Building A Werewolf ECL 15 Need help picking out a class(s)

[Nosta]

so I will be playing in a high level game ECL 15 and i'll finally get the chance to play A Lycan.
so I want to Play a class that would get the most love from a werewolf character
And if some one can give me the idea for a PRC that be nice too

Character ARCHTYPE. IS Bloodknight (HE loves to fight strong foes and slaughter people.)

I was thinking of giving him Dragonic graft and left and give him a Breath attack

[Gildedragon]

PF or 3.5
Must it be a werewolf or can we get you wolfed up in other ways?

My first guess: shifter divine minion (wolf)
My second guess: werewolf savage progression 2, wolf 2. The full 3 werewolf levels did nothing for you.
you are high dex, high wis, so unarmed swordsage maybe... Focus on tiger claw and shadow hand maneuvers.
Weapon finesse and shadow blade your unarmed strikes

[Buddy76]

Base classes: Warblade from Tome of Battle is generally considered to be the best base melee class in 3.5. If you can't or don't want to use ToB, barbarian is a solid and thematically appropriate class (I'd go with Spirit Lion Totem from Complete Champion, as that would give you pounce). Knight (Player´s Handbook II) also fits your concept, as it´s a class focused on honorable single combat (personally, though, I would jump off at level 3, when I got bulwark of defence, because class features after that are not very good).
Prestige classes: Since you're a lycanthrope, you can benefit greatly from warshaper (Complete Warrior). Reach, fast healing, increased constituion and strength, good immunities... the amount of stuff it gives you in just four levels (skip the fifth) is incredible. You could also go Black Blood Hunter (found in the appendix of the Player's Guide to Faerun, but, be warned, it requires a vile feat). Three levels in and you get the wolf's trip attack in hybrid form, though I don't know how useful that would be, as tripping is generally done with reach weapons and benefits from larger sizes. However, if that's the way you're leaning, you can somewhat circumvent those limitations with warshaper (for reach) and the Jotunbrud feat from Races of Faerun (for size), and maybe some spells/powers (see the tripping handbook for a complete list).
Lastly, how set are you on playing a werewolf? A werefleshraker dinosaur (MMIII) with three levels in Black Blood Hunter could, in hybrid form, pounce, rake, trip and grapple (and potentially pin) an opponent in a single turn!
Hope this helps!

[Mr Adventurer]

You asked for the class that gets the most love from a werewolf character. The racial hit dice and level adjustment make it terrible for all classes; therefore you might as well overcompensate and play a Cleric. +2 Wisdom will help.

More seriously, see if you can get into A-game Paladin as a Paladin of Slaughter; or play a Warblade.

[KillingAScarab]

Knight (Player´s Handbook II) also fits your concept, as it´s a class focused on honorable single combat (personally, though, I would jump off at level 3, when I got bulwark of defence, because class features after that are not very good).The lycanthrope template (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lycanthrope.htm) notes that the preferred alignment of werewolves is chaotic evil. If the template is acquired, the lycanthropy as an affliction block states that the first voluntarily use of control shape (a rare case of 3.X introducing a separate skill, by the way) to shift into the alternate form will change your alignment. As knights must be lawful, that wouldn't work with a strictly played acquired template lycanthrope. It may with a natural lycanthrope, depending on how your DM feels about the "always chaotic evil" stat block.


Lastly, how set are you on playing a werewolf? A werefleshraker dinosaur (MMIII) with three levels in Black Blood Hunter could, in hybrid form, pounce, rake, trip and grapple (and potentially pin) an opponent in a single turn!
Hope this helps!I have had an idea rattling around in my head for a very long time about making a weretiger who eventually entered the dervish prestige class from Complete Warrior. A werewolf would be little different, as the primary natural attack in both cases is a bite attack, and bite causes all three types of physical damage. I hit upon weretiger because they have a neutral alignment and in animal form they have pounce, improved grab and rake. A werewolf in animal form can trip after a bite. The big question is how natural attacks interact with dervish prestige class abilities. Would a thousand cuts double a full round of your natural attacks, for instance? Or if you instead rely upon wielding manufactured weapons in hybrid form, would you get two bite attacks after the slashing weapon(s) as part of a full attack action?

[Buddy76]

The lycanthrope template notes that the preferred alignment of werewolves is chaotic evil. If the template is acquired, the lycanthropy as an affliction block states that the first voluntarily use of control shape (a rare case of 3.X introducing a separate skill, by the way) to shift into the alternate form will change your alignment. As knights must be lawful, that wouldn't work with a strictly played acquired template lycanthrope. It may with a natural lycanthrope, depending on how your DM feels about the "always chaotic evil" stat block.

That is correct. I accidentally failed to mention it because I don't like the alignment restrictions (at least on the law/chaos axis) for lycanthropes and rarely use them im my games.


I have had an idea rattling around in my head for a very long time about making a weretiger who eventually entered the dervish prestige class from Complete Warrior. A werewolf would be little different, as the primary natural attack in both cases is a bite attack, and bite causes all three types of physical damage. I hit upon weretiger because they have a neutral alignment and in animal form they have pounce, improved grab and rake. A werewolf in animal form can trip after a bite. The big question is how natural attacks interact with dervish prestige class abilities. Would a thousand cuts double a full round of your natural attacks, for instance? Or if you instead rely upon wielding manufactured weapons in hybrid form, would you get two bite attacks after the slashing weapon(s) as part of a full attack action?

I had never thought of that. It certainly opens interesting possibilities!

[Inevitability]

As an alternative to being a werewolf, you could play a Weretouched Master.

[Demidos]

On prestige classes:
Warshaper, See if your DM will let you qualify for Master of Many Forms, Warblade/Crusader. Duskblade might also be interesting.

Now that I think about it, TOTEMIST might be right up your alley -- Crazy amount of natural attacks, which meshes nicely with your natural attacks. You'll deal insane damage, but probably will lose more on the defensive front than you might have with the other classes.

It might also be interesting playing a bloodstorm blade, with refluffing the "thrown weapons" as your wolf form moving so fast it seems you didnt move despite biting their head off. This might be somewhat more subject to scrutiny, but isn't particularly overpowered and would be really cool to play.

On the werewolf template:
The werewolf template will take up 4-5 levels, depending if you are a natural lycanthrope or not (2-3 LA + 2 RHD). If that works for your game's power level, great!
If not, some lower level alternatives:
The easiest, see if your DM will allow level buyoff. If not, the Mulhorandi Divine minion template can allow you to shift into a lion at will for +0 LA, which can easily be refluffed to a wolf. Alternately, you can take a level or three in the savage species monster classes (which, yes, are savage species, but not overpowered in the slightest), effectively allowing you to set your LA to where you want it.

EDIT: P.S. This might just be a total throwaway that I just find too cool to drop, but my mental image of were wolves has always included a magic resistance that allows them to fight on par with mages. Anyway, if you also found this cool, and you could convince your DM to substitute CR for LA, then the half golem (http://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/templates/halfgolem.shtml) template added onto a werewolf would be both terrifying and (maybe) able to hold its own with those pesky casters. It would boost your LA by another 3, but if you used one of the LA reduction methods mentioned above (or several), it would almost certainly be worth your effort.

[Gildedragon]

+2LA you can have wholly bought off by the time you hit ECL 15

+3 will leave you with +1 LA at the least.

Do not be a natural werewolf.

If you listen to my advice to be a dex-wis based attacker: Dark Creature, buy off at level 3, get afflicted with werewolfism, buy off at 9 and 12. Your Dex is through the roof, you have rad hiding pouncing throat-ripping skill. Barbarian 1 might (will be) be handy.
Versatile unarmed strike might be handy to replicate a claw attack.

[Mr Adventurer]

The first LA buyoff level is three times the LA, so a half-golem afflicted werewolf woild have LA +5 and therefore the first opportunity to reduce it at level 15.

Good suggestion about Warshaper if you plan to fight as hybrid though.

Werewolf 2 (+3LA)/Warblade 3/Warshaper 5/Warblade +2 or something else with full BAB - you'll want to avoid more BAB loss than the 5(!) from werewolf and Warshaper...

[KillingAScarab]

Now that I think about it, TOTEMIST might be right up your alley -- Crazy amount of natural attacks, which meshes nicely with your natural attacks. You'll deal insane damage, but probably will lose more on the defensive front than you might have with the other classes.If Magic of Incarnum is in play, then you can take shape soulmeld feats before you have levels in a class which gives you a meldshaper level. Essentia capacity is tied to character level, so only the +2 or +3 LA throws that off track. You could shape an evil incarnate avatar, invest a point of essentia in it and get +2 on melee damage rolls. Also consider that dusklings are fey and so are not eligible to be lycanthropes. Azurin is compatible and would provide a point of essentia.



Alternately, you can take a level or three in the savage species monster classes (which, yes, are savage species, but not overpowered in the slightest), effectively allowing you to set your LA to where you want it.There's also the Savage Progressions archive (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/sp). There are some errors, however, such as leaving the claw attacks off entirely for the werewolf hybrid form.

[ShurikVch]

Note: latest official print of rules on lycanthropes was in Races of Faerûn; LA there is +1 (if afflicted), or +2 (for natural)


I was thinking of giving him Dragonic graft and left and give him a Breath attackNote: according to Dungeon #84, Winter Wolf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/winterWolf.htm) is legal for lycanthropy, and Winter Werewolves get it's Breath Weapon

[Gildedragon]

6HD is killer though

If the LA 2 for natural thing is true, then it is worth getting. The boost to DR and the capacity to spawn werewolves is v good for an evil type

[KillingAScarab]

I looked over the "Animal Ancestry" article in Dragon Magazine #313, it turns out I was wrong about the bite being the primary attack. For all the hybrid forms the bite is a secondary attack. There are also some feats in that article. If you have Dex of 13+, Quick Change lets you change to or from an alternate form as a move action instead of a standard.