I promise I'm not trolling here. I had an idea (inspired by WoW) to play a druid "tank." Taking feats and the like to defend my allies and harass the enemy. While I'd love to use bear form for this, bears suck as compared to 3.5, and I'd get the same stats no matter what I turn into, so I might as well use something that gets reach or grab. Both reach and grab I suppose would be the optimal choices. Anyone have any suggestions? Preferred forms, optimal feats, useful items, essential spells, etc? Note: we will be playing a mythic game, so I will have access to Mythic Combat Reflexes, allowing me to make an unlimited number of attacks of opportunity, when stacked with "Halting Blow" I should be able to keep any number of opponents from moving past me. I will also dual path Guardian/Hierophant so that I can get unlimited Wild Shape with my preferred form, a little extra usefulness from my divine spells, and of course, "Retributive Reach" from the guardian. Thanks ahead of time for any helpful suggestions!
I think I've got the build idea that I want, I'm not quite sure on the other feats that I want to get though, or what my starting stats should be. We're doing 20 point buy, and I'm thinking about stopping druid form at 4th level, 6th if I find a preferred animal that has an associated shaman Archtype. Then go Fighter to catch my BAB up to code, and grab a couple extra feats.
I'd considered doing druid 10/stalwart defender 10, but I'm really only interested in a couple of the abilities from the stalwart defender as it is. Bulwark and Halting Blow, maybe a couple extra levels to get the +3 class dodge bonus. I'm thinking maybe Dwarf, so constitution shouldn't be a problem, as far as the rounds of defensive stance goes. I just wondered if I could actually make a viable build out of it, or if I was just insane.
I think I've got the build idea that I want, I'm not quite sure on the other feats that I want to get though, or what my starting stats should be. We're doing 20 point buy, and I'm thinking about stopping druid form at 4th level, 6th if I find a preferred animal that has an associated shaman Archtype. Then go Fighter to catch my BAB up to code, and grab a couple extra feats.
Um, no. That's not a good idea. Druid needs to be level 8 because that's how you can shift into a Huge creature (pretty helpful) as well as gain access to the RAKE ability. When you combine RAKE with POUNCE, you can get a creature like a Dire Tiger with 5 attacks on a charge, and 3 of them have GRAB ability, you almost assure that you'll be in grapple, which will give you 5 more attacks in the next round. Throw in a held touch attack charge and you're golden.
Druid level 8 is a single-target shut-down and destroy machine that can also walk on air (air-walk spell), turn into medium elementals and do some other neat tricks.
But Druid melee power does diminish after level 8, but you get more powerful elemental forms up to level 12 if that's important to you. What you'll find is that you're going to be giving up on some really good druid spells in exchange for another class ability after level 8/10. If you really do that, then there isn't a point in having the animal companion since it won't level with you when you take the other class, so you might as well pick a domain for the extra spells.
Um, no. That's not a good idea. Druid needs to be level 8 because that's how you can shift into a Huge creature (pretty helpful) as well as gain access to the RAKE ability.
4th with the Shaping focus feat.
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I think I've got the build idea that I want, I'm not quite sure on the other feats that I want to get though, or what my starting stats should be. We're doing 20 point buy, and I'm thinking about stopping druid form at 4th level, 6th if I find a preferred animal that has an associated shaman Archtype. Then go Fighter to catch my BAB up to code, and grab a couple extra feats.Um, no. That's not a good idea. Druid needs to be level 8 because that's how you can shift into a Huge creature (pretty helpful) as well as gain access to the RAKE ability. When you combine RAKE with POUNCE, you can get a creature like a Dire Tiger with 5 attacks on a charge, and 3 of them have GRAB ability, you almost assure that you'll be in grapple, which will give you 5 more attacks in the next round. Throw in a held touch attack charge and you're golden.
Druid level 8 is a single-target shut-down and destroy machine that can also walk on air (air-walk spell), turn into medium elementals and do some other neat tricks.
But Druid melee power does diminish after level 8, but you get more powerful elemental forms up to level 12 if that's important to you. What you'll find is that you're going to be giving up on some really good druid spells in exchange for another class ability after level 8/10. If you really do that, then there isn't a point in having the animal companion since it won't level with you when you take the other class, so you might as well pick a domain for the extra spells.
I don't exactly know how useful pounce is going to be if I'm in defensive stance, but, with shaping focus, here's what my levels may look like (in the order I take them) Druid 4/Fighter 4/Stalwart Defender 4/Druid 8
By the time it's said and done, assuming we make it to 20th level, I'll have 12 levels of druid, effectively 16 of those levels will be counted for wild shape, so I won't be losing much.
Or, another route, I could go Druid 10/Stalwart Defender 4/Druid 6, and with shaping focus I'll be considered a 20th level druid for the purpose of wild shape.
Note: The "assuming we make it to 20th level" is important because my group never makes it to 20th level in a campaign.