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Spirited Away: A Shaman Handbook (by GelatinousOctahedron)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6709468" data-attributes="member: 74499"><p><strong>Originally posted by GelatinousOctahedron:</strong></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong><u>Picking Your Spirit Companion and At Wills</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p>Every Shaman gets 1 required opportunity spirit at will depending on their spirit companion, 1 required spirit at will depending on their spirit companion, and then can pick 1 more from the rest of the non-opportunity powers, including the required attack powers of other spirit companion types if you want.</p><p></p><p>All five of the spirits can work fine in any party, but some will work better in some parties than others. If you know who else will be in the party that can help if you are having trouble deciding. Bear shamans are best in parties that need help with defending since they can mark with some of their powers and provide other defensive/healing boosts. Panther shamans help out with extra damage so if you are missing strikers or your strikers need some help damaging or rogues (and others) need help flanking they are a good fit. Eagle shamans help with ranged PCs, their boon particularly helping warlocks use their curse and rangers use hunter's quarry on far away enemies. Their opportunity action attack only works if you have an ally with a ranged basic attack so that is something to remember, but the at will attack works with any basic attack. World Speakers are a good fit for a party lacking a controller or where the party is worried about taking OAs or needs help with movement. Animists help with saves and granting extra accurate attacks to strikers.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong><u>At Will Evocations</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Required Spirit Opportunity Evocations</u></p><p><u></u></p><p>(You get this power if and only if you have that spirit type)</p><p>These all work when an enemy leaves a square adjacent to your spirit without shifting. They are not provoked by other things that normally provoke OA like ranged powers.</p><p></p><p>Spirit's Fangs <span style="color: #008000">P</span> vs ref 1d10 +wis mod damage.<span style="color: #339966"></span></p><p><span style="color: #339966"></span></p><p>Spirit's Shield <span style="color: #008000">B</span> Vs reflex and does wis mod damage. Ally within 5 heals wis mod.<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p>Spirit's Prey<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span>(PP)<span style="color: #008000"> E </span>Ally within 10 gets to make a ranged basic attack with CA.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spirit's Wrath</strong> (DS) <span style="color: #008000"><strong>A</strong></span> vs ref Damage and target grants CA.</p><p></p><p>World Speaker's Command (PP) <span style="color: #008000">W </span>Vs will and target stops and must use a new action to move.<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff6600"></span><u>Required Spirit Evocations</u><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p>(You have to take this if you have that spirit type, but other shamans can pick from these for their second at will as well. All 5 of them are useful for other builds depending on party makeup, but unless you are going for a pure "lazy build" don't take both Claws of the Eagle and Spirit Infusion. People have reported trouble with older versions of the offline character builder not letting them take one as their second at will, but nothing in the rules prevents this and primal power states "shamans of any build can make good use of the options presented here" immediately before listing the new at wills) </p><p></p><p>At this point in the game basic attacks have become so powerful that I strongly recommend all shamans take either <span style="color: #33cccc"><strong>Spirit Infusion </strong></span>or <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Claws of the Eagle</strong></span>. There are some parties where no one has a good basic attack, but not that many anymore. If you have one of those already since you are playing an animist or eagle shaman or if playing a human who gets another choice, then I would normally take either <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>voice of battle</strong></span> or <strong><span style="color: #0000ff">spirit of the tempest</span></strong>.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Protecting Strike</span><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><span style="color: #008000">B </span>vs will<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span>Damage and allies<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span>get temp hp equal to con. This is actually a decent power, but only bear shamans and world speakers will have the con to benefit from it and bear shamans already have it. And since you should normally be taking an enabling at will as your second at will almost no one besiders bear shamans should have this.<span style="color: #008080"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008080"></span></p><p>Stalker's Strike <span style="color: #008000">P </span>vs fort Mo<span style="color: #008000">st direct damaging and most accurate spirit at will and SC can flank, but that is the only "leadery" thing about it. At low heroic this is </span><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>darkblue</strong></span><span style="color: #008000"> because of the damage, but at higher levels you will usually have better options. Its good for </span><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>animist</strong></span><span style="color: #008000"> as the second at will because it gets a bonus to hit bloodied enemies keyed to your int.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><span style="color: #0000ff">Claws of the Eagle</span><span style="color: #ff0000"> (PP) </span><span style="color: #008000">E </span>Ally within 3 squares of you or SC can make a basic attack against target. Target grants CA if it hits. If you don't take spirit infusion, you need to take this instead if someone in your party has a good basic attack.<span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><span style="color: #0000ff">Voice of Battle</span><span style="color: #ff0000"> (PP) </span><span style="color: #008000">W</span> vs will Psychic damage and ally gets to shift 2. World speakers already have it and the shifting compliments animists and eagle shamans well. Good third at will for human shamans.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Spirit Infusion </strong></span>(DS) <span style="color: #008000"><strong>A </strong></span>Ally next to SC can make a basic attack with a +2 power bonus to hit. Gets int bonus to damage and the SC disappears. This gets better for non animists once you get to paragon and have nimble spirit, but the advantage of claws of the eagle is that it does not depend as much on the Spirit Companion's position and if hit the enemy grants CA so high accuracy parties/parties with rogues might prefer claws of the eagle. With Spirit Infusion the target is more likely to hit and do more damage. See below for pros and cons of each.<span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><u>Optional Spirit Melee Evocations</u><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff6600"></span><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">(You can pick from these as your second at will)</span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span><span style="color: #800080">Defending Strike</span><span style="color: #ff0000"> vs ref Some damage and SC gives you and allies +1 to AC. Not bad, but the other at wills have more utility.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Spirit of the Tempest</span><span style="color: #ff0000"> (PP) vs fort. Thunder damage and as an effect an ally near you or SC can make a save. </span></p><p>Makes a good third at will for a human or second at will for animist or eagle. There is a lot of debate over the value of this power since it is a melee power (generally a bad thing on a class that uses ranged and spirit melee powers the vast majority of the time), but automatic save granting for an at will is <span style="color: #00ccff">great</span>. I had it as the third at will for my human panther shaman and I did not use very often, but it was really handy as a backup power.</p><p></p><p>Watcher's Strike vs ref SC gives you and allies get an untyped +1 bonus to attack and get a perception bonus. The untyped bonus is nice, but I would normally take several other powers first.</p><p></p><p><u>Optional Ranged Evocations</u><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff6600"></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff6600"></span>(You can pick from these as your second at will)</p><p></p><p>Haunting Spirits vs will Psychic damage and an ally gets CA against target. There are many other ways to grant CA for shamans (tome expertise is the big one), but this is still a decent way to do it, especially at low levels or if you are taking other psychic tricks.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Wrath of Winter </span>vs fort. Cold damage and you can teleport SC next to target. This is a tricky power to rate since its main value is in action economy by letting you move your SC a long distance without dismissing it as a minor action and you will often need your minor actions for other things. Loses some value if you have other ways to move spirit around and animists can avoid it, but a low level human eagle shaman for instance should consider it for a third at will.</p><p></p><p></p><p><u><strong>Spirit Infusion vs Claws of the Eagle</strong></u></p><p></p><p>These two powers are very similar and I wouldn't take both, but unless no one has a good basic attack in your party you should take one of them. </p><p></p><p><strong>Spirit infusion vs claws of the eagle</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p>Here are the advantages and disadvantages of both for worldspeakers, stalkers, and bear shamans:</p><p>Claws of the eagle: Generally more flexible choice of allies to attack from since it works with allies adjacent to SC or within 3 squares of you. A successful attack grants CA so better for subsequent allies to focus fire if they don’t already have CA. Disadvantage: less accurate and less direct damage.</p><p></p><p>Spirit Infusion: More accurate than claws of the eagle because of power bonus to attack. Will cause more direct damage and better for increasing single PC novas. Disadvantage: trickier range and makes the SC disappear, which means allies don't get the offensive bonuses from powers like twin panthers since those require your SC to be next your ally.</p><p></p><p>Reasons to take Claws of the Eagle</p><p>You are playing WorldSpeaker (generally want SC far from party)</p><p>You have very accurate allies (WT heavy blade fighter, rogue, or avenger)</p><p>You have ranged strikers</p><p>You don’t have nimble call</p><p>You have many other ally offensive buffing powers </p><p>You have a party who needs help getting CA (tome expertise helps with this)</p><p></p><p>Reasons to take Spirit Infusion</p><p>You are playing a Stalker (generally want SC near party and have int bonus)</p><p>You have not so accurate allies, particularly melee characters (barbarians, melee rangers, axe-hammer-glaive wielders)</p><p>You have nimble call</p><p>You don't have many ally offensive buffing powers</p><p>Your party has no trouble getting CA</p><p></p><p>[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nibelung, post: 6709468, member: 74499"] [b]Originally posted by GelatinousOctahedron:[/b] [CENTER][Size=4][b][u]Picking Your Spirit Companion and At Wills[/u][/b][/size][/CENTER] Every Shaman gets 1 required opportunity spirit at will depending on their spirit companion, 1 required spirit at will depending on their spirit companion, and then can pick 1 more from the rest of the non-opportunity powers, including the required attack powers of other spirit companion types if you want. All five of the spirits can work fine in any party, but some will work better in some parties than others. If you know who else will be in the party that can help if you are having trouble deciding. Bear shamans are best in parties that need help with defending since they can mark with some of their powers and provide other defensive/healing boosts. Panther shamans help out with extra damage so if you are missing strikers or your strikers need some help damaging or rogues (and others) need help flanking they are a good fit. Eagle shamans help with ranged PCs, their boon particularly helping warlocks use their curse and rangers use hunter's quarry on far away enemies. Their opportunity action attack only works if you have an ally with a ranged basic attack so that is something to remember, but the at will attack works with any basic attack. World Speakers are a good fit for a party lacking a controller or where the party is worried about taking OAs or needs help with movement. Animists help with saves and granting extra accurate attacks to strikers. [CENTER][Size=4][b][u]At Will Evocations[/u][/b][/size][/CENTER] [u]Required Spirit Opportunity Evocations [/u] (You get this power if and only if you have that spirit type) These all work when an enemy leaves a square adjacent to your spirit without shifting. They are not provoked by other things that normally provoke OA like ranged powers. Spirit's Fangs [COLOR=#008000]P[/COLOR] vs ref 1d10 +wis mod damage.[COLOR=#339966] [/COLOR] Spirit's Shield [COLOR=#008000]B[/COLOR] Vs reflex and does wis mod damage. Ally within 5 heals wis mod.[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR] Spirit's Prey[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR](PP)[COLOR=#008000] E [/COLOR]Ally within 10 gets to make a ranged basic attack with CA. [b]Spirit's Wrath[/b] (DS) [COLOR=#008000][b]A[/b][/COLOR] vs ref Damage and target grants CA. World Speaker's Command (PP) [COLOR=#008000]W [/COLOR]Vs will and target stops and must use a new action to move.[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#ff6600] [/COLOR][u]Required Spirit Evocations[/u][COLOR=#ff6600] [/COLOR] (You have to take this if you have that spirit type, but other shamans can pick from these for their second at will as well. All 5 of them are useful for other builds depending on party makeup, but unless you are going for a pure "lazy build" don't take both Claws of the Eagle and Spirit Infusion. People have reported trouble with older versions of the offline character builder not letting them take one as their second at will, but nothing in the rules prevents this and primal power states "shamans of any build can make good use of the options presented here" immediately before listing the new at wills) At this point in the game basic attacks have become so powerful that I strongly recommend all shamans take either [COLOR=#33cccc][b]Spirit Infusion [/b][/COLOR]or [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Claws of the Eagle[/b][/COLOR]. There are some parties where no one has a good basic attack, but not that many anymore. If you have one of those already since you are playing an animist or eagle shaman or if playing a human who gets another choice, then I would normally take either [COLOR=#0000ff][b]voice of battle[/b][/COLOR] or [b][COLOR=#0000ff]spirit of the tempest[/COLOR][/b]. [COLOR=#800080]Protecting Strike[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#008000]B [/COLOR]vs will[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR]Damage and allies[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR]get temp hp equal to con. This is actually a decent power, but only bear shamans and world speakers will have the con to benefit from it and bear shamans already have it. And since you should normally be taking an enabling at will as your second at will almost no one besiders bear shamans should have this.[COLOR=#008080] [/COLOR] Stalker's Strike [COLOR=#008000]P [/COLOR]vs fort Mo[COLOR=#008000]st direct damaging and most accurate spirit at will and SC can flank, but that is the only "leadery" thing about it. At low heroic this is [/COLOR][COLOR=#0000ff][b]darkblue[/b][/COLOR][COLOR=#008000] because of the damage, but at higher levels you will usually have better options. Its good for [/COLOR][COLOR=#0000ff][b]animist[/b][/COLOR][COLOR=#008000] as the second at will because it gets a bonus to hit bloodied enemies keyed to your int. [/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#0000ff]Claws of the Eagle[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] (PP) [/COLOR][COLOR=#008000]E [/COLOR]Ally within 3 squares of you or SC can make a basic attack against target. Target grants CA if it hits. If you don't take spirit infusion, you need to take this instead if someone in your party has a good basic attack.[COLOR=#008000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#0000ff]Voice of Battle[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] (PP) [/COLOR][COLOR=#008000]W[/COLOR] vs will Psychic damage and ally gets to shift 2. World speakers already have it and the shifting compliments animists and eagle shamans well. Good third at will for human shamans. [COLOR=#ff0000] [/COLOR][COLOR=#00ccff][b]Spirit Infusion [/b][/COLOR](DS) [COLOR=#008000][b]A [/b][/COLOR]Ally next to SC can make a basic attack with a +2 power bonus to hit. Gets int bonus to damage and the SC disappears. This gets better for non animists once you get to paragon and have nimble spirit, but the advantage of claws of the eagle is that it does not depend as much on the Spirit Companion's position and if hit the enemy grants CA so high accuracy parties/parties with rogues might prefer claws of the eagle. With Spirit Infusion the target is more likely to hit and do more damage. See below for pros and cons of each.[COLOR=#ff0000] [/COLOR][u]Optional Spirit Melee Evocations[/u][COLOR=#ff6600] [/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] (You can pick from these as your second at will) [/COLOR][COLOR=#800080]Defending Strike[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] vs ref Some damage and SC gives you and allies +1 to AC. Not bad, but the other at wills have more utility. [/COLOR] [COLOR=#0000ff]Spirit of the Tempest[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000] (PP) vs fort. Thunder damage and as an effect an ally near you or SC can make a save. [/COLOR] Makes a good third at will for a human or second at will for animist or eagle. There is a lot of debate over the value of this power since it is a melee power (generally a bad thing on a class that uses ranged and spirit melee powers the vast majority of the time), but automatic save granting for an at will is [COLOR=#00ccff]great[/COLOR]. I had it as the third at will for my human panther shaman and I did not use very often, but it was really handy as a backup power. Watcher's Strike vs ref SC gives you and allies get an untyped +1 bonus to attack and get a perception bonus. The untyped bonus is nice, but I would normally take several other powers first. [u]Optional Ranged Evocations[/u][COLOR=#ff6600] [/COLOR](You can pick from these as your second at will) Haunting Spirits vs will Psychic damage and an ally gets CA against target. There are many other ways to grant CA for shamans (tome expertise is the big one), but this is still a decent way to do it, especially at low levels or if you are taking other psychic tricks. [COLOR=#800080]Wrath of Winter [/COLOR]vs fort. Cold damage and you can teleport SC next to target. This is a tricky power to rate since its main value is in action economy by letting you move your SC a long distance without dismissing it as a minor action and you will often need your minor actions for other things. Loses some value if you have other ways to move spirit around and animists can avoid it, but a low level human eagle shaman for instance should consider it for a third at will. [u][b]Spirit Infusion vs Claws of the Eagle[/b][/u] These two powers are very similar and I wouldn't take both, but unless no one has a good basic attack in your party you should take one of them. [b]Spirit infusion vs claws of the eagle[/b] [sblock] Here are the advantages and disadvantages of both for worldspeakers, stalkers, and bear shamans: Claws of the eagle: Generally more flexible choice of allies to attack from since it works with allies adjacent to SC or within 3 squares of you. A successful attack grants CA so better for subsequent allies to focus fire if they don’t already have CA. Disadvantage: less accurate and less direct damage. Spirit Infusion: More accurate than claws of the eagle because of power bonus to attack. Will cause more direct damage and better for increasing single PC novas. Disadvantage: trickier range and makes the SC disappear, which means allies don't get the offensive bonuses from powers like twin panthers since those require your SC to be next your ally. Reasons to take Claws of the Eagle You are playing WorldSpeaker (generally want SC far from party) You have very accurate allies (WT heavy blade fighter, rogue, or avenger) You have ranged strikers You don’t have nimble call You have many other ally offensive buffing powers You have a party who needs help getting CA (tome expertise helps with this) Reasons to take Spirit Infusion You are playing a Stalker (generally want SC near party and have int bonus) You have not so accurate allies, particularly melee characters (barbarians, melee rangers, axe-hammer-glaive wielders) You have nimble call You don't have many ally offensive buffing powers Your party has no trouble getting CA [/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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