I'm starting a new campaign this Saturday and my plan was to build a hand to hand druid.
Female Druid 1
Init +4; Senses Perception +6
==DEFENSE==
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 dex)
hp 14 (1d8+2)
SR 0
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +4
Armor Hide, Medium
==OFFENSE==
Spd 4 sqr/x4
Melee Unarmed Strike +4 (1d3+4) 20/x2
Melee Quarterstaff +4 (1d6+6) 20/x2 monk, double
==STATISTICS==
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
BAB +0, CMB +4, CMD +16
Feats Armor Proficiency (LIGHT / MEDIUM) (PFCR 118), Improved Unarmed Strike (PFCR 128), Shield Proficiency (PFCR 133), Toughness (PFCR 135)
Skills Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +6, Survival +8
SQ Wild Empathy (PFCR 50-51), Nature Bond (Animal Companion - Tiger) (Animal Companion - Tiger) (PFCR 50)
MC Druid Bonus Languages (PFCR 50), Druid Spells (PFCR 49), Druid Spontaneous Casting (PFCR 49), Forbidden Spell Alignment (PFCR 41, 49), Nature Sense (PFCR 50)
Traits Beast of the Society (Magic: Druid) (PFCh: FcGd 63), Reactionary (Combat) (PFAPG 328)
Languages Common, Druidic
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My thought was to cast Magic Fang on myself as well as Stone Fist, both level 1 druid spells.
School transmutation; Level druid 1, ranger 1, summoner 1; Domain fur 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
EFFECT
Range touch
Target living creature touched
Duration 1 min./level
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
DESCRIPTION
Magic fang gives one natural weapon or unarmed strike of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. The spell can affect a slam attack, fist, bite, or other natural weapon. The spell does not change an unarmed strike's damage from nonlethal damage to lethal damage.
School transmutation [earth]; Level alchemist 1, druid 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a chip of granite)
EFFECT
Range personal
Targets you
Duration 1 minute/level (D)
DESCRIPTION
This spell transforms your hands into living stone. While this spell is in effect, your unarmed strikes do not provoke attacks of opportunity and deal 1d6 points of lethal bludgeoning damage (1d4 if you are Small). In addition, your unarmed strikes ignore the hardness of any object with a hardness less than 8.
Stone to flesh immediately dispels stone fist. Should you be the target of transmute rock to mud, this spell immediately ends and you take 4d6 points of damage.
In my mind this was allowing me cast magic fang and stone fist on myself allowing me to fight with my hands at level 1 with a +5 (+4 str, +1 magic fang) to hit doing 1d6+5 damage (1d6 because of stone fist, +4 for str and +1 for magic fang). However, I've just been informed that this won't actually work because magic fang won't work on an unarmed strike since it isn't a natural attack.
Is there any way I can still get this to work? We are mainly only using the core rule book though we can use paizo archetypes and we can possibly get a spell or two from other paizo sources approved like I did with stone fist.
I was planning on doing straight druid though, possibly, a level or two dip in monk after I hit lvl 4 druid for beast shape. It's been suggested that instead of monk I do a two level dip in Ranger and do the shifter archetype for claws.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I have a picture of a big brawny druid who carries no weapons and just brawls with the opponents. Possibly even getting grappling. Think Grizzly Adams meets Zangief (Street Fighter) lol.
She-Zangief?
Is the build really ruined without magic fang? 1d6+4 is plenty good for low levels.
It works just fine, you just need to reread the magic fang spell:
"Magic fang gives one natural weapon or unarmed strike of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls..."
Problem solved:)
I would however consider how viable the strategy is. You are going to be spending the first two round of every combat buffing yourself (since the duration is 1 min/level), to get an additional +1 to hit and +3 to damage (average).
It works just fine, you just need to reread the magic fang spell:
"Magic fang gives one natural weapon or unarmed strike of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls..."Problem solved:)
Wow, my reading comprehension is terrible. I just took it at face value that he was right and I was wrong with magic fang. lol Thanks for the heads up. So, you think two rounds of buffing is a waste? What about sticking with the stone fist and dropping unarmed strike / magic fang? Would there be a better way to go about this then?
And the female part was an accident in the spread sheet I was using. lol
What level are you going to? That way I know how to best advise.
Also, as for multiclassing Druid its best to go Barbarian because of Rage, HD, increased Mvmt., BAB... a lot of reasons.
We are going to be starting an adventure path that has the possibility of taking us to level 20. It's a jungle oriented one though I'm not sure what the exact name is. I wanted to avoid any spoilers.
I was trying to stay away from Barbarian since we already have one in the group and I didn't want to steal any of his thunder away from him. I was initially going to go fighter but I figured that would really suck in a jungle environment.
It could work, pretty well, but I wouldn't rely on the buffs too much. Your character also needs to function when you cannot cast a minute/level spell just before combat starts. Also, I'd try to get your dexterity one point higher so you can get two-weapon fighting (more punches = good) if you intend to keep fighting with your fists forever. If you're going to use wild shape whenever possible that isn't as useful though.
Also, I'd take my one level dip in unarmed fighter, not barbarian. You get improved unarmed strike and a style feat of your choice for free (there's lots of good ones), and raging doesn't work terribly well with spellcasting. Also, a barbarian dip only really works well if you either become immune to fatigue, or can take the extra rage feat once or twice. With only 6 rounds of rage per day the whole 'fatigued after use' thing becomes a bit of a liability, and you can only really rage for one fight per day.
Unarmed fighter looks like it could be nice. What sort of combat style would I look into though? The free unarmed strike is awesome though I'm leery until I take a look at the styles and see if there is anything that could help beast for as that is what I plan to use mostly once I hit level 4.
just in case ... did you see the plant domain (or metal subdomain of earth) granted powers?
Wow, plant looks awesome! Wooden fist at level 1 and spiked armor at level 6?! Or even the growth subdomain for for enlarge person at level one and enlarge as a swift action?! That sound incredible, however, post level 4 with beast shape is the wooden fist worth it, and at level 6 is is bramble armor / growth worth the loss of the animal companion at higher levels?
Something else I was looking at is the rending fury feat line. Is there way to get rend as a druid to work down that line?
And would the natural attack combat style from the ranger abilities be worth looking into if I were to take one of the totem archetypes for a druid and get claws at level 2?
Thanks everyone!
Widj
for a low level melee druid, shillaleigh is the spell you want. Two hand that sucker for 2d6+6
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Hand to hand Druid is very tricky to pull off, thanks to the extremely limited feats for Druid. You'll almost definitely have to splash another class. The best options for this are either Unarmed Figher or Monk.
Unarmed Fighter gets you:
-extra BAB
-free Style feat
-d10 hit die
Monk gets you:
-wis to AC
-Flurry
-free other feat (Improved Grapple is really nice once you can wildshape into things with grab attacks)
-stunning fist
-good saves (which is like getting Iron Will and Lightning Reflexes free)
Remember: if you want to get the most out of this build, you'll probably want the following things:
-Feral Combat Training (and its prereq, Weapon Focus (natural attack)
-Dragon Style
The former lets you use all of your unarmed strike moves with wild shape - without it, you're not much different from a regular druid when you're wild-shaped. The latter is incredible for any kind of build, but yours especially, considering druids can get pounce later on.
Depending on how much you multiclass (it's possible to go Unarmed Figher 1/Monk 2/Druid X for maximum feats), you'll probably also want the feat Shaping Focus, which brings your wildshape up to your combined level. You might also want Boon Companion if you choose a companion instead of a domain. And like all druids, you'll want Natural Spell.
See how these things add up? Lotsa feats. <:]
I'm starting a new campaign this Saturday and my plan was to build a hand to hand druid.
Since it looks like you are human you may want to consider the Feral Child Druid Archetype. I think it is from Advanced Race Guide. Anyway it gives you unarmed strike and favored terrain which may be handle if it is a jungle based campaign.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/core-races/human/feral-child-druid-human
It does replace wild shape which I think is a pretty hefty loss but it is a druid who can punch.
I've looked into Feral Child and it looked awesome at first. Then I got to the part where you lose Wild Shape. In my mind Wild Shape is the quintessential druid ability. To lose it seems like such a complete waste, there's no way I could go for that. Especially since I want to eventually be a hand to hand beast in beast mode. ;) (hand to hand just meaning no weapon, not actual unarmed strike since I know you can't do that as an animal.)
Dragon style looks absolutely phenomenal! I don't really want to multiclass to more than one other class. The unarmed fighter is looking very promising for my level 2 dip to get Dragon Style and unarmed strike so I don't have to burn a feat on it.
After doing more research, it looks like I can go 8 levels in druid and then pick up the feat Shaping Focus and once I have 4 levels in another class then I am eligible for the the best that a druid can get with his shape changing. If this is the case, and since the beast shape is the primary ability I'm looking for in the druid, would it be best to do level 8 druid / 12 unarmed fighter as the end goal for the best results for fighting as animal / elemental forms?
I realize I lose out on a ton of spells but since those are secondary for me anyways, what do you all think?
I'm thinking maybe level progressions as such for the first few levels;
Level 1 Druid: Toughness, Improved Init.
Level 2 Unarmed Fighter: Improved Unarmed Strike, Dragon Style
Level 3 Druid: Power Attack
Level 4 Druid: +1 Str
Level 5 Druid: Shaping Focus
Thoughts and suggestions?
Especially since I want to eventually be a hand to hand beast in beast mode. ;) (hand to hand just meaning no weapon, not actual unarmed strike since I know you can't do that as an animal.)
Where are you deriving this ruling from?
prototype00
Especially since I want to eventually be a hand to hand beast in beast mode. ;) (hand to hand just meaning no weapon, not actual unarmed strike since I know you can't do that as an animal.)
Where are you deriving this ruling from?
prototype00
Again, going off what one of the guys in my group told me. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I tend to take what the guys in my group tell me at face value since I'm fairly new to Pathfinder still. :)
So here is the description of a monk's unarmed strike from the core rulebook:
At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Now of the four limbs listed above, some argument might be made that most animals can't make a fist. But all the other striking surfaces every quadrupedal animal will have.
If a monk is wildshaped into another creature, they can kung fu with the best of them (and I do mean best, monk/druid is one of the most powerful multiclasses in the game).
For edification, I include the following:
prototype00
So here is the description of a monk's unarmed strike from the core rulebook:
At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.Now of the four limbs listed above, some argument might be made that most animals can't make a fist. But all the other striking surfaces every quadrupedal animal will have.
If a monk is wildshaped into another creature, they can kung fu with the best of them (and I do mean best, monk/druid is one of the most powerful multiclasses in the game).
For edification, I include the following:
prototype00
Is that all the same for the unarmed fighter though? It says he gets improved unarmed strike but it doesn't include the rest of that that I saw.
Nope, monks are special as far as RAW is concerned.
prototype00
Nope, monks are special as far as RAW is concerned.
prototype00
Then I was correct in saying that I wouldn't be able to use unarmed strike in beast mode as a druid / unarmed fighter? :)
Fair enough, but your statement was a blanket one, and I thought I'd clear an implied misconception. If you are a monk, there is nothing stopping you from doing your unarmed attack routine and then combining it with your natural attack routine.
prototype00
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By RAW, I believe you can make "unarmed attacks" while beast shaped, since it's nonspecific as to which part of the body you use. However, to use Dragon Style with a natural attack, you will need Feral Combat Training. That means that if you want to use natural attacks to get trip, grapple, pounce, etc., you're going to need Feral Combat Training. (It also means you're going to have to pick one natural attack to focus on - probably bite or claws.)
Also, I've found that some of the archetypes need a little tweaking, and as long as you're not playing PFS that's ok. For example, for an archetype that loses wild shape, you could ask your GM if you could replace spontaneous Summon Nature's Ally with spontaneous Beast Shape. It's significantly weaker than wild shape as written, but lets you make a concept without it being super overpowered. (Remember, if you're frequently fighting in your favored terrain, Feral Child gets a pretty decent boost.)
Druid 8/Unarmed Fighter 12 could indeed be pretty good, but keep in mind that a lot of Unarmed Fighter's abilities are geared for grappling. If that's not your style, I'd go Monk/Druid - there's a lot of synergy there, and flurrying with, say, an Allosaurus bite is pretty darn nasty. You also get better saves, better AC (since you don't get armor while wild shaped, but you do get the monk AC bonus), faster move speed, and a ki pool. Granted you can't pick up Dragon Style quite as a bonus feat, but you can still get it at level 3 with IUS and 3 ranks in acrobatics.
By RAW, I believe you can make "unarmed attacks" while beast shaped, since it's nonspecific as to which part of the body you use. However, to use Dragon Style with a natural attack, you will need Feral Combat Training. That means that if you want to use natural attacks to get trip, grapple, pounce, etc., you're going to need Feral Combat Training. (It also means you're going to have to pick one natural attack to focus on - probably bite or claws.)
Druid 8/Unarmed Fighter 12 could indeed be pretty good, but keep in mind that a lot of Unarmed Fighter's abilities are geared for grappling. If that's not your style, I'd go Monk/Druid - there's a lot of synergy there, and flurrying with, say, an Allosaurus bite is pretty darn nasty. You also get better saves, better AC (since you don't get armor while wild shaped, but you do get the monk AC bonus), faster move speed, and a ki pool. Granted you can't pick up Dragon Style quite as a bonus feat, but you can still get it at level 3 with IUS and 3 ranks in acrobatics.
The druid is great to keep in mind. I'm wondering if it is worth it though since I didn't plan on taking my wisdom over 14 and I was going to focus on strength instead. Would it be better if I was going to try the month path that I increase my wisdom higher in order to take advantage of the monk more since I would be taking 12 levels in it and they seem pretty dependent on their wisdom for a lot of their abilities?
I guess I'll also have to look into getting feral combat training regardless of which route I go.
OK, from reading Dragon Style, it looks like I could still get the bonuses it gives to saving throws, charges, running, and withdrawing. I just couldn't get the strength bonus while attacking in animal form? For that I would need to get the Feral Combat Training.
That being the case, a slight adjustment to leveling might be:
Level 1 Druid: Toughness, Weapon Focus (Natural Weapon?).
Level 2 Unarmed Fighter: Improved Unarmed Strike, Dragon Style
Level 3 Druid: Feral Combat Training
Level 4 Druid: +1 Str
Level 5 Druid: Shaping Focus
I'm not sure if this would work since I don't actually have any natural weapons until level 4 druid? if not, then possibly take the shaman archetype to give me claws as a level 2 druid in which case it should work.
Actually, that last one doesn't work anyways. I can't take weapon focus at first level as a druid since it requires BAB +1.
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You could get the STR bonus to an unarmed attack, but not a natural attack. So if you change into a bear, you could charge and attack with your paw (adding the STR from dragon style), but you could NOT add the extra strength while attacking with your claw (which has the Grab special ability).
Don't worry about starting with a low-ish wisdom. If you're getting to high levels, your starting scores matter less. The real problem is that Shaping Focus, Weapon Focus (natural attack), and Feral Combat Training can ALL only be taken after you get wild shape, and none of them can be had with Monk bonus feats.
Unless... Have you picked a race yet? It might be very wise to choose a race with natural claws for this build. In fact, a Tengu is treated as having improved unarmed strike with his natural weapons (and has a wisdom bonus to boot), meaning that if you picked a full BAB class at 1st level you could do this:
1 Weapon Focus (claw)
3 Dragon Style
5 Feral Combat Training
7 Shaping Focus
...
which really frees up some options - you might not need to splash Monk or Unarmed Fighter at all. (Barbarian is nice, or I guess in this case Birdbarian.)
Otherwise, Unarmed Fighter with any claw-possessing race is probably best after all.
Unarmed Fighter 1 (Improved Unarmed Strike, Dragon Style, Weapon Focus (claw))
Druid 1
Druid 2 Feral Combat Training
Druid 3
Druid 4 Shaping Focus
and then whatever else you want. Druids could actually make pretty darn good grapplers, since size is an important factor there.
You could get the STR bonus to an unarmed attack, but not a natural attack. So if you change into a bear, you could charge and attack with your paw (adding the STR from dragon style), but you could NOT add the extra strength while attacking with your claw (which has the Grab special ability).
Don't worry about starting with a low-ish wisdom. If you're getting to high levels, your starting scores matter less. The real problem is that Shaping Focus, Weapon Focus (natural attack), and Feral Combat Training can ALL only be taken after you get wild shape, and none of them can be had with Monk bonus feats.
Unless... Have you picked a race yet? It might be very wise to choose a race with natural claws for this build. In fact, a Tengu is treated as having improved unarmed strike with his natural weapons (and has a wisdom bonus to boot), meaning that if you picked a full BAB class at 1st level you could do this:
1 Weapon Focus (claw)
3 Dragon Style
5 Feral Combat Training
7 Shaping Focus
...
which really frees up some options - you might not need to splash Monk or Unarmed Fighter at all. (Barbarian is nice, or I guess in this case Birdbarian.)Otherwise, Unarmed Fighter with any claw-possessing race is probably best after all.
Unarmed Fighter 1 (Improved Unarmed Strike, Dragon Style, Weapon Focus (claw))
Druid 1
Druid 2 Feral Combat Training
Druid 3
Druid 4 Shaping Focusand then whatever else you want. Druids could actually make pretty darn good grapplers, since size is an important factor there.
Thanks for the ideas! Unfortunately, for the most part, we can only use the Core Rule Book to start off with with the exception of traits, archetypes, and spells that we get OK'd in advanced. This is because the DM is new to DMing pathfinder so he wants to take things a bit slow, though as he gets more comfortable, more Paizo sources will open up (which is why I can go outside the CRB as I level.)
Otherwise I would have been all over the Cat People race. However, since that's not an option, I chose human to gain access to the extra feat to try to help out with the number of feats that I'm going to need to make this happen.
I've gotten it OKd so that if I take Unarmed Strike at lvl 1 then get it for free at lvl 2 with Unarmed Fighter that I can retrain it to something else. Then I could probably train in Natural Attack? Or can I not train that because I don't have one yet...
sCoreForge is failing me big time on this build. lol
I think you also have to pick a natural weapon. So, if you went Weapon Focus (bite) and you take a form with a bite and 2 claw attacks, only the bite attack gets the bonus.
I was actually just going over that and trying to pick which forms I would most likely use the most often. Dire Tiger seemed to be the big one for Beast Form II, and Deinonychus for Beast Form I. Though the Deinonychus seems kinda cheesy just to get 4 attacks, I would probably try to find something close to that strength that would be in the jungle.
Jaguar seems like it would be a good choice with Melee 2 claw +7 (1d4+4), bite +8 (1d8+4 plus grab). Dire Tiger with Melee 2 claws +18 (2d4+8 plus grab), bite +18 (2d6+8/19–20 plus grab). Claws being the main for both of them and thus a good attack to take the Weapon Focus for.
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All creatures with a physical body can make unarmed strikes.
This has been true since 3.5, and even had an example Gelatinous Cube Monk in the Elite Opponents article.
See here
What you can do is human druid 4 fighter 16 using Martial Versatility.
UF 1: unarmed strike, dragon style, weapon focus (unarmed)
Druid 1
Druid 2: maybe power attack
Druid 3
Druid 4: shaping focus
UF 2: weapon focus (any natural)
UF 3: feral combat (same as last level)
UF 4: martial versatility (feral combat)And then you can take any effect that augments unarmed strike and apply it to everything in the unarmed weapon group, which includes all natural attacks. Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Weapon Training are all effects and all of them augment unarmed strikes.
I think it's worth eventually grabbing stunning fist for dragon ferocity and possibly elemental fist as well. Dragon Roar probably isn't worth it, though.
Great ideas, I love Martial Versatility! That is perfect! However, I would really like to try to do 8 levels in druid to get the most of the shape changing that a druid can do! I also want to take Druid lvl 1 since it fits the color of the character I want to play.
That being said, I'm thinking this might be a good progression.
Lion Shaman Druid / Unarmed Fighter
1. Druid 1 : Unarmed Strike / Toughness
2. Druid 2 : Totem Transformation (bite [1d6] and 2 claws [1d4] for a Medium shaman, +2 bonus on CMB on grapple checks)
3. Fighter 1 : Unarmed Strike / Dragon Style / Retrain Unarmed Strike to Weapon Focus (Bite or Claws) / Feral Combat Training
4. Druid 3 : +1 Strength
5. Druid 4 : Shaping Focus
6. Fighter 2 : Feat?
7. Fighter 3 : Feat?
8. Fighter 4 : Martial Versatility
I still need to figure out some best of feats for this progression. I also need to decide if I want to focus on the claws and two attacks with them and working towards rending claws and rending fury line of feats, or possibly focusing more on the bite instead as one big attack and working down the vital strike line of feats.
What do you all think so far?
I think it's not a legal build. because shamans don't geet...
RAI you are correct. RAW you are incorrect. Our gaming group isn't RAW or RAI so it is completely legal with them. :)
The saurian shaman gets pretty sick as soon as they can shift. They loose almost nothing in the way of wildshaping versatility since dinos can do it all.
The shaman still only gives any form of advantage at levels 6 and 7. If you play by RAI, that's never enough to make up for not having any wildshape at levels 4 and 5.
Also, at level 6 non-shamans already have the best multipurpose combat form available (dire tiger with pounce), so any advantage the shaman gets only applies in nonstandard combat situations (those where being huge is a good thing, basically).
I think, after reading more into it, that I'm going to have to actually agree with you. It just means I'll have to find some filler feats that won't be useless until I can actually get the main ones that I will need for my build.
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Remember that the list of abilities in Beast Shape 1 is pretty limited. You mostly get better senses, better movement, and the potential for more natural attacks. It's fine to use Dragon Style, charge to get in close, and hit with a Str-boosted unarmed attack, then just do a full attack on the next round. It's not until you get to Beast Shape II (druid 6) that you really start to miss Feral Combat Training.
If I were you, I would do this:
Unarmed Fighter 1
Druid 4
Unarmed Fighter 3
Druid 4
Whatever X
That way, you get IUS and Dragon Style at level 1, which will be your primary combat style for the first four levels. At 5th level you get Wild Shape and can do the hybrid strategy I described above. You can use the bonus feats from Fighter to help you get Weapon Focus, Feral Combat Training, and Shaping Focus in a timely fashion. Finally, you can take Martial Versatility, at which point the build really comes into its own: you will be able to apply Feral Combat Training and Weapon Focus to any natural attack. After that, you can take the remaining 4 levels of Druid to max out your wildshape, and then go anywhere you want - Druid for higher level spells, Unarmed Fighter for better grappling, Monk for flurry, AC bonus (less important now that you can afford Wild armor), Stunning Fist, and other abilities, or something else entirely.
Remember that the list of abilities in Beast Shape 1 is pretty limited. You mostly get better senses, better movement, and the potential for more natural attacks. It's fine to use Dragon Style, charge to get in close, and hit with a Str-boosted unarmed attack, then just do a full attack on the next round. It's not until you get to Beast Shape II (druid 6) that you really start to miss Feral Combat Training.
If I were you, I would do this:
Unarmed Fighter 1
Druid 4
Unarmed Fighter 3
Druid 4
Whatever XThat way, you get IUS and Dragon Style at level 1, which will be your primary combat style for the first four levels. At 5th level you get Wild Shape and can do the hybrid strategy I described above. You can use the bonus feats from Fighter to help you get Weapon Focus, Feral Combat Training, and Shaping Focus in a timely fashion. Finally, you can take Martial Versatility, at which point the build really comes into its own: you will be able to apply Feral Combat Training and Weapon Focus to any natural attack. After that, you can take the remaining 4 levels of Druid to max out your wildshape, and then go anywhere you want - Druid for higher level spells, Unarmed Fighter for better grappling, Monk for flurry, AC bonus (less important now that you can afford Wild armor), Stunning Fist, and other abilities, or something else entirely.
My biggest problem with not taking druid at level 1 would be not having access to the Beast of Society trait which seems like it is a HUGE help for earlier beast shapes since it doubles how long I can be in it.
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If you're OK with starting out without IUS, and not taking a lvl 1 feat that requires +1BAB, then go for it. There's also the Druid's Vestment to help out.
Toughness, Scribe Scroll, Improved Initiative, and Power Attack are all very good feats to have. Scribe Scroll is really excellent for low-wisdom druids - it lets you fill your slots with pump spells and other level-dependent effects, and still have access to all those utility spells; think of scrolls as extra spell slots you have to pay to use. Also, depending on your GM, druid scrolls could be hard to come by in-game.
OK, ALL this being said... Is the unarmed fighter the best route to go, or would the MoMS Monk be just as good of a route as well as taking advantage of the Wisdom (Only 14, but wasted on the Fighter but not the Monk, right)?
I've been looking at some of the Styles... Panther and Dragon being the two that seem the neatest, could those be used in animal form with Feral Combat?
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Hoo boy, Master of Many Styles opens up a BIG can of worms. I'd be very careful multiclassing it with druid, though, since you don't get Flurry of Blows. Remember, when you flurry, you can pretend to be a full BAB class - with two 3/4 BAB classes (MoMS Monk and Druid) and no significant boosts to to-hit other than the str bonus from wildshape, you're not going to be hitting very often. Most style feats also have a lot more requirements than Dragon Style, meaning unless you can pick them up with the prereq-free Monk bonus feats, you're going to have some trouble.
AFAIK any style should be fine to use wildshaped if you have feral combat training. I tried a dozen different variations on Panther/X MoMS builds and couldn't find any I liked. I can't see Panther working out well for a druid - your d8 hit die and typically low AC (until you can afford wild armor) mean that drawing extra attacks is usually something you don't want to be doing.
I think the choice comes down to offense vs defense. Unarmed Fighter gets you full BAB and some good grappling tricks; Monk gets you AC and fast movement. The clincher for Unarmed Fighter, though, is that it's really the only way to get your build online by level 8 or 9, and Martial Versatility is key to getting the most out of wildshape. You could definitely consider mixing it up to Monk after level 8, but I'd stick to fighter and druid until then.
Thanks for all of your advice so far Reynard. :) Have till Saturday till i need my final product. Luckily it only has to be level 1 for then! This is what I have so far.
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Female Druid 1
Init +8; Senses Perception +6
==DEFENSE==
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 dex)
hp 13 (1d8+2)
SR 0
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +4
Armor Leather, Light
==OFFENSE==
Spd 6 sqr/x4
Melee Quarterstaff +4 (1d6+6) 20/x2 monk, double
Melee Unarmed Strike +4 (1d3+4) 20/x2
Melee Longspear +0 (1d8+6) 20/x3 reach
Ranged Longbow +2 (1d8) 20/x3
==STATISTICS==
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
BAB +0, CMB +4, CMD +16
Feats Armor Proficiency (LIGHT / MEDIUM) (PFCR 118), Improved Initiative (PFCR 127), Shield Proficiency (PFCR 133), Toughness (PFCR 135)
Skills Climb +8, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +6, Survival +8
SQ Nature Bond (Domain Powers - Plant (Growth)) (Domain Powers - Plant (Growth)) (PFCR 50)
MC Druid Bonus Languages (PFCR 50), Druid Spells (PFCR 49), Druid Spontaneous Casting (PFCR 49), Forbidden Spell Alignment (PFCR 41, 49), Nature Sense (PFCR 50)
Traits Beast of the Society (Magic: Druid) (PFCh: FcGd 63), Reactionary (Combat) (PFAPG 328)
Languages Common, Druidic
"
And there we have the start of a wonderful adventure!
Nice, looks good! Good luck on your campaign. : )
PS: You know that Enlarge Person doesn't stack with Wild Shape, right? Though it's still awesome to have for early levels.
I actually didn't know that, thanks for pointing it out! At least I can still use it before lvl 5 and enjoy the fruits until then!