Druid feats....what do I take?

[Funkthis]

Thanks for the replies

Great suggesstions ... thanks.

I'm a little torn now cause I'm not sure what kind of Druid I'm going to be. For one I don't even know if there is going to be a cleric in the party so that Spontaneous Healer feat might come in quite handy and probably will take it for my 3rd lvl feat if there are no Clerics.

The two paths I was originally considering for my first 2 feats were Track + Skill Focus (Concentration) or the Spell Focus (Conjuration) + Augment Summoning. As I thought both make sense...guess I'll flip a coin or something.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Great suggesstions ... thanks.

I'm a little torn now cause I'm not sure what kind of Druid I'm going to be. For one I don't even know if there is going to be a cleric in the party so that Spontaneous Healer feat might come in quite handy and probably will take it for my 3rd lvl feat if there are no Clerics.

The two paths I was originally considering for my first 2 feats were Track + Skill Focus (Concentration) or the Spell Focus (Conjuration) + Augment Summoning. As I thought both make sense...guess I'll flip a coin or something.

Thanks again for the input.

The problem with Spell Focus (Conjuration) is that it's essentially useless, and Augment Summoning isn't worth two feats. So stay away from that progression.

 

[ThirdWizard]

A spirit shaman in a game I play in has made great use of Augment Healing from Complete Divine, and spirit shamans use the druid list. The druid cure spells are often a level behind, so an extra +2 hp/spell level really gives you quite a nice boost to your healing.

 

[Votan]

I kind of like Improved Toughness, actually, especially with the new wildshape rules. Extra hit points are never a bad thing and this is a rare feat that scales with level. Druids have a d8 hit die and need to invest in Wisdom -- having some extra stying power isn't bad.

Spontaneous Healer (as previosuyl suggested) is, however, also surprisingly nice.

 

[Darklone]

Think about the two UA variants. One gives you barbarian rage and fast movement for your animal companion, the other one monk WIS to AC and other stuff for wildshape.

The druid archer option (best for elves) hasn't been mentioned yet. It goes great along with a summoner.

Old thread about building a druid:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=184082

Not mentioned in that thread: Animal Growth doesn't work on the druid in wildshape.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I favour the 'swift and deadly hunter' variant druid from UA, myself, which gives up Wildshape... so Natural Spell isn't one of my top picks!

Natural Bond, on the other hand, is... though it depends on whether your DM considers Druid's Level -3 +3 to be less-than-or-equal-to the Druid's hit dice or not!

-Hyp.

 

[Darklone]

I think combining the two UA variants will net ... something pretty sick. Barbarian rage, Monk AC, Fast movement of barbarian and monk, rangers favored enemy plus tracking.

Loses: Animal companion, wildshape and spontaneous summoning...

Yet gaining the Monk bonus to AC but losing wildshape (when it's really useful) isn't that great.

 

[Legildur]

The problem with Spell Focus (Conjuration) is that it's essentially useless, and Augment Summoning isn't worth two feats. So stay away from that progression.

I disagree on Augment Summoning. I've got plenty of mileage out of the summoned allies and having them boosted by the feat is like casting Bull's Strength AND Bear's Endurance as a free action on multiple targets any number of times per day (that you summon).

Admittedly, Spell Focus (conj) has limited utility. However, it has seen some use where I have been using cure spells to deal damage to (particularly incorporeal) undead. Clutching at straws, I know.

 

[Legildur]

The druid archer option (best for elves) hasn't been mentioned yet. It goes great along with a summoner.

I created a 1st level elven druid (now 15th level) for exactly that reason (mainly to increase his contribution for when spells ran out). But by the time I got past the low levels, the available offensive spells and ability to wildshape into effective (if not devastating) animal forms saw the bow pretty much being stowed away (as wasn't willing to invest in the necessary feats).

 

[Darklone]

Elven druids often don't have great hitpoints and don't need many feats if they don't plan a melee build. 3 or four feats for archery (PBS, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus bow) is more than enough if your Dex is decent, one good bow with an energy enhancement and you're set.

At higher levels the druid rather uses spells, but many of these spells are ground control which go along nicely with archery (Wall of fire, Entangle and others). And the big boon of the archer druid IMC: She always contributed pretty well to the fights and still had a few big hammer spells left for emergency cases even if it was the fifth or sixth fight that day. Healing wasn't a problem either.