Dire Tortoise optimization

[Kefkafreak]

My druid character in a dragon-themed campaign (pretty much every single enemy is a dragon) would like to get a Dire Tortoise companion (14 HD huge animal, always gets a surprise round, burrows, tramples).

I can choose all of its feats and also make it a Warbeast.

So, 6 feats to choose. Damage is not a priority, we have enough already in the party. So maybe focus on defense or something else.

I'd like some advice on feats and items for it, thanks :smallsmile:

[Urpriest]

With that "always gets a surprise round" thing, it would be cool if you could give it a sexy standard action of some sort. If you can increase its Int in some way (Celestial Companion perhaps) then there might be a way to hack UMD onto it. Otherwise, if you get a way to get Manticore Belt shared with it optimizing that would work.

That said, I have to caution you and your DM that the idea that you can make a preexisting animal a warbeast is a really dubious interpretation. If you compare the warbeast template to the 3.0 handle animal rules then it becomes clear that the rules are for rearing and training a preexisting warbeast to obey you, not turning another animal into a warbeast.