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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wolfwood2" data-source="post: 2815516" data-attributes="member: 39394">I played a druid up through level 12 or so.  The character optimization quote already gave you some good advice on stats, so let me concentrate on in-play advice.First of all, Augment Summoning is an excellent feat for a druid, even at the cost of the near-useless Spell Focus: Conjuration.  Druids have a great summons list up through the mid-levels.  You'll notice they get animals (without the celestial/fiendish template) and elementals one level earlier than the cleric/wizard lists.  If you can get a summons off, it will be very powerful.  Augment Summoning makes it more so.  There's a crucial aspect of player preparation to this, though.You must, must, print out the stats of every creature you can summon before the game and keep it somewhere organized an easily accessible.  Go ahead and add in the bonuses from Augment Summoning to the stats.  Nothing will tick off other players and the DM more than holding up combat while you flip desperately through the monster manual.  Do the same for your wildshape forms.At pre-wildshape levels stay behind the warriors and let your animal companion do the fighting.  Buff said companion with Barkskin.  Summon animals to fight.  Hint: The best 1st level summon is a wolf due to its free trip attack.  The best 2nd level summon is a hippogriff due to its three attacks per round.  The best 3rd level summon is either a dire wolf due to its massive strength or 1d3 hippogriffs if fighting multiple opponents.  At high levels summon multiple brown bears and hit them with animal growth.  The carnage will be awesome.Getting off a summon can be tricky, it's true.  The best strategy is to let the fighters and rogues in the group run ahead and engage the enemy.  Meanwhile you stay back, preferably behind an obstruction that will make it difficult for the enemy to charge you.  Cheap Trick: Often when pulling out the battlemat, a DM will invite you to place your own characters.  Never miss out on the opportunity to put your druid near the back of the party, within 5 ft range of some cover like a a statue or wall.  Most DMs don't use a lot of enemies with good ranged attacks, so this should cover you.Other than summons, your best spells are battlefield controls.  Entangle is the best low level spell in the book.  Against ground-bound opponents it can end a fight instantly.  Earth to Mud can virtually paralyze and enemy.  Spike stones and other similair one can stop the bad guys cold.  Wall of Thorns (at higher levels) is so good it's virtually broken, given that you can cast it occupying enemy squares.  (Sorry rogue!  No reflex save for you.)  But don't just blindly take my advice.  Know your spell list inside and outside.  There aren't so many of them, after all.  Make a real effort to vary your prep based on what you think the day's activites will be.Fighting while wildshaped.  1. Always have Longstrider up.  It's an extra 10 ft of movement free, and it lasts an hour per level.  Given that animals already have high speeds, only the party monk will have a shot at outpacing you.  2. Barkskin, barkskin, barkskin.  Always have barkskin up before a battle.  The AC boost will save much pain.  3. Get a ring of deflection.  It will function in most animal forms.  4. No armor in animal form means no max Dex bonus.  And interestingly, Cat's Grace is on your spell list.  5. Not to mention Bull's Strength.  6. Greater Magic Fang.  It lasts an hour/level, so there's no excuse for not having it up in every fight.  7. There is little more pathetic than a spellcaster caught in your wildshaped jaws after you snapped him up with your free grapple attack.Best low level combat form is the crocodile.  Best mid-level Large forms are Dire Ape, Lion, and Brown bear.  Each has different applicability.  Dire Apes get a rend attack, Lions get pounce, and brown bears are great with the grapple. As you can see, a druid is just a dependent on buff spells as a cleric.  The difference is that you can change into an eagle (+10 Spot bonus) fly ahead and scout the area so you have advance warning on applying your spells.At least through mid-levels, a properly played druid can outscout the rogue, outfight the fighter, and control the battlefield better than a wizard.  At high levels the wizard will pull ahead, but this merely makes your druid "pretty good" instead of "one-man party".</blockquote>

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