Opinion on druid build

[Zeraphyne]

Hi, guys.
I would like to hear your opinion. I just started in an existing group, where the other players are at level 10 and I get to develop a character at the same level with 45.000 xp. I was thinking about a druid with warshaper as a prestige class, but I’m not sure how to divide levels between druid and warshaper. What kind of feats and what race would compliment this combination?
Thanks in advance

[Mordante]

Why would XP matter?

[Paragon]

Why would XP matter?

I think he means considering LA buy-off ?

I'd say depending on your teamates's class Tier, you should maybe take it early if you're too far ahead of the curve, later if you need power

If you want to go this route, Master of Many Forms is the usual complement (it can break the game so be careful)

[TheTeaMustFlow]

I was thinking about a druid with warshaper as a prestige class, but I’m not sure how to divide levels between druid and warshaper.

10 druid, 0 warshaper. Despite what one might guess from the description, warshaper combines terribly with druid as it doesn't advance wild shape. A pure druid is both a better caster and a better shapeshifter.

If you want to go for a pure shapeshifter build, go druid 5/master of many forms 5 instead. once you have taken all 10 levels in MoMF, either switch back to druid or some other class that advances wild shape like nature's warrior. At most, I would consider a single level of Wwarshaper taken after at least 7 levels of MoMF to pick up crit immunity and morphic weaponry.

[Doctor Despair]

10 druid, 0 warshaper. Despite what one might guess from the description, warshaper combines terribly with druid as it doesn't advance wild shape. A pure druid is both a better caster and a better shapeshifter.

If you want to go for a pure shapeshifter build, go druid 4/master of many forms 6 instead. once you have taken all 10 levels in MoMF, either switch back to druid or some other class that advances wild shape.

You need druid 5 to enter MoMF. It requires wild shape

[TheTeaMustFlow]

You need druid 5 to enter MoMF. It requires wild shape

Typo, now corrected. Thanks.

[Zeraphyne]

10 druid, 0 warshaper. Despite what one might guess from the description, warshaper combines terribly with druid as it doesn't advance wild shape. A pure druid is both a better caster and a better shapeshifter.

If you want to go for a pure shapeshifter build, go druid 5/master of many forms 5 instead. once you have taken all 10 levels in MoMF, either switch back to druid or some other class that advances wild shape like nature's warrior. At most, I would consider a single level of Wwarshaper taken after at least 7 levels of MoMF to pick up crit immunity and morphic weaponry.

That sounds great. I think that’s the way to go. Now I’m just missing some feats that would further either my wild shape ability or my damage. We’re only three people and trying to cover as much as possible

[liquidformat]

In general wild shape ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 5/master of many forms is a better choice than druid 5/master of many forms as you are loosing less. Some other fun things you could try if you just want to shape shift then beat face are primeval or weretouched master. Though I wouldn't go weretouched master unless you can use the non-errata version. Here are some potential builds:

Bear Totem Barbarian 3 (City Brawler if you are allowed DM content)/Wild Shape Ranger 5/Fist of The Forest 2/Primeval 10
FotF requires: Great Fortitude (bear totem barb lvl3), improved unarmed strike (City Brawler barb 1), Power attack
Primeval Requires: Endurance (Ranger 3), self-sufficient, Toughness (bear totem barb lvl1)
race can be anything I normally go human for extra feat and skill points since you are tanking intelligence. For feats I typically like picking up VOP somewhere in there, Superior Unarmed Strike, extra rage, and steadfast determination and martial study is always a great choice. My go to for primeval form is Dire Puma out of the legal choices it is the best based on stat bonus and special attacks (pounce, rake, improved grab) and has a climb speed. Dire Lion is my runner up choice and beyond that the choice is niche and depends what you are looking to do. Some DMs let you choose your form based on ECL when you enter the class in which case smilodon is a great choice.

weretouched master:
Shifter Barbarian 1-2/unarmed swordsage 3-4/FotF 3/weretouched Master 5/warshaper 1-4/swordsage or warblade
For this one spirit lion totem barb 1 is a decent choice and taking bear or wolverine for your animal form in weretouched, but I prefer wolf totem to pickup imp trip and tiger. You can enter FotF at barb 2/unarmed swordsage 3 or barb 1/warblade 1/unarmed swordsage 3 but I prefer going to swordsage 4 then my first level of FotF bumps me up to 1d10 UA damage instead of 1d8. I prefer to go longtooth to razorclaw for my shifter and take longtooth elite to pickup con damage and get claws once I am in weretouched master bear/tiger. As far as feats go taking extra rage is is very useful knockdown is worth taking if you pickup imp trip from wolf totem (wolf berserker is also a great choice at level 1 if you have extra feats), definitely take shifter savagery along the way and I like taking either Extra Shifter Trait (Dreamsight or wildhunt) along with Dreamsight Elite or wildhunt elite to pickup see invisibility or blind sense, Ragewild fighting is also a really nice feat to look at. If you want to go longtooth and wolverine taking multiattack and bloodclaw master to get claw attacks is another good way to finish off the build. Also jaws of the dragon and claws of the beast are both good magic items to look at for this build.

[Rebel7284]

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?439991-Being-Everything-Eggynack-s-Comprehensive-Druid-Handbook

Eggynack has created a truly comprehensive encyclopedia on druids. The breadth of content there is amazing. If you have any more questions after reading this, let us know.

I do agree with others that druid/warshaper is probably suboptimal, unless you are trying to abuse Morphic Weapons to give you one of each type of natural weapons in existence all at the same time... but that's a level of cheese that most DMs will houserule away.

[Soranar]

If you just want to be powerful, druid 10 is the way to go.

If you just want to play a wildshape specialist, wildshape ranger will be better (more BAB, you save yourself a feat)

I'd go for ranger 5 / master of many forms 5 too

Some alternate class features to consider

-arcane hunter (favored enemy arcanist is pretty good as it includes all dragons + everything else that cast spells)
-trap expert (can disarm traps like a rogue, gain search and disable device)
-urban companion (gain a familiar instead of an animal companion, you can share spells with it and it has your BAB so they can be buffed to a ridiculous degree through wands).

feats combos

-sword of the arcane order gives you wizard spells on your ranger spell list, you can use that to cast spell trigger items and get access to polymorph which you can cast on your familiar
-even without spell of the arcane order, there are 3 shapechanging spells in the ranger spell list : bite of the wolf, wildrunner, aspect of the earth hunter.

-if you take improved unarmed strike + superior unarmed strike + snap kick you can turn into a large monster with high STR and go to town. Most monsters don't get multiple attacks and have fairly bad natural attacks, this fixes it and makes those forms more interesting. Combine this with the greater mighty wallop spell (you can use an eternal wand or have a friend cast it on you) and your unarmed damage should be:

1d8 (base from superior unarmed strike) = 2d6 (large size) = 4d6 (2 size increases from a caster level 5 wand of greater mighty wallop which lasts 5 hours)

-if you don't like the idea of unarmed strikes, consider using a sizing weapon (so it grows with you) so you can get the most out of it. If the weapon is bludgeoning it will also benefit from the spell.

-being human and taking able learner is not a bad idea if you want to keep using ranger skills

-if you'd prefer to trade what little spellcasting you have, you can trade it for blind-fight. By doing so you can also invest in the mage slayer feat combination to become a fairly potent anti-caster machine with mage slayer, blind-fight and pierce magical concealment.

[Troacctid]

In general wild shape ranger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) 5/master of many forms is a better choice than druid 5/master of many forms as you are loosing less.
Disagree. 2nd and 3rd level druid spells are great. Way better than +2 BAB and a bonus feat. Wild shape ranger doesn't even get to keep its combat style. Boo!

Actual best entry, of course, would be Totem Druid 1/MoMF 10, but that's another story.

[Zeraphyne]

p

Eggynack has created a truly comprehensive encyclopedia on druids. The breadth of content there is amazing. If you have any more questions after reading this, let us know.


This is brilliant. Thank you so much

[Zeraphyne]

Thank you so much everyone. I got way more info than I hoped to get and have a lot of reading and deciding to do 😆

[eggynack]

Disagree. 2nd and 3rd level druid spells are great. Way better than +2 BAB and a bonus feat. Wild shape ranger doesn't even get to keep its combat style. Boo!

Yeah, even if you're not running natural spell, you still get all them long term buffs like heart of air/water and primal hunter/instinct, luminous armor, obscuring snow+snowsight, snowshoes, and just a bunch of others. And then on top of that you get all that random spell utility. Whispering sand for long range communication, cure spells for curing peeps, treasure scent when ya gotta smell some treasure, and all kindsa other good stuff. It's a pretty neat setup.

[Nihilarian]

Ranger is only a better entry into master of many forms in that it makes you feel less bad about what you're giving up. I like wildshape ranger but there are better ways of using it than pretending its a good druid substitution.

Warshaper is a cool class but it's difficult to justify for druids and spellcasters who get in through polymorph. Perfect for shifters and changelings and other cases where you get your transformation ability through race and dont have to worry about advancing it.

Master of Many Forms is cool and good and the fact that it's a step down from standard druid says more about the druid than it does the MoMF. If you go this route you may want to trade out your animal companion for something.