Post/Author/DateTime	Post
dkay807 03-30-07, 09:49 AM	Hey all! A friend of mine wants to play the base classes swashbuckler build I came up with, so I have come up with another build that I've wanted to play for years now - I could use help on some finishing touches. The concept is a dwarven druid tank that makes use of the "Stone Form" feat from Races of Stone to appear as a TRUE dwarven druid (and benefit from the abilities of the Nature's Warrior and Warshaper classes). I know that there is some ETV regarding whether or not your gear merges with your new form and becomes useless if you use Stone Form, but in cases such as those, nothing prevents me from removing my gear, assuming a Stone Form, and putting it all back on. I am aware of the fact this is not the most ideal build - however, I am going for "efficient style" rather than "all-out power." Mountain Dwarf Stone Druid 1 - Druid 1 - Track 2 - Druid 2 3 - Druid 3 - Weapon Focus (heavy flail) 4 - Druid 4 5 - Fighter 1 - Power Attack 6 - Druid 5 - Stone Form 7 - Nature's Warrior 1 - Armor of the Crocodile 8 - Warshaper 1 9 - Warshaper 2 - Practiced Spellcaster 10 - Fighter 2 - <feat> 11 - Fighter 3 12 - Fighter 4 - Weapon Specialization (heavy flail), Melee Weapon Mastery (bludgeoning) 13 - Druid 6 14 - Nature's Warrior 2 15 - Nature's Warrior 3/Warshaper 3 (not sure here) - <feat> Okay, some thoughts here: I decided to get 4 Fighter levels in for Weapon Spec and Melee Weapon Mastery... I wanted more Nature's Warrior and Warshaper fun, but I decided that without the Fighter levels, I wouldn't be able to do enough damage. One concern I have is the duration of and number of times I can use Stone Form. It adds up to 12 hours which may not be enough. I've considered doing some retraining around 9th and 10th level to turn the Fighter 2 bonus feat into Power Attack, Practiced Spellcaster as my 3rd level feat and taking Extra Wild Shape as my 9th. My only other doubts are 15th level - Nature's Warrior provides me with +1 AC, DR 3/- (earth's resilience), and Wild Shape (large) which I'd rarely, if ever use... Warshaper gives me an extra 5 feet of reach.
ShinAkuma2 03-30-07, 09:56 AM	Hm...Much as I love DR, I think the reach would be more useful, especially since it isn't apparant reach...That is, you don't look like you have reach, so that's pretty cool.
magebeast 03-30-07, 12:19 PM	A friend of mine who plays a high level Druid tank is constantly talking about how DR saves his butt.
Alpha_Nerd 03-30-07, 01:18 PM	Why Druid 6? You could get Nature's Warrior 3 AND Warshaper 3
dkay807 03-30-07, 01:42 PM	Why Druid 6? You could get Nature's Warrior 3 AND Warshaper 3 4th level spells and +1 to all saves.
Alpha_Nerd 03-30-07, 01:52 PM	Man, those 4 fighter levels really mess it up. Would there be any way to cut it down to just 2 and find other ways to increase your damage? Maybe cast spikes on a greatclub or something?
dkay807 03-30-07, 02:59 PM	Man, those 4 fighter levels really mess it up. Would there be any way to cut it down to just 2 and find other ways to increase your damage? Maybe cast spikes on a greatclub or something? If I were to cut out the Fighter, I'd only take 1 level rather than 4. I can't find anything that adds more value over three levels than +2 to hit, +4 to damage and a bonus fighter feat. The issue is.. regardless of my build and abilities, when you get down to it... I'm still a melee PC and I have to be concerned about the melee bread and butter - attack and damage. I'm losing 3 BAB as it is... I have to make it up somehow! One consideration is using a Maul and going Fighter 1/Exotic Weapon Master 1. That makes up the +4 damage. However, I am still down +2 attack.
Alpha_Nerd 03-30-07, 03:14 PM	With Practiced Spellcaster your Spikes will last 11 hours and be at +10 damage. Prep 2 of those and your set damage wise Fighter 1/Druid 5/Nature's Warrior 5/Warshaper 4?
dkay807 03-30-07, 03:31 PM	With Practiced Spellcaster your Spikes will last 11 hours and be at +10 damage. Prep 2 of those and your set damage wise Fighter 1/Druid 5/Nature's Warrior 5/Warshaper 4? I just thought it through. Druid 6/Fighter 1/EWM 1/Nature's Warrior 4/Warshaper 3. I'll have a base 22 Strength by level 9. With a Belt +6, we're talking 28. If I can get a +1 Manual, we're at 30 by 12th. I'll use a Maul and deal +20 base damage extra (before weapon enhancements). I don't know if I can find any wooden 1-handed exotic melee weapons. Can anyone think of any? Nature's Warrior 5 gives me nothing helpful, since none of the other Nature's Armaments are of any real use (Fast Healing 1 is garbage). Warshaper 4 is useless for the same reason, I'm not interested in Fast Healing. With 6 Druid levels and 4 Nature's Warrior levels, my base Natural Armor bonus is +8 from Stone Form and I can give myself and everyone else +5 barkskins. Talk about a high armor class! Sure, my attack bonus will be lacking but such is life. I will enjoy throwing around Entangles just so that I can full attack my opponents with my 10-foot reach and 5-foot step away and prevent them from being able to full attack, on top of my other various abilities.
dkay807 03-30-07, 03:42 PM	With Practiced Spellcaster your Spikes will last 11 hours and be at +10 damage. Prep 2 of those and your set damage wise Fighter 1/Druid 5/Nature's Warrior 5/Warshaper 4? Doesn't Spikes only last rounds now???
Alpha_Nerd 03-30-07, 04:44 PM	I don't believe so.
magebeast 03-30-07, 05:31 PM	I don't believe so. No he's right. It's based on brambles which is rounds/level.
Alpha_Nerd 03-30-07, 05:32 PM	hmm, so it's one round of buffing then?
dkay807 03-30-07, 07:28 PM	I think I'm closed on the build now... 1 - Druid 1 - Track 2 - Druid 2 3 - Druid 3 - Weapon Focus (dire pick) 4 - Druid 4 5 - Fighter 1 - Power Attack 6 - Druid 5 - Stone Form 7 - Nature's Warrior 1 - Armor of the Crocodile 8 - Warshaper 1 9 - Warshaper 2 - Practiced Spellcaster 10 - Exotic Weapon Master 1 - Uncanny Blow 11 - Nature's Warrior 2 12 - Druid 6 - Lion's Pounce 13 - Warshaper 3 14 - Nature's Warrior 3 - Earth's Resilience 15 - Nature's Warrior 4 - Extra Wild Shape