Druid Wildshape at lvl 3?

[Garloth]

My question is:
Can I get wild shape on druid at level 3?
I want to do human Druid 3/Wizard 1/Mystic Theurge 4/Arcane Hierophant N and take feats Education, Natural spell at lvl 1 and Alternative Source Spell at 3.
A Fireball casting bear is to cool to pass but i don't like the idea of giving up 3 more Wizard levels to get wild shape normally.
Any options?

[Ansem]

Totem Druid 1 will grant you an animal form, although limited, it does make you a bear if you choose that one.

[Garloth]

But this spproach limits me to a specific creature.
Isn't there any other way?

[Ansem]

Not before 5th.
Only other option is Divine Minion, granting a few select forms depending on your deity.

[eggynack]

You might just be out of luck. Maybe you should just go druid, cause druids can blast well enough. Boreal wind is a sweet spell. I've never seen arcane hierophant as all that necessary for most purposes.

[Karmea]

But arcane hierophant gets you wild shape, doesn't it? The book says you add your AH level to your druid level and gain the wild shape of a druid of the resulting level. And the example character (druid 4/wiz 3/AH 4) has wild shape.

[Garloth]

RAW:
"Wild Shape (Su): If you do not already possess the ability, you gain no new ability to wild shape."
But: "However, you add your arcane hierophant level to your druid level and gain the wild shape ability of a druid of the resulting level.".
The example seems to prove your point:
"a 3rd-level wizard/3rd-level druid/4th-level arcane hierophant has the wild shape ability of a 7th-level druid"
I'm not native English speaker so probably you are absolutely right.

BTW: RAW contains the line "If you are not a druid, (for example, if you entered the class as a wizard/ranger), you do not gain the ability to wild shape." Neither wizard nor ranger gets the required "Trackless step class feature.". I have seen a topic with the statement it was supposed to be Woodland Stride instead.
Thus could anyone find a way to get the AH with Druid 2/Wizard 1/Mystic Theurge N?

EDIT: Found it: http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2480731

EDIT 2: Is it as easy as I think? Just take W 1/D 2/MT 6 or W 2/D 2/MT 4?

[eggynack]

It is kinda oddly ambiguous. I'd still go with straight druid though, cause you don't really gain that much by theurging out. The bear with fireballs thing is certainly a non-issue, because druids get good enough blasting already, and it's not really necessary anyway.

[Zweisteine]

Don't forget that unless your DM lets you take feats ahead of time (i.e. you have the feat, but get no benefit until you meet the prerequisite), you can't take Natural Spell until after you have Wild Shape.

Other options:

Alter Self works well, to a lesser extent, especially if you aren't humanoid.

Polymorph works just as well as Wild Shape, and doesn't require losing caster levels.

Being a Changeling would give you some degree of shapeshifting, and it opens the way into the (5-level) Cabinet Trickster prestige class (Races of Eberron), which effectively makes you a full Doppelganger.

The Hengeyokai race (Oriental Adventures, updated in Dragon Magazine to lose LA and cange type to Humanoid (Shapeshifter)). Has very limited options, and other restrictions, but allows entry into some prestige classes. Even better if the DM rules you can apply Natural Spell in animal form.

The Master Transmogrifist prestige class (Complete Arcane), lets you specialize in Polymorph.

The Divine Minion (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20050209a) template gets you a Wild Shape as an 11th level druid, but with a limited number of forms, and for only 1 or 2 effective character levels.


These two prestige classes actually grant wild shape, making them the best options if your concern is only with levels used, and not when you take them.
To get into either, you'll need Polymorph, which is easier to get than any of the other abilities listed, unless you play a Hengeyokai, which qualifies easily.

Special: Alternate Form—must either know polymorph self or have a natural alternate form, alter self, polymorph self, shapechange, or wild shape ability.

• The Shifter, from Masters of the Wild, grants Greater Wild Shape, which is effectively wild shape, and, at 10th level, can be used at will. It also stacks with Wild Shape from other sources. The major downsides are the limited number of uses at lower levels, the complete lack of spellcasting progress, and the higher feat prerequisites.

• The Shapeshifter, from Oriental Adventures, grants wild shape as well. It also gives Alter Self at will at level 6. You only gain spellcasting on even levels, whch isn't so great, but it balances out if you just want to shapeshift.

Of those two classes, the Shifter is probably better, with two exceptions. If you just want to take one level of the class to get wild shape, Shapeshifter is better, as it grants 3 uses, as opposed to 1 for Shifter (and Shifter 1 can only become a humanoid with the ability). If you want to take three levels, Shapeshifter grants you 4 uses per day, and one spellcasting level, where Shifter gets you 3 uses and gains many more options of what to become.

Repeat of that last paragraph, but simpler:
Shapeshifter is better if you're only taking one level, or maybe three.
Shifter is better at level three and beyond.

[Karnith]

• The Shifter, from Masters of the Wild, grants Greater Wild Shape, which is effectively wild shape, and, at 10th level, can be used at will. It also stacks with Wild Shape from other sources. The major downsides are the limited number of uses at lower levels, the complete lack of spellcasting progress, and the higher feat prerequisites.
Just a note: According to the mothership (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20050110x), the Shifter PrC was updated to 3.5 as the (much more limited) Master of Many Forms, so it would be a good idea to make sure that your DM is okay with using the old 3.0 class in place of MoMF.

[Just to Browse]

On the Trackless Step problem:

It wasn't in any official errata or public statement, but when asked about the Arcane Heirophant, Skip Williams said it was intended to be Woodland Stride and said something about how it got past the editors.

[bekeleven]

On the Trackless Step problem:

It wasn't in any official errata or public statement, but when asked about the Arcane Heirophant, Skip Williams said it was intended to be Woodland Stride and said something about how it got past the editors.

First level of wildrunner. Requires elf of half-elf.

[Just to Browse]

That fails the wizard/ranger test, my friend.

[bekeleven]

That fails the wizard/ranger test, my friend.

Yeah, I was just mentioning it as a druid-less class feature entry. Used it in an EQ build once.

[Garloth]

As I now understand it AH does grant a druid wildshape of the appropriate level and my DM would probably agree. The question is: how to get 2 extra BAB to druid 3/wizard 1 (fetat Alternative Spell Source) to qualify for the AH?

[eggynack]

Just take mystic theurge levels between the wizard level and the arcane hierophant levels until you have the right BAB.

[Garloth]

The only difference between MT and AH is the lack of animal companion and wild shape upgrades?

[eggynack]

The only difference between MT and AH is the lack of animal companion and wild shape upgrades?
Mostly, though there's also the lack of lack of arcane spell failure, and channeling power, and it has less BAB. Also less skill points, and a slightly smaller hit die. Basically, it's worse in nearly every possible way, but you can take it earlier, and it will act as decent theurgic filler. You'd need some levels of it anyway, in a 20 level build, because hierophant won't take you all the way.

[Garloth]

All knowledges are class for wizard, right?
So assumming Woodland Stride one could do druid 2/wizard 1/Mystic Theurge 2, feat Alternative Source Spell and the only remaining problem is 4 BAB. How?
Also: Why cannot i get 15 ranks of AH then?

[Karnith]

Also: Why cannot i get 15 ranks of AH then?
Because Arcane Hierophant is only 10 levels long. There are rules for extending 10-level prestige classes once you reach epic levels (21+), but until that point you'll need to find some other class to take levels in.