4th Level Druid Feats!!

[ReD_Exorcist]

So yesterday I posted a Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?478818-Owlbear-amp-Wild-Empathy) about my Owlbear problem, after a few post from some helpful play grounders & talking to my DM, I came to be able to change my class into a druid. Now I've never played a druid ever before, I did some research of what feats to take and for some reason I just didn't like what I say. I'm using The Druid Handbook by Mooncrow (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=940.0) and it gives plenty of useful information (I even got some cool future character ideas from it huehuehue) but for some reason, either be it because of my lack of knowledge or just Im just plain dumb, I couldn't find any good feats to take. Ill give you guys a run down of my build so far. Be aware were on the PBS 32 points (http://fireburnb14n.page.tl/Point-Buy-Calculator.htm).
[Class: Druid 4] [Race: Strongheart Halfling] [STR: 10 DEX: 10 CON: 16 INT: 14 WIS: 17 CHA: 10]
[Unsure about what I should use for my 3rd Level Feat, but my Racial Bonus Feat is Companion Spellbound and my 1st Level is Animal Devotion]
[Skills Im Focusing on: Concentration, Craft Cooking, Handle Animal, Knowledge Nature, Listen & Spot]

Now my party is made up of
Dread Cleric or something like that, basically he has the undead working for him.
Ranged warlock.
Fighter/Rogue
& A regular cleric that focuses on undead domains.
So technically we only have two front liners one being our rogue the other being the dread clerics undead servant.
I was thinking of playing as a melee monster druid alongside with Cinder my Baby Owlbear so we can have some extra front line power.
So any feats, any suggestions of what I should change. Be aware I do want to optimize the character although the race is locked in and cant be changed.
Oh and spell suggestions would greatly appreciated as well

[eggynack]

Try my fancy sigged handbook instead. It has more stuff.

[sleepyphoenixx]

First i'd suggest replacing Animal Devotion. Yeah, it's nice and thematic, but without Turn Undead to fuel it it's not all that useful and the only thing it gives that you don't already have is the sacred bonus to strength.

Then there's build-decision time. Druids generally should take one summoning feat and one form-adder, unless you have a specific reason not to.
Unless you're really really sure that you absolutely never want to summon, 1st or 3rd level is generally the place to get your summon-enhancing feat as a druid.
Keep in mind that you can cast SNA spontaneously, so it's pretty much always an option, and not just for combat purposes.

At low levels Greenbound Summoning (LEoF) is king here, no question. It may be a bit too strong for your DM though, so ask first if you want it.
The second option is Rashemi Elemental Summoning (UE). It's more or less useless at low levels, but it starts to outperform Greenbound when you get access to large elementals.
Then there's Child of Winter (ECS) - it's weaker than both of the previous, but that's not saying much. It adds a bunch of vermin and swarm summons that are useful both at low and high levels, but a little underwhelming in the middle.
The last option is Ashbound (ECS). It doesn't add anything new, but it doubles summon duration and gives a +3 luck bonus to their attacks. Notably it stacks with any of the three previous, so it's worth thinking about.

The other option to consider is Aberration Wild Shape. If you want it you'll need Aberration Blood, so it's best to take it now. Aberration forms come with mix of raw combat ability, tons of esoteric abilities and some things that are just plain weird. It's definitely the strongest form-adding feat when used to its full potential, but it takes a lot of reading to really get full use out of it.
If you want a different form-adding feat you don't have to bother with it for now. Neither Exalted Wild Shape nor Dragon Wild Shape have prerequisites.

Last (but certainly not least) comes Versatile Spellcaster. You qualify by virtue of your spontaneous summoning, and it basically lets you cast spontaneously of the entire druid list. Suffice to say this is really really good. It can also get your DM to throw books at you because while it's perfectly within the rules it's also pretty obvious that it wasn't intended to be used this way. As with Greenbound Summoning it's probably best to ask first.

TL:DR - my suggestions for feats would be a summoning feat and two of Aberration Blood, Versatile Spellcaster, Companion Spellbond and Ashbound, depending on what you want to do.

[ReD_Exorcist]

TL:DR - my suggestions for feats would be a summoning feat and two of Aberration Blood, Versatile Spellcaster, Companion Spellbond and Ashbound, depending on what you want to do.

So would I keep lets say inhuman reach from aberration blood if I wild shaped into a black bear? and thanks for the list talking to the DM about Greenbound & Versatile SC right now. OH and one more thing when you say get two of Aberration blood do you mean Aberration blood & Aberration wild shape or like Inhuman reach & Waterspawn?

[ReD_Exorcist]

Try my fancy sigged handbook instead. It has more stuff.

Holy moly that is alot of information, not to worry though I have the blessing of being in Mexico right now and lets just say reading over handbooks is the best way to keep myself distracted.

[Hiro Quester]

Yep. Eggynack's guide is pretty much the go-to guide for 3.5 Druids. His section on useful feats will keep you busy for a while.

You should also think about your role in the party, and choose feats that fit your role. Druids have the versatility to be able to fill in wherever needed. But some needs might be greater than others.

In your party, for instance, you have clerics for healing and buffing, and a warlock for blasting, and a fighter rogue.

You also have your animal Companion that at least until higher levels, can be a pretty good fighter. And you have summoned Nature's allies for tanking.

Your group doesn't have anyone specializing in Battlefield control, though. And that can make or break encounters. Druids have some of the best BFC spells in the business.

So you might consider what Eggynack calls "the way of the bat" over the frontline melee "way of the bear". Flying above the fray, doing Battlefield control summoning animals (a few wolves or giant crocodiles can be excellent battlefield control as well as dealing damage, grappling, tripping, etc.), as well as dropping entangle spells, wall spells, controlling the weather, water and winds, as well as calling down lightning and sleet storms, and flame strikes.

You can always become a bear and wade into melee, too, and be overpoweringly excellent at it with a few good buff spells (look at the Spell Compendium's Bite of the WereX line of spells to see how).

Versatile Spellcaster (if your DM allows it, which he probably should not do) can be an awesome feat to improve the range of spells you can hurl around.

Other casting feats can be a good thing at your level (such as Extend spell; though buying a lesser rod of extend spell might serve well for a while).

Or initiate feats can add spells to your repertoire. Initiate of Olidammara is possibly the best of the lot, since adding Bard spells to your list adds some essential spells to your group (Haste!) and adds ones that the druid list lacks.

Your group might also need someone with Diplomacy as a class skill, to be the party face.

The above initiate of Olidammara adds gather information to your list, another very useful skill your party could benefit from. (Particularly with the 13th level thousand faces ability, a druid can be a great diplomencer/spy.)

[ReD_Exorcist]

Yep. Eggynack's guide is pretty much the go-to guide for 3.5 Druids. His section on useful feats will keep you busy for a while.

Other casting feats can be a good thing at your level (such as Extend spell; though buying a lesser rod of extend spell might serve well for a while).

Or initiate feats can add spells to your repertoire. Initiate of Olidammara is possibly the best of the lot, since adding Bard spells to your list adds some essential spells to your group (Haste!) and adds ones that the druid list lacks.

Your group might also need someone with Diplomacy as a class skill, to be the party face.

The above initiate of Olidammara adds gather information to your list, another very useful skill your party could benefit from. (Particularly with the 13th level thousand faces ability, a druid can be a great diplomencer/spy.)

So I looked at the lesser rod of extend spell, but I can't figure out whether I get 1/per day or 3/day, I think its 1 because otherwise wouldn't normal get 6/day and then a greater 9/day? Also do I have to worship Olidammara if I take the initiate, my backstory is already tied with a god so I pretty much can't worship her as well (The god's my father....... of sorts, he put a bundle of joy in my mama. So I mean kind of have to love him)

[sleepyphoenixx]

So would I keep lets say inhuman reach from aberration blood if I wild shaped into a black bear? and thanks for the list talking to the DM about Greenbound & Versatile SC right now. OH and one more thing when you say get two of Aberration blood do you mean Aberration blood & Aberration wild shape or like Inhuman reach & Waterspawn?

Yes, you keep the benefits of your feats in wildshape. Though i wouldn't take them - there's plenty of forms with reach, and you can spend your feats on better stuff.
As for the feats, what i meant was "pick the two you want/that fit your playing style" since you don't have enough feats to take all of them.

[LTwerewolf]

The only required feat is natural spell at 6th. Other than that, druids can take nearly any feat and still be effective, so go nuts with it. Between their spells and wild shapes, if you screw something up, you can make up for it. Just don't take feats that are very clearly downside only or that kill your caster level.

[eggynack]

So I looked at the lesser rod of extend spell, but I can't figure out whether I get 1/per day or 3/day,
3/day. Only difference between the three is the spells you can use them on.

[Fitz10019]

So I looked at the lesser rod of extend spell, but I can't figure out whether I get 1/per day or 3/day, I think its 1 because otherwise wouldn't normal get 6/day and then a greater 9/day? Also do I have to worship Olidammara if I take the initiate, my backstory is already tied with a god so I pretty much can't worship her as well (The god's my father....... of sorts, he put a bundle of joy in my mama. So I mean kind of have to love him)
3/day
The lesser rod works on 'lesser' spells, the ones from levels 1-3. The greater rod works on 'greater' spells, the ones from levels 7-9.
[I'll leave it at that to see if I bait out a compulsive completionist.]