Any good totemist builds?

[atemu1234]

I'm running one in my new campaigns since we're using Incarnum I was thinking VoP totemist, but are there any others that would be mechanically cool?

[Troacctid]

Totem Ragers make great uberchargers. Get Whirling Frenzy and Pounce from a level of Barbarian, suit yourself up with a big suite of natural weapons buffed by Totem Rage, take Multiattack and the standard Shock Trooper line, and go to town with ten bazillion attacks.

[Psyren]

While VoP isn't as bad on Totemist as it is on many other classes, it's still going to be weak and you're still going to run out of good feats to take.

One boon my DM gave me when I tried one was that he let me take bonus Incarnum feats in place of Exalted ones. That helped me keep up with the rest of the party's wealth and gave me lots of fun tricks to try. such as selecting a number of Incarnate melds to shape.

[paperarmor]

one of my favorite builds is found here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?284283-Piggy-Knowles-Archer-Build-Thread/page5) scroll down about ten posts its awesome.

[Dusk Eclipse]

The Pauper of Smack by Fax Celestis:


The Pauper of Smack takes the premise of the King of Smack--that is, pwnage via natural attacks--and adds in a dash of Incarnum, Vow of Poverty, and Wild Shape.

The Hard Facts: Human Totemist 11/Druid 8/Warshaper 1
Critical Feats: Vow of Poverty, Aberration Blood, Aberrant Wild Shape, Exalted Wild Shape, Power Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, Multiattack
Vow of Poverty Bonus Feats to Grab: Exalted Wild Shape, Nymph's Kiss, Touch of Golden Ice

Here's the basics: Druid 8 with Aberration Blood and Aberrant Wild Shape lets you wildshape into a Rukanyr, a creature that has six claws, three bites, and a slam for natural weaponry. Warshaper 1 lets you treat yourself as one size larger for your natural weapons while Wild Shaped, which means the Rukanyr's weapons are considered that of a Huge monster.

Exalted Wild Shape lets you apply the celestial template to whatever you shift into, as well as retain the (Ex) and (Su) abilities of your new form. This means you get the wonderful Sundering Roar, dex-damaging poison on your three bites, and Fast Healing 5.

Before you shift, cast Girallon's Blessing on yourself and grow a new set of arms. These should stay with you when you Wild Shape, as it doesn't end any ongoing magical effects.

Nice, so far.

Now, here's where the Totemist comes in. Bind Urskan Greaves to your legs and sink essentia into them for an extra 20 cold resist and +4d4 damage whenever you charge. Bind Girallon Arms to your totem for an extra set of claw attacks. And bind Sphinx Claws to your arms for the ability to full-attack with your natural weapons after a charge. Your other soulmelds are largely whatever you feel like grabbing. I recommend Dread Carapace, Lammasu Mantle (with four essentia), and Pegasus Cloak.

Remember, not only do you get the nifty, nifty benefits of your soulmelds and your new form, you also get the benefits of your Vow of Poverty.

All told, your attack pattern should end up looking something like Slam +28/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Bite +26/Bite +26/Bite +26, all of which you can full-attack with at the end of a charge.

Further, they all do extra damage. First, the slam attack does 4d6 (Huge) + 4d4 (Urskan Greaves) + 5 (Vow of Poverty) + 12 (1.5x Strength bonus) + (Power Attack * 3), or an average of 41 plus your Power Attack. And it has a DC 20 Fort save or stun attached.

Your other weapons are slightly less awesome, but they're still good.

Further, you have an AC of about 48.

Questions? Comments?

Original Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?41214-Build-The-Pauper-of-Smack) and for bonus points it actually uses Vow of Poverty! Though to be honest since you only really need Exalted Wildshape to make it work you could skip the VoP.

[Darrin]

JanusJones "FOUR TOTEMIST BADDIES (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15624084&postcount=72)" is a good place to look for interesting ideas.

danzibr's Totemist handbook has a plethora of great (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401516&postcount=9) builds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401526&postcount=10).

[eggynack]

@Dusk Eclipse: Exalted wild shape actually doesn't let you apply the celestial template to any form you can take. It only lets you apply it to animal forms. Fax argues later that the ability granting applies to "the creature", but "the creature" is referring to forms you take with exalted wild shape, so I don't think that really holds up. Also, gotta say, if exalted wild shape is granting assume supernatural ability and enhance wild shape to every form in existence, and not just animal forms, then that's some pretty insane shenanigans right there, probably without even touching form adding feats. In particular, animal forms are pretty much (maybe entirely) limited to Ex abilities, but plants have no such limit.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Darn... I guess it was too good to be true.

[eggynack]

Darn... I guess it was too good to be true.
Yeah, though I think we're doing better stuff with aberration wild shape nowadays. In particular, if I were running a straight druid focusing on beat downs, I'd probably use a thoon elder brain for the magic/tentacle combo action. That might translate pretty well into something involving a totemist, though you'd need a wild shape amulet or something to pick it up off only eight levels of druid.

[Chronos]

A note: Totemist can't get you "a ton" of natural attacks. At level 2, it can give you 4 natural attacks. At level (IIRC) 9, when you can take a feat to bind two melds to the same chakra, you can get 6 if you're evil, or 5 otherwise. It doesn't go up any more than this, due to most soulmelds having restrictions on how you can use them in full attacks.