i know the most popular are tiger, dire smilodon for combat druids.
i know the hippo vital-storng jaw abuse.
but....
at least until high levels, when you get many times per day, your form last a whole day, so choosing what form is for the day, not a specific combat.
ofc, Vs the last boss fight you go KABOOM, but all the rest of times?
looking at the options, at lvl 7 i found 2 great options, that many dont write in their "guides"
1. dire ape. it got thumbs... so give it a large spear.
why? climb speed for movement tactics. reach of 5'-20' - is amazing. (and really suck whirlwind is out of reach) . can 3 attack if opponent is near. can read scrolls, use items... not bad.
2. small earth elemental. now, before all you scream at me that it's low damage form, i will explain :
armor class WOW: +8 improve cover make you have armor of 27-30 without armor... that you can wear as well....earth glide = free spell cast at melee & allow always to gain flank. cant be killed as you can 5' the floor if hit hard & got improve evasion....
oh, and i can scout.... +10 stealth +4 size = scout level stealth with few to no ranks. (and able to pass walls helps...)
later levels, earth elemental still look nice but some plants with HUGE reach take control.
combat is not just damage per round.
Are you a combat druid or a caster druid? If you are a caster, a Tiny animal is going to be your best bet. You are easy to miss, can fly if you take the form of a bird and can cast spells with impunity. you can even perch on the shoulder of a wizard and pretend to be a Familiar.
both, i am an hybrid.
so... form need to fit both parts.
Here is a link to a slowly growing template resource I am making for wild shape.
This link will take you to level 4, 6, and 8 excel spreasheets that will show you every available form for that level from bestiary 1-3. If you use the drop down lists at the bottom of the sheet for your STR Bonus and your BAB, all of the numbers for to-hit and damage are calculated for all of the forms.
(I will be making level 10 soon. I hope.)
Hope this helps!
Ape is terrible. You're forgetting something really important: druids are not proficient in all simple weapons. No longspear for you.
At level 7 the best medium form is the deinonychus. It has pounce and manipulative forelimbs. Item use is not your job, but you should be able to open doors and pick things up to examine them and likely use wands if you have wild speech. At level 8 the best medium form will be the leopard. It can't pick up a scroll, but if you have wild speech one of your companions can hold it open for you if you're the only one who can use it. Rake is very good. Medium earth elementals also become of interest in that they can use normal adventuring equipment, which will save you on wild armor.
Going forward most dungeons will be large. Not all, but you can afford some size shifts. Dire Tiger (for pounce), Arsinoitherium (for vital strike abuse), and Dire Hyena (for reach) are good large choices at level 8.
One of the best combat tricks the druid has is to cast frostbite before battle and then use normal attacks to deliver it. At your level you'd do 7d6+49 nonlethal damage over two or three rounds as a deinonychus on top of your normal melee damage. For lethal damage Produce Flame is capped on damage scaling but not on attacks and would add a flat 1d6+5 to all your attacks if you use normal attacks to deliver it. Both are level 1 spells.
Because of these two spells I recommend favoring lots of attacks and pounce, though the dire hyena is better at delivering single touch attacks.
Atarlost wrote: Ape is terrible. You're forgetting something really important: druids are not proficient in all simple weapons. No longspear for you.
At level 7 the best medium form is the deinonychus. It has pounce and manipulative forelimbs. Item use is not your job, but you should be able to open doors and pick things up to examine them and likely use wands if you have wild speech. At level 8 the best medium form will be the leopard. It can't pick up a scroll, but if you have wild speech one of your companions can hold it open for you if you're the only one who can use it. Rake is very good. Medium earth elementals also become of interest in that they can use normal adventuring equipment, which will save you on wild armor.
Going forward most dungeons will be large. Not all, but you can afford some size shifts. Dire Tiger (for pounce), Arsinoitherium (for vital strike abuse), and Dire Hyena (for reach) are good large choices at level 8.
One of the best combat tricks the druid has is to cast frostbite before battle and then use normal attacks to deliver it. At your level you'd do 7d6+49 nonlethal damage over two or three rounds as a deinonychus on top of your normal melee damage. For lethal damage Produce Flame is capped on damage scaling but not on attacks and would add a flat 1d6+5 to all your attacks if you use normal attacks to deliver it. Both are level 1 spells.
Because of these two spells I recommend favoring lots of attacks and pounce, though the dire hyena is better at delivering single touch attacks.
Produce flame cannot be used like frostbite per RAW. It is not a "touch" range spell, and thus does not behave like a regular touch spell. It has a range of 0 and only allows you to make touch attacks (melee or ranged) to do the 1d6+5 damage NOT the touch effect as part of a natural attack. Your DM may allow it, but per RAW only frostbite allows for the ridiculous damage abuse.
Hope this helps.
Shoemaker wrote: Atarlost wrote: Ape is terrible. You're forgetting something really important: druids are not proficient in all simple weapons. No longspear for you.
At level 7 the best medium form is the deinonychus. It has pounce and manipulative forelimbs. Item use is not your job, but you should be able to open doors and pick things up to examine them and likely use wands if you have wild speech. At level 8 the best medium form will be the leopard. It can't pick up a scroll, but if you have wild speech one of your companions can hold it open for you if you're the only one who can use it. Rake is very good. Medium earth elementals also become of interest in that they can use normal adventuring equipment, which will save you on wild armor.
Going forward most dungeons will be large. Not all, but you can afford some size shifts. Dire Tiger (for pounce), Arsinoitherium (for vital strike abuse), and Dire Hyena (for reach) are good large choices at level 8.
One of the best combat tricks the druid has is to cast frostbite before battle and then use normal attacks to deliver it. At your level you'd do 7d6+49 nonlethal damage over two or three rounds as a deinonychus on top of your normal melee damage. For lethal damage Produce Flame is capped on damage scaling but not on attacks and would add a flat 1d6+5 to all your attacks if you use normal attacks to deliver it. Both are level 1 spells.
Because of these two spells I recommend favoring lots of attacks and pounce, though the dire hyena is better at delivering single touch attacks.
Produce flame cannot be used like frostbite per RAW. It is not a "touch" range spell, and thus does not behave like a regular touch spell. It has a range of 0 and only allows you to make touch attacks (melee or ranged) to do the 1d6+5 damage NOT the touch effect as part of a natural attack. Your DM may allow it, but per RAW only frostbite allows for the ridiculous damage abuse.
Hope this helps. Produce Flame gives you a touch attack. There is only one set of rules for touch attacks even though it it titled touch spells. All touch attacks must therefore follow these rules and be able to be taken through unarmed or natural attacks.
To be honest I have been enjoyed Dex based rather than Str based druids in PFS.
Grabbing the Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike Feats with an agile amulet of mighty fists plus natural spell can turn an Eagle at early levels into a monster.
And at 7th imagine the housecat that everyone thinks is a familiar.
Start with a 19 Dex (dex race) +1 at 4th for 20. +2 Belt and wild shape gives you a 26 dex.
Add agile amulet of mighty fists and greater magic fang spell.
To hit would be at 7th lvl +5 BAB, +8 Dex, +2 Size, -2 Piranha Strike, +1 GMF = +14 to hit
Damage at 7th + 8 Dex + 4 Piranha Strike + 1 GMF for + 13 dmg per hit.
Now add frostbite or produce flame and you have one dangerous kitty.
Taenia wrote: To be honest I have been enjoyed Dex based rather than Str based druids in PFS.
Grabbing the Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike Feats with an agile amulet of mighty fists plus natural spell can turn an Eagle at early levels into a monster.
And at 7th imagine the housecat that everyone thinks is a familiar.
Start with a 19 Dex (dex race) +1 at 4th for 20. +2 Belt and wild shape gives you a 26 dex.
Add agile amulet of mighty fists and greater magic fang spell.
To hit would be at 7th lvl +5 BAB, +8 Dex, +2 Size, -2 Piranha Strike, +1 GMF = +14 to hit
Damage at 7th + 8 Dex + 4 Piranha Strike + 1 GMF for + 13 dmg per hit.
Now add frostbite or produce flame and you have one dangerous kitty.
The OP is level 7 and contemplating earth elementals. I don't think he's a high dex weapon finesse build.
Wasn't sure if he was creating a level 7 or had a level 7.
If you want to up the oomph on Earth Elemental grab a ring of the rat fang, grants a bite attack to add to the mix. Another option is a level of monk plus shaping focus and flurry in earth elemental form.
Keep in mind that one strength of wild shape is flexibility. Fit your shapes to the situation as much as you can. Pounce is great in the open but in tight situations reach is better. It also depends on your team. I had a druid in a group doing thornkeep and we had like 4 melee characters not including myself and my snake. Enter the giant octopus with 20' reach, spider climb and longstrider! Great for area denial (combat reflexes would be nice) and grab on 8 attacks
...Nobody likes the Allosaurus? Best Huge Pouncing Shape in Pathfinder currently.
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