DFA/TOTEMIST advice

[killianh]

Hey all.

I'm in a gestalt campaign currently at level ten. My guy died recently and I was looking through some different combos that had the kind of flavor I like. Since both classes run off of CON, with a fair amount of utility between the two I decided to go with a dragon fire adept/totemist straight build.

The idea I had for him would be that I would use metabreath feats for some BFC with the self buff DFA invocations, and focus on melee damage through the slew of natural weapons I can get with totemist.

I was wondering if you guys had any advice on what the best feats, melds, etc would be for a build with this kind of purpose. Base race hasn't been chosen yet so some pointers on that would be good too. I already looked over the handbooks for both classes on the minmax boards, but I'm having a little trouble trying to combo it together nicely. Any help would be appreciated.

[Segev]

I'm a little worried by you going for breath and natural attacks; you can't use both in the same round, and they're both at least very close-ranged. Do you have a plan for making these work well together, or is this a dis-synergy you are just willing to accept?

In other words, when playing this character, when do you see him Breathing, and when do you see him natural attacking?

[Fax Celestis]

Dragon Magic has a bunch of draconic soulmelds you should grab. They're pretty awesome.

The long story short is pretend you're a dragon and you should do fine.

[Big Fau]

Is this for a Gestalt campaign, if not I'd recommend against this idea.

However, if you are deadset on going DFA/Totemist, I recommend asking your DM to adapt the Soulcaster PrC to be compatible with Invocations.

[Fax Celestis]

Is this for a Gestalt campaign, if not I'd recommend against this idea.


I'm in a gestalt campaign currently at level ten.
:smallsigh:

[Big Fau]

:smallsigh:

Forgive my momentary lapse of literacy. In that case, @OP: Take a look at the Incarnum Handbook and Totemist Handbook on MinMax. And I think there's a Dragonfire Adept handbook out there somewhere.

[Glimbur]

I'd see you using your Breath Weapon as your primary attack, and using soulmelds to get utility. Natural armor, evasion, flight, and so on.

You could also shape natural weapon soulmelds, but that means DFA is mostly just contributing invocations. Invocations are nice, but it feels like a waste.

[JanusJones]

Okay, I just lost a HUGE post in which I gave a TON of awesome options.

Dur. I'm gonna re-write just because I love the idea so much!

First, check the DFA handbook (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870954/The_New_Dragonfire_Adept_Handbook!). <toots own horn>

Step 1 in build: take Entangling Exhalation so that your DFA breath weapon acts as a multi-round de-buff. If possible, take Power Surge from Dragon #313, allowing access to the Shape Breath metabreath feat from the Draconomicon.

The result will be a 30 ft. cone breath weapon with a 2 round recharge that entangles all enemies damaged by it for 1d4 x 1.5 (1, 3, 4, or 6 rounds), dealing 1d6 energy damage per round whilst they're entangled.

But to make the synergy more clear, here are some fun things you can do with your gestalt:

COMBOS:

SPEW!: Dragon #313 again, and/or Serpent Kingdoms are needed for this. Get Spit Venom and use it with a Totem-bound Phase Cloak to spray enemies with touch attack 1d3 Con poison. If you have the feats, get Deadly Spittle and Improved Spit so you can wash whole entangled crowds of enemies in a 30 ft. cone of poison. If you're using the #313 version of the feat, even better - you'll BLIND everything in the cone for 2d6 HOURS! Entangle = 1/2 move, no running or charging ... blinding = 1.4 move, 50% miss chance, no Dex bonus to AC ... spray everything with stuff from your mouth. Do be sure to Humanoid Shape into something with flight and grab Flyby Attack if you feel like it. Enjoy.

CHARGE!: Totem-bound Landshark Boots let you claw 4 times on a jump. Battle Jump from FR-UE lets you double damage charge if you drop from at least 5 ft. above a target. Leap Attack from CA lets you double Power Attack damage on a jumping charge. Headlong Rush from RoF (you'll need to be an orc - check my race section later) doubles your charge damage again (well, adds another multiplier). Foot-bound Urskan Greaves add 1d4 per pt. of essentia to charges. Entangle baddies, then charge and shred, charge and shred. Be sure to use Humanoid Shape to become a Varag and gain 60 ft. speed to further up your jumps.

SNEAK!: Drow of the Underdark makes sneaking easy and fun! Blend Into Darkness and At Home In the Deep, coupled with the Darkness invocation, make you able to hide in plain sight every round as a Swift action. Feel free to grab yourself Kruthik Claws for unreasonable skill boosts to Hide and MS, and then consider grabbing Darkstalker to hide from critters with special senses. Also worth considering the FR-CS feat Swift and Silent, so you can move full speed without penalty whilst hidden.

GRAB!: Humanoid Shape lets you become a huge Naga Constrictor (if you're using the OA version or the master monster list version, not the annoying Dragon #318 errata that make them monstrous humanoids - grrr.). Shape Girallon Arms and arm-bind a Totem Avatar and grapple away! If you REALLY want nasty, check out Barbed Stinger from Serpent Kingdoms and a totem-bound Wormtail belt. Add on Multigrab and Improved Multigrab, and you can stab a foe on your tail and just leave him hanging there, taking damage, while you run around doing other things. Also worth, just for the flavor, thinking about getting EWP - Scorpion Claws from Sandstorm for another +4 to grapple checks.

SCARE!: Dread Carapace scares everything in 60 ft. on a charge. So does the Frightful Presence invocation. So does the Frightful Presence feat (Draconmicon). So does Dreadful Wrath (FR-CS). What does 4xfear = ? Panic! Breathe, charge, and generally enjoy.

TRAMPLE!: Humanoid shape into a naga for huge shape and totem-bind a Shedu Crown. When you've entangled everything and made it really, REALLY slow, run it all over.


Other stuff worth mentioning:

Metabreath Feats: Yes, they will work on your soulmeld AND DFA breaths - the problem is the Rules Compendium, which wrecked everyone's fun by declaring that ALL recharge rates applied to EVERY breath weapon (no double-barreling). That said, you can still get mileage out of Enlarge Breath (blanket everybody!), Recover Breath, and Clinging + Lingering (which is a great way to make your DFA Entangling Exhalation a whole-fight de-buff). See the DFA handbook for info.

Phase Cloak: Climb speeds make breathing from the ceiling a big ol' spread. Very fun.

Blink Shirt: There's no way to move like dimension door!

Totem Avatar: Boost your natural armor, making your AC in the low stupids.

Manticore Belt: It's fun to shoot entangled stuff full of spikes.

Shedu Crown + Mindight (LoM): Telepathy is great. Being able to see everything with a mind is great. Use on a sneaky character.

Armor and Shield: Make all your invocations buffs and utility, meaning you can wear heavy AC stuff (thank you, Totemist!).

Skills: Boost Intimidate to crazy levels with the Invocation and 'Melds appropriate. Enjoy.



RACES:

Template - Arctic: From Dragon #306 - adds +2 Con for +0 LA, yay!

Template - Dragonborn: From Races of the Dragon - another +2 Con and you get to LOOK draconic - again, yay!

Template - Unseelie Fey: Adds Cha at the cost of Con, but a ton of other ridiculously broken things as well (DR, flight, persistent magic circle). Useful on a scary build, but will piss non-lenient DMs (who don't realize you COULD have played a gestalted double caster!) off.

Base - Mongrelfolk (RoD): +4 Con! +0 LA!

Base - Water Orc (UA): +4 Str/+2 Con, plus they can take Headlong Rush. Good for a melee-based charger.

Base - Whisper Gnome (RoS): +2 Con/+2 Dex, plus they get Hide and Move Silently ups. Sneak!

Base - Lesser Aasimar (PGtF): +2 Wis/+2 Cha, +0 LA. Consider for a scary build.

Base - Murkdweller (SK): +6 Dex! Tiny! +3 natural AC! A built-in blinding spit attack! Sneakier than a Whisper Gnome, and they look like little grubby gila monsters!

[Fyermind]

This is more or less how I feel Gestalt should be built. It will give you two fairly complimentary sets of options. go crazy have fun. Consider quicken breath of you can qualify.