Gestalt advice: Barbarian / Druid orAlchemist??

[EpicFail]

Our GM wants to try Gestalt to compensate for lack of personnel for a new campaign. There will be three of us. One will be Wizard/ ?? and the other bard/ ??.

I will be Barbarian of whatever archetype on one side; that is assigned and written in stone. The other will will be either Druid or Alchemist of whatever stripe. Any archetypes are ok, but once committed I have to stick with that class.

As this is new to me, I'm looking for ideas. General builds that you feel synergize well are welcome. Great if you want to throw in feats or race. We'll be starting at first level and going to tenth or so. Any Pathfinder published material ok, Skinwalker race, see HERE, is ok.

[Azelyan]

Scarred Witch Doctor.

[blackbloodtroll]

Oracle.

[avr]

Vivisectionist alchemist; it's like a rogue but with utility spells as well.

[EpicFail]

Vivisectionist sounds good for the Alchemist side though I won't necessarily have a bunch of flank buddies around. Neither Oracle nor Scarred Witch Doctor fit the rules imposed upon me.

Again, I need to have Barbarian levels on one side. The other has to be either Druid or Alchemist. any archetype ok. So, for example, I'd be an Invulnerable Rager Barb. 10/ Saurian Druid 10 or I could be an Urban Barb. 10/ (vanilla) Alchemist 10.

Hope that's clear, I know it's a little weird. GM has an odd sense of humor.

[blackbloodtroll]

Oracle is not allowed?

[EpicFail]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Oracle is not allowed?

I won't give all the boring details, but I was already asked what I was going to be in the upcoming game. So Barbarian it is. The new twist is that the Gestalt experiment will be a commitment to Barb. levels and either exclusively Druid or Alchemist levels for the other side.

It's an experiment all around and I'm ok with those restrictions for this new campaign. Gestalt is strange territory for all of us, and we'll see how it does at compensating for three people where we had planned on having five originally.

So thoughts on what goes well under those parameters is greatly appreciated.

[Skerek]

Barb/Druid, once you hit 4th level you can wild shape into something with many attacks then enter a rage.
Once you get to this stage you can probably use your spells for utility and healing.

[ErrantPursuit]

It kind of depends on what you want to do. The shenanigans you can get up to with Wild Shape, Rage Powers, and Full BAB are glorious. Alternatively you can pick up Barbarian/Magus or Barbarian/Inquisitor for gestalt blends.

[Deadmanwalking]

Barbarian/Druid is more powerful long-term. Barbarian/Alchemist is more fun, and hilariously powerful real quick. Str 26-28 at 1st level with 15 HP and an AC in the 20s kinda powerful (Mutagen + Rage + Shield Extract = net +8 Str, +4 Con, +4 AC). At 4th, the gap narrows a lot (though the Druid's AC lags for a while) and eventually, the Druid's just better...but not for quite a while.

[nate lange]

i agree with deadman's assessment. a barb/alch will be sick out of the gate (so much so that there might be moments your GM rethinks the choice), but at mid to high levels the druids full casting and ability to always be wildshaped (vs 1 mutagen/day) will win out. both will be very effective though.

if you do go with the alchemist i'd suggest one of the tieflings with a Str bonus... take the tail racial alternative and then you can draw extracts/mutagens/etc as a swift action. couple that with the accelerated drinker trait and you should be able to get your mutagen into effect without missing any opportunities to attack.

for either choice, invulnerable rager is a pretty solid option. if you go with the alchemist, vivisectionist is a fun archetype if you have flanking buddies but bombs are a nice addition for a party that might be light on ranged attacks (and can give you a little CC if you want).

or just make the hulk:

if you go barb/alchemist there is one combo of archetypes that makes you pretty outrageous but also a ticking timebomb... take the wild rager barb archetype and the rage chemist alchemist archetype. wild rager gets you an extra attack starting at 2nd level (and can potentially extend your rage), but every time you drop an enemy you have to roll a will save or get confused (as the spell). rage chemist increases mutagen's Str bonus to +6, but everytime you take damage you have to save or take a penalty to Int and will saves. the combined effect is that at 2nd level (with no spells in effect) you can get your Str up to 30 and get 2 attacks per round with your big 2hander! It also means that most rounds you need to save or take a stacking penalty to your will save... which is what you have to roll to avoid confusion when you kill something, which you'll do often... so, its pretty much just a matter of time before you lose it and attack a teammate. the good news is that by that point your will save will be low enough that the wizard or bard should pretty easily be able to hit you with sleep or some other CC.

[Deadmanwalking]

nate lange wrote:

if you do go with the alchemist i'd suggest one of the tieflings with a Str bonus... take the tail racial alternative and then you can draw extracts/mutagens/etc as a swift action. couple that with the accelerated drinker trait and you should be able to get your mutagen into effect without missing any opportunities to attack.

Actually...drawing an Extract isn't an action, and Accelerated Drinker doesn't apply to it. Drawing and drinking an Extract is always and only a Standard Action.

Relevant text here:

Alchemist Class Description wrote:

An alchemist can draw and drink an extract as a standard action.

And here.

[nate lange]

Deadmanwalking wrote:

Actually...drawing an Extract isn't an action, and Accelerated Drinker doesn't apply to it. Drawing and drinking an Extract is always and only a Standard Action.

lol, shows how often i drink extracts in combat (i'm actually playing a barb/alchemist right now too). still a useful combo for potions and mutagens though.

[master_marshmallow]

Barb/Druid
Wildshape into something ridiculously strong, and use rage powers to get pounce.

[Azelyan]

Be a Half Elf, take Treesinger druid.

Turn into a giant tree. You are now the womping willow from harry potter.

If an animal companion isnt your thing, i throw my hat in for Growth domain, which would be boss as a barbarian.