Advice on a melee druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Advice on a melee druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
gmhack
01-17-07, 10:15 PM Currently in the game I run the fighter type we had (Warblade 8) died and the player has decided he wanted to stop playing fighter types.
So he is introducing a 1/2 elf druid 8:

The rest of the party is:
Gnome Cleric 6/Divine Oracle 3
Human Ninja 7/ Psion 2
Halfling Bard 8
Human Wizard (Abjuration spec) 6/Wrym Wizard 2

So basically a player that has never played a Druid before is bringing one in who will have to essentially provide melee power for the party.

I would really appreciate it if I could get some advice to give him as to how he can do this successfully. Thanks in advance.
krossbow
01-17-07, 11:37 PM Wild armor
Natural spell.
Check the complete equipment guide; they have sickles that give the claws their enhancement bonus.

JUST BEING A DRUID.

seriously, teh druid is so powerful it's not even funny. Just stay in the wild shape as long as possilbe.

Though, if you want to go melee, take the master of many forms prestige class. You lose casting progression, but you gain alot of shifting power for a melee guy.
Leaflord
01-18-07, 09:12 PM Wild armor
Natural spell.
Check the complete equipment guide; they have sickles that give the claws their enhancement bonus.

JUST BEING A DRUID.

seriously, teh druid is so powerful it's not even funny. Just stay in the wild shape as long as possilbe.

Though, if you want to go melee, take the master of many forms prestige class. You lose casting progression, but you gain alot of shifting power for a melee guy.

Yup agree on that one.

Here's my two coppers on the druid class.

Firstly, even since it got introduced in the 1st ed. The druid has been abit of a jack-of-all-trades, that can jack things abit better than the specialist types. Tricky class too play, you really need too know what yer doing, beeing a druid and all. Imo the druid class is cleary underrestimated, atleast in my game tables, I had one player play a druid ever (and that didn't happen until 3rd ed) and he didn't even play it long, thought the class too "weak" so he made a wizard.

I've been a fan of the druid ever since I saw the class, and it has deeper secrets that few know of. In the 3rd ed. they truely came too shine, yet many disagree again on this matter, I have no idea why. With the Natrual Spell feat you can spellhurl in any desired shape, witch can give ya endless possibilities, flamestriking as a hawk as ye glide over yer oppnents, trees hurling firestorms etc. And the spell list of the druid can make ye basically anything, good selection of combat magics, buffs, and lastly heals. It's a class build fer survival. With Augment summoning, greenbound summoner feats, yer summoning spells becomes a pain too. of the metamagics ye dun really need much exept empower and quicken.

Now we can talk about yer animal companion. We start with the basics. Say ye have a wolf, while its neat that it can guard, attack, fetch sticks and stuff, and prolly the reason it's little used just because of the lack if imagination. A wolf gets a free trip attack if it hits with a bite. It shares every buff spell ya make. So barkskin it and bulls str it and ye got a neat wolf, triping stuff while ye go arround hurling spells. or join fights in yer own shape or whatever. At later levels, buffing yer pet with stoneskins, nature's avatar... and the last.. my favorite. spellshare a shapechange spell with yer animal companion and select the dragon :eek:

Simply put a druid fits in everywhere. But! When ye hit the epic levels, the class truely gets silly, and I mean in the nicest possible way. Just look at the dragon shape feat.. Combine with epic spellcasting and I promise ye get something extraordinairy that the rest of yer party members would only dream of.

As for the combat part. If ya feel like meleeing, sure, hop in a sturdy beast shape that deals a ton of damage and yer set, no mystery there.

With that said, I have just one advice. Learn every spell, spend time on going through every possible shape ye can make, each animal type, elemental, plant has it's own strength that can shine if used right.

ps (this is how parts of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated. =)
razhan
01-19-07, 12:31 AM hey i dont mean to be mean but you talk like bruenor battlehammer.:)
i have played a druid and it is truely a strong class. maybe t/w/f with a staff. the staff is great if you use the shillage spell is low level and makes you staff do massive damage. also later in level you could use a spell that i think turns your staff into a treent. i have always liked the idea of an animal companion, you could get an agile hunter type animal. actualy a dire wolf would be great. you could flank and take opportunist feats. also for a small xp cost you could make many inteligent animals that could be like a hawk, for a scout.

basicaly just tell the guy/girl to get silly with it.
Haida
01-19-07, 01:29 AM Good concentration check. Casting spells while in melee will require concentration.

Take natural spell. An absolute must.

Good animal companion. Look at the fleshraker dinosaur.

Smart wild-shaping. Look through MM I -IV for animals of various hit dice and look at their special abilities. A rhino can trample; a polar bear can grapple; a dire lion can pounce, a giant eagle can fly, etc.

Pick spells wisely. Buff with barkskin and bull's strength. Share spells with companion. Summon animals to act as fodder and help control the battlefield. Look into augment summoning feat.

And if melee is still a problem, someone should take leadership and have a tank as a cohort.
hisnamehere
01-19-07, 08:36 AM The other option would be for the DM of the campaign (is that you?) to scale the encounters to a group without a solid front-line fighter. Not every encounter has to be "fighter stands in front, blocking all creatures and taking all the damage while the archers and wizards do all the damage." I mean, seriously, making the fighter take all the damage so the wizards don't get hit is like making the smart kid do all the work on a project to protect the the rest of us from messing it up. Protecting the weak is valiant, but these guys are taking a share of your loot. Maybe the fighter should be getting a larger cut.

Sorry - end rant. But I stand by my opinion that your group of spellcasters can operate on its own without a fighter. Let the guy make a character he will like (and fits into the party). Try not to force anything upon him. If he likes the idea of a Master of Many Forms - great. If not, I'm sure everyone can still have fun.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gmhack 01-17-07, 10:15 PM	Currently in the game I run the fighter type we had (Warblade 8) died and the player has decided he wanted to stop playing fighter types. So he is introducing a 1/2 elf druid 8: The rest of the party is: Gnome Cleric 6/Divine Oracle 3 Human Ninja 7/ Psion 2 Halfling Bard 8 Human Wizard (Abjuration spec) 6/Wrym Wizard 2 So basically a player that has never played a Druid before is bringing one in who will have to essentially provide melee power for the party. I would really appreciate it if I could get some advice to give him as to how he can do this successfully. Thanks in advance.
krossbow 01-17-07, 11:37 PM	Wild armor Natural spell. Check the complete equipment guide; they have sickles that give the claws their enhancement bonus. JUST BEING A DRUID. seriously, teh druid is so powerful it's not even funny. Just stay in the wild shape as long as possilbe. Though, if you want to go melee, take the master of many forms prestige class. You lose casting progression, but you gain alot of shifting power for a melee guy.
Leaflord 01-18-07, 09:12 PM	Wild armor Natural spell. Check the complete equipment guide; they have sickles that give the claws their enhancement bonus. JUST BEING A DRUID. seriously, teh druid is so powerful it's not even funny. Just stay in the wild shape as long as possilbe. Though, if you want to go melee, take the master of many forms prestige class. You lose casting progression, but you gain alot of shifting power for a melee guy. Yup agree on that one. Here's my two coppers on the druid class. Firstly, even since it got introduced in the 1st ed. The druid has been abit of a jack-of-all-trades, that can jack things abit better than the specialist types. Tricky class too play, you really need too know what yer doing, beeing a druid and all. Imo the druid class is cleary underrestimated, atleast in my game tables, I had one player play a druid ever (and that didn't happen until 3rd ed) and he didn't even play it long, thought the class too "weak" so he made a wizard. I've been a fan of the druid ever since I saw the class, and it has deeper secrets that few know of. In the 3rd ed. they truely came too shine, yet many disagree again on this matter, I have no idea why. With the Natrual Spell feat you can spellhurl in any desired shape, witch can give ya endless possibilities, flamestriking as a hawk as ye glide over yer oppnents, trees hurling firestorms etc. And the spell list of the druid can make ye basically anything, good selection of combat magics, buffs, and lastly heals. It's a class build fer survival. With Augment summoning, greenbound summoner feats, yer summoning spells becomes a pain too. of the metamagics ye dun really need much exept empower and quicken. Now we can talk about yer animal companion. We start with the basics. Say ye have a wolf, while its neat that it can guard, attack, fetch sticks and stuff, and prolly the reason it's little used just because of the lack if imagination. A wolf gets a free trip attack if it hits with a bite. It shares every buff spell ya make. So barkskin it and bulls str it and ye got a neat wolf, triping stuff while ye go arround hurling spells. or join fights in yer own shape or whatever. At later levels, buffing yer pet with stoneskins, nature's avatar... and the last.. my favorite. spellshare a shapechange spell with yer animal companion and select the dragon :eek: Simply put a druid fits in everywhere. But! When ye hit the epic levels, the class truely gets silly, and I mean in the nicest possible way. Just look at the dragon shape feat.. Combine with epic spellcasting and I promise ye get something extraordinairy that the rest of yer party members would only dream of. As for the combat part. If ya feel like meleeing, sure, hop in a sturdy beast shape that deals a ton of damage and yer set, no mystery there. With that said, I have just one advice. Learn every spell, spend time on going through every possible shape ye can make, each animal type, elemental, plant has it's own strength that can shine if used right. ps (this is how parts of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated. =)
razhan 01-19-07, 12:31 AM	hey i dont mean to be mean but you talk like bruenor battlehammer.:) i have played a druid and it is truely a strong class. maybe t/w/f with a staff. the staff is great if you use the shillage spell is low level and makes you staff do massive damage. also later in level you could use a spell that i think turns your staff into a treent. i have always liked the idea of an animal companion, you could get an agile hunter type animal. actualy a dire wolf would be great. you could flank and take opportunist feats. also for a small xp cost you could make many inteligent animals that could be like a hawk, for a scout. basicaly just tell the guy/girl to get silly with it.
Haida 01-19-07, 01:29 AM	Good concentration check. Casting spells while in melee will require concentration. Take natural spell. An absolute must. Good animal companion. Look at the fleshraker dinosaur. Smart wild-shaping. Look through MM I -IV for animals of various hit dice and look at their special abilities. A rhino can trample; a polar bear can grapple; a dire lion can pounce, a giant eagle can fly, etc. Pick spells wisely. Buff with barkskin and bull's strength. Share spells with companion. Summon animals to act as fodder and help control the battlefield. Look into augment summoning feat. And if melee is still a problem, someone should take leadership and have a tank as a cohort.
hisnamehere 01-19-07, 08:36 AM	The other option would be for the DM of the campaign (is that you?) to scale the encounters to a group without a solid front-line fighter. Not every encounter has to be "fighter stands in front, blocking all creatures and taking all the damage while the archers and wizards do all the damage." I mean, seriously, making the fighter take all the damage so the wizards don't get hit is like making the smart kid do all the work on a project to protect the the rest of us from messing it up. Protecting the weak is valiant, but these guys are taking a share of your loot. Maybe the fighter should be getting a larger cut. Sorry - end rant. But I stand by my opinion that your group of spellcasters can operate on its own without a fighter. Let the guy make a character he will like (and fits into the party). Try not to force anything upon him. If he likes the idea of a Master of Many Forms - great. If not, I'm sure everyone can still have fun.