Vital Strike Druid Monk


Advice


So, the FAQ says that feral combat training lets a monk druid increase the wild shape bite base damage. So a Samsaran, level 15 Saurian druid, level 4 terra-cotta/qinggong monk, level 1 lame oracle:

Wild-shape into a behemoth hippo, (the base bite for this creature is 4d8, but gets increased 5 steps due to a monk's increase, and Monastic Legacy). Because the druid is Saurian, he can get the Destructive - Rage domain, which gives him the rage feature, and allows him to get Furious Finish. He Improved Vital Strikes and Furious Finishes to max the new bite damage, and multiplies that number by three. Being a lame oracle means that at level 9, he is immune to fatigue, so he can do this every turn. Shaping Focus will help him offset the penalty for wildshaping into a non-Dino. I'm on my phone, so I can't post the full build, but does this sound right to you? Oh man, and I just had another idea...the slow time feature of a monk of the four winds...this could get brutal.


And sorry for the random, sloppy presentation...I really hate typing on this phone.


And features that aren't highlighted in the above: he picks five spells from another divine casting list and adds them to his own. He auto-spots traps within 10 feet of him, and has disable device as a class skill. He gets a single revelation ability (but it would be something lame, like Natural Divination, because his CHA and level would be so low) and one Rage Power.


Mechanical Pear wrote:

(the base bite for this creature is 4d8, but gets increased 5 steps due to a monk's increase, and Monastic Legacy)

I don't think this works the way you think it works (Link to the FAQ in question). The monk's Unarmed Strike feature doesn't say it increases unarmed strike damage by X "steps"/die sizes/whatever, it says a monk's unarmed strike has X damage dice.

Say you have a bite attack that does 1d6 damage, but you're effectively a 12th level monk with regards to unarmed strike damage; you can use the monk unarmed strike damage die in place of the normal damage die of your claw attack to deal 2d6 instead of 1d6. It does not "boost the damage die by 5 steps" to 2d8 (or higher depending on what scale you're using).

If I'm somehow misinterpreting the FAQ or there has been Dev clarification that contradicts the way I'm reading it, I'd appreciate a link.

Sczarni

If Feral Combat allowed the Monk's IUS to ADD to your Natural Attack damage, then a 10CaveDruid/10SomethingMonk would be doing 14d8 per Slam(With Strong Jaw I believe, and being Medium sized) +20 steps for the Monk's IUS. So... 220d8 per swing or something? Lol.

As far as the rules go, Honorable Goblin is on par.


Oracle curses do not improve with character level, they improve with class level. With only one level in Oracle you would not gain immunity to fatigue.

Also, Honorable Goblin has the right of it with how those things stack. That being said, there are some powerful builds that use druid, monk, feral combat training and vital strike. Look around the boards, they aren't hard to find. I think one thread was called "one big hit" or something like that.


Actually, oracle curses do improve with character level, at a 1/2 rate:

PFSRD wrote:


Each oracle is cursed, but this curse comes with a benefit as well as a hindrance. This choice is made at 1st level, and once made, it cannot be changed. The oracle’s curse cannot be removed or dispelled without the aid of a deity. An oracle’s curse is based on her oracle level plus one for every two levels or Hit Dice other than oracle.

Source

Bolding is mine.

As for the Feral Combat training deal, I think Honorable Goblin has that right.


Hm, so I am wrong on the Oracle Curse thing. Learned something new. That'll actually help a build I'm working on.


You could go vanilla druid and multiclass into savage barbarian for the rage feature, as the saurian shaman actually delays your behemoth hippo. Remember that with shaping focus you can have the hippo with only few druiid lvls, a great choice for keeping your BAB up and taking faster the monk and barbarian features. An alternative for immunity to fatigue is 5 lvls of martial artist monk, which is also enough to take dragon style, ferocity and FCT (bite). You will also be able to attack with a standard action vital strike bite or flurry with it for spreading the damage.


Honorable Goblin wrote:
Mechanical Pear wrote:

(the base bite for this creature is 4d8, but gets increased 5 steps due to a monk's increase, and Monastic Legacy)

I don't think this works the way you think it works (Link to the FAQ in question). The monk's Unarmed Strike feature doesn't say it increases unarmed strike damage by X "steps"/die sizes/whatever, it says a monk's unarmed strike has X damage dice.

Say you have a bite attack that does 1d6 damage, but you're effectively a 12th level monk with regards to unarmed strike damage; you can use the monk unarmed strike damage die in place of the normal damage die of your claw attack to deal 2d6 instead of 1d6. It does not "boost the damage die by 5 steps" to 2d8 (or higher depending on what scale you're using).

If I'm somehow misinterpreting the FAQ or there has been Dev clarification that contradicts the way I'm reading it, I'd appreciate a link.

Naw, you got it. It replaces the damage.

It is important to note, however, that the damage listed for a monk's unarmed strike is for a medium sized monk. That means that the damage would increase based on size up to whatever the shape being used is.

Really, the monk+druid+FCT thing is only effective if you are using a form that has a bunch of low damage attacks. Try a giant lake octopus (8 tentacles).

Otherwise, its only really useful to use flurry with something that has just one big attack. Of course, then you downgrade that attack to 1x strength instead of the 1-1/2 it gets for being the only attack.


the first thing brought to mind with "vital striking monk" would be Captain Falcon, so maybe look at that for some inspiration.

also, iirc the base monk doesnt meet the prereqs for greater vital stike--meaning you'll need levels of a full BAB class to give you that bump to meet it.


Lord_Malkov wrote:
Honorable Goblin wrote:
Mechanical Pear wrote:

(the base bite for this creature is 4d8, but gets increased 5 steps due to a monk's increase, and Monastic Legacy)

I don't think this works the way you think it works (Link to the FAQ in question). The monk's Unarmed Strike feature doesn't say it increases unarmed strike damage by X "steps"/die sizes/whatever, it says a monk's unarmed strike has X damage dice.

Say you have a bite attack that does 1d6 damage, but you're effectively a 12th level monk with regards to unarmed strike damage; you can use the monk unarmed strike damage die in place of the normal damage die of your claw attack to deal 2d6 instead of 1d6. It does not "boost the damage die by 5 steps" to 2d8 (or higher depending on what scale you're using).

If I'm somehow misinterpreting the FAQ or there has been Dev clarification that contradicts the way I'm reading it, I'd appreciate a link.

Of course, then you downgrade that attack to 1x strength instead of the 1-1/2 it gets for being the only attack.

Are you sure about that? It is still his only natural attack. But I can see the issue with flurry stating that you add x1 Str to damage.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

If I were going to make a Vital Strike monk/druid, I would probably stop at level 4 monk (to keep BAB in blocks of +3 out of 4 levels). The lame thing doesn't seem to play well with being a Vital Strike attacker, or not making use of medium or heavier armor. It would be a completely different build, but if I wanted immunity to fatigue, I'd go monk (martial artist) and pick up a 5th level at the same time I snagged my fatigue-causing ability.

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