 15 point buy, you shouldn't have any problem coming up with a race that will allow you to have a 16 dex and 18 wisdom after racial adjustments. Even with a 15 point buy you can do it with a race that provides a +2 to dex and wisdom. You will need a way to gain bow proficiency, either racial or a trait or a bonus feat.
I've already listed the feats. She uses a +1 thundering bow to get an additional d6 of damage from each arrow. She wears a belt of dexterity and lesser bracers of archery. She has two level 1 and one level 2 pearls of power and a rod of lesser metamagic: extend.
When given a chance to buff she will sometimes buff herself with cat's grace for an additional +2 to dex (+2 because the +4 doesn't stack with the +2 from the belt) but usually she buffs her tiger or buffs the party tank.
Recently she has begun riding her tiger in combat, which is very flavorful and allows for very tactical positioning, but it does make the tiger's melee role a bit less important.
There's nothing complex about the build, it's a straight archer build.
ok thanks
A good animal companion with pounce is the same one I ave currently: A velociraptor. Not only do they get pounce but at a certain level they get 5 moves in 1 turn. They get to use a bite, 2 claws and 2 talons. Good luck and may nature be with you....again:)
Duna, a big cat with pounce and rake can also get a bite, two claws and two rakes in one turn.
do you get rake and claw attacks in the same turn?
Yes, with pounce on a charge you can bite, claw, claw, rake, rake.
Any time you grapple you can also use rake.
any way the max damage for the tiger is 10 more not including str also he can be used as a mount Adamantine Dragon your vote wins.
I'm not recommending the tiger for you Theos. I'm just saying what it does. Since the vast majority of optimized druid builds take dinosaurs, I've always assumed they have some advantage over tigers.
I am not much for optimizing my characters beyond just making them work. I play the game to role play first, and combat second. As long as they can contribute, I'm happy. I said from the start that my build was sub-optimal from a damage perspective. I just happen to think she's optimal for role playing.
Ah, true it may be. Although an intresting build maybe I'll file it away in the back of my mind once I get good enough to be able to survive anything unless you would rather not have me copy you.
Also I'm learning to roleplay better know.
Theos, you are welcome to build a character similar to my archer druid. Unless you want to create the very same backstory for yours, I don't see how you could "copy" my character. The mechanics are only the skeleton of the character imho. It's the backstory, history, experience and life goals that define the character.
As I've said. I think she's fun to play. She has so many options it's really sort of silly. At any time I can do just about anything the game requires except find and disable magic traps.
I'm curios does the 1/2 dryad do anything for you or is it merely flavor.
My GM and I worked hard to create the "drylf" race. The rationale for her existence is that a dryad enchanted a wild elf and somehow fell in love with him. The two discovered and thwarted a plot to destroy the oak grove and most of the forest, and as a reward, the Gods allowed them to marry and have a child. Yeah, cheesy...
The mechanics of the drylf are as follows:
Racial modifiers:
+2 dex, -1 str, +2 wis, -2 con
Racial abilities
Cast entangle as a spontaneous spell
+1 natural armor bonus
Vulnerable to fire
-2 con damage when indoors or underground
CanopyWalk - ability to move through forest canopy as if on level ground
bow proficiency
low light vision
base speed 30
+2 bonus when outdoors to perception and survival
+2 bonus to handle animal
Speak with trees 1/day
resistance to cold weather effects
Forest withdrawal - Takes d2 con damage for every week she is away from the forest.
So there are some mechanical benefits for her while in the forest. But unfortunately, she's never adventured in the forest. She takes severe penalties for going underground (-2 con is essentially subracting her level from her hit dice). While indoors or underground she cannot heal the con damage.
She has a magic item made from the heart of her mother oak tree which will give her one hour of respite from her underground or indoor penalties per day.
Wow some sweet stuff with some souring to it., I like the canopy walk especially.
Wow some sweet stuff with some souring to it., I like the canopy walk especially.
She has used canopy walk exactly one time in a tactical situation while scouting ahead on a trip from one dismal dungeon to another. She ended up taking two crossbow bolts for her trouble....
But it is a great flavor ability.
She's truly a great character to play. The negatives to her racial abilities are significant enough to hurt, and that is by design. She will not go indoors or underground unless there is a compelling reason to do so. When she is between adventures, she typically sleeps in a nearby oak tree while the rest of the party sleeps in the Inn. So far she's managed to survive that arrangement, and in fact has even been able to come to the aid of the party as they were attacked in the Inn.
She's played under two GMs so far, and both really like the race. We tried hard to make it a balanced race.
I want to see her in tucker's kobolds and ToH consecutivly
Oh... as conceived drylfs can only be female. But if you wanted to use the race there's no reason you couldn't make a male one.
thx also how'd you get a half dryad, was it because they usually mate with humans?
To be fair, Tucker's Kobolds would be a hard challenge for her. Besides the underground penalties, she'd also have to deal with lots of potential fire damage.
But, if there were children being held inside the kobold lair, she'd go after them...
It is pretty much standard practice for her to use spells that protect her from fire now. Early in her career fire damage was a huge problem.
Sorta funny story... the closest she ever came to being burned to death came when a party member fumbled an alchemist fire throw and it landed right on top of her. That was at level 2 I think. She was already wounded and the 1.5x fire damage almost killed her outright.
She's very, very careful during combat. She rarely melees, although she has wildshaped and done melee on a couple of occasions when it was necessary.
FYI, she is currently deep in a dark, miserable cave seeking out a red dragon to fight.
Fun city.