A bit of help with my backup character?

[Rynjin]

I figure it's always good to have a backup you can quickly throw in if something goes pear shaped, so I decided to make a Druid for my Serpent's Skull game.

I want him to be Wild Shape focused, sort of a melee brute focused around turning into big, solid creatures and beating the crap out of things.

That said...SO MANY ANIMALS. There are a metric buttload of animals and stuff you can turn into, and while I have a vague idea of which ones might be good to turn into (I took a gander at Peterrco's guide, which helped a bit), I'm still not sure what should be my "default" form for combat.

The character would be level 10, with these rolled stats (racial bonuses included, no items:

Str: 18
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 20
Cha: 7

Race is the Nosferatus/Ancient-Born Dhampir because I thought it'd be neat to have a half-Undead nature worshiper.

Would anyone suggest multiclassing in conjunction with the Shaping Focus Feat? If so, what class?

As well, I was considering a few archetypes. World Walker just seems great, only really replacing one thing I might miss (Venom Immunity) for the ability to have Favored Terrain at no penalty (I was thinking Jungle/Underground if I went with this).

However, Menhir Savant just seems very flavorfully tied to the Dhampir race. Is it any good in a game that's not very Undead heavy?

How about the Shaman archetypes?

As for Animal Companions, the Rhino seems like it fits with the theme of raw power, and looks pretty good to boot. Any other suggestions, is it a good choice, or...?

Edit: I was also looking at the Megalania. Bigass poisonous Komodo Dragon represent.

Good spells to prepare every day that are generally overlooked on a cursory glance of the spell lists?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Thanks for anyone who helps out.

[soupturtle]

With those ability scores, a short dip into master of many styles monk would be pretty good. Dragon style is very useful for easy pouncing, as is snake style for defense, and the boost to saves plus wisdom to AC will make you a lot harder to hit. If you go for dragon style, you could also consider weapon focus and feral combat training to make the strength bonus work with your favorite combat form, but that's a lot of feats. You don't necessarily need shaping focus: you get most of the good combat forms at level 8 anyway.

Talking about ability scores: I would prioritize strength over wisdom. Yes, you want to cast high level spells, but you want to hit things much, much more.

As to what forms to use for combat, I think the best choices are probably either the biggest single attack dinosaur you can get, a pouncing dire tiger, or the largest earth elemental you can fit in the room.

As to the shaman archetypes: their best ability is for summoning. At the level you're starting, their effect on your melee form is effectively pretty much zero. Menhir savant, on the other hand, is always useful, as it's abilities are just generally strong. World walker is also pretty nice.

As to animal companions, there's something to be said for both the many attacks and the single powerful attack ones. Of the former, the tiger is the best, only overtaken by the velociraptor if you buff it a lot. Of the latter, the rhino is one of the better ones, competing with some of the dinosaur forms. Megalania looks pretty weak, to be honest, fairly poor damage die and unimpressive strength. Also consider the fact that one of the best buffs you get is strong jaw, which gives two size increases to natural weapons, so a good starting damage die is worthwhile.

Finally, as to spells, I have no idea what would be considered generally overlooked. You get a lot of good buff spells (barkskin, strong jaw, aspect of the wolf) and quite some good control spells, so I'd just try different things and see what works. That's the beauty of the druid: you can try every spell to see if you like it without being afraid of ruining your character.

[Rynjin]

Monk dip won't work unless I swap to Lawful Neutral, though it's a possibility. My current character is a Master of Many Styles though so I'd be retreading old ground a bit.

Maybe I could just snag a few levels of Unarmed Fighter instead, snag Dragon Style and a few extra Feats.

I keep forgetting Druids and Clerics have literally ALL the spells. I'm used to playing Sorcerers and Alchemists.

Apparently, Menhir Savant's Detect Undead/Fey/Stuff is always on? I thought it just gave you an At-Will detect but looking at the way it's worded that doesn't seem to be the case. If so, that's damn cool.