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In the last year or two the druid got a plethora of different options focusing on more varied types of wildshaping, we got oozes, vermin, plants and heck even giants!
Is it then odd of me to wonder why there has not been an archetype focused on elemental wildshaping yet?
It is probably one of the few flavor pieces the druid is missing and I sometimes just wonder why it is missing at all.
The Druid is already very powerful. An elemental archetype could end up overpowered. It would be awesome though.
It would have to give up something like Nature Bond or 1 spell/day of each level.
How would an elemental archetype be overpowered when the core class itself already has the ability to Wildshape into Elemental forms?
The logic there is highly confusing. :/
Elementalist Druid
Wild Shape (Su): At 4th level, an elementalist druid's wild shape ability functions at his druid level + 2 when taking on the form of an elemental. He can never wild shape into the form of a plant or animal.
Nature Bond: An elementalist druid who chooses a companion must select an elemental in place of an animal companion. At 1st level, an elementalist druid may call a Small elemental to his side. It increases in size as the elementalist druid gains levels, becoming Medium at 8th level, Large at 11th level, Huge at 14th level, Greater at 17th level, and Elder at 20th level.
If choosing a domain, the elementalist druid must choose from the Air, Earth, Fire, and Water domains.
Elementalist Druid
Wild Shape (Su): At 4th level, an elementalist druid's wild shape ability functions at her druid level + 2 when taking on the form of an elemental. He can never wild shape into the form of a plant or animal.
Nature Bond: An elementalist druid who chooses a companion must select an elemental in place of an animal companion. At 1st level, an elementalist druid may call a Small elemental to his side. It increases in size as the elementalist druid gains levels, becoming Medium at 8th level, Large at 11th level, Huge at 14th level, Greater at 17th level, and Elder at 20th level.
If choosing a domain, the elementalist druid must choose from the Air, Earth, Fire, and Water domains.
That honestly sounds like a straight-up downgrade from a Core Druid.
Are you sure?
Elemental shape is pretty powerful - depending on how it's ruled, since I've never been very clear on what equipment you can use in elemental form. Being able to fly around as an air elemental or burrow around as an earth elemental from level 4, twice a day, for six hours at a time, and take your elemental companion with you, is a significant asset. Especially if that's your character concept and you don't want to have to change into a bat to fly around.
Actually, I should add:
Elemental Empathy (Ex): This replaces the Wild Empathy ability, but can only be used on Elementals.
Resist Elements (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a druid gains elemental resistance 5 against one element type - acid, lightning, fire or cold. This must match the element of the elemental druid's companion or domain - acid for Earth, lightning for Air, fire for Fire, or cold for Water. This resistance increases by 5 for every full 5 levels gained thereafter.
This ability replaces Resist Nature's Lure and Trackless Step.
It's essentially: "Take what you already get at a very slightly accelerated access, then heavily restrict everything else."
Also, there is no "Elemental Form V" for level 12, which means you're basically losing a feature.
And while certain elemental forms can be great in specific situations, they're overall pretty lackluster compared to the variety of combat options you can get otherwise. (Spellcasters have no need for anything past a small Air elemental [save for water campaigns] so they hardly benefit at all, which is why I focus on "combat forms.")
And it's worth noting the sizes that elementals achieve when considering your companion. Small>Large is doable. Huge starts getting tricky. Gargantuan is all but impossible to adventure with. ;P
If there was some way to break out of the super-basic Elemental types, I could see this as a possibility.
But as long as a Druid's shapechanging is based on the spell, it has zero room to grow. :(
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Even a weak druid archetype is stronger than most classes, so it really comes down to what sort of character you want.
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Huge Earth elemental rocked. Immune to crits, DR, earthglide, AC up the wazoo, stat bonuses... The problem was you needed to get a Wild stoneplate and a weapon adapted to your size (so long as you do not touch it when transforming). I used an adamantine dorn dergar, aka a wrecking ball. Great reach, decent damage, and with some Stalwart defender levels you truly lock down the battlefield. At level 8, you can stay permanently wildshaped.
I've always viewed my elemental forms as utility-based, especially when we start running into enemies that have resistances or enemies that favored a particular element. Fly on demand, swim, yatta yatta. The tricky part comes when you start adventuring in closed environments. In urban/dungeon settings, I became very familiar and resigned with constantly having a Squeezing adjustment.
Flavor-wise, I found it neat to be a Large Fire Elemental running point for the party down a pitch black 5' wide tunnel. That has to look boss animated. I always wondered that shouldn't this begin suffocating my party on accident?
Earth glide does solve much of your problems with cramped space (which is significant as a Huge creature). Even better, if you take the Cave domain (I think) instead of the AC which would look weird for an elemental anyway, you can have tremorsense. That lets you throw down deeper darkness and STILL pinpoint everything in contact with the ground. Against flying stuff, you're pretty much SOL, so earth glide comes in handy again.
So, is that proposed archetype balanced? Or should we throw in the ability to summon elementals as a standard action?
So, is that proposed archetype balanced? Or should we throw in the ability to summon elementals as a standard action?
That is what I was worried would make it overpowered.
Yeah, given the original proposal was "an archetype focused on elemental wildshaping" it didn't seem necessary.
Maybe instead it should have a lesser form of elemental shape available from level 2 or 3 - a slam attack plus some minor resistances for a few minutes a day, but no fight or earth glide.
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I like some of the ideas here a lot, would it be a good idea to give the druid some utility based spell-like abilities while wildshaped?
Primal Mastery(Su): at level 6 the druid gains additional mastery over his elemental form, granting him a spell-like ability usable once per day only usable while wildshaped. At the levels 10, 14 and 18 he gains a new spell-like ability and an additional use of any lower level ones.
Uses of spell-like abilities are shared between forms.
Earth Elemental : 6-Mighty fist of the earth, 10-Diamond spray, 14-Wall of stone, 18-Clashing Rocks
Fire Elemental : 6-Burning hands, 10-Volcanic Storm, 14-Sirocco, 18-Delayed blast fireball
Water Elemental : 6-Snowball, 10-Frosty Aura, 14-Fluid Form, 18-Polar ray
Air Elemental : 6-Gust of wind, 10-Air geyser, 14-Wind Blades, 18-Ride the Lightning
This ability replaces : Resist Nature's Lure, Venom Immunity and A Thousand Faces.
How about giving the druid a template when elemental whildshaped? Some stat bonuses, perhaps when using a form smaller than their maximum, to make those more useful? Or, you could give some elemental traits when not wildshaped?
You know hoe I would do it?
Get rid of animal companion and most other stuff, in exchange for an elemental only wild shape. In addition, lower when it becomes at-will to somewhere around 12th or 14th level.
Give each elemental form more powers and abilities, perhaps as the druid levels up, like natural weapons or slams that deal elemental damage, the ability to slip through cracks like an ooze for water,
I would also have them get paraelemental forms, perhaps in addition to or replacing the base element forms.
You know hoe I would do it?
Get rid of animal companion and most other stuff, in exchange for an elemental only wild shape. In addition, lower when it becomes at-will to somewhere around 12th or 14th level.
Give each elemental form more powers and abilities, perhaps as the druid levels up, like natural weapons or slams that deal elemental damage, the ability to slip through cracks like an ooze for water,
I would also have them get paraelemental forms, perhaps in addition to or replacing the base element forms.
All good ideas.
This could've been something that they could've shoehorned into Occult Adventures.
A Kineticist is already an Elemental Master. Why no subsume/modify the Infusion/Blast ability for Wildshape in an archetype? The more uber-elemental you are, the more Burn you sustain, etc.