If it's official errata then I assume it is "in".
Then skip the shambling mound - you don't gain the immunities, as you retain your own type. You want to look for things that have lots of natural attacks, lots of Strength/Dex, lots of natural armor, and/or special abilities that are hard to get (like Pounce); try the
Dire Tiger and
Belker on for size. Oh yes, and don't forget the lowly
Rat and
Bat, which make useful stealth forms - and also don't forget that you can pick up some skills Cross-class. A Druid with Natural Spell, Spell Focus(Conjouration), Augment Summoning, and Silent Spell can be
hilarious if it's got enough cross-class Hide and Move Silently to avoid detection while it keeps pumping out attackers with Silent Summon Nature's Ally VII's. Oh yes, and there's three or four feats unaccounted for in the build. Quicken Spell, Extend Spell, Multiattack, and Power Attack are fairly common choices. For what you're doing, you don't really need Extend Spell.
I guess I'm having a hard time picturing myself as a shambling mound or a dire tiger facing off against CR 15+ monsters that can be truly ... scary. This is obviously due to my own inexperience... but I think part of why my DM son scoffs is thinking about a level 20 character turning into a bear.
Well, the thing is, when you turn into a critter, you're not really turning into that critter. You're turning into yourself in the form of that critter.
See, a Druid-20 that turns into a Dire Tiger....
1) Keeps it's own HP, base saves, BAB, feats, spellcasting, and racial abilities.
2) Gains the Dire Tiger's Strength, Dex, Natural Armor, Natural Attacks, movement modes, Ex Special Attacks, racial bonuses to skills, and racial bonus feats.
3) Keeps any spells it left running.
So when a Dwarf Druid-20 (a very good choice of base race, incidentally) Wildshapes into a Dire Tiger, he's got:
Full Attack: 2 claws +22 melee (2d3+8) (rather than 2d4, as you don't get Improved Natural Attack) and bite +17 (or +20, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+4) (rather than 2d6 - again, due to missing Improved Natural Attack)
Charge: 2 claws +24 melee (2d3+8) (rather than 2d4, as you don't get Improved Natural Attack) and bite +19 (or +22, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+4) (rather than 2d6 - again, due to missing Improved Natural Attack), and 2 Rakes +21 melee (+24, if you took Multiattack), damage 2d4+4
That's before buffs. If, when you take Dire Tiger form, you use five castings of Greater Magic Fang (you did make use of your Bead of Karma from your
Strand of Prayer Beads just before Wildshaping to avoid getting those Dispelled, right?) then those attacks become:
Full Attack: 2 claws +27 melee (2d3+13) and bite +22 (or +25, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+9)
Charge: 2 claws +29 melee (2d3+13) and bite +24 (or +27, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+9) , and 2 Rakes +26 melee (+29, if you took Multiattack), damage 2d4+9
If you add a Quickened Bull's Strength to that....
Full Attack: 2 claws +29 melee (2d3+15) and bite +24 (or +27, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+10)
Charge: 2 claws +31 melee (2d3+15) and bite +26 (or +29, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+10) , and 2 Rakes +28 melee (+31, if you took Multiattack), damage 2d4+10
If you also made sure to use your Manual of Strength+5 somewhere along the line, that caps off at:
Full Attack: 2 claws +32 melee (2d3+18) and bite +27 (or +30, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+12)
Charge: 2 claws +34 melee (2d3+18) and bite +29 (or +32, if you took Multiattack) melee (1d8+12) , and 2 Rakes +31 melee (+34, if you took Multiattack), damage 2d4+12
A
Balor has an AC of 40 and 290 hp. As long as you can survive two or three rounds of hits, he's... pretty much toast. Oh yes, and you can Heal yourself when needed - he can't.
What happens to enhancing items like say a Periapt of Wisdowm when you use wild shape?
With the errata, they go away. Unless you strip down prior to wildshaping, then put them back on.
Leadership is useful for that, although not necessary - the
Shambler spell, cast once per week, gives you intelligent (well, Int-7) servants that can help you with that kind of thing. Just remember to pack a few copies of
Speak With Plants for the purpose every day.
Oh yes, and if you're doing this, some items you'll want non-melded:
Cloak of Resistance+5
Luck Blade (0 Wishes)
Bracers of Armor+8
Periapt of Wisdom+6
Monk's Belt (you can also do a 1-level dip into Monk for most of what this gives you ... but that's not a good idea if you're playing anything that doesn't have Druid as a favored class)
Oh yes, and do make sure to pick up a Manual of +5 Dex, and a Tome of +5 Wis (and you'll STILL have enough left for the Manual of +4 or +5 Con).
With several castings of Barkskin to keep you going through the day, that puts your Dire Tiger AC up to.... 10 base, -1 Size, +11 natural, +8 Armor, about +12 Monkish... so about 40. That's not actually very much at that level (The Balor starts with +33, so needs a 7 to hit you), but it functions as resistance to Power Attack (if he Power Attacks to deal a decent amount of damage, he can't hit you effectively; if he doesn't, it'll take him quite some time to wear through your HP).
Eh, might as well give a bit more of the build....
Stat Priority: Wisdom > Con > Int > Rest (Str, Dex, and Cha are dump stats - and if you have to prioritize, Cha is more valuable than Str or Dex, as Wildshape gives you Str and Dex at semi-arbitrary values)
Skills: Spot and Concentration essential; Cross-class Hide and Move Silently are recommended. Pick others for flavor.
