Need suggestions for PF Druid class

Power2the1 · Nov 26, 2010

Hello all! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I am getting back into Forgotten Realms 3.5 after a 4-5 year long hiatus. In doing so, I have come across a local pen and paper Pathfinder group who is willing to let me join them. It seems that PF rules are really similar from what little I have read, and that PF is considered 3.75 or so - very welcome news that I do not have to learn a whole new system.

My favorite classes in 3.5 are nature types: Rangers and Druids. The group has a ranger already, so I'm set on rolling a druid. The group is at level 6, so that what my druid will be also. My main interest is for the character to have both a balance of support casting and melee when needed...or is a level 6 druid in PF leaving all the melee to an animal companion?

Thanks in advance for any suggestion and comments!

BinkyBo · Nov 26, 2010

well the main changes are that you choose either an animal companion or take a nature related cleric domain(air, animal, earth, fire, plant, water, weather) And wildshape starts at level 4 and functions a little differently. You should have no problem functioning as melee/support in PF.

concerro · Nov 26, 2010

Power2the1 said:
Hello all! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I am getting back into Forgotten Realms 3.5 after a 4-5 year long hiatus. In doing so, I have come across a local pen and paper Pathfinder group who is willing to let me join them. It seems that PF rules are really similar from what little I have read, and that PF is considered 3.75 or so - very welcome news that I do not have to learn a whole new system.

My favorite classes in 3.5 are nature types: Rangers and Druids. The group has a ranger already, so I'm set on rolling a druid. The group is at level 6, so that what my druid will be also. My main interest is for the character to have both a balance of support casting and melee when needed...or is a level 6 druid in PF leaving all the melee to an animal companion?

Thanks in advance for any suggestion and comments!

Treantmonk's Lab - Pathfinder_OGC

Treantmonk makes excellent guides.

Power2the1 · Nov 27, 2010

Hey thanks for the info so far all! The only, albeit minor problem, is the linked builds are for opposite ends of the spectrum (pure casting or pure melee) and not 'middle of the road' builds.

Any ideas on what stats I can tweak in those builds to have a balanced druid?

StreamOfTheSky · Nov 27, 2010

Put a 14 in str, dex, con, and wis. Up the wisdom to 16 if you can. Pick a race that benefits you well. Treantmonk puts dwarf lower than human because they're not as good at specializing in melee brute or pure caster. Whatever. I think dwarf is the best core druid race and helps to make a very balanced druid.

For feats, I'd recommend Power Attack at 3 and Natural Spell at 5. The latter isn't actually a recommendation, you NEED it. Level 1's whatever you want. Combat Casting might be good, since you'll be in melee a lot.

I'd take the companion over the free domain (or take the animal domain and get an almost as good companion anyway; check out the APG subdomains to make Animal less ho-hum), it can benefit the group a lot. What other classes are in the party, and is it an archer or TWF Ranger?

Volaran · Nov 27, 2010

One of the major changes to Pathfinder was the conversion of the Polymorph spells into the various Beast Shape, Elemental Body, etc. spells.

Wildshaping now duplicates the effects of these spells with a vastly extended duration. Because of this, you get appropriate bonuses and penalties to your physical ability scores, rather than taking on the base stats of the animal. If you're a druid with below average strength, you'll be a bear with low strength, etc. This is a big change from 3.5.

If you intend to use your wildshaping for primarily melee purposes, I would advise decent physical stats. When you say you intend to be a support caster, I normally take that to mean healing, buffing, and other party-directed spells. If this is correct, you can afford to have a lower than normal casting stat, since spell DCs won't be as important.

concerro · Nov 28, 2010

Power2the1 said:
Hey thanks for the info so far all! The only, albeit minor problem, is the linked builds are for opposite ends of the spectrum (pure casting or pure melee) and not 'middle of the road' builds.

Any ideas on what stats I can tweak in those builds to have a balanced druid?

What point buy are you using, and if you rolled then what are those stats?