Spirit Shaman

[Kaminur]

Hello.

In a few weeks, we will start a new campaign in 3.5 and our DM made some rules.
1. We aren't allowed to play a Tier 1 or 2 class, except we take a crappy prestige class (-1 or -2), so basically we are only allowed to play Tier 3 or lower, sim
2. No one or two level dips in prestige classes, when we take it, it has to be full. It is allowed to do it interchangeably
3. When we take a Tier 2 or 1 class, we have take the crappy prestige class as soon as possible and at least a 5 Level PRC. Here it isn't allowed to take another class or PRC the next levels, it has to be full.
These rules were made, because some guys in our group made characters that were far to strong, just uber optimizing.

So i thought i make a Spirit shaman, and take the combat medic prestige (because -1), but i dont wanna heal my group, i just want to make damage.
I also thought of some +0 PRC's, just like Stormcaster, Stormlord and Lord of the tides.

The question is, how do i make it, because i dont wanna suck completely, but i also don't wanna be the complete campaign crasher and one-hitting even the hardest monsters. Is there another -1 Option that is far better, if there is any option that is good? And how good is the lord of the tides, so is he worth it, when i take the other two prestige classes. I'm not very good at all of this :/

[Extra Anchovies]

Wow. Your DM really takes the tier system as an ironclad measure of balance, I guess.

Tier System for PrCs (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5198.0), in case anyone's wondering. It's neither complete nor terribly accurate, but it works well enough for most purposes.

Spirit Shaman is arguably T3 to begin with. It gets a strong list, but it's not on the same level as the druid due to the lack of wildshape/animal companion. It's not T2, because it can vary what it does every day, and it's not T1, because it's a Druid-minus-minus.

Personally, I'd go Spirit Shaman 3 into Geomancer, taking Southern Magician (Races of Faerun p. 168) at third level and Education (FRCS p. 34) at 1st level to qualify.

Combat Medic isn't worth it because of the feat tax.

[nedz]

Almost half the world thinks Spirit Shaman is T1, and almost half think it's T2. Very few people see this otherwise. I've seen three very long threads discuss this very point.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Almost half the world thinks Spirit Shaman is T1, and almost half think it's T2. Very few people see this otherwise. I've seen three very long threads discuss this very point.

I could see it going either way: full casting from a strong list, but the weakest of the big three; selection has mandated redundancy, but can still be tailored for day to day usage; class features are unimpressive, but some still have use; dual stats casting, all that needs to be said about that one.

I personally put them at a low 1 but would not begrudge someone arguing 2. (I have never seen only tier 1 banned so I think the difference is academic).

To the op: Stormlord + Gloves of Endless Javelins is happy fun times. You have and endless supply og +3 shocking, thundering, shocking burst javelins for cheap. Just have brutal throw and you are good to go.

[eggynack]

Almost half the world thinks Spirit Shaman is T1, and almost half think it's T2. Very few people see this otherwise. I've seen three very long threads discuss this very point.
Yeah, it happens pretty much every time the class gets brought up. My opinion tends to be that it's sufficiently on the border between the two that classification is irrelevant, because either way it's hitting the same spot on the overall class sort. The only real argument for tier three tends to be one of definition. Even without druid stuff, the list is really strong.

Anyway, to answer your question, the way to build an effective spirit shaman into combat medic is to just, y'know, do that. The transition from druid to spirit shaman means that you're losing both the class features that you'd usually lose by PrC'ing, and the crazy feats that improve those class features. Thus, you're not really losing that much in entering the class. The tier system for PrC's isn't the best resource out there, really, at least for this kind of high precision stuff. A spirit shaman with the class is basically the same tier as one without, and the same is almost certainly true of a cleric.

All you really need to do, then, if you want to be good at shooting enemies, is pick spells that are good at that. That means spells like produce flame at first, splinterbolt at second, call lightning at third, boreal wind at fourth, and call avalanche at fifth. You probably shouldn't take all of those at once, or even more than one of them realistically, but you should get good blasting like that if you want it. Maybe toss on some SNA, to beat face in a more melee fashion, or take some BFC spells to do more traditional spirit shaman stuff, and you'll have some pretty high effectiveness. Maybe even add in cure minor wounds to make use of those combat medic class features, because that's a thing you can do. It's entirely plausible that there's a better option than combat medic out there, but honestly, a build like this should wind up pretty high power, and may even be more powerful than the DM would like if you really select spells carefully.