Druids, how to ....... ?

[Skeith]

Hi im starting a new character and its a druid. I already know that you can't fail with a druid but i would really like to know how to optimize my class. I know that you need the natural spell feat but what else.

[Eldariel]

What do you want to do with the Druid? They make fine warriors, summoners and casters. They can do all that, but generally you want to pick one of the areas to focus on and especially excel there.

Also, what source material are you working with? And what level are you starting on? Any idea of what kind of a party you will be in?

[Optimystik]

Here you go, Druid Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1354.0)

Return with questions

[WarKitty]

Best advice, if you're low-level, pick a nice meatshield for your animal companion. Other than that it really depends if you want to go warrior or caster or a mix.

[Skeith]

Thanks for your answers, the only problem would be that my DM doesn't want anything else other than the core books (PHB 1 & 2). My role in the party would be primary melee damage dealer, and I'd like to make full use of my shapeshifting abilities and/or spellcasting.

[Eldariel]

So...Core Melee Druid? Stay sharp, I'll edit something in here in half an hour or so.

EDIT: Here we go.


Race: Dwarf, Gnome and Human are all fair choices; in melee, Con-boost is nice. Dwarf has various nice racials while Human come with the feat and bonus skillpoints. Ultimately, I'll leave this one up to you.

Attributes: You need high Wisdom and Constitution. As you'll be fighting in your animal form, your Str and Dex are largely inconsequential (in animal form, you still get HP based off your normal Con so that matters). Int is nice as you have a good skill list, and there's always use for Cha with your Diplomacy and Wild Empathy, though it's, as ever, dumpable. Indeed, you only need Wisdom and Charisma.

If you can choose between the two, high Dexterity over high Strength as this gives you the chance to Morph ASAP when a fight breaks out when not expected. All level-ups should go to Wisdom. Also, consider starting Middle-Aged or even Old; it boosts all your mentals while the only relevant penalty is that to Con. And it really makes sense to have older Druids anyways; at least my image of a Druid tends to be a venerable man with a long, long beard.

Feats: Outside Natural Spell, focus on combat feats. This means stuff like Multiattack [Monster Manual], Improved Trip/Grapple [PHB] (Trip requires Int; Grapple you'll qualify for through your animal forms) and company. You could pick Power Attack though it isn't as good for you since you only get 1-for-1 returns with natural weapons. You'll eventually want Quicken Spell, and you definitely want Extend Spell for your buffs. Beyond that, it's all groovy. Crafts are always good, Spell Penetration is nice in Core, et cetera.

Skills: As a Druid, you'll want Concentration, Knowledge (Nature) and at least some Handle Animal (so with the +4 from AC, your Handle Animal with your AC is +10 - that way you can take 10 to teach it stuff; push it outside combat by taking 20). If you're the only caster, you'll want Spellcraft too. Diplomacy if necessary party-wise.

As a combatant, Tumble and Balance are of interest to you, cross-class. Hide and Move Silently also have some uses as many animal forms come with good Dex and some bonuses. Spot and Listen are naturally amazing, especially with your Wisdom. I'd probably max them whatever the case.

Equipment: Your primary decision is how to defend yourself. Either you simply equip stuff after Wildshaping; in that case, Monk's Belt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltMonks) offers you a great source of AC. The other option, if DM rules you cannot put on items after Wildshaping, is Wild (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#wild) armor. As the armor only provides bonus and otherwise disappears, go ahead and pick up a Dragonhide Fullplate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialMaterials.htm#dragonhide). Other items of note, Ioun Stones (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#iounStones) don't meld when you wildshape so they're a good investment. If you went Wild Dragonhide Fullplate, use an Animated Shield (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#animated) and use items like Strand of Prayer Beads (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#strandofPrayerBeads) and Metamagic Rod of Extend (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rods.htm#metamagicExtend) before Wildshaping in the morning buff routine. Also, have an Amulet of Health (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#amuletofHealth) as your original, pre-morphing Con determines your HP so it becoming dysfunctional doesn't really matter. And of course, inherent bonuses (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#manualofBodilyHealth) go nowhere if you wildshape so you'll eventually want those.

Animal Companion: Your animal companion is going to be a great warrior for your entire career. You'll probably want a Riding Dog to start with; make sure it's trained for war so it can trip and use armor. And always buff and equip your animal companion; simple armor increases their durability a lot (Studded Leather and later Mithril Chain or even heavier armor as Dex and their training allows) and later stuff like Ring of Freedom of Movement is gold. Note that war-trained animals have armor proficiencies (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#animalType) so see about training your companions for war.

As you level-up, the old companion tends to start lagging so as long as you're ok with it RP-wise, switching to ones that became available on that level tends to work, something like:
Riding Dog
Dire Bat (be mounted and you'll have monopoly in flight at this point, though if you want to tank, you may not want to utilize that so much)
Brown Bear
Dire Lion
Dire Bear
Dire Tiger

Makes for a nice progression. Of course there are alternatives, but those are some of the better ones on each level. Of course, keeping an old one isn't bad in many cases; you get to pick feats that way, though in Core that isn't much of an advantage. You get other miscellaneous bonuses too though.

Do note that Dire animals have good Will-save progressions which is a huge boon. Definitely a huge point in their favor. Also, animals have the same magic item slots as humans, more or less. So...if you don't use that many magic items (as Druids tend to), give your companion some more goodies.

Wildshape: The source of much of your beatdown power. Start off with Deinonychus-form, work up to Tiger, Rhinoceros, Brown/Polar Bear, and eventually Dire-versions + Treant, Tendriculous and other Plants. Dinosaurs, Rhinoceros and Felines tend to make for great chargers, Bears (and Crocodiles) are tough pound-for-pounders and grapplers, and avians are of course useful as scouting forms and for the whole "Stormcrow"-act.

Tramplers like Elephant and many herbivorous dinosaurs can also be interesting options. Once you get Elemental Wildshape...well, fool around with the spell-likes and the like. Keep your options open but pick a constant combat form you spend most of the day in; Wildshape lasts hours/level, no use being caught unaware when traveling (mind, you'll probably want to get a Telepathic Bond permanencied once it's available around level 9 with some of the party).

Spells: Well, there are four main uses for Druid-spells:
- Buffing
- Summoning
- Blasting
- Controlling
- Utility

You'll, first and foremost, want the obvious buffs on at all times; Greater Magic Fang on each of your and your companion's natural weapon (once you breach the +1 limit; until then just cast the generic "+1 to all" version) is key, as is keeping a Barkskin active as much as possible (couple of Extended castings tends to do wonders). Those two are a baseline.

Animal Growth is a wonderful combat buff for your companion and any summons, Bull's Strength-line is wonderful as long as it's not superceded by equipment (allows you to save on equipment too once you have enough slots to keep 'em running all day). Air Walk, Freedom of Movement and Death Ward are all key spells that have very obvious uses (train your animal companion in Air Walk, btw.) and ultimately, Shapechange is of course the best spell in the game.


Summoning serves couple of purposes; getting more meat in the front & serving special functions (Unicorn is a great healer, Pixie has a slew of spell-likes, Moles can dig holes, Elementals make great scouts, and so on), mostly. If you are into getting more meat into the front, invest feats into Augment Summoning. Note that Celestial Charger available with level 9 version has some Cleric casting so if you need stuff like Restoration, he's the one to ask.


Blasting...you shouldn't be doing a lot of that as a melee Druid. On low levels before Wildshape, Produce Flame is fine, and there's a place for Call Lightning but mostly I wouldn't bother. You'll do better damage just hitting things.


Then, controlling is a good way to protect people when you can't be everywhere. Starting from Entangle and Transmute Rock to Mud, you've got solid choices on every level with various fogs, walls, shapes and so on. You'll want some prepared at all times.


Finally, utility: Stuff like Move Earth, Word of Recall, Faerie Fire, Find the Path and company falls in here. Not much to say; their uses are pretty apparent. Use as appropriate. A word on Faerie Fire though: It's a great spell for detecting hard-to-detect enemies. Some are good to have scrolls around of (just turn into human form as necessary).

Also, Wand of Cure Light Wounds is the most efficient method of out-of-combat healing (the place where you should do it, if at all possible; in combat, you'll want to minimize damage and kill enemy ASAP instead other than the almighty Heal-spell itself) available in Core. Those are handy too. Oh, and Dispel Magic is one of the most important spells in the game; never skimp on it.

[WarKitty]

Thanks for your answers, the only problem would be that my DM doesn't want anything else other than the core books (PHB 1 & 2). My role in the party would be primary melee damage dealer, and I'd like to make full use of my shapeshifting abilities and/or spellcasting.

Make Wisdom and Constitution your core abilities. If you can get access to wild dragonhide armor it might be worth burning a feat to be able to wear full plate. Combat casting is always good. Maxing out summoning can be useful as well, as you can cast summon nature's ally freely.

[Gnaeus]

Combat casting is always good.

Combat casting is not good unless you need it for a PRC. Combat casting applies only to casting spells defensively. Skill Focus: Concentration gives almost as good a bonus, but it also works when you are grappling, or taking damage, or flying through a hurricane, or whatever.

[tyckspoon]

Thanks for your answers, the only problem would be that my DM doesn't want anything else other than the core books (PHB 1 & 2). My role in the party would be primary melee damage dealer, and I'd like to make full use of my shapeshifting abilities and/or spellcasting.

Ah, well, then there's an old bit of wisdom that is still relevant here.. CAT DURID IS FOR FITE. (I'm very very sorry.) Your primary combat forms are cats and bears. Cat shapes generally are good for damage output, especially if you can get a charge off (pounce+rakes means you'll be able to throw something like 7 attacks.) Bears often have really good grapple checks, which means they're more useful when you want to lock down one opponent instead. Plants are generally used for weirder situations, or when you just want to be a plant, although Treant is pretty useful when you're in spaces big enough to support it. Elemental forms are just awesome, when/if you reach that level, with Air Elemental being especially handy for its move rate and high AC bonuses.

Find out how your DM feels about animals wearing magic items. The rules support it, but it is still a hot-button issue for some. If he's cool about it, you can greatly improve your effectiveness by having your party members (or even just a squire you hire to follow you around and do this while hiding from all the fights) hang your Amulet of Mighty Fists and Belt of Strength and Cloak of Resistance on you after you first Wildshape in the morning. If not, spend your money on caster gear and any slotless items you can acquire (Ioun stones are expensive but inarguably work regardless of what shape you take on) and pre-buff; a couple of Barkskins+ a lesser metamagic rod of Extend will give you a natural armor buff all day in the event that you aren't allowed to wear a Necklace of Natural Armor, or aren't allowed to combine your Necklace of Armor with your Periapt of Wisdom.

[Amphetryon]

Early game, don't disrespect the idea of a Crocodile companion. They make strong fighters and grapplers, and their ability to swim can be useful.

Wolves and Riding Dogs are the other consistent best picks.

[Skeith]

Thanks a lot guys with your help I will be able to tear trough everything my DM will put before me.

BTW: my party is composed of 3 person. Me a wizard and a cleric.


I forgot. I saw the shapeshifting variant in the PHB2 would it be good to sacrifice my animal companion.

[Il_Vec]

Attributes: You need high Wisdom and Constitution. As you'll be fighting in your animal form, your Str and Dex are largely inconsequential (in animal form, you still get HP based off your normal Con so that matters). Int is nice as you have a good skill list, and there's always use for Cha with your Diplomacy and Wild Empathy, though it's, as ever, dumpable. Indeed, you only need Wisdom and Charisma.


You seem to have a typo in that last sentence. You meant Wisdom and Constitution. (Like in the first sentence.)

[Grumman]

I forgot. I saw the shapeshifting variant in the PHB2 would it be good to sacrifice my animal companion.
From what I recall, the shapeshifting variant is what people play when the DM decides that the druid needs to be taken down a tier or two, in terms of power.

So no, you're better off with the normal druid.

[theos911]

I think he did mean con and wisdom. You appear to have the original big 3 on your party. Depending how you optimize, you might overshadow them, if they do not as well.....:smallwink:

[Eldariel]

I forgot. I saw the shapeshifting variant in the PHB2 would it be good to sacrifice my animal companion.

Your Animal Companion alone is as good as Shapeshifting. Wildshape is on a totally other level. If you need to tank and don't have godly stats, don't go Shapeshift. Well, even with godly stats, it's not as good.

Also, if you're alone in the party, have your animal companion tank on low levels while you use battlefield control and damage magic, and once you get to Wildshape, start tanking yourself too.


You seem to have a typo in that last sentence. You meant Wisdom and Constitution. (Like in the first sentence.)

Aye. So I did.