Shifter totemist help

[Obahai]

I need help making a lvl1-10 shifter totemist. Running in a very low magic setting and getting 300 gp to start with. The books allowed are the Eberron CS, Magic of Incarnum, and the PHB/Dmg

[Essence_of_War]

Have you checked out the totemist handbook yet?

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2943.0

Or shneekey's incarnum and you reference?

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215723

Boyh are great places to start. Level one is a little rough for totemists, but basically you pick your fave natural weapon totem bind at 2 and go from there. I'm partial to sphinx claws or girallon arms.

Statwise, str and con are most important. Dex and int are nice too.

Featwise, it's hard not to take bonus essentia at 6, and double chakra at 9. That leaves you 1,3 and any flaws to fill. If you get flaws, i'd use them to take endurance and steadfast determination, then pick up multiattack if you like girallon arms, and possibly improved natural attack. Expanded soulmeld capacity is great also, as is shape soulmeld to steal things bluesteel bracers, incarnate avatar, or sighting gloves, depending pn your preferred attack modes.

[Psyren]

You'll want to be either Longtooth or Razorclaw for the extra natural attack. I recommend the former since Bites bypass type-based DR, which is common at low-levels (e.g. a bite will do equal damage to a zombie or skeleton.)

Anyway, for feats/melds - I would shape either Girallon Claws or Sphinx Claws starting out, and get Multiattack and Imp. Multiattack as soon as possible. Improved Essentia Capacity is also a must. Be ready to Double Chakra on your Totem the second you hit 9th-level. For added AC, shape Wormtail Belt, and for mobility don't forget your Blink Shirt. If you can squeeze in a couple of Shifter Feats, do so, as that will let you shift more often and shift for longer (plus, you can pick up another attack via Extra Shifter Trait.) Bonus Essentia is another great feat. Finally, be sure to get Iron Will or Cerulean Will so you're less likely to get dominated and shred the party.

[Obahai]

I'm looking at taking the totem rager PrC, so I might start off as a barbarian.

I can't use my melds until level 2 right?

[Psyren]

I'm looking at taking the totem rager PrC, so I might start off as a barbarian.

If that's the case, be sure to take a gander at the Shifter Savagery feat from RoE. A two-dice bump to all your natural weapons is nice enough, and it includes Improved Critical for all of them for free. On top of all that, it's a Shifter feat, so you only need one more to grab Extra Shifter Trait and get another natural weapon.


I can't use my melds until level 2 right?

Sure you can use them - you just can't bind them to a chakra, and most if not all the Totemist melds only give you natural attacks while so bound. That doesn't stop you from, say, shaping a Wormtail Belt and putting all your essentia into it for +3 extra AC. Or shaping Blink Shirt for low-level teleportation.

[Obahai]

I'm reading the shifting savagery feat and I'm not sure if I qualify for it at lvl 1. It is something to plan ahead for thougj

[Psyren]

You said the build was 1-10, so some of my suggestions were for down the road (e.g. Double Chakra, which you can't take until 9)

[Essence_of_War]

Just as a note, I'm not in love with the Totem Rager. It sounds good initially, but I think you miss out on a lot of nice class features for a sort of 'meh' mechanical compensation.

You lose at least 3 meldshaper levels between taking at least 1 barbarian level, and the 2 you lose from Totem Rager. This results in losing 1 soulmeld, and 1 chakra bind over your career.

But worse, you lose access to any of the higher powered chakras. Specifically, throat, waist, and heart. You also miss out on the Totemist's double bind class feature, which I'm quite fond of.

The essentia math is also pretty weird. You might think the Totem Rage more than makes up for your missing meldshaper levels, but the reality is a little different:

5th level (no totem rager)
Straight totemist - 3 essentia
BBN1/Totemist 4 - 3 essentia

10th level:
Straight totemist - 7
BBN1/Totemist 6/TR3 - 5 + 1 while raging

15th level:
Totemist - 12
Totem Rager8 - 9 + 4 raging

20th level:
Totemist - 20
Totem Rager10 (back to totemist?) - 14 + 5

Somewhere in the middle, around ECL 14-16, you have slightly more essentia while you're raging, but in every other case the straight totemist just seems substantially better to me.

I think you can make a more effective, and at least equally thematic, 'totem rager' with at most a 1-level barbarian dip and going straight totemist from there.

Edit:

Everything I said is also true of the levels 1-10 range. You lose essentia, even in a rage. You'll miss out on the arms/brow/shoulders chakra (Rager doesn't get even them until 9th level!)

[Obahai]

Thanks everybody, i think to spare the DM I might just play a skarn totemist

[Essence_of_War]

Skarn are a nice because they start with a natural weapon at 1st level.

Warforged can be a great choice also. I noticed you had access to ECS, and a straight Warforged totemist can make very scary!

[Obahai]

Skarn are a nice because they start with a natural weapon at 1st level.

Warforged can be a great choice also. I noticed you had access to ECS, and a straight Warforged totemist can make very scary!

Jaws of death and a slam attack at 1st, plus a charge leads to some serious business. Im just limited on armor/feats and not sure how to pump speed

[Essence_of_War]

Hmmm...you could always bind Dread Carapace to your feet chakra?

Warforged can also burn a feat for Adamantine Body at first level. Gets you some pretty sweet armor.

Are you allowed to take flaws?

[Obahai]

Don't know how they work, but I'm always willing to try and sell something to the DM

[Essence_of_War]

Which one do you not know about?

I suspect that you mean flaws, in which case, you're in luck, they're super straightforward.

At character creation, you pick up to two flaws (typically from this list (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm)) and in exchange, you get a feat for each flaw that you take.

The flaws are usually more severe than a corresponding feat, so typically you end up picking flaws that make you 'worse' at something you're already 'bad', or 'worse' at something that you don't care about.

Murky-eyed is very popular. Shaky is popular for melee specialists. Vulnerable is fine for almost everyone. Non-combatant is fine for ranged specialists.

[Roguenewb]

I like Totem Rager, but probably not for the reason everyone else does. I like it because a two level dip in barbarian can get you Improved Grab (No DM I know actually lets me take pounce, and it's too powerful) and Improved Trip.

Suddenly, you're the king of combat manuevers. Shape Girallon Arms, and you can suddenly do a ton of BFC. Since a totemist has the potential to be both a pure damage outputter, and a minor BFCer. Since adding 2 levels of barbarian is a huge aid, then the levels of totem rager let you stack those barbarian levels and get yet more power out of it.

If shifter ferocity works with *all* natural weapons, a shifter totem rager is officially my favorite thing ever! However, if you have no UA, and no CC *required for Improved Trip and Improved Grab respectively*, then just go with straight totemist.

PS. If you do this, use whirling frenzy variant, it's the best barbarian!

[Obahai]

Taking flaws for feats, seems incredibly broken, ATM, but I'ven seen a few of them to know how they affect the PC.

If I play as a warforged with flaws, i'll probably take the admantium body feat and cold iron tracery as well.

If i play as a shifter it will be to set up extra incarnum feats for the setup

Not sure on feats for a Skarn though