Soranar
2023-01-01, 10:18 AM
I'm trying to optmize an urban druid as much as possible , the only restriction being that I must be an urban druid 20
so far this is what I have
Race: Spellscale (for dragonblood, +2 CHA and free eschew material)
Template: unseelie fey (winter, for extra CHA and the save debuff)
STATS 32 pts
STR 6 (dump stat, you're always wildshaped into a caster form as of level 5, before then you hide behind your urban companion)
DEX 10 (dump stat, see above)
CON 12(you're not as squishy as a wizard but you need to invest here)
INT 14 (skillpoints are useful)
WIS 8 (dump stat)
CHA 22 (main stat, gets every increase)
Feats
Level 1 Snowcasting (you get eschew material for free through blood meditation)
Level 3 Draconic Aura (Energy : cold, greatly inscrease your spells DC)
Level 6 Cold Focus
Level 9 Greater Cold Focus
Level 12 open
Level 15 open
Level 18 open
The idea here is to optimize my spells DCs as much as possible since most of my spells offer a save
with 22 CHA, I can reach 38 charisma (22 base+ 5 from levels + 5 from inherent bonuses + 6 from a magic item)
so I get + 14 to my spell DCs and I give off -14 to the saving throws of anything within my winter aura.
with cold focus , greater cold focus and draconic aura, I get another +6 to all my spells DCs
I'm just not sure what else is worth investing in after that except ways to expand my spell list
The urban wildshape
you get access to the darkstalker form at level 5: 14 STR, 3d6 sneak attack and 17 DEX gives you a fairly decent combat form since it can cast spells too.
the other forms are only really useful as utility forms until the animated object shapes, if you're wildshaped into a fighting form and stuck into melee, something went horribly wrong
The urban companion
At level 1 and 2, your urban companion is a light warhorse, it's incredibly strong at that level
At level 3 you can afford to buy a scroll of polymorph any object, since it's on your list you can cast it right away on your urban companion
by selecting a small animated object (which you shape into a small version of a hammerer) you can turn it into a hammerer (3 HD, 3 caster level, within 1 size category)
a hammerer is a 3 hd creature that's normally a terrible companion (half the time it does nothing) but a small animated object (which gets +2 hd due to the urban companion progression) can be
turned into one permanently with a scroll of polymorph any object since
-they're the same type (construct) +5
-they're related (same shape) +2
-same int +2
meaning the change is permanent, it can be dispelled but that shouldn't be an issue for several levels at which point you can afford a backup scroll
unlike a hammer your companion is reliable
you don't need pounce when your attack deals 2d8 +10 damage
constructs are immune to a ton of stuff
as your small animated object progresses it gets even more powerful with better BAB, hitpoints, evasion and eventually a 2nd attack
you can still buff it with greater magic fang and the like
I did the math and it looks like the hammerer stays the best option for a fairly long time but eventually you're going to want to switch to a retriever
since a retriever is a huge construct, your urban companion must be large or bigger with at least 10 HD, at level 14 you can have a huge animated object with +2 HD but if you wait a single level you can cast polymorph any object without a scroll so I'd wait till level 15+
at that point your huge animated object can be shaped like a retriever (helps to argue they're related forms)
so with the same size (both are huge) +2
same int (+2)
same type (construct) +5
again the change is permanent
Finally the best forms come at level 18 (huge animated object +6 HD) which you transform into an astral construct with 13 hd
even if your DM argues the change is not permanent, at this point you want versatility anyway and a buff that lasts for days is worth the trouble, a normal astral construct with 13 hd is already pretty versatile (can have pounce, can fly, have improved grab, etc)
but one that was created by a psion with the constructor prestige class is even crazier , especially if you combine it with the boost construct feat
now, instead of 1 level C ability, it has 4. You can only pick ex abilities since polymorph any object limits you but those abilities are still very good, personally I would pick these:
2 level B abilities (improved fly and pounce)
Rend, extra brawn and tail slap (see constrictor class for some of those options)
with those bonuses I'd argue the urban druid's urban companion actually edges out the druid's animal companion (I can't think of anything quite this ridiculous that you can do with a normal animal companion)
I still need to figure out what to do with 3 feats
and what kind of divine staffs would help me out the most
so far this is what I have
Race: Spellscale (for dragonblood, +2 CHA and free eschew material)
Template: unseelie fey (winter, for extra CHA and the save debuff)
STATS 32 pts
STR 6 (dump stat, you're always wildshaped into a caster form as of level 5, before then you hide behind your urban companion)
DEX 10 (dump stat, see above)
CON 12(you're not as squishy as a wizard but you need to invest here)
INT 14 (skillpoints are useful)
WIS 8 (dump stat)
CHA 22 (main stat, gets every increase)
Feats
Level 1 Snowcasting (you get eschew material for free through blood meditation)
Level 3 Draconic Aura (Energy : cold, greatly inscrease your spells DC)
Level 6 Cold Focus
Level 9 Greater Cold Focus
Level 12 open
Level 15 open
Level 18 open
The idea here is to optimize my spells DCs as much as possible since most of my spells offer a save
with 22 CHA, I can reach 38 charisma (22 base+ 5 from levels + 5 from inherent bonuses + 6 from a magic item)
so I get + 14 to my spell DCs and I give off -14 to the saving throws of anything within my winter aura.
with cold focus , greater cold focus and draconic aura, I get another +6 to all my spells DCs
I'm just not sure what else is worth investing in after that except ways to expand my spell list
The urban wildshape
you get access to the darkstalker form at level 5: 14 STR, 3d6 sneak attack and 17 DEX gives you a fairly decent combat form since it can cast spells too.
the other forms are only really useful as utility forms until the animated object shapes, if you're wildshaped into a fighting form and stuck into melee, something went horribly wrong
The urban companion
At level 1 and 2, your urban companion is a light warhorse, it's incredibly strong at that level
At level 3 you can afford to buy a scroll of polymorph any object, since it's on your list you can cast it right away on your urban companion
by selecting a small animated object (which you shape into a small version of a hammerer) you can turn it into a hammerer (3 HD, 3 caster level, within 1 size category)
a hammerer is a 3 hd creature that's normally a terrible companion (half the time it does nothing) but a small animated object (which gets +2 hd due to the urban companion progression) can be
turned into one permanently with a scroll of polymorph any object since
-they're the same type (construct) +5
-they're related (same shape) +2
-same int +2
meaning the change is permanent, it can be dispelled but that shouldn't be an issue for several levels at which point you can afford a backup scroll
unlike a hammer your companion is reliable
you don't need pounce when your attack deals 2d8 +10 damage
constructs are immune to a ton of stuff
as your small animated object progresses it gets even more powerful with better BAB, hitpoints, evasion and eventually a 2nd attack
you can still buff it with greater magic fang and the like
I did the math and it looks like the hammerer stays the best option for a fairly long time but eventually you're going to want to switch to a retriever
since a retriever is a huge construct, your urban companion must be large or bigger with at least 10 HD, at level 14 you can have a huge animated object with +2 HD but if you wait a single level you can cast polymorph any object without a scroll so I'd wait till level 15+
at that point your huge animated object can be shaped like a retriever (helps to argue they're related forms)
so with the same size (both are huge) +2
same int (+2)
same type (construct) +5
again the change is permanent
Finally the best forms come at level 18 (huge animated object +6 HD) which you transform into an astral construct with 13 hd
even if your DM argues the change is not permanent, at this point you want versatility anyway and a buff that lasts for days is worth the trouble, a normal astral construct with 13 hd is already pretty versatile (can have pounce, can fly, have improved grab, etc)
but one that was created by a psion with the constructor prestige class is even crazier , especially if you combine it with the boost construct feat
now, instead of 1 level C ability, it has 4. You can only pick ex abilities since polymorph any object limits you but those abilities are still very good, personally I would pick these:
2 level B abilities (improved fly and pounce)
Rend, extra brawn and tail slap (see constrictor class for some of those options)
with those bonuses I'd argue the urban druid's urban companion actually edges out the druid's animal companion (I can't think of anything quite this ridiculous that you can do with a normal animal companion)
I still need to figure out what to do with 3 feats
and what kind of divine staffs would help me out the most