gestalt totemist help?

[CryptbornAkryea]

Was thinking about totemist today. Optimizing gestalt isn't really my forte so I figured I'd learn from the gurus.

I'm looking for a melee powerhouse, totemist//_______, race:_______

[Tvtyrant]

I think Wildshape Ranger-> Master of Many Forms is the best melee option for the Totemist. Now you can turn into almost anything and add your melds to your shapes.

After that probably Barbarian for permapounce and rage abilities.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Warforged is pretty standard, due to the built-in slam attack plus being able to spend a feat to gain a bite attack, and you can get Adamantine Body despite the Totemist's limited armor proficiency. You could take it a step further and go Dragonborn Warforged, since you keep the Living Construct subtype and everything it grants, and the slam attack is a physical quality instead of a racial trait so you keep that as well, plus you still qualify for all the same feats and can still benefit from them. That gives you the dragonblood subtype, which allows you to use draconic soulmelds (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060912a&page=4).

For your gestalt class(es), Barbarian 2 is a strong choice because you can trade Fast Movement for Pounce, Rage for Whirling Frenzy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#rageVariantWhirlingFrenzy ), and Uncanny Dodge for Improved Trip (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wolfTotemClassFeatures ) so you can take Knock-Down (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineAbilitiesFeats.htm#knockDown). Swordsage and/or Warblade would also be extremely useful, Swordsage not so much if you get Adamantine Body. The various boosts, stances, and some maneuvers that those give you access to (Dancing/Raging Mongoose) can help make your character more well-rounded as well as make you better at your chosen role.

Something like Totemist 6/ Totem Rager 10/ Totemist 4// Wolf Totem Lion Spirit Whirling Frenzy Barbarian 2/ Warblade 4/ Totemist 1/ Warblade 4/ Totemist 1/ Warblade 8 gets 20th level meldshaping and an initiator level of 18. You'll probably want to spend at least one feat on Extra Rage (CW), as your levels will only give you three daily uses of that.

Another option would be to go for a buffing/utility gestalt, such as Psychic Warrior or Psion, since psionics aren't hindered by armor like arcane spells are. Warforged make superb Shaper Psions, though Egoist is usually the first choice for self-buffing, and Psion gets the good Will save you need to have all good saves. I'd probably go Fast Movement Ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 1/ Totemist 3/ Psion 1/ Totemist 5/ Psion 1/ Totemist 9// Psion 4/ Sanctified Mind 6/ Slayer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/slayer.htm) 10, for 20th level manifesting, 17th level meldshaping, and a +20 BAB.

[CryptbornAkryea]

I just got the greatest mental image of a warforged wild shaping into different forms, lol. Love the potential fluff: each form looks like a warforged version of it's kind.

... Warforged dragon...