Epic Melee Wildshaper

[Babale]

I have this ridiculous idea for a melee-focused Master of Many Forms. Now, I know that this is ridiculous: A straight Druid or Sorcerer or Wizard with Shapeshift as a 9th level spell is as good as you can possibly get for a wildshaper. But I don't want to go with that; I want to go with a Druid/Master of Many Forms. Here is what I have now: Shifter (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=128319)

Now, what can we change? Except for the first Druid level that gives me Wildshape, most of those are a waste. Is there a better use for them? I can't think of any except Planar Shepard, and that's a bit of a stretch for my character; He would not want to Wildshape into Outsiders. Mostly I want something that will buff my melee, AC, or SR while forwarding my Wildshape level. Any ideas?

I'm also open to feat suggestions, etc.

[TehLivingDeath]

My ideal epic-ready MoMF is Wildshape Ranger 5/MoMF 10/either Nature's Warrior or Warshaper 5. The former advances Wildshape HD and duration while offering some modest perks and the latter doesn't advance Wildshape but gives you much stronger perks. One of those two gives you better sinergy than the Druid's spellcasting, IMO.

[Randomguy]

Even if you don't go wildshape ranger, I'd still swap out 5 druid levels for 5 warshaper levels. It gives tons of perks for when you're wildshaped, which is basically all the time.

[mootoall]

Yeah, Wildshape Ranger gives you more out of your base levels, with the higher BAB and skill points.

[Eldariel]

If you're going epic and want to Wildshape, you absolutely have to 100% max your effective Wildshaping level. As sweet as it is, this means 0 levels in Warshaper.

I'd go:
Mystic Wildshape Ranger 10/Master of Many Forms 10/Epic Master of Many Forms ->

Lacking Mystic Ranger you could just go Wildshape Ranger 5/Master of Many Forms 10/Nature's Warrior 5 but lacking Mystic Ranger means you miss out on among others Greater Magic Fang, which kinda blows. You could also go Wildshape Ranger 10/Master of Many Forms 10 if you'd rather have Evasion, some more Favored Enemies and some random stuff (Swift Tracker) than Nature's Warrior abilities.

Stack any ways to increase your effective Wildshape level on top of that (off the top of my head there's at least one set of items in Complete Champion; the "of the Beast"-set, which gives you 1 extra level) and once you pass level 25, you have at least something you don't get just from Shapechange.


You obviously need Assume Supernatural Ability [Savage Species], Colossal Wildshape [SRD, Epic] & Magical Beast Wildshape [SRD, Epic] to even compete; Shapechange has both built-in (it also has a wider variety of forms). At this point you only lack Outsider & Undead Wildshapes (which is a pity 'cause especially Outsiders have some of the very best forms with low hit dice).

You could also pick up Fine Wildshape [SRD, Epic] but that's significantly less useful than Colossal Wildshape due to the relatively small amount of Fine creatures in the game and their relative lack of value for anything but fitting through small spaces and trying to remain unseen (something many larger creatures are more adept at, I might add).


That would be the basic shell I'd use if I absolutely wanted to do this without spells: Wildshape Ranger 5/Master of Many Forms 10/Nature's Warrior 5/Epic Master of Many Forms -> with Assume Supernatural Ability and the epic Wildshape feats.

[Babale]

I checked out Nature's Warrior, and it seems a bit... lackluster. I loose 3 levels of casting (No big deal, but still) to get... what? A couple of odd bonuses?

[Eldariel]

I checked out Nature's Warrior, and it seems a bit... lackluster. I loose 3 levels of casting (No big deal, but still) to get... what? A couple of odd bonuses?

Well, the idea was that if you don't have casting anyways, might as well. If you go MoMF 10, you've damn well tanked whatever your casting is worth already so it's nothing to really pay attention to.

[tyckspoon]

I checked out Nature's Warrior, and it seems a bit... lackluster. I loose 3 levels of casting (No big deal, but still) to get... what? A couple of odd bonuses?

The Natural Armor, constrict-like, and one of damage reduction/fast healing/natural weapon damage bonus abilities are the most common choices, I believe. They're not overwhelming, especially for Epic, but they're better than what you'll get out of five levels of Ranger.. and if you can Wildshape big enough, you might actually have a competitive grapple score to apply the constrict one.

[hex0]

Well, the idea was that if you don't have casting anyways, might as well. If you go MoMF 10, you've damn well tanked whatever your casting is worth already so it's nothing to really pay attention to.

Can the Ranger trade in his spells for anything? Fighter Bonus Feats? Sneak Attack?

[tyckspoon]

Can the Ranger trade in his spells for anything? Fighter Bonus Feats? Sneak Attack?

Nothing worth having, at least not that I've ever seen. Even if you don't have much spellcasting progression in your build, it's worth having the capacity for ready access to wands, an easier time using scrolls, and being able to use anything that randomly requires being a divine caster.

[DarthCyberWolf]

Can the Ranger trade in his spells for anything? Fighter Bonus Feats? Sneak Attack?

Just bonus feats from a pretty small list at 4th, 8th, 11th and 14th level. This is from Complete Champion.

[Eldariel]

Can the Ranger trade in his spells for anything? Fighter Bonus Feats? Sneak Attack?

You could get a bonus feat by Champion of the Wild but frankly being able to use Wands is worth more than a bonus feat, especially on this high levels.