Unofficial Druid vs. Nature Priest

[TarionzCousin]

Both the Druid (from Forgotten Heroes: Fang, Fist, and Song) and the Nature Priest (from the Advanced Player's Guide) are unofficial classes. The Nature Priest uses the Divine power source, while the Druid uses the Primal one.

What are the major differences between the classes?

Which one works better as a healer?

Which one has better animal companion support?

Which class would you recommend and why?

[CapnZapp]

I'd recommend sticking with the official classes. Most 3PP crunch is unbalanced and over-powered. (Though 3PP material is usually great for fluff and adventures)

Between Martial Power and Player's Handbook II, you will be covered.

[BendBars/LiftGates]

The Nature Priest, as specified in the book, really is a druid. They just didn't want to name it the druid and then hit obsolescence when WotC came out with their druid.

I like the class, as I like to have some kind of nature-caster who doesn't necessarily have to transform into a bear. The Nature Priest uses a lot of nature magic to hit enemies, but isn't a heavy hitter, himself.

The Nature Priest is a Divine Controller (though I suspect that they again were simply trying to avoid stepping on any legal toes when they didn't assign it the Primal power source. There are two builds: the Conjuring Priest, who summons animal spirits to fight (Wisdom and Charisma), and the Weather Priest, who launches lightning bolts and hailstorms (Wisdom and Constitution). In terms of animal companions, the Nature Priest doesn't get one, but if you pick powers along that build, you do get to summon animal spirits to fight for you, so that might be close enough for you.

The Nature Priest also gets the Ritual Caster feat, but not the bonus rituals like a Wizard. They do get to add their Charisma modifier to Nature-based rituals, though.

It looks like the Nature Priest isn't much of a healer, though.