Exalted Druid Suggestions?

[Starchild7309]

Ok, well I posted on here about a PRC, and have decided against that. I am just going to try to focus on wildshape and combat. Let me introduce my character and see what you can all do to help build him up in the coming levels.

Drogo Feyblood
Small Half-Fey/Strongheart halfling Druid Level 3
Hit Dice: 3d8+9 (27hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20ft
Armor Class: 23 (+1size, +4 Dex, +3 Deflection, +5 exalted)Touch 18, FF19
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/-2
Attack:Quarterstaff (+7 melee (1d4) Sling (+8 range (1d3)
Full Attack: (Quarterstaff +7) or Sling +8
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks:spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/cold iron, low light vision, Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Animal Empathy, Trackless Step, Woodland Stride, Spontaneous Casting(summon nature's ally), Unearthly Grace
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +10
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 5, Wis 18, Cha 16
Skills: Concentration +6, Knowledge Nature +5
Feats:Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Nymph's Kiss, Intuitive Attack, Greenbound Summoning
Alignment: Neutral Good
Level Adjustment: —

So this is my guy. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I know at lvl 6 I am getting natural spell, but any suggestions for exalted feats or feats I may want to get in the future....really anything would be helpful. Thanks.

[Coidzor]

The best exalted feat for a druid is not actually Vow of Poverty or Touch of Golden Ice, but Exalted Companion. So that your animal companion can take Vow of Poverty.

Even more important when one doesn't have any money with which to equip one's animal companion.

[Greenish]

Touch of Golden Ice is a free totally-not-a-poison-honest on all of your natural weapon attacks (vs. Evil).

[eggynack]

Starting from the beginning, it'd be wise to ditch half-fey. It's just not doing anything for you, though it looks like you don't have LA for some reason. It's not bad if you get free LA, though you could probably do better. As coidzoir notes, exalted companion is something you should have by now, especially considering the constant stream of exalted feats you're getting. If you end up going lion of talisid, you should hold off on that plan though. I'm not entirely sure why your intelligence is so low, but your intelligence shouldn't be that low. Swap it with dexterity, especially if you're focusing on wild shape. Druids have a good list, so there is always room for more skill points. Later on, as soon as possible, you should get exalted wild shape. Between blink dog granting blink and free dimension doors, unicorn offering an always on magic circle against evil, and celestial forms granting free access to all of the Ex abilities of your forms, it's a phenomenal deal. You already have greenbound, so maybe ashbound summoning is a good idea, and as I mentioned above, lion of talisid is worthy of consideration. It's the worst druid PrC that's worth taking, but that pegs it at third best.

So, that's a lot of the exalted stuff you should be considering. However, a good amount of it is window dressing to the main issue that is your list. So, y'know, what do you want to do with your spells? First level spells are at their best when they're BFC's, between entangle, impeding stones, wall of smoke, and spore field. At second level spells, your best options are blinding spittle, kelpstrand, and mass snakes swiftness. I'd ordinarily advise luminous armor, but it stacks poorly with VoP. Ditching VoP is probably a good idea, by the way. Anyways, that's just a quick list of good spells, but if you have more specialized interests, just say so.

[Coidzor]

If you're doing standard wealth, then you'll want to ditch vow of poverty. If you're doing below-standard wealth or some kind of restricted magic items game, then vow of poverty becomes more worth it.

If your DM just hates the christmas tree effect of characters accumulating more and more magical items and gear as they increase in level, you might recommend they check out some of the vow of poverty fixes which involve virtual items granting the properties of magic items without actually having the physical bling and just extend them to everyone without the poverty.

[Starchild7309]

I was kind of rushed when i posted the last part. This is not an optimized, ultra powerful campaign. It is slightly less than standard wealth, however the idea is more of a fun, give it a shot r/p idea, but to still have a functioning character.

I went with VOP because its always intrigued me and I figured I would give it a go with this character. I will definitely pick up exalted companion with my next feat and Touch of Golden Ice was on my radar.

Also, I am technically 5th lvl with a LA of 2. I lost the flight of 60 for the Unearthly grace ability.(A compromise between DM and I since he said Half Fey was an LA of 3) Again, not looking for super powerful, just enjoyable r/p and functionality. I have spend ever campaign being the face of our group and outshining many of the other players so I am taking a back seat support role with BFC spells and healing with this one.

As for the INT being 5, house rule for any character pas the first in the campaign is 4d6 drop the lowest, rolled in order of stats. One stat rerolled and then can switch one. I rolled two bad stats a 5 and a 4. Rerolled the 4, got left with the 5 and had to get my Wisdom up first. So no skills for me. Thank you for the suggestions so far, please keep them coming.

[eggynack]

Actually, it looks like half-fey always has an LA of 2, so if you're compromising away stuff for no reason, you should be aware of that. Granted, you probably don't even want flight on a druid, cause druids have infinite flight, but this is the way of things.

Anyway, if you're seeking BFC's, druids get a pretty solid list. I think I've already listed all of the best ones of first and second level though. You could always break out the ridiculous obscuring snow/snow sight combo, to give yourself all day one way concealment, but that's probably a step too far. At third level, you get the druidic fog suite, with sleet storm, haboob, and arctic haze, all coming at the same time. I prefer sleet storm, but they're all good. You also get plant growth, vine mine, and stone shape, which all have some good BFC utility. At fourth level, you get boreal wind, eye of the hurricane, and wall of salt. That list should handle most BFC needs for awhile.

[Starchild7309]

Actually, it looks like half-fey always has an LA of 2, so if you're compromising away stuff for no reason, you should be aware of that. Granted, you probably don't even want flight on a druid, cause druids have infinite flight, but this is the way of things.

I know this but since he is running it he said half fey should have a 3. I disagreed, but since this campaign is about fun and not being the absolute best for me I went back and forth and gave up flight which I knew was unimportant to get CHA bonus to saves and deflection to AC since it was (Su)


Anyway, if you're seeking BFC's, druids get a pretty solid list. I think I've already listed all of the best ones of first and second level though. You could always break out the ridiculous obscuring snow/snow sight combo, to give yourself all day one way concealment, but that's probably a step too far. At third level, you get the druidic fog suite, with sleet storm, haboob, and arctic haze, all coming at the same time. I prefer sleet storm, but they're all good. You also get plant growth, vine mine, and stone shape, which all have some good BFC utility. At fourth level, you get boreal wind, eye of the hurricane, and wall of salt. That list should handle most BFC needs for awhile.

Thanks again for this, spells are noted and I am sure my DM will be throughly annoyed with me.

[eggynack]

I know this but since he is running it he said half fey should have a 3. I disagreed, but since this campaign is about fun and not being the absolute best for me I went back and forth and gave up flight which I knew was unimportant to get CHA bonus to saves and deflection to AC since it was (Su)
Yeah, that stuff is probably actually better. I don't even think you keep that flight in a wild shape, and in three levels you're going to be permanently transformed into a desmodu hunting bat, for that is how druids roll.


Thanks again for this, spells are noted and I am sure my DM will be throughly annoyed with me.
I like to hope so. I don't even know the point of druids if you don't spend your time extending combats out in ridiculous ways. Anyways, that stuff's just an infinitely small slice of the druid pie, for it is a pie that extends on forever. Also, as for healing, I'd avoid most HP based healing spells, and just pack a few cure minor wounds. You don't want to be spending in combat actions shooting folks up with cure X wounds, because it's highly inefficient, but there shall come a time when you'll need the stabilization effect, and in that case no one cares about action inefficiency. At the end of the day, you even get to use up spare cure minors for a little bit of HP. The other orisons should probably be detect magic, and create water, for they are reasonably powerful. Maybe dawn too, because of the low action cost.