Dragon Shaman 5

[SolosAddie]

Hi, i'm playing the red hand of doom with a dragon shaman goliath.

The party consists of me, ranger, and barbarian plus npc bard for some healing.

Right now i fufill the role of sponge, aura buffer etc. Looking at going to 11th level classwise with this module what are some pros/cons of these courses of action.

1) stick with current class

2) go to fighter, more feats, heavier armor, better sponge, and more damage dealing

3) go to cleric, spells, better armor.

4) go for a Prestige Class. Any suggestions?

Also for 6th level i was thinking of taking Leadership feat and getting divine or arcane caster.

Otherwise my feats are dodge, and combat expertise

Str 22
Dex 14
Con 18
Wis 12
Ind 11
Cha 17

*And before you ask, we roll a d20 for number of sets we can roll out and use 4d6 drop lowest. So yes stat points are high but we keep magic items low. Ex: Out of 3 PC chars 5th level we have some potions of CLW.

 

[Patlin]

Why have a designated damage sponge when your party consists entirely of melee types?

I think Dragon Shaman works better as a stick-with-it class rather than a multiclassing class. Better to build on the existing abilities, in my opinion.

 

[hanniball]

I agree that Dragon Shaman is solid enough to stick through until 11th. Definitely don't go Cleric. Your spellcasting would be so far behind any equal CR encounter that it would be almost useless. Better to optimize what you have than branching out into new territories.

One nitpick, Combat Expertise requires a 13 Int and it looks like you only have an 11. Misprint?

Either way...just my 2 cp

 

[Nifft]

What's your alignment? Two levels of Paladin would be better than Cleric -- you'd get the same main benefit (ability to use Wands), but you'd also get full BAB, all martial weapons, and Cha bonus to saves. Four levels would get you Turn Undead, which is nice to fuel Divine Might (but otherwise useless), and another aura (of courage).

Cheers, -- N

 

[SolosAddie]

i think i typed added one to my wisdom and took one away from my int.


I am NG, but we're treating the dragon shaman as a varient type of palidin so i might be able to swing going a level or two into that.

Otherwise, i will take a hard look at what i'm giving up before I reach 6th.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Kurotowa]

One of the things I love about the newer base classes is that they're the classes that keep on giving. The longer you stay in them the more new class features you get and the more your old class features keep improving. There's isn't nearly the plateau effect that most of the PHB classes have, so there's far less need to multiclass or prestige class.

Look at the Dragon Shaman. At 6th level you'll get Touch of Vitality. That's 36 points of healing a day, which is always useful. Additional levels of Dragon Shaman will get you more healing, improve your breath weapon, give you more auras, and eventually increase your aura strength. On top of all that you get a steady diet of smaller benefits; natural armor, free Skill Focus, and energy immunity.

My advice, stick with Dragon Shaman. With a Ranger and Barbarian you're not short on punch in your group, and you're too far behind to try and get into the caster game now.

 

[Darklone]

Like in the other thread: One level barbarian plus Extra Rage. Power Attack later.

 

[atomn]

I agree with Patlin and Kurotowa's adivce on sticking with the Dragon Shaman.

 

[lukelightning]

I'd suggest a one-level dip into either barbarian (if you want to be a maneuverable type), to get the speed bonus, martial weapon prof., and rage, or fighter, to get martial wp and heavy armor proficiency if you want to go for high AC.