I've seen a similar thread in here, but since it doesn't address my own questions, I decided to open my own.
Well, my beloved Swashbuckler died in a Blaze of Glory (a.k.a.: humongous Critical from a giant eel's bite) and the party simply is too low level (4th) to have the resources to ressurrect him, in a Skulls & Shackles-based Pirate Campaign. He was the tanky character in the group, which had an only other melee-combatant (rogue), who relied a lot on our flanking strategies for his own fun in combat.
Now I must move on, and after a LOT of deliberating, I came up with an idea for a character which I've longed to play for a lot of time, but that could also be useful for the group: a druid. And I'm heavily story-oriented (I'm already hyped up about the background story I've created so far), but, of course, I also want to be effective! I loved the idea of the Storm Druid, in regards of how it seems to fit the ship environment, but I really am horrible at interpreting rules...
So, I already have this idea for the character, which would be a half-orc (Storm?) Druid. Thing is: everything I found about the archetype, are people saying it's amazing for a blaster-type character. My question is: can it also be a good melee/tank combatant? I'm really into the idea of the melee Druid, so, can I make it work, or should I give up the archetype and go with a Vanilla druid?
Also, I'd be appreciative for ANY suggestions on scores, builds, feats, companions/Domains, everything!
Thanks in advance!
A storm druid is OK as a blaster, no better. It could be OK in melee likewise I think.
The main melee trick that archetype has that the default druid doesn't is the ability to see thru fog and mist. You might like to get proficiency in a reach weapon (half-elf race or spend a feat, whatever), conjure up some fog and hit people from where you can't be easily seen. Combat reflexes works with that.
Personally, for a melee-focused Skull & Shackles character, I'd consider Half-Orc (Toothy, maybe) Druid (Skinshaper, Tempest Druid); Aquatic* (or Weather/Storms) Domain, Bully trait. Technically, it's more of a blaster/melee (with some battlefield control, infiltration, and utility) than a dedicated tank, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A tempest druid also has a story-based reason to look for (or create, with Craft Wondrous Item) a goz mask.
Because Skinshaping remains in humanoid form, it relies more on weapons and armor than a "normal" wild shape druid (polymorph effects to take other humanoid forms resize/reshape armor and weapons instead of having them merge with the new form). High Str (of course) and focus on weapon feats instead of Natural Spell, natural attacks, etc.
If you want a little more melee/tank focus (better weapons, etc.), a 1-2 level dip in barbarian, fighter, ranger, slayer, etc. may not be out of the question. Be careful, as multiclassing can be tricky.
*- very useful for a campaign that spends a lot of time around or under water
Answer is probably yes,
But why do you want to be a druid, particularly a Storm Druid, if your goal is melee tanking?
Mostly flavour, actually... as I said, I go with how I perceive a character... and besides the ongoing backstory I'm getting fond of, I imagine how welcome in a ship a druid, capable of commanding the winds and the seas, should be.
And, thinking about it, the tanking part is the least important here... If it could be effective in melee, it would be already good... but, indeed, it seems I'm going TOO crazy with the concept, LOL...
(And if the thing really wasn't worth the effort, I'd think about something else. I just wanted to know if it was a possible combination. :) )
So, what are your tips for an effective melee-oriented druid, independent of archetype, folks? :)
Generally speaking, wildshape plus natural spell plus various methods to boost your combat effectiveness or control the field. The latter is better in my opinion, and it's the one the storm druid is good at.
You've also got the option of wildshaping into something little that can fly or swim, which makes you useful at reconnaissance and lets you escape a losing combat.
Once you can wildshape into large animals...I mean. The giant octopus is just...yeah. It's so good.
storm druids are GREAT as blasters.
Turn into a songbird, and call down the thunder on unsuspecting foes. Don't need the best damage in the game if you can do it without retaliation.
This is only really useful if you do a lot of solo stuff, or if your party is uninterested in acting as a party. In those situations sure.
It depends on what you consider effective. Like Lelomenia stated the big issue is having the appropriate stats. To be an effective blaster you need your casting stat high. To be effective in combat you need your physical stats to be good, and your primary damage stat to be high.
If you are using a point buy that means you have to spread limited resources over multiple stats. You don’t need all 18, but you need to invest something in more stats than a character focused on a single aspect. To achieve that you usually have to dump some stats. As a druid you don’t need CHA or INT, and having low abilities in those scores actually fit better on a half orc than most other races.
If you are rolling for stats it is pretty much the luck of the dice. If you get some decent rolls you are good to go. If on the other hand you get to many bad rolls you are not going to be able to pull it off.
The last thing I would mention is that effective is not the same as optimized. To be effective you just need to be good enough to get the job done. If you are the type that needs to be the best at whatever you are doing than trying to do two things is likely to be a disappointment. If you are ok with just getting the job done than with the right stats you can be effective at melee combat and spell casting. You will not be as good at either as a singularly focused character.
i guess part of being effective in melee usually comes down to investing in physical ability scores. That comes at a price in point buy; if you want to also be a blaster as a Storm Druid, then that’s an issue because you would also want to max wisdom for DC. If you don’t care about blasting, then that frees up some point buy.
Exactly, I think I'd just want to have a melee character that could be augmented by Storm powers (nothing overpowered, I'm no MIN-MAXer... although I must admit that, thinking about it, this concept of "Storm-augmented melee combatant" makes me think about Marvel's Thor and THAT is OP indeed... LOL).
The casting itself would be nothing greater than support, since we already have a fabulous blaster in the group.Also, thanks a LOT, everyone, you're all giving me great insight about it! Mysterious Stranger, you just NAILED it when you said that:
To be effective you just need to be good enough to get the job done.
And that's exactly what I want!
And, Mark, I still couldn't find my jaw, which dropped so hard to the floor! Your reply is AMAZING, and the type of stuff I have no ability whatsoever to come up with! LOL!
All of this tells me that, regardless of Race, Class and Archetype choices, if you build a Medium sized, level 4 PC, all you need to do is make sure you take a 3/4 BAB or better and build a 16 Str and you ARE an "effective" melee character.
Really, thank you all a lot, you're being of great help! :D