I need help on how to Druid.

[Bobthereaper606]

I am looking for advice on how i should build my druid. I am heavily focused on self-buff and pet-buff shifted combat. I have Natural Spell so i can cast while shifted so i can buff before battle or at the start. Right now we have access to all 3.5 books with 3.0 on a case by case. I was looking into Planar Shepherd and doing the Ice Plane because its kind of the theme of this druid to be ice magic focused because he is a Silverbrow. My DM hasnt OKed Planar Shepherd yet because its from Ebberon and hes iffy about Ebberon and Faerun. Before i get into my build ideas ill list my set up as of now.

Barbarian 1, Whirling Frenzy instead of rage for +4 Str, +2 AC and Extra attack. Pounce instead of Fast Movement so if i shift to something without pounce i have it and if i shift to something with pounce if i charge i get that +4 to hit
Druid 6, I didnt pick any druid ACFs (If he OKs Planar Shepherd the 6th level of druid is going to be my first level of Planar Shepherd)

Feats (We are using Pathfinder Skills and Feat Progression)
Animal Devotion
Natural Spell
Draconic Aura
Companion Spellbond
Natural Bond (Will be replaced with Greensinger or Nightbringer initiate if Planar is OKed)

Future Feats
Fast Wild Shape
Dragon Wild Shape
Frozen Wild Shape
Swift Wild Shape
Double Draconic Aura

Hopeful Levels
Barbarian 1, Druid 5, Planar Shepherd 10, Master of Many Forms 4 (Just to pick up some extra things to shift into and speak while shifted)

Would this be a bad overall make-up for my character if Planar Shephard is a go?


Part 2, If Planar Shepherd isnt Oked

So if Planar Shepherd isnt OKed, I was looking at something like this

Barbarian 1, Druid 6, Master of Many Forms 7, Druid 4 (To pick up some more spells)

My feats would change because id get Fast Wild Shape for free thru MoMF, Id pick up Assume Supernatural Ability instead for the shifting into Fey and Aberrations i get from MoMF

Im open to all suggestions and help!

[Malroth]

if you're planning to be more of a shapeshifting melee guy than a spellcaster or a pet class then dipping chameleon 2 after master of many forms will give you a floating feat you can use to prepare yourself for whatever form you're planning on being that day, even if it means going from one assume supernatural ability to a different one.

[eggynack]

First off, you should check out my sigged handbook if you haven't already. It covers a lot of the general stuff you'd want to know about druids, and a bunch of the specifics as well. Beyond that, without some specifics of what you're going for, I can mostly only say how to make the character more powerful. To that end, the barbarian level is quite weak, if you can change that, the MoMF levels are pretty weak as well (more spells is more better, on both counts), and I'd avoid the draconic auras, animal devotion, and both fast and swift wild shape (a mantle of the beast from complete champion replicates most of this effect on a single moderately priced item).

In replacement for the levels, the major choices are more druid and maybe some dips into holt warden and contemplative, or dips into something else. In replacement for the feats, I've always been a fan of aberration wild shape, especially if you care a lot about form variety (enhance wild shape more than suffices in terms of opening up these abilities, so you don't need assume supernatural), and you could maybe pick up a summoning feat or two. Also, initiate feats can be sweet whether you have a prerequisite or not, so one of those could be nice. Exalted wild shape is pretty fun too, if you want to complete the set of major form adding feats. Honestly, druids have never felt to me like they need more feats than they get naturally (though the improved rate is nice), so you might wind up with more mediocrity than is typical. I'd ordinarily steer away from frozen wild shape, for example, but you have so many slots to work with.

[Darrin]

A good chunk of Treehugger Smackdown comes largely from their spell selection. eggynack's Druid handbook will explain everything you need to know to crack a planet in half as a druid, but there's a lot of text to dig through. Here's my spell advice for Druidzillas (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?221979-Druid-Help&p=12183941#post12183941), which is a little easier to digest quickly.

[Lexotan]

Hello!

I have been playing druid for a few years in different builds and I have two pieces of advice for you:

First: Do not try to break the game unless all your friends also have the same intention. So think twice before using Planar Shepherd

Second: Druid is already strong enough to solve any conflict that the DM will present that is within his challenge rating. The possibilities of wild shape with enhance wild shape and exalted wild shape are very large and you probably will not use all this ability unless you are very prepared to play druid. So worry about knowing the possibilities of the core class before you get a PrC that will possibly make your character less versatile.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask! :smile: