|
I'm considering rolling a Treesinger druid for PFS play, but I'm having difficulty deciding on a direction. Elves don't receive the strongest ability score modifiers for a druid, and the plant forms and nature bond for the treesinger are pretty wacky.
Could someone suggest a build? Would a caster druid be the best choice considering the elven bonuses to intelligence and dexterity, or should I just slug it out with a sturdy treant companion? How should I lay out my stats? I recognize that a treesinger is less optimized than a baseline druid, but I enjoy the flavour.
Keep in mind, the character will have to be built using a 20-point buy and all other PFS restrictions.
Caster druids don't gain bonuses to spell casting from intelligence, they gain bonuses from wisdom. The only benefit I know of that you would gain from an intelligence boost is that you'll get more skill ranks.
Do you know anything about the makeup of the rest of the group you will be joining? Which direction you choose to go might depend on what the group already has set up.
|
|
I know druids use wisdom for casting, but I figure the intelligence boost would aid a caster druid (who would be better serviced by bonus skills) more than a melee druid. Really, it's not an ideal bonus for any druid, but the treesinger is elf-only, so I can't land a natural wisdom bonus.
The Pathfinder Society scene where I live is pretty bustling, so there's no real way of guessing party composition ahead of time.
Some things to consider with an elf druid:
1. Elves gain longbow proficiency. Archery is a very good ability to have, even for non-traditional archery classes. I have an archer druid and she is quite effective with her bow. The cost is that she has invested her feats into archery. But the payoff is that she can dish out damage all day long without using up her spells, saving her spellcasting for critical encounters where they are really needed.
2. Elves get a +2 to dexterity as well, which is also good for archery.
3. Extra skill ranks can go into "Use Magic Device" so that your elf can utilize wands and scrolls to be even more effective.
4. Elves gain a +2 to overcome spell resistance. This gives them an edge at higher levels where spell resistance becomes an issue for casters.
5. Assuming you make wisdom your main attribute, you will have a good perception anyway, and elves gain a +2 on perception. If you pump ranks into perception you will have an extra edge on the most used and most important skill in the game.
I don't know if PFS play allows any of the alternate racial abilities, but there are some good ones for elves if they do.
If you decide to go with an archer I would recommend a trait that boosts your initiative. If you decide not to I think a solid approach would be a caster druid with a focus on battlefield control and blasting.
I like the archer approach. It takes an already extremely versatile character and adds to it the potential to be the party's best ranged combat member. One thing I have discovered is that by having the archery feats, there are certain ray-type spells that benefit from those feats which makes my druid a better blaster druid when there is any attack roll involved.
|
|
The archer idea is solid, thanks. It's not something I would have immediately thought of, but it makes sense given the benefits and drawbacks of playing an elf.
I suppose an animal (plant) companion would be a better bet for an archer than a domain. The treant sapling in particular would provide a solid meat shield to distract opponents with while I'm pegging them with arrows.
Off the top of my head, the following stat spread seems adequate for this build. I'd like to boost my wisdom higher right off the bat, but I'm afraid to drop my strength and constitution too low. Level four and eight bonuses would go into dexterity and wisdom respectively.
STR: 14 DEX: 17 CON: 12 INT: 10 WIS: 15 CHA: 8
Feats seem pretty straight forward. After the first two core archery feats, the order I pick up the remainder in is malleable. I favour Weapon Focus at fifth level due to the druid's lower BAB, but it could always be stowed for later to fish for more arrows a round.
1) Point-blank Shot
3) Precise Shot
5) Weapon Focus (Longbow)
7) Rapid Shot
9) Deadly Aim
11) Manyshot
As for traits, I think you're spot on suggesting a initiative bonus. The elven racial trait Warrior of Old (+2) would do the trick. Nothing obvious springs to mind for the second trait, but the +1 saving throw ones are a solid fallback.
I'm actually surprised how useful some of the druid spells are for archers. Faerie Fire, Feather Step, and Aspect of the Falcon are stand-out first level spells. It's a shame druid's don't get gravity bow though.
I keep telling people how great my archer druid is... I think if you play one you will be surprised by it.
My druid is level 9, her first four feats are:
Point blank shot
Precise shot
Rapid Shot
Manyshot
Since she just hit level 9 I have not yet picked her fifth feat.
I am not a fan of weapon focus or deadly aim. Particularly deadly aim. Deadly aim is an OK feat for a full BAB archer, but for a 3/4 BAB archer I feel it is very poor return for the investment. I would definitely go for improved precise shot before deadly aim. (I am on record here on the boards saying that deadly aim is one of the most overrated feats in the game).
It might be a good idea to have a few non archer feats. As I said, I haven't yet decided on my next feat, I am bouncing around between several options including improved precise shot, meta magic feats, natural spell and a few more.
Chances are I'll end up with improved precise shot.
Update: My druid has built up UMD and carries a gravity bow wand, a true strike wand and a greater magic weapon wand... Oh yeah, her bow is a +1 shocking bow. If she had any strength bonus she'd use a str adjusted bow...
One tactic that my druid uses in "normal" combat encounters is to stay mounted on her tiger and make full attacks from there while her tiger keeps her positioned to her best tactical advantage.
If the encounter is difficult enough she'll dismount and send the tiger into melee.
Don't overlook "Cat's grace" as an archer buff either. Besides giving you a +2 on your attack rolls, it will also give you a +2 to AC.
|
|
I think I agree with the deadly aim omission. Thinking back, I've been more troubled by monsters with alarming AC than ones with humungous amounts of hit points.
My concern with UMD is that it skews high. Even if I pick up the Dangerously Curious trait for an effective +4 to UMD, with my low charisma I would still only have a +13 UMD skill at level ten. By that time, my PFS career is almost over.
Do you find not having a strength bonus an impediment to your archery? I wouldn't mind dropping my strength from 14 to boost my wisdom, but the +2 damage per arrow seems hard to pass up.
Radio, in all honesty, my druids lack of strength is an issue. It's not as much of an issue as her lack of constitution, but if I had the option, I would have higher strength. She was a dice rolled character and I didn't roll all that great, so her str came out to be 10.
However, at level 9 with her +1 bow, her feats and the shocking enhancement, she shoots four arrows with three attack rolls and each arrow, if it hits, does 1d8 + 1d6 + 2 damage. That's an average of ten damage for each hit, before crits. With gravity bow going it's 3d6 + 2 damage, or an average of 12.5 damage. Since she full attacks almost every round she generally averages around 20 - 25 damage per round.
That's not awesome. But it's pretty solid and is enough to make a difference when focusing fire, picking off wounded or taking down minions. Oh, and the dice are sometimes favorable and she either crits or lands all four arrows. Then she's in the 40-50 damage range. Not shabby.
Plus it's all free, other than a charge from her gravity bow wand.
With a +2 str adjusted bow, your character would do that much more damage.
Oh, and if you can swing it, get some boots of speed. Ten rounds per day of an extra arrow at full BAB - 2.
The one caution I will have to register here is that at the earliest levels, you will probably need to rely on spells more than arrows. It takes a bit before the archery feats reach a critical mass.
|
|
I figured as much. Archers are generally gimped until they can manage Precise Shot, and even then I'll be hurting for damage until I can score more iterative attacks. At least I'll have spells and a pet that can lay on the hurt in the meantime.
I think I'll stick with my current stat spread then. The moderate wisdom is a bummer, but I can bump it with a headband and one of my attribute boosts to hit 18. Asides from the bonus damage, the higher strength will let me wear better armor and make my wacky plant forms a little more intimidating.
I'll definitely pick up a Boots of Speed too, that sounds awesome.
Have fun. My archer druid is my second favorite character ever. Now that's mostly due to her unique backstory and roleplaying opportunities, but it's also because she is a great combat character too.
She is also the combat captain, and her being out of melee helps her to manage the battlefield and give advice and options to the other characters.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I am currently playing a Treesinger in a game. I had intended him to be a fairly Melee based character, but other factors have changed. Anyway I thought it would be a good idea to make him a grappler. Given that so many of the plant monsters have grab and contact poisons, I thought getting Greater Grapple as soon as possible would be my best bet. My Treesinger has a high strength, but with Weapon Finesse and agile maneuvers a high dexterity build would be about as good.