Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mflabias Apr 06, 2008 0:32:30	If you can help me think of a build that actually builds fairly well i would be most appreciative! LA +0 to +1 32 point buy (DMG p169) Books: BOED, PHB, PHB2, DMG, DMG2, MM1-4, XPH, PSI HB, CW, CD, CA, CS, CM, UA, Mini HB, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Magic of Faerun, Draconomicon, Deities and DemiG's, Magic of Inarcanum, OA I was thinking Barb Fighter Fighter Ranger Ranger Weretouched Master
#2 vicen_korel Apr 06, 2008 0:43:45	(UA) Ranger A ranger might forgo training in weapon combat in exchange for the ability to take animal form and move swiftly through the woodlands. Gain Wild shape (as druid; Small or Medium animals only), fast movement (as barbarian). Lose Combat style, improved combat style, combat style mastery Followed by warshaper(CW) and Master of many forms (CaD).
#3 flay_crimsonwind Apr 06, 2008 0:54:43	(UA) Ranger A ranger might forgo training in weapon combat in exchange for the ability to take animal form and move swiftly through the woodlands. Gain Wild shape (as druid; Small or Medium animals only), fast movement (as barbarian). Lose Combat style, improved combat style, combat style mastery Followed by warshaper(CW) and Master of many forms (CaD). Took the words right out of my mouth. This, and I have played it (granted not shifter but changeling, same diff really), is awesome, and if you take all the levels in Master of Many Forms, will lead to you being a pwnage spy/infiltrator/tank/whateveryouwannabe. Be pretty much anything of any size, bwahahahaha!
#4 sinfire_titan Apr 06, 2008 1:11:23	Well, seeing as you do have the MoI as a usable book, another option is: Shifter Totemist 4/Barbarian 2/Totem Rager 10 finishing with either Totemist (recomended) or Barbarian. If you can talk your DM into allowing Complete Champion, then use the Lion-totem variant found in there to get Pounce. If not, then shape the Sphinx Claws to get it anyway.
#5 vicen_korel Apr 06, 2008 1:24:27	The nice thing about the master warshaper is the STR and CON bonus, AND the immunity to crits/sa, AND the fast healing 4, AND the natural attacks, AND that the wild shape basically becomes a permenant Shapechange spell.
#6 mflabias Apr 06, 2008 2:52:50	hmmm, what are some good soulmelds/chakra binds/essentia to use? i dont really understand how it works but im interested in using this because no one has ever used this book here.
#7 sinfire_titan Apr 06, 2008 3:25:54	hmmm, what are some good soulmelds/chakra binds/essentia to use? i dont really understand how it works but im interested in using this because no one has ever used this book here. Girallon Arms for more claw attacks, Sphinx Claws for Pounce (eventually), Totem Avatar for Natural Armor and damage boosts. and take the Shifter trait that gives you an improved Con score. Check out my CO Diary (linked to in my handbook that is in the sig below) and read the Totemist part of The Incarnum Handbook for details. What level are you starting off at? 6th? If I know that much, I can give you a solid build.
#8 paradox-of-life Apr 06, 2008 5:35:48	Try to get Rapid/Multiattack. Edit: If possible, fit the feat Craven/Assassin's stance in there, for a sexy boost in damage.
#9 mflabias Apr 06, 2008 5:38:47	wow im gonna need books on some of those - and im starting at level 1
#10 sinfire_titan Apr 06, 2008 6:14:39	wow im gonna need books on some of those - and im starting at level 1 Ouch. That hurts your survivability and damage output. In that case, Barbarian for two levels at the start, with the Longtooth trait (you'll see why later). Get Cobalt Rage ASAP and invest in it. If Flaws are allowed (and Unearthed Arcana is one of the books you listed, so they very well can be) then take Extra Rage from CW, and Beasthide Elite and wear a Breastplate as your armor. 3rd level, you take Totemist 1, and pick up either Cobalt Charge, Power Attack, or Healing Factor/Healing Soul to improve your odds of hitting 7th level. Once you get to 6th level, take either Power Attack or Cobalt Charge, if you didn't take one or the other at 3rd. While you are at 3rd level, put your two Soulmelds as the Totem Avatar and Rage Claws, and keep Totem Avatar maxed out with Essentia (the Nat Armor will help dearly). Once you hit Totemist 2nd, shape Girallon Arms over Rage Claws, and bind it to your Totem for 5th attacks/round. Then put as much Essentia in it and Cobalt Rage as you can afford. 9th level, you should be well into Totem Rager. Grab Expanded Soulmeld Capacity or Improved Essentia Capacity and max out your Girallon Arms or your Cobalt Rage to improve upon your combat skills. The rest of your feats should be Shifter feats/Incarnum feats. You want at least 4 uses/day of your Shifting, and Shifter Multiattack (ECS) to get the most out of your claws and fangs. You need to pick up the Eberron Campaign Setting and either Races of Eberron or Complete Champion. You need those two books to get some serious mileage out of this character. Grabbing Savage Species will help, but it isn't needed. Avoid Exalted feats like the plague. You don't want VoP, you don't need any of the others for this character. You will need an Amulet of Natural Attacks (SS) or the Amulet of Natural Weaponry (DMG) to conserve Essentia. This character can easily be a walking death frenzy waiting to happen.
#11 ratpick Apr 06, 2008 7:36:22	The best thing about Totem Rager is that it makes one of the best Incarnum feats (Cobalt Rage) even better by allowing you to invest essentia into it as a free action (or maybe a swift action, I forget). So once you get your first level of Totem Rager you can pretty much dump all your essentia into your soulmelds and when you rage you can dump all your essentia into Cobalt Rage (including the bonus essentia you gain from using Totem Rage). This is an awesome ability because it allows you to circumvent one of the limitations of Incarnum feats, that is the fact that you have to keep your essentia invested in them for 24 hours. One problem I can see with Totem Rager is that it slows down your chakra bind progression, meaning that you'll have to wait quite a while before you can do the girallon arms+sphinx claws pounce and attack with four claws route. Of course, taking the Lion Totem from Complete Champion circumvents this nicely, but it smells too much of cheese for even me to use. :D Another problem I can see with Totem Rager is that you'll never gain dual totem chakra binds, so you won't be able to use the rather nasty girallon arms+rend tactic, which combined with sphinx claws for pounce is extremely scary. For this a full Totemist would be better, but a Totem Rager eventually beats a Totemist in pure damage output while sacrificing some of the utility of the full Totemist.