Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
It's 3.0, and there's some broken stuff in it (e.g., miasma), but I still like Masters of the Wild, if you can find it.
Looking for Druidy Goodness
- Thread starter Hatchling Dragon
- Start date
Solarious
Explorer
Because the Druid is the most powerful base-class in the entire game. Even devoted optimizers/powergamers respect the sheer power a Druid can bring to the table, regardless of environment.Hatchling Dragon said:
Let's list the things a Druid gets, yes?
Good HPs (d8s), Average BAB, two good saves (Fort and Will, the most important), 4+Int skill points/level, FULL divine spellcasting (thus, no researching or cumbersome spellbooks), Wildshaping (essentially called 'ignore physical stats at high levels'), a scaling Animal Companion, plus a bevy of random class features, from unlimited Alter Self to immunity to aging and poison.
Mind you, the Druid is just as good at combat-related spellcasting as the next Cleric, or even Sorceror/Wizards. Take Flame Stike at 4'th level as an example. That's a level below the Cleric's access limits, and is pretty good against nearly all opponents, thanks to the 1/2 divine-damage aspect. A Druid has lots of spells like that where Flame Stike came from. Then take several excellent buffs, including several above-average animal buffs (of which you will be legal for in Wildshape, as well as the animal companion), some standard ones, mix in a good level of healing, and then stir liberally with several effective utility spells.
And there you have it, the Druid class. Powerful once you look at the sum of the parts, no?
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
Solarious said:
Except that a good 10% of the spells only work around sufficient wildlife or outdoors. You don't get improved reincarnation spells until 9th level (and that only in MotW). And your healing is sub-par to a cleric.
A druid can simply not out-heal a cleric which is a huge consideration if you are planning on being the prime healer.
Solarious
Explorer
BiggusGeekus said:
10% of spells not working in dungeon/urban conditions is not all that bad. There are still plenty of spells that work just fine and deal plenty of damage: just from the SRD, I get things like Flaming Sphere, Chill/Heat Metal, and Produce Flame at low levels. At level 5, we have access to Wildshape, which gives a Druid some nasty meele capabilities. For 5 hours a day, you can be a bear smashing down opponents and raking them to death, acompanied by the aforementioned Produce Flame and Greater Magic Fang for higher damage, Barkskin to make your AC nastier, and so on. Natural Spell allows you to do this with virtually no penalties.
Oh, and that is only level 5. By something like level 10, you can easily be in Wildshape the entire day. You'll have access to spells like Animal Growth to super-charge you and your animal companion. And you'll get spells like Flame Strike, Ice Storm, and Insect Plauge around now. If you are outdoors, you get the powerful Call Lightning and Call Lightning Storm spells, excellent and economical damage dealers. Plus, depending on how you interpet the rules, you can still wear you equipment when you wildshape into a vaugely huminoid form, such as the Ape, Dire Ape, and Legendary Ape forms. If you allow that, you can also stack the monk's belt for Wis to AC goodness, and flurry of blows in addition to the slams. Again, that was mostly how you interpet this kind of thing... and how much of WoC you are willing to take. William Skip was once said to say that you can stack Wildshape templating: for instance, you can turn into an animal, then Wildshape into an Elemental, and have the advantages of both, rendering you a legal target for Animal Growth. Obscene, if you can rules-lawer it through.
You can manage the battlefield by casting spells like Entangle and Obscuring Mist at low levels, Sleet Storm and Wind Wall at low-mid levels, and various walls at mid levels good an proper. You should have access to spells like the stat-buffs, Longstrider, Neutralize Poison, Freedom of Movement, Stoneskin: all fine spells for both party and Druid alike. Druids also make some of the best summoners around. Spontaneous Summon Nature's Ally spells should tell you that. They get faster and better access to Elementals, who can be among the toughest bruisers in the summoning table. Earth Elementals in particular, who are stronger in typical combat conditions: substitute Water/Air/Fire as neccessary. A notable summonable creature is the Unicorn, capable of casting many healing spells as spell-like abilities a day... most of which probably will be used, as you can imagine.
Don't forget that with splatbooks, a Druid gets progressively more powerful. For example, a Druid can pick through a Monster Manual II/III expand their Wildshape options, some of which are better than the regular Monster Manual options. FR gives you two summoning feats, Greenbound Summoning from Fallen Empires (again, sketchy memory, correct me if I'm wrong) to apply the Greenbound Template to your summoned animals and thereby grab oodles of niceties there. There is also Rashemi Elemental Summoning from UE, which gives templates to two kinds of elementals (again, sketch memeory, I'm working from reputation on FR things since I don't have access to it). I think the Air Elemental template lets it cast Cone of Cold... not sure, but I've heard something along those lines.
Hmn. Is that enough of a rant?
Oh yes, I forgot the healing issue. Yes, Druids are inferior healers compared to Clerics. Of course, you can always have a one of those wonderful Wands of Cure Light Wounds, a meer 750gp plink in the piggy jar at mid levels. Capable of doling out 50d6 + 50 points of healing over its entire lifespan. It is a *wonderful* investment for anyone capable of using it, including Bards and experienced Rogues.
Naturally, this is no substitute for a Cleric, and the ability to recover ability damage/raise dead and spontaneous cure spells. Still, it makes the Druid a nearly triple threat (fills in the three classical party roles) almost without trying: Tank/Meleer, Spellcasting Nuker, and Healing/Support (abliet of the backup kind).
Oh, and as for the best Druid splatbook, I heartily recommend the Complete Divine. While not really well written, it gives lots of new and powerful spells. Cloudburst grants you rain on demand, excellent for Call Lightning and Call Lightning Storm. Brambles/Spikes is incredible for anyone with wooden weapons, and is good for those clubs in case your DM allows an Ape to weild one. Brair Web, Quill Blast, Rejuvenation Cocoon (gives you healing to almost match the Cleric), the vigor series, Creeping Cold, Camouflauge (Mass), Nature's Favour, Nature's Avatar... the list keeps on going and going! Lots of great spells for you.
And just to be forwarned, Divine Metamagic is overpowered if you use it right. A friendly reminder. The top canidate is short-lived, but powerful, personal buffs, and Persistant Spell. Yetch, it is worth taking Extra Turning, if you're into cheese.
Chimera
First Post
Solarious said:
The cool part is that the party Hatchling Dragon's Druid is part of also contains a Wizard (mine) and a Cleric. So he doesn't have to worry about being the primary healer and has plenty of spell-casting support. When we get up a few levels, Battlefield Control spells should be a lot of fun, between the three casters.
I think he borrowed this from someone.
Psion
Adventurer
A meander through the Dungeon mags of the last few months reminded me why a druid isn't all that.
"This adventure contains many undead opponents and the party will have a difficult time without a cleric" or some words to those effects.
It's interesting that some people go to extremes to point out on paper what all the options available to druids are. I always find it interesting when such cases are being made to contrast how it really pans out in play. Judging from the druid PC in my game, who seemed to be the weakest party member until she discovered a mildly overpowered spell in a splatbook, I am not thinking that the druid is a powerhouse.
"This adventure contains many undead opponents and the party will have a difficult time without a cleric" or some words to those effects.
It's interesting that some people go to extremes to point out on paper what all the options available to druids are. I always find it interesting when such cases are being made to contrast how it really pans out in play. Judging from the druid PC in my game, who seemed to be the weakest party member until she discovered a mildly overpowered spell in a splatbook, I am not thinking that the druid is a powerhouse.
JesterPoet
First Post
Psion said:
Actually, Complete Divine gives the druid some sweet spells to combat undead.
And remember, if your cleric doesn't bother to build up a hearty CHA, s/he isn't going to be tremendously effective against high level undead either.
Psion said:
Depending on your level, that sounds like a problem with the player, not the class.
As for my original post, part of the reason that the Druid doesn't benefit as much from splatbooks is because there is rarely any incentive to go into a prestige class. Most PrCs focus on one aspect (wildshaping or divine spellcasting for example) and you lose out on advancement of your other abilities.
