Reach builds do a damn fine job of caster=melee, and Goliath Druid does reach caster without trying.
Depends on what you mean when you say an acceptible caster.
When comparing with a pure caster, the primary problem comes from save DCs. Pure casters have the stats so that save DCs are an option, while mixed casters might not have DCs that make it reliable enough.
We all know that you can always buff or summon with minimal stats. But if your casting stat isn't good, then that might be all you can do. At least without routinely feeling like you wasted your turn with a failed SoS and the like.
Reach builds mostly combine melee and caster because they can use their own turn to cast (which, if the casting stat isn't good, then tht is more buffing and other non save based spells) while still getting melee outside of their turn with AoOs.
While doing some reach caster is an option here (cause goliath druids have naturally better reach, and just using normal weapons lets them outclass medium warriors using reach weapons), but it might not fall square enough for us to fully say it is caster=melee. It is mostly just taking advantage of action economy.
I will also say it depends on your point buy, race, and minmaxing of stats, of course. But still, you will have to make decisions on where to put that 4th level ability score increase, and whether to spend more on the belt or the headband. So even initial balance may not be maintainable in the long run (at least without ending up as 'meh' in both areas)
Sorry that should read "can you use giant form and then pick up a weapon and the weapon won't change size?"
The answer is "Yes, items have to be on you for them to be affected by the polymorph effect", as far as I am aware. (I am certainly not sure what happens if you drop an affected item though unless the spell itself mentions what happens).
So if you pick up the weapon after transforming, it stays 'normal' since it wasn't subjected to the polymorph effect. That is actually the key to using elemental wildshapes as a poor man's substitute for goliath druid- normally, your equipment melds into you when you turn into things like elementals. But if you set the items aside before wildshaping, and then put them on afterwards, then they work like normal.
The only real concern is that you have to get items appropriate for your form. So large weapons for large sized forms, usually.
This is just my own opinion, but I would build this character for melee and not worry too much about casting. You can start with a 14 in Wisdom and be just fine.
It's really not worth trying to optimize for casting, since the druid spell list is quite possibly the worst in the game among full casters.
|
This is just my own opinion, but I would build this character for melee and not worry too much about casting. You can start with a 14 in Wisdom and be just fine.
It's really not worth trying to optimize for casting, since the druid spell list is quite possibly the worst in the game among full casters.
It's a great spell list with a strong mix of summons, control, utility, bad touch spells, and off healing. It's a much stronger list than witch, and more offensive than cleric. Caster Druids can be great.