Warrior of the Forest Druid13/Fighter7

[Failedlegend]

Hey guys our Static group is rolling up another set to try out druids (well at least 3 of us) were trying to make an offensive caster/main heal, a DPS Wolf and a Tank Bear (may have a Bard and Arty along for the ride as well)...I am making the tank bear.

Now IMO going pure doesn't actually do much for tanking, the PrEs are only tier 2 anyways and the higher level spells are kind of meh (I can just scroll Heal) so I took levels in fighter for much needed extra feats and SD1, although Haste Boost 3 is nothing to sneeze at

Just need a few clarifications though before I put the build makeup

- Vigor, regen,etc. do these stack ala Death Aura and Lesser Death Aura or is it only one at a time

- What sort of non-metal shields and armor should I be aiming for throughout leveling,etc.(planning to roll around in heavy armor w/ a wooden or otherwise non-metal tower shield if possible)

Dwarven Druid13/Fighter7 (NW2/SD1)

Dwarf
Str 16
Dex 12
Con 18
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 6

Skills: Intim, Concen, Spot, Balance

Level Order: Druid 1-9, Fighter 10-16, Druid 17-20

Feats

1 Toughness
3 Augment Summon
6 Shield Mastery
9 Nat Fight 1
10 Power Attack (F)
11 ISM (F)
12 Nat Fight 2
13 Cleave (F)
15 Nat Fight 3
15 Great Cleave (F)
18 IC:Bludgeon
21 Combat Expertise
24 Bulwark of Defense

ED: Legendary Dreadnought

Spells
1(5) Maul, Ram's Might, Magic Fang, Longstrider, Jump
2(5) Pack Presence, Align Fang, Roar, Lesser Resto, Resist Energy
3(5) Shred, Spiderskin. Water Breathing, Neutralize Poison, Remove Disease
4(5) Rising Fury, Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious, Lesser Vigor Mass, Longstrider Mass
5(4) Reincarnate, Pack Aptitude, Animal Growth, Greater Vigor
6(3) Fire/Cold Shield, Tremor, Tenacious Pack
7(2) Relentless Onslaught, Regenerate

[unbongwah]

I've been toying with this idea as well: dwarf druid 13 / ftr 6 / monk or wiz 1 (for extra feat). My goal / hope is to combine Nature's Warrior bear-tank with Dwarven Defender (and maybe Kensai I) when the rest of the racial PrEs finally get added later this year (knock on wood). A few comments:

• Remember that Natural Fighting can't be taken until druid lvl 9; so if you splash ftr before then, you won't be able to take it until lvl 12+.
• If you want Overwhelming Crit, it also requires Weapon Focus; I'd probably drop Augment Summon for it.
• Haven't figured out which if any metamagics would help this build. Also haven't decided between STR- or WIS-based.
• Had you considered adding Combat Expertise for the AC or are you going for DPS + PRR here?

[Failedlegend]

I've been toying with this idea as well: dwarf druid 13 / ftr 6 / monk or wiz 1 (for extra feat). My goal / hope is to combine Nature's Warrior bear-tank with Dwarven Defender (and maybe Kensai I) when the rest of the racial PrEs finally get added later this year (knock on wood). A few comments:

• Remember that Natural Fighting can't be taken until druid lvl 9; so if you splash ftr before then, you won't be able to take it until lvl 12+.
• If you want Overwhelming Crit, it also requires Weapon Focus; I'd probably drop Augment Summon for it.
• Haven't figured out which if any metamagics would help this build. Also haven't decided between STR- or WIS-based.
• Had you considered adding Combat Expertise for the AC or are you going for DPS + PRR here?

- I really want to get heavy armor and tower shield prof ASAP so I think I'd rather delay Nat Fighting a bit

- I'll probably start with AS and swap to WF before I take OC

- How can you be Wis based...flame blade seems highly limited to me...what other things does Druids use wis for besides DCs...which my Bear Tank will mainly ignore...am I missing something?

- Casting non-bear abilities in form is already penalized, does that stack when your in CE, also it would suck to lose PA....anyways it general I'm trying to crank PRR and DPS as much as possible to be able to keep aggro better as well as survive it. I'll try to get my AC as high as possible as well but not to the point of losing DPS or PRR.

[unbongwah]

- I really want to get heavy armor and tower shield prof ASAP so I think I'd rather delay Nat Fighting a bit

Fair enough, just don't forget you can't use metal armor or shields. There are wooden tower shields (I've got a +5 one banked away), but I don't think you get to non-metal heavy armors until dragonplate - which is, what, ML:14? Definitely check into that, though; I'm by no means a gear expert.

- I'll probably start with AS and swap to WF before I take OC

Sounds good, just remember WF takes BAB 1, so don't take AS as your first feat, or you won't be able to swap.

- How can you be Wis based...flame blade seems highly limited to me...what other things does Druids use wis for besides DCs...which my Bear Tank will mainly ignore...am I missing something?

I believe the DCs of the various bear-form attacks - Roar, Shred, Tremor - are WIS-based. What I haven't figured out is how high you need those DCs to be for them to be useful - or for that matter whether those attacks are worthwhile to begin with. [Also wondering is Dwarven Tactics boost those DCs.] On a heavily-MCed build like this, it probably makes more sense to go STR-based, but I'd like to see someone else crunch those numbers for me.

- Casting non-bear abilities in form is already penalized, does that stack when your in CE

Good question - dunno, that's why I was asking you.

[Failedlegend]

Hmmmm...I didn't think about the fact that non-metal heavy Armor/Tower Shields woul be pretty scarce...I'll look it to the various armors when I get home and may delay fighter for a bit (Anyone got any insight to this)

I'll prob take AS around Lvl 3 or 6 since it has a big effect at that time

Oh they are...I'll look into it...flame blade really is quite restirctive though...it really should be Elemental blade so it would be four different versions Water, Fire, Earth and Wind (or Ice , Fire, Acid & Lightning in DDO terms) because otherwise a build reliant on it becomes useless or even detrimental in alot of content.

Another thing I hope someone who has actually tried it pops in to answer

[elgranmago13]

I am planning something similar (lvl 7 vet still tho), but do have a couple things:

Scrolls cannot be used in animal form.

The description of mournlode armors says they are made of crystal so druids should be able to wear them, but I wouldn't count on it.

Remeber divine power clickies as the boosted BAB also boosts PR.

And yes the saves for the animal attack special attacks are wis based, they will still do increased damage tho.

[Xyfiel]

My current Druid is 13/6fighter/1wiz Wolf tank

I find Bear weak, at least with wolf you still do good dps when not tanking, and get sneak in sleet storm(very powerful for Druids). Wiz was free feat, wand access, a few spells(ASF though), and 40 spell power to fire and ice for 1 ap each.

[Failedlegend]

My current Druid is 13/6fighter/1wiz Wolf tank

I find Bear weak, at least with wolf you still do good dps when not tanking, and get sneak in sleet storm(very powerful for Druids). Wiz was free feat, wand access, a few spells(ASF though), and 40 spell power to fire and ice for 1 ap each.

Well the great thing about Druids is you can swap forms at-will so if im not in the need of tanking i can swap to wolf or is I go Wis based to Elemental

Speaking of which if you cast flame blade do you get the wis to attack/damage whilst in bear, wolf or elemental form or does it go back to Str.

Scrolls cannot be used in animal form.

The description of mournlode armors says they are made of crystal so druids should be able to wear them, but I wouldn't count on it.

And yes the saves for the animal attack special attacks are wis based, they will still do increased damage tho.

Thats fairly minor to me

Would be nice if it was clearer in equipment whether something counts as metal or not...anyone made a list yet (still at work so cant check myself)

Dang that really pushes me towards going Wis-Based but using flameblade is HIGHLY restrictive...I'd like to reinterate it should be Elemental Blade (choose any of the four element of nature when cast)

[Khatzhas]

Now IMO going pure doesn't actually do much for tanking, the PrEs are only tier 2 anyways and the higher level spells are kind of meh (I can just scroll Heal) so I took levels in fighter for much needed extra feats and SD1, although Haste Boost 3 is nothing to sneeze at

Just need a few clarifications though before I put the build makeup

- Can I use scrolls & wands whilst in form

Nope.

- Can I just wield any 1-handed weapon I'm proficient with since IIRC the only thing you get from the main hand weapon is offensive effects and your base damage is based off your form

Pretty much, yes. Unsure about Flame Blade though.

- Does Imp. Crit: Bludgeon affect Bear attacks

Yes. And Wolf attacks as well.

- Is the first Nat fighting auto-granted at Druid9 (thus taking 2 feats) or can you just start taking it at 9 (thus taking 3 feats)

No, you actually have to spend a feat slot to get it.

- Vigor, regen,etc. do these stack ala Death Aura and Lesser Death Aura or is it only one at a time

Vigor spells do not stack with each other. Going by the spell descriptions, they probably don't stack with Regenerate either.

Its probably worth pointing out that the bear Cleave and Great cleave animation is cool, but takes a significant amount of time. You will need to get used to activating in advance.

Bear spells such as Tremor and Shred have Wisdom-based DCs.
Flame Blade appears to still use Wis even in bear form, but this is based on inventory tooltip, which may not be accurate.

[Shadrir]

What about Druid 14 and Bard 6 warchanter? you would get access to wands and scrolls and +3 attack + for dmg and 3or 4 against fear plus you get iron skin chant. probably not as much dmg as fighter individually but you would make your group better. I've been thinking about this because I like bard but also like druid but not sure if druid is viable with only 11 to 14. I really was thkning about 11 druid for dire bear and 9 bard for heroism song. Just a thought

[Failedlegend]

Updated the build...finally rolled it

Dwarven Druid13/Fighter7 (NW2/SD1)

Dwarf
Str 16
Dex 12
Con 18
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 6

Skills: Intim, Concen, Spot

Level Order: Druid 1-9, Fighter 10-16, Druid 17-20

Feats

1 Toughness
3 Augment Summon
6 Shield Mastery
9 Nat Fight 1
10 Power Attack (F)
11 ISM (F)
12 Nat Fight 2
13 Cleave (F)
15 Nat Fight 3
15 Great Cleave (F)
18 IC:Bludgeon
21 Combat Expertise
24 Bulwark of Defense

ED: Legendary Dreadnought

Spells
1(5) Maul, Ram's Might, Magic Fang, Longstrider, Jump
2(5) Pack Presence, Align Fang, Roar, Lesser Resto, Resist Energy
3(5) Shred, Spiderskin. Water Breathing, Neutralize Poison, Remove Disease
4(5) Rising Fury, Freedom of Movement, Cure Serious, Lesser Vigor Mass, Longstrider Mass
5(4) Reincarnate, Pack Aptitude, Animal Growth, Greater Vigor
6(3) Fire/Cold Shield, Tremor, Tenacious Pack
7(2) Relentless Onslaught, Regenerate

[Morbic]

I'd go 12 levels of Druid first for second PrE level, having natural fighting access, having direbear/winterwolf unlocked, not having a broad access to non-metal armor/shields, and to save your fighter feats for when you have a higher natural base BAB for the feats that require them.

[Failedlegend]

I'd go 12 levels of Druid first for second PrE level, having natural fighting access, having direbear/winterwolf unlocked, not having a broad access to non-metal armor/shields, and to save your fighter feats for when you have a higher natural base BAB for the feats that require them.

the feats all work perfectly BAB wise the ways its setup and honestly the druid PrE isn't great

[Jay203]

hmm... won't your reflex be like... miserably bad?

[Failedlegend]

hmm... won't your reflex be like... miserably bad?

Shouldn't be too bad (Not great either but yeah)...whilst my main stats are Str/Con I'll do everything I can to raise Dex as well....especially since I'll be in medium armor alot (the selection of good non-metal heavy armors is somewhat limited)

Why what do you suggest?