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Man With Dog
2010-09-23, 06:24 AM
Heya Guys,

I know there is always threads asking about druids and they always get sent the Druid Handbook on the first or second reply but i have done that, and i have read feats from jsut about every source but making a decision is still hard for me.

Let me tell you my issue:
I made a druid and it is currently at lvl 8 Druid - lvl 1 Beastmaster.
I recently took power attack for myself BUT, I havent used it as the bear i had to use at lvl 7 (we only levelled last week) was pretty bad.

Now i am level 8 and get access to the Big Bear or tiger and so forth.
Question is, should i look at continuing with big damage from the forms or shall i take feats to help spell casting which ive enjoyed more than fighting melee.

Now i know i wuld enjoy it more now i can do damage better but i might be able to change out Power Attack and use my new level feat to better effect if i tell my DM what id like.
Do you think i should stick with melee bear and what feat should i follow up Power Attack with?
Or do you think i should take 2 spell casting feats? If so... like what?


Thanks for any replies

Eldariel
2010-09-23, 08:03 AM
Well, Multiattack is borderline must for melee Druid. You'll want to use spells like Greater Magic Fang, Bite of the Werex, Bull's Strength, Barkskin and so on to enhance your melee prowess too. And then, sticking to the form's natural tactic with boosting feats tends to work rather well.

Obviously, feats improving your spellcasting are rather key. I dunno why you have Beastmaster-level; it's really a huge downgrade from straight Druid for a minimal increase in Animal Companion efficiency, but as you will. Generally, you just want to maximize the wildshape level you have access to and profit.

Man With Dog
2010-09-23, 08:47 AM
The Beastmaster level is to maximise the use of my animal companion.
He does most of the DPS.
I am more of a back up to him.

The question was more of a: Do i carry on with feats to increase my melee ability

OR

Do i change my last feat and use this feat (level 9) to take 2 spell casting feats to increase that?

Greenish
2010-09-23, 08:49 AM
Well, if you prefer casting to melee, you probably should take casting feats.

Tharck
2010-09-23, 09:02 AM
Aside from Natural Spell and Combat Casting (although with a high CON from most wild shape creatures might not need it) I wouldn't bother with casting feats. Melee relies heavily on feats and spells - even without feats - still get the job done. I'd focus on buffs (like "Mass" spells) and supplimental healing. Your offensive spells are decent but generally summoning more mobs into the battlefield will be the choice option anyway.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-09-23, 09:26 AM
What feats do you already have? What do you spend the most time doing (full attacking, buffing, crowd controlling, nuking, summoning, healing, etc.)? Consider the following options:

Melee: If you have Wilding Clasped Armbands of Might, Leap Attack would be my first choice. Armbands increase your Power Attack damage by +2 if you take at least a -2 to hit, so that's -2 to hit for +4 damage. Leap Attack increases your bonus damage from power attacking by 100% (errata wording), so that turns into +8 damage for only -2 to hit, on every attack. This is assuming you use Dire Lion and pounce in, since with a bite, two claws, and two rakes you'll have +40 damage from that -2 to hit. Multiattack is your next best choice, or your first pick for melee feats if you don't have the armbands or can't get them within the next few sessions. Another top priority for a melee focus is a Wilding Clasped Circlet of Rapid Casting, to swift action buff and charge in on the same round. A Lesser Rod of Quicken is your next choice, but the circlet is far more efficient even with the clasp. If you have none of those yet, go for Multiattack and try to get the Circlet first.

Spellcasting: Greenbound Summoning is by far the absolute best choice for offensive spellcasting. Summon Nature's Ally 1 gets a Greenbound Dire Rat which can immediately use its Wall of Thorns spell-like ability and then use Entangle every round after until it disappears. That's a 1 round cast time and a 1st level spell slot on your part to get a 5th level spell out and then spam 1st level spells for a round per caster level after with no additional effort. SNAII gets 1d3 Greenbound Dire Rats, so that's as many as three 5th level spells for only one casting time of effort. Higher level Greenbound summons are extremely resilient and are sure to last their entire duration unless dispelled. Rashemi Elemental Summoning is another great one, get some earth elementals that can engulf opponents or water elementals that can come out with a cone of cold. If you already have Augment Summoning then you should consider taking both of those for the versatility they provide. Get some smaller summons to Wall of Thorns and split up the encounter, then make some big elementals to fly over the walls or earth glide under and fight the tangled up opponents while your animal companion battles the ones outside the growths. It should only take a few spells to completely dominate an encounter, then you can go melee next to your companion and clean up what's left.