blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
Nifft's list is good. Only thing I'd suggest is take Power Attack as your 3rd level feat.
Druid Feats
- Thread starter VanRichten
- Start date
Nifft
Penguin Herder
Indeed. Minor Shapeshift will give you a +2 bonus to damage, but you could easily have a very high attack bonus with your claw attacks and greater magic fang.blargney the second said:
(Can't cast greater magic fang on weapons you don't have? Minor Shapeshift to the rescue again! Yay, temporary claws.)
Cheers, -- N
Jack Simth
First Post
Minor Shapeshift is at 9th for an otherwise-Core Druid - that's when they pick up Baelful Polymorph, which can power it.Nifft said:
I always figured on using it for the HP - swift-action temp HP = character level is great for anyone in melee. You can really mow down the mooks that way, as long as you can arrange things so that they can only come at you one or two a round.
StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
Nifft's right on Minor Shapechange. That's your level 9 feat just as assuredly as natural Spell is a normal druid's level 6 feat. (It requires a level 4 polymorph spell, right? ie, CL 7? So it has to be level 9 or later, regardless of available spells.)
I've had a mage with Storm Bolt, it's not so great. 20 ft range is very poor for a line, and required 3rd level spells puts it off till level 6, 5 with wizard class bonus feats. I'd reccomend Fiery Burst at level 3 instead. Has a 5 ft radius burst, range 30 ft, and thhe best part is, there's really no way for others to tell where it originated from. Earlier access is key -- the reserve feat special attacks become less useful with each new level, IME almost useless by level 8-10. The +1 CL is still nice, of course. So, getting it at level 3 is sweet. At that level, 2d6 damage at will is really something.
For other feats...what maneuverability does the variant's avian form give? C Adv has Improved Flight, to improve it one category. The key is to rase it to at least good, so you can hover. Having to fly forward each round can get dangerous. if you want to heal very well, Touch of Healing is available level 3+. Cuts down on needed spells/wands by a bunch. And on a ship, it's nice to keep the whole crew decently alive.
I've had a mage with Storm Bolt, it's not so great. 20 ft range is very poor for a line, and required 3rd level spells puts it off till level 6, 5 with wizard class bonus feats. I'd reccomend Fiery Burst at level 3 instead. Has a 5 ft radius burst, range 30 ft, and thhe best part is, there's really no way for others to tell where it originated from. Earlier access is key -- the reserve feat special attacks become less useful with each new level, IME almost useless by level 8-10. The +1 CL is still nice, of course. So, getting it at level 3 is sweet. At that level, 2d6 damage at will is really something.
For other feats...what maneuverability does the variant's avian form give? C Adv has Improved Flight, to improve it one category. The key is to rase it to at least good, so you can hover. Having to fly forward each round can get dangerous. if you want to heal very well, Touch of Healing is available level 3+. Cuts down on needed spells/wands by a bunch. And on a ship, it's nice to keep the whole crew decently alive.
Jack Simth
First Post
Some of the reserve feats' usefulness depends on party makeup.
See, if the party Wizard Permanencies Arcane Sight (at 12th), or even just Detect Magic (9th), and one of you picks up Summon Elemental, than you don't actually need a trapfinder - a medium earth elemental weighs enough that it'll trigger any mechanical traps you would, and the Detect Magic/Arcane Sight will find any magical traps that are more discriminatory (unless they're specifically warded against such tactics). Really handy when you don't have a proper trapfinder in the party (it's also a standard-action summon, so it can still be very handy even if you do have a proper Rogue). Combine with one of the ranged damage reserve feats (such as Fiery Burst or Invisible Needle (for the longer range at higher levels)) and you can disable basically any trap, without any iffy roll required (Finding Trap: No roll of consequence, as it doesn't mechanically matter if the elemental "dies", and you'll find all the magical traps; Fiery Burst will eventually disable any trap not outright immune by way of destroying it directly).
Dimensional Jaunt is useful for a Wizard who needs a "get out of grapple" card - it's a Su ability, so no concentration check or AoO needed. No components at all, so it can even be used while Pinned. Also handy when combined with a Wand of Invisibility when you want to get past barriers while leaving them intact.
Then there's the vampiric dagger / Summon Elemental healing... but that's rather evil, and not really all that cost effective when it comes down to it.
Mostly, though, Reserve feats don't so much increase character power as extend it (Minor Shapeshift notwithstanding). They turn Wizards into weak Warlocks with a costly "burst" ability.
See, if the party Wizard Permanencies Arcane Sight (at 12th), or even just Detect Magic (9th), and one of you picks up Summon Elemental, than you don't actually need a trapfinder - a medium earth elemental weighs enough that it'll trigger any mechanical traps you would, and the Detect Magic/Arcane Sight will find any magical traps that are more discriminatory (unless they're specifically warded against such tactics). Really handy when you don't have a proper trapfinder in the party (it's also a standard-action summon, so it can still be very handy even if you do have a proper Rogue). Combine with one of the ranged damage reserve feats (such as Fiery Burst or Invisible Needle (for the longer range at higher levels)) and you can disable basically any trap, without any iffy roll required (Finding Trap: No roll of consequence, as it doesn't mechanically matter if the elemental "dies", and you'll find all the magical traps; Fiery Burst will eventually disable any trap not outright immune by way of destroying it directly).
Dimensional Jaunt is useful for a Wizard who needs a "get out of grapple" card - it's a Su ability, so no concentration check or AoO needed. No components at all, so it can even be used while Pinned. Also handy when combined with a Wand of Invisibility when you want to get past barriers while leaving them intact.
Then there's the vampiric dagger / Summon Elemental healing... but that's rather evil, and not really all that cost effective when it comes down to it.
Mostly, though, Reserve feats don't so much increase character power as extend it (Minor Shapeshift notwithstanding). They turn Wizards into weak Warlocks with a costly "burst" ability.
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