Magic of Incarnum/Gestalt Question

[Drglenn]

Do soulmelds work when wildshaped?
I'm considering playing a druid/incarnate in a potential gestalt game happening. Was wondering what the ruling would be on if i go into wildshape what would happen to my soulmelds?
Also similarly would chakra binds still have their effect?

[balistafreak]

I believe so. Yeah, Incarnum gestalts well with EVERYTHING. :smallcool:

[Cog]

I believe so. Yeah, Incarnum gestalts well with EVERYTHING. :smallcool:
Except other Incarnum, unless you really need to fill up all your binds with essentia and you don't mind running out of things to bind to.

[Keld Denar]

Confirming, Soulmelds work while Wildshaped.

[Darth Stabber]

Not only does it work, it's actaully really good. There are three things that I would gestalt with druid, and totemist is number one on that list. Swordsage and barbarian are the others.

[Tokuhara]

Not only does it work, it's actaully really good. There are three things that I would gestalt with druid, and totemist is number one on that list. Swordsage and barbarian are the others.

I agree with the above. Incarnum is deadly on Druid in gestalt, with Totemist being the posterchild of "I am an uberbear!!! RAWR!!!"

[PollyOliver]

Not only does it work, it's actaully really good. There are three things that I would gestalt with druid, and totemist is number one on that list. Swordsage and barbarian are the others.

Okay, now I want a Tiger Claw tiger-shaped druid really, really badly.

[AmberVael]

Okay, now I want a Tiger Claw tiger-shaped druid really, really badly.

I am suddenly picturing this. (http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/JaquiChan/TaiLungRarFlames.jpg)

And it is pretty awesome.

[PollyOliver]

I am suddenly picturing this. (http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/JaquiChan/TaiLungRarFlames.jpg)

And it is pretty awesome.

So much want.

[Tavar]

Not only does it work, it's actaully really good. There are three things that I would gestalt with druid, and totemist is number one on that list. Swordsage and barbarian are the others.

Incarnate could be really good as well. Depends on the druid, though.

[Jack_Simth]

I agree with the above. Incarnum is deadly on Druid in gestalt, with Totemist being the posterchild of "I am an uberbear!!! RAWR!!!"
And, of course, if you're using up all your item slots on soulmelds, you might as well go Vow of Poverty to skip the equipment you can't use anyway....

[MeeposFire]

And, of course, if you're using up all your item slots on soulmelds, you might as well go Vow of Poverty to skip the equipment you can't use anyway....

Soul melds do not mess with items only chakra binds mess with items. Though unless you like being itemless VoP still weakens a druid (just not as much as for most).

[Zenboras]

Not only does it work, it's actaully really good. There are three things that I would gestalt with druid, and totemist is number one on that list. Swordsage and barbarian are the others.

That means you can use maneuvers shapeshifted? Insane. And hilarious/cool.

[ImperiousLeader]

It'll even work when Shapeshifted. One of the characters I really wanted to play in 3.5 was a Gestalt Totemist/Druid, with the PH2 shapeshift substitution class feature. Incarnum rocks.

[Darth Stabber]

And, of course, if you're using up all your item slots on soulmelds, you might as well go Vow of Poverty to skip the equipment you can't use anyway....

Does any one actually have data on how well VoP works with incarnum? I should think "well", since you are turning item slots off anyway, but I'm not sure. Until one of my usual group wants to step behind the gm screen, or I join a different group, I can't really gather empirical data.

Note: by "well", I mean better off than most other classes. It's been my experience that druids handle VoP better than anyone else (not that it is a good choice for them).

I was going to work out a totemist build based on this idea, but I can't play it, and no one else has data.

Again only soulmelds BOUND to chakra fill magic item slots. You can have soulmelds on every slot, so long as you don't bind them it makes no difference. The caveat being that the good abilities of soulmelds are the bind effects. Now totemists have a key advantage that the incarnate lacks. The totem chakrs has no corresponding body slot, so they can bind that slot right up (and that is where the classes best abilites are anyway). Whereas incarnate always turn off a magic item slot any time they bind a soulmeld.

Also of interest, soulmelds stay in place if you don't select a new set of them in the morning, so as long as you really like your setup, you needn't spend you daily hour on them.

[AmberVael]

I've played a few Incarnum / Vow of Poverty characters, and they tend to fare alright. I think you're still better of going with wealth by level though. At low levels, it's probably not a good strategy at all. Without Incarnum binds, you're not going to have the effects that allow Soulmelds to replace magic items, and neither do you have the need to free up chakras. You'll essentially be like a slightly not as horrendous fighter.

Ultimately though, in my experience, the pairing is best at high levels on a multi-focus character (like a character who is Gestalt, or who has dual progression classes). This is because Incarnum works very well in such situations (allowing you to augment the options you already have), and vow of poverty gets out of the way of Incarnum while still ensuring you have decent bonuses. The second class also helps you cover up any missing spots between Incarnum and Vow of Poverty.

It essentially just allows you to gain all the bonuses while covering up all the flaws more efficiently.

That's a really specialized situation though, and even then it's not going to make you particularly great. It'll perform fine, but it isn't like a killer combo. Druid//Totemist/VoP would probably be pretty awesome though.


Under normal circumstances, I recommend Totemist with VoP the most. Totemist makes for a fairly simple build, which VoP compliments, not beating around the bush but just providing all the basic bonuses. I find that it is easier to pick up fly speeds and various bonuses from your melds which allow you the versatility you need with Totemist rather than Incarnate, while making the most of your bonuses (enchanting all of your natural weapons with no essentia required is pretty handy after all).