Builds and layout.

[goodspeed]

So I bought this class 25% off, but i'm not sure how it should go for the startup.

I figured i'd make it a caster. Mainly because earthquake just looks badass.

So I figured wis would be the main stat. But i'm not sure if I should start it at 18 or not.

Are their any other stats needed? I know for a sorc or wiz it's pretty stright forward. Max cha/int and then the rest in con.

But the druid as ive heard seems to be different. It relys somewhat on melee as well even with a casting build. So should I go 18 wis 16 con 14 str? Or maybe just a even split of 16 str 16 con and 16 wis?

I can't see int being needed, what about dex? Are druids a 2 hander class or are they more a 2 weapon class in those animal forms?

Anyone know of an array of builds created and tested out on the forums? Ive googled about, but couldn't find anything aside from the speculation, and a few disappointing reviews about druids not being so grand in melee.

[Potta]

Druids are a good enough caster that you can focus on that aspect entirely, to the cost of your melee stats.

You don't have to melee to be a good caster Druid. Max your wis, throw the rest in Con. Get enough Str to not be encumbered all the time and call it a day. Dump Dex.

[susiedupfer]

For caster build, I would go human or half-elf(with cleric dili)

Plus, featwise:
Toughness
Mental Toughness
Empower Spell
Imp. Mental Toughness
Maximize
Quicken
Heighten
Spell focus Evocation

You can switch out Empower for Empower Healing Spell if you find you need it(probably not), or for Toughness.

I would not take Augment Summoning or Extend.

[moriedhel]

As a caster druid you don't need to rely on melee at all especially in the later levels, if you really want to be all out caster just max wisdom, between con and str it's a toss, more hp or the ability to melee a little better in early game.

Last life I was a first life caster druid with max wisdom, capstone and all the evocation focus and mental toughness feats you could get, topped off at around 3000+ sp plenty for soloing any EH.

Then I LR'ed into a wolf build with 2 less wisdom, more str and a 1 ftr/1 wiz split. 3x natural fighting and the Shield Mastery feats gave me decent AC and around 50 PRR. TWF and THF don't work in animal form so doublestrike is what you usually go for. Melee was decent but fitting everything I wanted into the gear slots was very hard. I did take a little more dex to get precision. Sadly wolf innate attacks didn't work as often as I expected because of the DC's.

This life I'm going caster again and could melee just fine up until level 7-8 using Shillegah, Bull's Strength and Ram's Might with a decent DPS staff, after that it's firewall all the way.

[goodspeed]

Ya I figured maxing wis would be best for every point to outbeat the saves.

I suppose i'll just toss 16 into con and then toss the rest into str. For melee the more I looked at it, the more I thought really the only way to go is a /2 splash. Though whether that would be mnk, or rog, or fighter would be a tough call. Ah well don't plan on making a melee yet anyway.

Thanks for the advice.