Undead-Hunting for a Druid

[Palanan]

The Menhir Savant archetype gives the Spirit Sense ability, which allows a druid to constantly detect undead. For a druid dedicated to hunting undead, this is a good start, but how would I build on this? Are there other feats or archetypes which would help the druid become a better undead-hunter?

I’m open to all first-party Paizo material, and I’d like to do this without multiclassing, though I’m not opposed to archetypes that allow me to slot in features from other classes.

Please note that for my purposes, a debate on whether druids should hunt undead will not be helpful here. This druid will be hunting undead, so I would most appreciate suggestions on how he can be as effective as possible.

[Rynjin]

FWIW there's not really a debate; all lore about Druids is that they're ambivalent to undead at best, and actively hunt them usually (as do most people), though turning undead does not strip you of Druid powers.

The thing there IS debate on is whether Spirit Sense is always active or if it's an active ability that function as Detect Undead at-will; that's gonna vary by GM.

As for what options for a Druid, that's mostly gonna be in spell choice. And Druids actually get some of the best undead hunting spells around. Notably, Sunbeam (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/sunbeam/) is a classic Druid "only" spell that is hands down the biggest dickest undead annihilator spell around.

They also get Wall of Fire, though a level later than others.

Sunlight Summons is a Feat that can give Summon Nature's Ally summons the ability for attacks to count as magical; Moonlight Summons can make them count as Silver. Bit of an investment though unless you're going hard in on summoning.

The Death Druid (https://www.aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Druid%20Death%20Dr uid) stacks with Menhir Savant and gets you immunity to negative levels and energy drain (HUGE for an undead hunter) as well as a not-quite-a-ghost companion who is prety good at fighting other incorporeals.

If you're an Aasimar (baseline, not any of the variants) you can take Heavenly Radiance (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/racial-feats/heavenly-radiance-aasimar/) at 9th level for a free Sunbeam every day.

There are also all of the generic undead hunting Feats, some of which have value and some don't for a Druid.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Rynjin
*snip*

Some excellent suggestions here, thanks.


Originally Posted by Rynjin
There are also all of the generic undead hunting Feats, some of which have value and some don't for a Druid.

Any thoughts on which of these would be in the more-valuable category? I’m not that familiar with undead-hunting options in Pathfinder, so any advice would be helpful.

[Rynjin]

Ectoplasmic Spell (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/ectoplasmic-spell-metamagic/) is a good one. I know I focus on incorporeals a lot here, but most undead can be killed like any other creature even if they do have distinct weaknesses. Incorporeals are icky.

Threnodic Spell (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/threnodic-spell-metamagic/) is good too, though iffier for a Druid than other casters since they lack the breadth of mind=affecting spells that other casters have.

Haunts in particular are insidious and difficult to destroy. Ghost Whisperer (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/ghost-whisperer/) can help with that, primarily by giving access to a couple of spells that are off-list for Druid.

Absorb Spirit (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/absorb-spirit/) in combination with Spirit Speaker (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/spirit-speaker/) can serve the same purpose, but without using a spell slot.

If you wanna get in there and fight, Weapon Versatility (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/weapon-versatility-combat/) is very solid. Not undead-specific, but useful since undead run the whole gamut of weapon type damage reduction.

[Palanan]

More excellent suggestions and much appreciated, thank you.

[Rynjin]

No problem! If I think of more I'll toss them out.

[Palanan]

Thanks, I’ll definitely appreciate any other feat suggestions.

In the meantime, a related question for this build: is there a way for a druid to access a shaman hex? Or an oracle revelation? Either of those could provide some useful and thematic options, but I’m not sure if there’s an archetype that allows for either of those. I know I could multiclass, but would really prefer not to, so I’d appreciate any ideas on adding a hex or revelation to a druid build.

[Rynjin]

Unfortunately, it would actually be easier to give a Shaman "Druid things" like Wild Shape (via the Polymorph Hex) than give a Druid a Hex.

There's even a Shaman archetype that gives you access to revelation IN ADDITION to Hexes.

Something akin to Spirit Sense is also easy to achieve via Feats, particularly if you are a Duskwalker and can take this Feat (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/nosois-spiritsense/).

Duskwalkers actually have A LOT of good "**** Undead" Feats, but some are based around having class features (eg. Channel Energy) a Druid would not have access to, but a Shaman would.