Any new (and strong) options for Wild Shape with the new Beastiaries released?

[Darksol the Painbringer]

As the title says.

For the record, I am looking for strong Combat forms with Wild Shape. While I understand that Treantmonk has a guide for this sort of thing, it only covers the original Beastiary, which ceases to have good options beyond Beast Shape II with a Dire Tiger, and being 3/4 BAB, Elementals don't really allow any damaging options outside of Pounce. Oh, and all of the Plants suck too.

So, is there any sort of "new," or "better" form choices with the new Beastiaries that would accomplish a similar (or even superior) method as the above example (Dire Tiger with Beast Shape II)?

[nicholas storm]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1avbOKg848X3Z3dVpmdrpxtR__zan2jj_NzP0uZU 9LTw/edit?pref=2&pli=1

[Olaf the Holy]

There's a space in that link.

Linkified.

Really well done guide, actually. I'm a little surprised I hadn't heard of it before now.

[CWheezy]

not updated for bestiary 5 unfortunately

[Darksol the Painbringer]

Thanks very much for that link, it really helps, and makes me consider options outside of Dire Tiger Beast Shape. The Allosaurus is very promising, and the Quickwood with its Roots, Pull, and Bite at +4 for free, makes for very interesting travel tactics. Plus, since I'm a tree, I can just sit there and look pretty, and basically stand watch all day!

I also got some party members who have access to spells like Undead Anatomy, Monstrous Physique, etc. So this will be very, very helpful when I show them this spell to serve as a powerful combat buff for them to use.

[avr]

CWheezy wrote:

not updated for bestiary 5 unfortunately

Taking a look the psychepore is a medium sized plant with 3 slams, all poisoned. Nothing else stands out to me unless you want to be a chicken.

[Malkin the Magician]

Went through 5. Not much there. Flyfox is cool if you need another tiny flier but nothing new.

Dire tiger, Dire ape, elementals are my core I use the above guide for larger and huge animals with situational abilities.

[nicholas storm]

Olaf the Holy wrote:

There's a space in that link.

Linkified.

Really well done guide, actually. I'm a little surprised I hadn't heard of it before now.

Thanks for fixing the link. I am not sure what happened in the cut and paste.

I like this guide a lot.

[Alakallanar]

I you like the smell of Gorgonzola, a very strong option not for Wildshape but for Monstrous Physique I is Grendel. Grendel isn't unique (in my Bestiary 4 or the PRD) so he is a legal choice for MPI. Of course that is almost guaranteed to be an oversight and no sane GM would allow it. But 2xClaws 3d10 and 1xBite 4d8 is pretty good at level 5.

[Darksol the Painbringer]

Grendel from the PRD

So for starters, it requires MPII.

Secondly, I highly doubt it's intended for players to be able to use MP or similar abilities to shift into Mythic creatures unless they have access to Mythic Monstrous Physique.

[Ascalaphus]

I'd been looking at Grendel too but I couldn't decide if he was or wasn't unique.

[Alakallanar]

I was writing from memory. MPII it is. There is nothing that prevents you from choosing mythic creatures. Being able to choose mythic creatures also gives no advantage per se, since nothing mythic translates. You have more options, but (in theory) not more powerful ones.

Of course Grendel should clearly be unique and , as I said, no GM should allow this. So unless you want to troll PFS GMs I would advice against using him.

[Entryhazard]

Alakallanar wrote:

I was writing from memory. MPII it is. There is nothing that prevents you from choosing mythic creatures. Being able to choose mythic creatures also gives no advantage per se, since nothing mythic translates. You have more options, but (in theory) not more powerful ones.

Of course Grendel should clearly be unique and , as I said, no GM should allow this. So unless you want to troll PFS GMs I would advice against using him.

I'm slightly confused

[cuatroespada]

he meant no gm should allow MPII to turn you into Grendel since Grendel not being unique is probably an oversight.

[Olaf the Holy]

It sounds like it's just a bigger troll. I don't see why it would be unique, tbh.

@Alakalla, the gist of it is that morphing into mythic creatures should be balanced for the same reason that becoming other creatures are balanced - you're limited by the menu of abilities, and mythic powers aren't on it.

This is of course rendered a little moot when the natural attacks have outrageous base damage, but still.

[Ascalaphus]

The thing about Grendel (who, mythologically speaking, is a unique individual) is that he's far beyond the normal curve of physical power for his size. And polymorph spells rely on that size-power convention for part of their balancing.