Druid needs gear

[Thoa]

My Dm has told our group we could whish (not the spell) for one or more magic items.
He told us we can have an bonus of +11 total in one ore more items.
Pretty insane, but he told us we should get greedy and it is getting difficult in the future.

Currently we are fighting in a campaign against demons which try to overrun the world with their sorcerer Leader. (the daughter of Graazt) Last fights were against Vroks and later that day against a Retriever and a succubus. As well as a rather short fight against a Merilith in a Story/script sequence, of which i do not totally approve.

So anything helping against demons is always nice.

Now I want to ask for advice here.
Should i try to get more casting ore more of the diversification route?
I really would like to get more casting going. While beeing able to rush into melee doing massive damage, Maybe Grappling a foe so the rogue can sneak attack it to death and escaping it again .

My current gear and build includes:


Str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 20
Cha: 10

Feats:
Improved Initiative
Combat Casting
Natural Spell
Companion Spellbound

Items:
Smimitar +1 Icy Burst
Leather Armor +2 Wild
Heavy Wooden Shield +1
Amulet of fire resistance (5)
Ring of Protection +2
Lonbow Masterwork
Approximately 4000 Gold

Animal Companion:
Usually a Riding Dog.
I am also trying to get barding for it.



My allies are:

A Halfling two weapon fighting rogue who relies heavily on backstab and tumble.
And a half dragon fighter2 Paladin5 who so far is a massive damage monster.

We are all ECL 10.
My idea for Items is so far an Headband of Wisdom +6 with an effect which allows me to speak in wildshape.
Maybe someone knows the rules for creating this stuff.

Another idea would be a cold iron Large longspear of returning and Bane +1 for me in Dire Ape form.

Last idea i came up with so far is a Amulet of Natural attacks +5 or so.

Has anyone other suggestions?


Nearly forgot: I can "sell" my gear for a changing coure of 3 enchancements to 2. So i can get even more Boni.
And i dont want to break the game. Just be some more powerfull. So no big cheese. Everything except Core has to be approved by the DM.


Thanks in advance.

[eggynack]

For core options, you're going to want to pick up some lesser rods of extend spell, and maybe, depending on level, some regular rods of extend spell. The specific spells to extend, and the quantity of rods, is somewhat dependent on what books you can get access to, but at least one lesser is going to be good in core, pretty much no matter what. It's an item that basically works with wild shape without any accessories, because you can just use it up at the beginning of the day.

Beyond that, apart from ioun stones (orange and incandescent blue are good), you're going to want some out of core stuff. Wilding clasps (MIC, 190) allow you to wear items in a wild shape for 4,000 GP apiece. If you have some of those, core options like a monk's belt or periapt of wisdom open up. You're going to need to sell your armor if you want to make use of the former, and you likely should. It's generally lower cost, higher bonus, and a more useful bonus, than your armor. For the talking in a wild shape issue, you should look into a pearl of speech (MIC, 118), which for 600 GP allows you to speak in common, and the unique way it works means that it may work in a wild shape without a clasp.

For other solid options, you should look into complete champion, which has the trappings of the beast, and in particular the ring and mantle of the beast. The ring costs 8,000 GP and lets you spontaneously summon creatures out of a slot one lower, the mantle costs 18,000 GP and lets you wild shape as a swift action, and they both work in a wild shape without any clasps. Sweet business right there. You should probably ditch your expensive weapon/shield, and just beat people up in a wild shape (if you want to beat people up at all), as this stuff is better. There's a lot more stuff out there, but this list should work well enough for now, especially as you face awkward book limits.

[sleepyphoenixx]

You'll probably want to change your animal companion to one of the higher level ones. A riding dog isn't all that impressive at level 10.

I'd get rid of the armor and shield and get a Monk's Belt with a Wilding Clasp instead. The Ring of Protection can also go since it doesn't work while wild shaped without a clasp and is too expensive to keep upgraded.
Sell your weapon, too. For melee, use Greater Magic Fang or get your hands on the Mantle of the Beast.
Spend your money/rewards instead on a Bead of Karma and a Periapt of Wisdom. Metamagic Rods are also useful, particularly Extend, Sculpt and Quicken.

Out of core, try to get your hands on a Mantle of the Beast (CC), Ring of the Beast (CC) and try to trade your Combat Casting feat for Rapid Spell to summon as a full round action. You shouldn't be trying to cast while threatened anyway, and you're getting to the point where you can make the checks to cast defensively without the bonus from Combat Casting, especially if you're in a high Con form.

Core only is very limiting, especially if you want to melee. Your best bet is probably staying at range in a high mobility/AC form and casting BFC and summons.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Everyone should get a Belt of Magnificense +6, from the Miniatures Handbook. It gives a +6 Enhancement bonus to all of your ability scores, and normally costs 200,000 gp. This is assuming that it only counts toward +6 of your +11 budget.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Everyone should get a Belt of Magnificense +6, from the Miniatures Handbook. It gives a +6 Enhancement bonus to all of your ability scores, and normally costs 200,000 gp. This is assuming that it only counts toward +6 of your +11 budget.

The belt is really expensive and as a druid you won't use at least Str and Dex. Probably Cha and Int as well, so i don't think it's worth it.

[eggynack]

The belt is really expensive and as a druid you won't use at least Str and Dex. Probably Cha and Int as well, so i don't think it's worth it.
I think the idea is that they apparently get some miscellaneous +11 of bonuses to apply as they choose, and that this +6 would count the same as a straight periapt +6. Otherwise, I agree. The MIC common item effects rules nearly completely obviate the need for the belt, as they eliminate the body slot issue that gave the belt its main purpose, and simultaneously have about the same cost efficiency. In particular, just picking up all six bonuses would cost 216,000 GP, which is 16,000 GP more than the belt.

Ditch a single +2 to, say, strength, and the bonuses are already better by 4,000 GP. Obviously, the comparison between the belt, and let's just call it a +6 to wis, con, and maybe dex (it's not bad in item form, cause it stacks onto wild shape) is heavily favored towards the standard items. It doesn't help matters that the +2 and +4 versions are actually priced higher than the common item effect versions.

[Thoa]

Everyone should get a Belt of Magnificense +6, from the Miniatures Handbook. It gives a +6 Enhancement bonus to all of your ability scores, and normally costs 200,000 gp. This is assuming that it only counts toward +6 of your +11 budget.

That is a +6 Item i like to see. ;)
I will try to get it, althought I think my Dm will settle me down for a Periapt of Wisdom instead.

The Mantle and Ring of the Beast are good Choices I think I will go for. Never read the Complete Champion so far.

And I will go for the Monks Belt. (Never completely read it and only came up to the +1 which was kinda low. ) And the Pearl of speech is set as well.
Edit: Will have a closer look at the rods too.
Edit2: What is a Bead of Karma and where can i find it?

Thank you all for these great ideas!

@sleepyphoenixx
Which animal companion do you suggest?
I so far liked the feat choices i was able to make for my Dog. Otherwise i am grom the top of my mind thinking about getting a bear. Or maybe sth. flying like a dire Eagle?

[sleepyphoenixx]

The Bead of Karma is from the Strand of Prayer Beads (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#strandofPrayerBeads). It raises your CL by 4 for 10 minutes which is useful for increasing the duration of your buffs, making your spells harder to dispel or overcoming SR.

Animal Companion choices are rather limited in core-only. Something with more than one attack definitely. The Brown Bear and Tiger are solid choices, with the bear being a little tougher where the tiger can pounce and rake.
If you can get something non-core the Magebred Brown Bear and Magebred Ghost Tiger are better (both in Five Nations).
There is also the Bloodstriker from MM3 and the Dire Tortoise from Sandstorm. Both are good choices, with the Dire Tortoise having the unique ability to always get a surprise round.

The last is the Fleshraker (MM3). Its only drawback is that it's only medium sized. It makes up for that with a high number of poisonous attacks, good ability scores and great special abilities though. Pretty much THE animal companion especially combined with the spell Venomfire (Serpent Kingdoms). Many DMs will ban it outright, otherwise it's usable from level 4-20 without problems. It really is that good.

[eggynack]

The Bead of Karma is from the Strand of Prayer Beads (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#strandofPrayerBeads). It raises your CL by 4 for 10 minutes which is useful for increasing the duration of your buffs, making your spells harder to dispel or overcoming SR.
That's really the least interesting use of it, I think. The most interesting is using the item before something like control winds or giant vermin, consistently boosting the spells by at least one wind speed or size category respectively. The item's duration definitely makes it well suited to the whole buff round shtick, but crazy unique effects are where it's at.