So i will be starting a game shortly, lvl to 1-20 with an actual decent chance to reach 20, and i thought of building the usual shapeshifting murder machine.
As apparently the entire table is of full casters, this kinda of thing will be the melee.
The issue is that, being honest, i suck at making these.
So please, does anyone have good druid/brown-fur or whatever else full caster melee builds to share?
Ofc, any help is welcome, doesnt need to be a full build, just some levels or guidelines would already be pretty handy.
Thanks for reading.
One option is druid 4 followed by 4 levels of martial classes (with the shaping focus feat at level 5), then either more druid or more martial class levels depending on taste. There are several variations - weapon master fighter, specialising in tentacles and wild shaping into an octopus I know is effective. Aiming at a high dex via air elemental wild shape and spinning around in a dervish dance with a scimitar is likely to work too. There are single big hit options as well.
Alternately a goliath druid with a polearm has reach to die for.
Tarondor wrote a guide to being a shapeshifting wizard. It should mostly apply to a brown-fur.
With the transformation patron a witch can polymorph, and most hexes will work for them in any form.
If any one of those sounds interesting I could make a complete build.
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I don't have any builds that use brown-fur transmuter but I do have a few melee based druid builds.
Brutal Goliath (Fighter/Druid)
Key concepts: A druid that can shape change into a troll in order to wade into combat
Trait: Giant-blooded
Race: Human or Half-elf or Tiefling or Half-Orc
Racial Trait: Heart of the Fey and Focused Study or Military Tradition(Human), Ancestral Arms (Half-elf), Variant Option 16(Tiefling), Orc Atavism or [Shaman’s Apprentice & Toothy](Half-Orc)
Class: Fighter (1), Druid(4), Barbarian(2), Druid(X)
Archetypes: Titan Fighter – Fighter / Druid – Goliath Druid
Domain: Rage
Rage Power: Accurate Stance(UC) or Surprise Accuracy or Beast Totem Lesser, Beast Totem & Beast Totem Greater
Eldritch Heritage Bloodline: Abyssal
Feat Tree +6 CON (option 1): Skill Focus (1st), Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Butchering Axe](1st), Power Attack(3rd), Shaping Focus(5th), Vital Strike(7th), Eldritch Heritage(9th), Improved Eldritch Heritage (11th), Furious Finish(13th)
Feat Tree Pounce (option 2): Racial Heritage[Ogre](1st), Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Butchering Axe](1st), Power Attack(3rd), Shaping Focus(5th), Vital Strike(7th), Raging Brute(9th), Extra Rage Power(11th), Furious Finish(13th)
Feat Tree Pounce & +6 CON(option 3): Skill Focus (1st), Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Butchering Axe](1st), Racial Heritage[Ogre](3rd), Shaping Focus(5th), Raging Brute (7th), Eldritch Heritage(9th), Extra Rage Power(11th), Improved Eldritch Heritage (13th)
Suggested Feats: Die Hard, Deathless Initiate, Cleave, Raging Brute, Cleaving Finish
Suggested Gear: Glove of Storing, Oversized Butchering Axe (Furious, Impact, Vicious or Furyborn), Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid (Butchering Axe), Irongrip Gauntlets, Cord of Stubborn Resolve, Pauldrons of the Juggernaut, Amulet of the Blooded
Key Features: • Base Damage for the Oversized Butchering Axe is 4d6
• Weapon is 2-handed so you get 1-1/2 Str +3 per -1 via power attack
• With Enlarge person damage then becomes 6d6
• With Impact damage becomes 8d6
• With vital strike damage then becomes 16d6
• At 3rd Level (assuming nat 20 str & E person) Dmg = 6d6+12 (33 avg dmg)
• At 13th Level you can assume the form of a troll gaining regeneration & rend
• At 15th level you can assume the form of a huge giant (24d6 butchering axe)
• At 19th level( (assuming nat 30 str & wildshape & rage) Base Dmg = 24d6+40 (Avg 124/184 max)
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Deadly Ooze (Druid)
Key concepts: A druid with an extremely powerful attack.
Class: Druid(X)
Archetypes: Cave Druid
Preferred Wildshape: Ooze, Carnivorous Crystal
Feats: Improved Natural Attack[slam](7th), Vital Strike(9th), Improved Vital Strike(15th)
Suggested Feats: Cleaving Finish
Key Features: • Ooze Base attack at medium size is 7d8+1.5xstr
• With Improved natural attack this becomes 12d6
• With Improved vital strike this becomes 36d6
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Titan Mauler Goliath (Fighter/Druid)
Key concepts: A druid that can shape change into a troll in order to wade into combat
Race: Human or Half-elf or Tiefling or Half-Orc
Racial Trait: Heart of the Fey and Focused Study or Military Tradition(Human), Ancestral Arms (Half-elf), Variant Option 16(Tiefling), Orc Atavism or [Shaman’s Apprentice & Toothy](Half-Orc)
Class: Barbarian (2), Druid(X)
Archetypes: Titan Mauler (Barbarian) / Goliath Druid (Druid)
Eldritch Heritage Bloodline: Abyssal
Domain: Rage
Rage Power: Beast Totem Lesser(2nd), Beast Totem(13th) & Beast Totem Greater(14th)
Feat Tree Pounce(Option 1): Possessed Hand(1st), Hand’s Autonomy(1st), Two-Weapon Fighting(3rd), Double Slice(5th), Racial Heritage[Ogre](7th), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting(9th), Raging Brute(11th), Extra Rage Power(13th), Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (17th)
Feat Tree +6 CON (Option 2): Skill Focus(1st), Exotic Weapon Proficiency [Butchering Axe](1st), Two-Weapon Fighting(3rd), Double Slice(5th), Eldritch Heritage(7th), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting(9th), Improved Eldritch Heritage(11th), Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (17th)
Suggested Feats: Die Hard, Deathless Initiate, Cleave,
Suggested Gear: 2x Butchering Axes (Furious, Impact, Vicious or Furyborn), Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid (Butchering Axe), Irongrip Gauntlets, Cord of Stubborn Resolve, Pauldrons of the Juggernaut, Amulet of the Blooded
Key Features: • Base Damage for the enlarged Butchering Axe is 4d6
• With Enlarge person damage then becomes 4d6
• With Impact damage becomes 6d6
• At 3rd Level (assuming nat 20 str & E person) Dmg = 4d6+12 (24 avg dmg)
• At 13th Level you can assume the form of a troll gaining regeneration & rend
• At 15th level you can assume the form of a huge giant (24d6 butchering axe)
• At 19th level( (assuming nat 30 str & wildshape & rage) Base Dmg = 24d6+40 (Avg 124/184 max)
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Flurrying Ooze (Monk/Druid)
Key concepts: A druid that can flurry with an extremely powerful attack.
Alignment: LN
Class: Monk(1), Druid(X)
Archetypes: Master of Many Styles(Monk), Cave Druid(Druid)
Preferred Wildshape: Ooze, Carnivorous Crystal
Feats: Jabbing Style(1st), Weapon Focus[Slam](3rd), Feral Combat Training(5th), Improved Natural Attack[slam](7th), Shaping Focus(9th),
Key Features: • Can turn into an ooze at 11th level
• Ooze Base attack at medium size is 7d8+1.5xstr
• At 11th lvl can flurry to have damage do 12d6(1st hit), 13d6(2nd hit+)
Feats: Jabbing Style(1st), Weapon Focus[Slam](3rd), Feral Combat Training(5th), Improved Natural Attack[slam](7th), Shaping Focus(9th),
If you somewhy want more free feats, the new Weapon Shift feat with any monk weapon allows using any natural attacks in a flurry, replacing Feral Combat Training (and thus removing the need for Weapon Focus). It also grants reach if you use a Double-Chained Kama, Kusarigama, or Kyoketsu Shoge.
Feats: Jabbing Style(1st), Weapon Focus[Slam](3rd), Feral Combat Training(5th), Improved Natural Attack[slam](7th), Shaping Focus(9th),If you somewhy want more free feats, the new Weapon Shift feat with any monk weapon allows using any natural attacks in a flurry, replacing Feral Combat Training (and thus removing the need for Weapon Focus). It also grants reach if you use a Double-Chained Kama,
Kusarigama, or Kyoketsu Shoge.
Unfortunately, that's going the wrong way. It would make the slam attack do the same damage whatever weapon I'm wielding which is considerably lower no matter what you pick.
Why would it? Damage dice are unaffected.
Say you're using a Kusarigama, now your slam counts as a monk, reach, trip, grapple weapon that can deal blunt of slashing weapon.
sorry, I missed the word type. So, I thought it read "your natural attacks do the same damage as the weapon" instead of "same damage type"
The brown fur transmuter is more awesome for letting you amp up your party than turning yourself into a murder machine. I feel a transmutationist wizard would be better suited if that is your desire. If you really wanted to do this anyway, then you could combine brown fur with the spell specialist archetype to let you qualify for dragon disciple, which would give you the combat power you desire. But it'd be a long slow road getting there. I personally wouldn't ever want to do that if starting from level 1.
I haven't kept track of the Shifter and all of its changes, but it may be what you want to consider.
It's a buffer/shapeshifter BFT Arcanist.
I haven't kept track of the Shifter and all of its changes, but it may be what you want to consider.
If non-caster builds are on the table I suggest Metamorph Alchemist turning into Deathsnatcher.
I haven't kept track of the Shifter and all of its changes, but it may be what you want to consider.
As far as the Shifter goes, the general errata to the class as well as the Adaptive Shifter archetype have helped in fixing several issues as long as you houserule that Adaptive Shifter is able to use Shifter Claws in Wild Shape as per RAI (instead of the broken way it's technically worded meaning you cannot because you don't have any Major Forms). When you do that, the class is actually playable.