Being a Dragon Wyvern vs Ambush Drake

[liquidformat]

Hi All looking for build help, so in an upcoming game I can either be a Wyvern or an Ambush Drake, both have been ruled as LA +0 and seem pretty comparable so I am on the fence of which would be a better choice.

Ambush drake seems like a nice choice being medium sized with a faster land speed and slow breath attack On the other hand Wyvern has more attacks, better fly speed, better poison and an extra HD nets me huge size which is a mixed blessing.

I am also struggling on what might be a good build for the game, I don't want anything too overpowered as we aren't super high op so things like Ur-Priest are straight out but Divine Crusader might still be ok as long as I don't go too hard into abusing domain pickup. The DM isn't big on ToB or ToM so for the moment I am ignoring initiators as they would take some convincing.

Right now I am thinking a level of Barbarian to pickup pounce maybe 2to pickup improved trip seems like a good idea then maybe a PRC with its own spell progression like maybe warmind.

Anyways let me know what you guys think and also if anyone has played as either a wyvern or ambush drake I would love to hear about it

[Rebel7284]

I believe that only extra RACIAL HD gives you a size increase, so if you advance with class levels, you won't get that.

They are pretty on par. I would probably go with a Wyvern because of the increased number of natural attacks and a better flight speed. Pectoral of maneuverability would be helpful.

Rapid Strike is nice regardless of build.

Divine Crusader is a fun class indeed, what domain were you thinking of?

Another consideration could be War Mind with Practiced Manifester getting you some nice combat powers. Weaker than spellcasting but Expansion to grow from Large to Gargantuan is fun.

[liquidformat]

I believe that only extra RACIAL HD gives you a size increase, so if you advance with class levels, you won't get that.

They are pretty on par. I would probably go with a Wyvern because of the increased number of natural attacks and a better flight speed. Pectoral of maneuverability would be helpful.

Rapid Strike is nice regardless of build.

Divine Crusader is a fun class indeed, what domain were you thinking of?

Another consideration could be War Mind with Practiced Manifester getting you some nice combat powers. Weaker than spellcasting but Expansion to grow from Large to Gargantuan is fun.

Yep, I am aware it is an extra RHD, and I am pretty sure it is worth the investment. What is Pectoral of maneuverability haven't heard of it before?

[Rebel7284]

Yep, I am aware it is an extra RHD, and I am pretty sure it is worth the investment.

Hmm, looks like it's just a single extra HD. That's worth it, as long as you have the magic to shrink yourself when needed. There was a thread on that recently: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?623024-My-new-Minotaur-Barbarian


What is Pectoral of maneuverability haven't heard of it before?

A magic item from Draconomicon that improves your maneuverability one or two steps, depending on if you get the regular or the greater variant.

Also it occurs to me that any HD counts for half initiator level, so something like Wyvern 8/Crusader or Warblade 12 would get 8th level maneuvers at the end.

You could also combine that with Divine Casting by going Wyvern 8/Cleric 1/Divine Crusader 1/Crusader 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 9. You end up not getting 9th level spells this way, which is a shame, but lots of things to do with spells AND maneuvers.