shield mastery it all goes bear shaped

[Sthax]

does shield mastery work on bears?

i once had a wolf with shield mastery and i could've sworn it worked...
also the bear tooltip states shields work as normal.

For that matter does shield deflection feat also work in bear mode?

can anyone tell whats going on?

I'm working on a tanky heali thingy and would love for the shield mastery to work.

Cheers,
Ragman

[unbongwah]

i once had a wolf with shield mastery and i could've sworn it worked...

It did. Then as part of the druid pass last update, they nerfed that. Now the only combat style feats which work in animal forms is Natural Fighting.

also the bear tooltip states shields work as normal.

They do...in terms of the passive benefits from the shield itself (AC etc.). But things like shield bashing and Shield Mastery don't anymore.

For that matter does shield deflection feat also work in bear mode?

That I dunno; you figure it out, you let the rest us know.

[Sthax]

It did. Then as part of the druid pass last update, they nerfed that. Now the only combat style feats which work in animal forms is Natural Fighting.

They do...in terms of the passive benefits from the shield itself (AC etc.). But things like shield bashing and Shield Mastery don't anymore.

That I dunno; you figure it out, you let the rest us know.

Thnx for the reply . seems i'll have te TR this one and tweak some things, maybe work SWF or natural fighting in instead.

as in animal form your not actually using a shield anymore, i bet the blocking is not working either.

[Discpsycho]

With the update, Natural Fighting is the only fighting style that works as a wild-shaped druid. Taking SWF, TWF, THF, or SM won't do you much good. This is a bit of a blessing in disguise; given how critical spellcasting is for bear builds (maybe wolf as well, haven't played one), you'd be sacrificing some of your offensive spells if you splashed Fighter to fit in those extra feats

On the other hand, as a melee druid your feats are pretty locked in with PA/Cleave/GC, NFx3, and IC. As a human you can pick up Quicken, some other metamagic, or a proficiency that will come in particularly handy (are there non-metal tower shields...?). Quick, easy, so idiot-proof that even I'm running Bear this life

[unbongwah]

are there non-metal tower shields...?

I count seven: four heroic, three epic.

No need to take the tower shield prof feat, though: invest in UMD and use Master's Touch scrolls instead.

[Sthax]

I count seven: four heroic, three epic.

No need to take the tower shield prof feat, though: invest in UMD and use Master's Touch scrolls instead.

As the shield dissappears when you shapshift you should not need the towershield prof. As its not used only the stats.
Same goes for the weapon? As the actual used weapon is unarmed, so only the stats are used, not the weapon or its prof.
This said a high end SoS or rift maker might be the way to go in easier content. When **** hits the wall switch to sword n board.

I'm working on 5 cleric 15 druid as a healer getting all the good healing spells. Then being tanky to survive and make sure everyone stays happy. Took a clue from the gingerspyce build.

Now with the new bear tree it might become something more. Dropping the shield mastery and deflect I got 3 feats open.
How important is cleave in a aoe tank situation or should I just go natural fighting and let the glancing blows do the work? Maybe tabbing through the mob to share the aggro more evenly.

If cleave is a thing I might go power attack cleave gcleave. But if that's the case I might wanna dull down the healing part and go into full cleave aoe tank mode. With healing aura, loose 3 druid levels (effectively loosing heal spell and regenerate) and go 3 barb. To get sup cleave. Dunno what happens with the barb rage and druid rage and is they stack. Prolly won't go into rage as it blocks the aura and cleric spells. Cocoon still works though in bear form.

Tree build comes to mind as i'm typing this.

Would be neat to have a aoe tanking bear with aoe heal and an occasional heal spell for the players that are ranged.

Well my 30 bear healer runs on 2500hp 189 ac 180 prr and 120 mrr atm oh and a displacement from cleric domain. Could be better with some tweaking.

Cheers
Ragman

[AbyssalMage]

With the NPC density so high in modern quests, I would highly recommend having multiple AoE attacks. Not sure how many are provided in the Druid Tree's though.

Power Attack
Natural Fighting x 3
IC: Bludgeon (think that one is the one you need. Check tool tip)

That takes 5 of your Feets.

2 Cleaves (and you only have 1 remaining if you go Human).

[unbongwah]

As the shield dissappears when you shapshift you should not need the towershield prof. As its not used only the stats.
Same goes for the weapon? As the actual used weapon is unarmed, so only the stats are used, not the weapon or its prof.

I think they made it so any non-proficiency penalties carry over to animal forms. So if you use a shield or heavy armor without proficiency, it applies the armor check penalty to your attack roll. If you use a weapon without proficiency, you don't get the extra +25% bonus from the to-hit formula.

That said, it's DDO; the only way to know for sure is to test it yourself.

[Discpsycho]

With the NPC density so high in modern quests, I would highly recommend having multiple AoE attacks. Not sure how many are provided in the Druid Tree's though.

The main reason I've taken cleaves is I'm planning on running LD and would like more resets for Lay Waste / Momentum Swing. In my limited experience tanking (a couple of tanky lives and a 20 Monk last life), AOE CC is the most important component of staying alive in melee, and the extra damage is icing on the gravy.

Enhancement-wise, there are several spell-like AOE attacks. I can't speak from experience how they hold up
For a bear
- Savage Roar (T3 Protector) does 5-10 damage per Druid level when you cast Roar, scaling with melee power, and a chance at a stun, Fort save DC 10 + 1/2*Druid + Wis/Str + Stunning. Not sure if the damage counts for much, but the DC is effectively the same as Dire Charge if you're pure
- Bear Charge (T5 Protector) is a trip-based Dire Charge with a slightly increased crit profile. Not high enough to take it, so I don't know what the cooldown is like

For a wolf
- Ghost Wolf Pack (T3 Warrior) gives a couple of weapon dice, +2 crit range, and a 5s no-save confusion, followed by 10s of 35% incorporeal
- Go for the Kill (T5 Warrior) seems to be a single-target version of Bear Charge with better crit and some free melee power
- Alpha Strike (T5 Warrior) counts as a cleave for Lay Waste and is technically available for Bears as well

There are also a few form-specific spells that provide AOE, but it looks like only the Wolf ones deal damage. IMO, cleaves are gonna be necessary for decent AOE damage, let alone threat management