Adding a Totemist dip

[Borgog]

I found a real nice build for a barbarian/fighter build.

http://ihititwithmyaxe.tumblr.com/post/5994449301/the-charging-fighter-breaking-3-5-d-d

I'm familiar with Magic of Incarnate, but I don't have any gameplay experience with it, so I'm asking for help with it. I want to add a 2 level dip in Totemist, for flavor and versatility. But I'm unsure at which level it would fit (if it fits at all). I imagine some new feats might be necessary.

Also, since the build isn't race specific, let me know what race helps most. My first choice would be Dragonborn Elan, but since that might not fly with my DM, Warforged has always intrigued me. As a non-caster, I can stay up all night, doing... well... shenanigans...

Anyways!

[Fouredged Sword]

Ah, the basic ubercharger. Very staple build.

What you should as is "What level is my character starting at?" The game is no fun unless you start with at least the core of your build present.

At a starting level of 7, the build as posted works well. I would then tack two levels of incarnate on the end as you level.

On the other hand, if you are starting at level 9, consider making those fighter levels dungeoncrasher fighter levels. I find that the loss of feats is worth the extra fun that those levels bring.

That said, consider what exactly you are dipping totemist FOR. You won't get to move around your melds except at the start of your day. In practice, you will have your meld setup and wont change it unless something wierd is going on and you have 24 hours of notice. Do you go with something to boost your jump check, to ease leap attack? Do you go for some natural weapons to swing during your pounce? All good options. Keep in mind that most claws are out as you want to use a two handed weapon.

[Troacctid]

You don't really need Great Cleave, so just drop two levels of Fighter. Barbarian 1/Totemist 2/Fighter 4.

Dragonborn is a pretty solid choice. It gives you access to the draconic soulmelds from Dragon Magic, and it has Fighter as a favored class so that you don't take multiclass xp penalties (if your game uses those). The wing aspect is also nice for the ability to charge over difficult terrain. I don't know if Elan is a good base for it though--all you keep is the aberration type and the Cha penalty, which seems meh.

[Chronos]

Other than flavor, there's very little reason to ever bind anything to your totem but Girallon Arms (if you want a bunch of melee attacks) or Manticore Belt (if you want a ranged attack). A two-handed weapon will prevent you from using Girallon Arms to its full potential, but it'll still give you two extra claw attacks. Most other totem binds will give you fewer natural weapons, or natural weapons that can't be combined with any other attacks, or both.

And Elan strikes me as a poor basis for Dragonborn, too. All Dragonborn lets you keep is size, movement, ability scores, and type/subtype, so you want a race that gives you something good in at least one of those categories. The absolute best choice is probably Warforged, since most of their racial features are from the Living Construct subtype, which you retain, and they also get a +2 Con, which you'll probably appreciate if you're interested in Dragonborn to begin with. Other options include Raptoran for flight (obviously, pick breath weapon or senses if you go this route) or Mongrelfolk for an insane Con mod.

[Borgog]

Other than flavor, there's very little reason to ever bind anything to your totem but Girallon Arms (if you want a bunch of melee attacks) or Manticore Belt (if you want a ranged attack). A two-handed weapon will prevent you from using Girallon Arms to its full potential, but it'll still give you two extra claw attacks. Most other totem binds will give you fewer natural weapons, or natural weapons that can't be combined with any other attacks, or both.

And Elan strikes me as a poor basis for Dragonborn, too. All Dragonborn lets you keep is size, movement, ability scores, and type/subtype, so you want a race that gives you something good in at least one of those categories. The absolute best choice is probably Warforged, since most of their racial features are from the Living Construct subtype, which you retain, and they also get a +2 Con, which you'll probably appreciate if you're interested in Dragonborn to begin with. Other options include Raptoran for flight (obviously, pick breath weapon or senses if you go this route) or Mongrelfolk for an insane Con mod.

So, not a good build? Do I have to have 9 levels of Totemist to get Girallon Arms? Or 9th Level character?

[Chronos]

You get access to all soulmelds the moment you take your first level of Totemist (or Incarnate, for Incarnate soulmelds). And you get access to the totem chakra at level 2 of Totemist, at which point you can bind any totemist meld to your chakra. As you go up in class levels, you unlock other chakra binds (which give you extra abilities for melds bound to those chakras, but which prevent using magic items in those slots), an increased meldshaper level (which is almost never relevant), and assorted other class features (which are worth much less than the melds). It's very seldom worth taking more than two levels of Totemist, since, while you do get other things from the class, you probably get more from some other class. You might want to take as many as 9 levels, because a meldshaper level of 9 is a requirement for the Double Chakra feat, which would let you bind two melds to the same chakra at once, but 7 levels is a lot to pay for that ability.

[Borgog]

You get access to all soulmelds the moment you take your first level of Totemist (or Incarnate, for Incarnate soulmelds). And you get access to the totem chakra at level 2 of Totemist, at which point you can bind any totemist meld to your chakra. As you go up in class levels, you unlock other chakra binds (which give you extra abilities for melds bound to those chakras, but which prevent using magic items in those slots), an increased meldshaper level (which is almost never relevant), and assorted other class features (which are worth much less than the melds). It's very seldom worth taking more than two levels of Totemist, since, while you do get other things from the class, you probably get more from some other class. You might want to take as many as 9 levels, because a meldshaper level of 9 is a requirement for the Double Chakra feat, which would let you bind two melds to the same chakra at once, but 7 levels is a lot to pay for that ability.

I guess the better build would be to leave the Charger alone and make a Saurian Shifter Druid 5lv with a 2lv Totemist dip then a Weretouched Master PrC to top it off, or something of such.

[Extra Anchovies]

It's very seldom worth taking more than two levels of Totemist, since, while you do get other things from the class, you probably get more from some other class.

Very seldom worth taking more than two as a dip, that is. Dedicated totemists (or, if you feel like being scary, Totem Ragers) can be a lot of fun.

[Chronos]

Eh, I don't know. What do you get from a pure totemist that you don't get from, say, a totemist/swordsage/kensai?

[Blackhawk748]

Eh, I don't know. What do you get from a pure totemist that you don't get from, say, a totemist/swordsage/kensai?

Like 8 natural attacks and a grapple all of which are doing multiple d4s of fire damage? Oh and you still have all of you money to spend of something silly.

Seriously a mostly Totemist build can be horrifying, Keledrath made one awhile back that can attain what can only be called ludicrous damage.

[Chronos]

So far as I know, non-draconic totemists max out at 6 attacks, not 8, and that's only if you're willing to use an evil meld, and it happens at level 9. Draconic totemists can get more, but they don't need that many levels to get them, either. Not going kensai means you're not spending as much money, but that's a problem: Money exists to be spent, and without kensai, it's a lot harder for a totemist to spend it.

A totemist 2/swordsage, meanwhile, can get at least 7, and a totemist 2/monk can get even more.

[Troacctid]

Totemists have a selection of useful skill boosts and utility melds. They can fly, teleport, turn incorporeal, and so on. They can also take all the bonuses they get from soulmelds and share them with any number of familiars and animal companions. They can qualify for Soulcaster in order to get a full casting progression with minimal sacrifice; likewise with Soul Manifester and (to a lesser extent) Sapphire Hierarch.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I found a real nice build for a barbarian/fighter build.

http://ihititwithmyaxe.tumblr.com/post/5994449301/the-charging-fighter-breaking-3-5-d-d

I'm familiar with Magic of Incarnate, but I don't have any gameplay experience with it, so I'm asking for help with it. I want to add a 2 level dip in Totemist, for flavor and versatility. But I'm unsure at which level it would fit (if it fits at all). I imagine some new feats might be necessary.

Also, since the build isn't race specific, let me know what race helps most. My first choice would be Dragonborn Elan, but since that might not fly with my DM, Warforged has always intrigued me. As a non-caster, I can stay up all night, doing... well... shenanigans...

Anyways!

Just a head's up, not everything in the linked page stacks the way that guy thinks it does. In particular jump charging and dive charging are mutually exclusive and battlejump isn't written in a way that makes it clear you can activate it without jumping on the target from a platform above him.

[Urpriest]

If you're just looking for versatility with your Totemist dip on an otherwise normal ubercharger, I'd actually suggest binding Blink Shirt to your Totem instead of an attack meld.

[Chronos]

Eh, blink shirt is good for utility, but a melee character is going to benefit very little from it in combat, even as a move action. It inherits the action restriction from Dimension Door, so you can't bamf and then attack, and attacking then bamfing means that you were already in melee range, so why aren't you staying there?

[Urpriest]

Eh, blink shirt is good for utility, but a melee character is going to benefit very little from it in combat, even as a move action. It inherits the action restriction from Dimension Door, so you can't bamf and then attack, and attacking then bamfing means that you were already in melee range, so why aren't you staying there?

So you can charge next turn? As a charger, starting your turn next to an opponent is not actually desirable.

I'll agree it's got a lot less oomph than it could...but Girallon Arms and Manticore Belt both take a fair amount of optimization to be anything more than a comparatively small amount of bonus damage.

[Chronos]

An ubercharger gets a bunch of extra damage on each attack. Girallon Arms gives you at least two extra attacks. What more would you need to optimize?

[Urpriest]

An ubercharger gets a bunch of extra damage on each attack. Girallon Arms gives you at least two extra attacks. What more would you need to optimize?

Valid. While you're missing some key multipliers on those attacks, there's still enough there for them to be more than meaningful. I'm still not sure it square's with the OP's stated goal of dipping for versatility though.