Best Elemental Wild Shape forms?

[fencepainter]

What are the best elemental wild shape forms? I know that the circumstances might dictate one form over another, but I was wondering what people might think were the most useful, generally.

[Arcanist]

The Taint Elemental if you are fighting anything with a Constitution or a Wisdom score and a crappy Charisma.

[fencepainter]

Taint Elementals are quite cool, but I'm not sure they would qualify as Air, Earth, Fire or Water, which I believe are subtypes required by the ability. Or did I overlook something in the Taint Elemental description?

[Arcanist]

Taint Elementals are quite cool, but I'm not sure they would qualify as Air, Earth, Fire or Water, which I believe are subtypes required by the ability. Or did I overlook something in the Taint Elemental description?

Oh drats you're right :smallconfused:

[tyckspoon]

Air if you're in open space, Earth if you're in a space where Earth Glide would be useful. Fire and Water are pretty lame.

Note that the Druid's Elemental Wild Shape only lets you turn into specifically the base Elementals, not any creatures with the Elemental type.

[ben-zayb]

I think there is an Air Weird or Frost Weird or something in either MM2 or Frostburn that grants Analyze Dweomer at Will, and some other Divination spells. AFB unfortunately.

[Gavinfoxx]

Orglash? Storm Elemental? Storm Orglash?

[Uhtred]

Isn't there a feat that lets you morph into other sorts of Elementals? I feel like I've seen that somewhere.

[LordBlades]

Orglash? Storm Elemental? Storm Orglash?

It doesn't work due to Orglash being a template and the fact that you're unable to assume the shape of creatures with templates

[fencepainter]

Note that the Druid's Elemental Wild Shape only lets you turn into specifically the base Elementals, not any creatures with the Elemental type.

I'm curious about this assertion, which may be perfectly correct. The srd says:

"At 16th level, a druid becomes able to use wild shape to change into a Small, Medium, or Large elemental (air, earth, fire, or water) once per day. These elemental forms are in addition to her normal wild shape usage. In addition to the normal effects of wild shape, the druid gains all the elemental’s extraordinary, supernatural, and spell-like abilities. She also gains the elemental’s feats for as long as she maintains the wild shape, but she retains her own creature type."

It is not completely clear whether the parenthetical list is a set of the possible creatures (i.e., only Air Elemental, Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, or Water Elemental are available) or a set of a set of the possible creature sub-types (i.e., air sub-type, earth sub-type, fire sub-type, and water sub-type are available).

My own thought is that because the ability anticipates "spell-like abilities", which none of the "base Elementals" have, it is a nudge suggesting that the the intention was for "air, earth, fire, or water" to refer to creature sub-types rather than specific elementals. Moreover, there are a variety of elementals with the "air, earth, fire, or water" sub-types that have spell-like abilities.

On the flip side, I could easily see the argument that druids are already too powerful and, therefore, reading that parenthetical to be a limit to the specific creatures is preferable.

For the sake of progress on this thread, I welcome continuing discussion of what the parenthetical text means. But I would still like to know what people feel are the best elemental wild shape forms, assuming that the parenthetical is a limitation on sub-type rather than a limit to specific creatures.

Many thanks to those who have already posted.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Judging by the formatting of the Elemental Wild Shape class feature, it's intentionally 'Size Type (subtype)' just like a monster entry, rather than listing specific creatures. This means without any doubt that as long as a creature fits within the sizes listed, has the Elemental creature type, and possesses at least one of the listed subtypes, then it's a valid choice for Elemental Wild Shape.

However, Improved Elemental Wild Shape (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#improvedElementalWildShape) (DMG p209) tells a different story from the Elemental Wild Shape class feature's wording. However, this is word-for-word identical to the ELH version of the same feat, which worked with the 3.0 version of Elemental Wild Shape, worded as thus:
"At 16th level, the druid may use wild shape to change into a Small, Medium-size, or Large air, earth, fire, or water elemental once per day. She gains all of the elemental's special abilities when she does so. At 18th level, she can do this three times per day."

In conclusion, 3.0 Druids were limited to only the basic MM Elementals, but the 3.5 version of Wild Shape does not share this limitation. In copy-pasting some of the epic rules into the DMG someone didn't realize that this change had taken place and mistakenly carried over a redundant feat. The Druid class feature entry is the primary source on how Elemental Wild Shape works, so Improved Elemental Wild Shape changes nothing.


As for what forms to take, an Immoth from MM2 is going to be one of your best choices, but only for a few minutes each day before you rest. You can use its Ice Runes ability to store all of your remaining spells. They last forever until used, and they only take a free action to activate. Spend any down time making all of your spells each day into ice runes. You'll eventually have a nearly limitless number of Ice Runes of utility spells, Heals, dispels, and plenty of offensive spells and buffs that can be used as a free action.

[fencepainter]

Judging by the formatting of the Elemental Wild Shape class feature, it's intentionally 'Size Type (subtype)' just like a monster entry, rather than listing specific creatures. This means without any doubt that as long as a creature fits within the sizes listed, has the Elemental creature type, and possesses at least one of the listed subtypes, then it's a valid choice for Elemental Wild Shape.

However, Improved Elemental Wild Shape (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#improvedElementalWildShape) (DMG p209) tells a different story from the Elemental Wild Shape class feature's wording. However, this is word-for-word identical to the ELH version of the same feat, which worked with the 3.0 version of Elemental Wild Shape, worded as thus:
"At 16th level, the druid may use wild shape to change into a Small, Medium-size, or Large air, earth, fire, or water elemental once per day. She gains all of the elemental's special abilities when she does so. At 18th level, she can do this three times per day."

In conclusion, 3.0 Druids were limited to only the basic MM Elementals, but the 3.5 version of Wild Shape does not share this limitation. In copy-pasting some of the epic rules into the DMG someone didn't realize that this change had taken place and mistakenly carried over a redundant feat. The Druid class feature entry is the primary source on how Elemental Wild Shape works, so Improved Elemental Wild Shape changes nothing.

Thanks for this.


As for what forms to take, an Immoth from MM2 is going to be one of your best choices, but only for a few minutes each day before you rest. You can use its Ice Runes ability to store all of your remaining spells. They last forever until used, and they only take a free action to activate. Spend any down time making all of your spells each day into ice runes. You'll eventually have a nearly limitless number of Ice Runes of utility spells, Heals, dispels, and plenty of offensive spells and buffs that can be used as a free action.

And this. It's a good suggestion. What's your taken on the "storage" of spells, if I leave the form and then come back into it. Would the stored spells remain?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

And this. It's a good suggestion. What's your taken on the "storage" of spells, if I leave the form and then come back into it. Would the stored spells remain?

The Immoth's ability is to create Ice Runes. It says they last indefinitely until used and take a free action to activate. If you leave that form, you lose the ability to make new Ice Runes but the ones you already created still last indefinitely and still take a free action to activate.

[fencepainter]

So far we have, unless I missed something:

Air Weird, Immoth, and Storm Elemental.

Others?

[fencepainter]

Are there really no other fantastic elemental forms?

[eggs]

Reading Elemental Wild Shape to allow any Elemental with those subtypes and looking for interesting abilities available under 20 HD (assuming the Enhance Wild Shape spell):

Living Holocaust (FF): Naturally gaseous
Elemental Weird (Frost/MM2): Various flavors of regeneration; [Air] has a unique sensory mode (Breathsense 60ft)
Galeb Duhr (MM2): 300ft Tremorsense
Inferno Spider (MM4): Flame Web entangles/burns creatures up to Huge size
Spawn of Jubilex (MM5): When it moves, can pass through other creatures' spaces, inflicting minor damage and status effects (light Con damage, Sickened, Prone). High Str/Con. 8 HD Large, 11 HD Huge, and 16 HD Gargantuan varieties.
Ruin Elemental (MM5): Swift action Bull Rush every 1d4 rounds.

[fencepainter]

These are great. I really like seeing some of the fire-based elementals, such as the Inferno Spider. Thanks so much.