Dragon Shaman Question

[Dragon_Man_Of_Lore]

If you couldn't tell by the title, I have a Dragon Shaman related question. Me and a few friends just started playing D&D. For the record, our classes are Bard, Rouge, Paladin, Fighter (me), Ranger and a possible Cleric. And because we only get to meet up once a week for D&D and because we have so little time to play, were all at level 2. I'm for the most part the tank of our group, because I always run into battle, slicing and dicing with my dual Jians (a user created weapon I found off the internet), and I love it. But heres the thing, I stumbled across the Dragon Shaman Class not to long ago, and I really like what it offers, mainly because if you've known me long enough, or if you've taken the extra 0.5 miller-seconds to read my user name, you'd know I have a bit of an obsession with dragons. But after a bit of research and reading around these forums, it appears that the Dragon Shaman is not made for the tankmanship that I love so much. Now, I thought I could fix that by going multi-class and having the Fighter weapon and armor proficiencies with the draconic perks of the Dragon Shaman, but wouldn't that leave me behind all the other members of my party, who have no want or reason to change classes any time soon? And, could you tell me the best ways to improve the Dragon Shaman class for tankmanship, or something close to it? Its not that I have a problem with multi-classing, I just want to know if there is a better way I can do it, and if I do intend on multi-classing, should I put it off for a while until I become a better fighter?

 

[Hypersmurf]

We usually keep this sort of thread in the Rules Forum - I've moved it for you.

-Hyp.
(Moderator)

 

[roguerouge]

Fighters are built for multi-classing after 4th level. You can keep it going due to the feats in PhB II, but there's so many tempting possibilities.... Plus, many posters have commented that picking up a level of fighter (for the weapon and heavy armor prof.) or barbarian (for the speed and rage) is a good pick. My advice: play what you'll find fun.

 

[Arkhandus]

Oh, you don't miss out on much by multiclassing out of Fighter. Dragon Shamans make a decent multiclass option for them, since they're both tough, melee-oriented classes.

I'd suggest probably multiclassing into Dragon Shaman next level, but after that, take two more levels of Fighter before returning to Dragon Shaman advancement.

You'll want Weapon Specialization and Melee Weapon Mastery; the former you can take as your 4th-level Fighter bonus feat, and the latter you can take as your 6th-level character feat. These will nicely augment your damage output and accuracy for a while.

Aura-wise, you'll probably want the Energy Shield aura, the Vigor aura, and whatever other one suits your fancy, to start with. So enemies are harmed when they hit you or nearby allies in melee combat, then once you get beaten down to less than half your HP, you can switch to the Vigor aura for a bit of healing each round.


Fighters don't really get anything good past 4th-level. Dragon Shamans are just kind of poor on offense, but with your Fighter levels that will be less of an issue, once you get Melee Weapon Mastery. Just be sure you have Weapon Focus in your favorite melee weapon beforehand (if not already, then you can just take it as your 3rd-level character feat).

 

[Nifft]

You'll want Weapon Specialization and Melee Weapon Mastery; the former you can take as your 4th-level Fighter bonus feat, and the latter you can take as your 6th-level character feat.

Regarding Melee Weapon Mastery: no, you can't. BAB +8 is a pre-req.

Cheers, -- N

 

[evilbob]

As many have said, multiclassing fighter is easy to do. However, you might want to pay attention to the base attack bonus of the class you want to multiclass into; it is one of -the- most important things about being a melee tank.

That said, dragon shamans are actually horrible melee fighters. If you look back over threads discussing them, you'll see a consistent theme: they are much more like an ok cleric than a fighter. They get 3/4ths BAB, no martial weapons, no heavy armor, and their breath weapon never really does enough damage to warrant the class feature. The most important ability of their class - and the one that really defines the character - is the vigor aura. (Not just having auras: that is the best one.) Other than that, they are a sort of half-tank that can't do any real damage, but can give constant boosts to other characters. (Maybe sort of a cross between a cleric and a bard?)

Now you -can- mitigate a lot of these downsides with just one level of fighter, which you've already done. Personally, I would suggest multiclassing into just one level of dragon shaman if you're interested. This would get you the all-powerful vigor aura, plus two other auras that could be useful (I'd suggest power - since you are a fighter - and probably senses or something else; avoid toughness since its usefulness wanes quickly). If you really want to persue the class, it might be worth getting up to 3rd level for the extra aura and a fun little draconic adaptation that doesn't really do much, or 5th level which will get you a total of five auras and they will all be boosted to 2 instead of 1. Otherwise, I'd drop it as soon as possible. Every level of dragon shaman will make you a slightly worse fighter; however its up to you to determine how much "fighter" you're willing to give up in order to have interesting or cool (thematically) abilities.

 

[akbearfoot]

I think going to 5th level DS and then getting fighter up to level 4 so you can take weapon spec and melee mastery is an ok option.


If you didn't have the paladin and the bard in the group then I would think differently though.

Inspire courage, heroism, haste, melee weapon mastery in a good martial weapon...Theres no way that sucks.


I think it would be amazingly awesome to play a group that consisted of a Crusader, a warblade specialized in white raven tactics discipline, a bard, a marshall and a dragon shaman.

That would have to be the ultimate synergy group!

 

[Arkhandus]

Regarding Melee Weapon Mastery: no, you can't. BAB +8 is a pre-req.

Cheers, -- N

Oh right, slipped my mind for a moment. So: 12th-level feat instead.

Fighter 4/DS 8. Or go Fighter 1-2, DS 1, Fighter 3-4, DS 2-3, Fighter 5-6 and take MWM as the 6th-level Fighter bonus feat. Then return to DS advancement.

You'll want the Energy Shield aura active most of the time, until people get hurt enough that the Vigor aura's fast healing would kick in.

Dragon Shamans aren't so poor at melee combat if you take 4 levels of Fighter and get Melee Weapon Mastery later on.

 

[Nifft]

If you have access to Dragon Magic, you could get some benefits of Dragon Shaman without any pesky Dragon Shaman levels. You could take the Dragon Lord prestige class, or you could rebuild your PC to take Dragontouched and some Draconic Aura feats.

No Vigor aura, but many other good ones are available.

Cheers, -- N

 

[evilbob]

No Vigor aura, but many other good ones are available.

Useless!!! (Just kidding.)

Seriously though, I stand by my assertion that vigor is the best aura and honestly defines the class. I've seen a dragon shaman taken from level 1 to level 13 (single-classed only, though) and nothing that character ever did was as useful as the vigor aura. Senses came in a close second - bonuses to initiative for every single combat are really amazing - but vigor was the best.