So, druids are powerful, eh?

[MonkeyDragon]

My first thread! I feel special.

So an ongoing game is about to pick up again after hiatus, and I'm looking for ways to play my character more effectively. I've heard a bunch of times on this forum that the druid is a powerful class...so what am I not seeing? When I wildshape, the low AC gets me killed. I usually stick to the back and cast spells, but SR has kicked my butt on more than one occasion. The party is around 10th level, and we fight some pretty tough beasties, so a lot of them can make my saves. I've heard that a druid works best controlling the battlefield, but I worry that I'd limit our own melee fighters.

The party:
half hobgoblin samauri
vanaran cleric
vanaran wizard
human archer (of doom!)
human sort of archer, sort of melee fighter
seshayen fighter/soul drinker
me! elven druid

My animal companion has died, and I'll be aquiring a wolf as soon as I have the time to pray. My other interesting "feature" is my cohort, Demetrius. He's an 8th level rogue/sorceror mouse. It's a long story. He has limited use, since it's hard to get magic items for him and such, but he is the party lock and trapsmith, and against things with no SR, can do some decent sneak attack damage. I usually leave a few slots for healing spells
as I function as the party's auxillary healer. I have a low AC and can't hit much.

So what are your suggestions? What spells are must haves for the day? What items are at the top of the shopping list? Hints on tactics would be awesome, as I'm a bit behind the rest of the group, tactics wise.

I'm keen on being a part of yon powerful class. Help me figure out what I'm missing!

 

[Dimwhit]

Wilding armor, so you keep your armor bonus while wildshaped. Natural Spell feat. Most Druid spells can then be cast while in animal form. Memorize Barkskin, greater magic fang, and whatever else you want. Go with the bears as animals to shape in (brown, then dire when you can). Oh, and the multiattack feat is a nice bonus. Do all that, and you can have an AC in the low-to-mid 20s (or higher), 3 attacks all in the mid-20s for attack bonus, and damages totally well over 50 hp if you hit with all 3 attack (which, since they're all so high, happens a lot).

 

[Romnipotent]

change into something with thick hide (Natural AC), get Wilding armour that moulds to the new form, an animated shield, some ioun stones, and have fun. You can get a collar for the mouse, feet bracelets, ear piercings, and tail rings as well.

What edition of Vanara? 3e or 3.5? 3e then I say to it Cheesier than a King Island deli!
Tactics... hmmm, you sound like you're level 10+ which means Changing into a Polar bear or Dire Tiger (and pounce claw claw bite rake) to become a main combatant. Your AC should be around the 25's...
+1 dex +4 Natural +9 (+1 Enhanced, Wilding) Dragonhide Fullplate +1 Ioun Stone, any further and you need to do some book worming

 

[Tinner]

My other interesting "feature" is my cohort, Demetrius. He's an 8th level rogue/sorceror mouse. It's a long story. He has limited use, since it's hard to get magic items for him and such, but he is the party lock and trapsmith, and against things with no SR, can do some decent sneak attack damage.

Not to hijack the hread, but I really want to know more about the mouse.
Good luck with the druid. I've had similar results to what you metion.
The best route I can offer is to use your spells to control the terrain. When fighting a bunch of foes, Entangle can be great, as can the higher level spells that have similar effects ie. Wall of Fire, Spike Stones, etc. Freedom of Movement keeps you from causing problems with your allies.
Don't overlook excellent utility spells like Dispel Magic, and Commune with Nature.
If you can manage a touch attack, Poison can be a real threat. With the Natural Spell feat it's even worse. Bears with Poison attacks are fairly horrible.

Hope that helps.

Now let's hear about that mouse.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Also pro-con your animal companion. I've always been fond of the Crocodile, myself ... a little slow, but has a powerful melee attack (tail slap), wreaks havok in the water, and is low enough level to have all the fun extras from being an animal companion.

Or go with a Dire Weasel ... Con Damage is a pretty harsh attack. At low-mid levels I like to transform into a Dire Weasel as well and go for the TWIN WEASEL STRIKE. It's fun, if nothing else.

You get Flame Strike at a lower level than Clerics do, and it's a good AoE spell.

I like the swarm-summon spells, as swarms are a pain in the butt ... Summon Swarm is good for annoying low-Fort casters and plinking away their HP ... Insect Plague is a good AoE with a morphic area (as swarms have to occupy contiguous squares, but not form traditional square shapes).

You have to think a little more with the Druidic AoE and control spells because they're generally annoying to anybody in them and rather persistent ... but don't try to maximize your area of effect ... if your Entangle only has half of its area on the battlefield, but is consistently nerfing a back rank of archers, then it's much better than tossing it down in the middle of the room and forcing your own fighters to make saves every round. Same with the Spike Growth spells, etc etc.

--fje

 

[Legildur]

I play an elven Druid 12 in a home brew campaign. I tend to take spells that complement/supplement the cleric and sorceror. Flame Strike caps at 15d6 and is a 4th level spell. I'm about to take Sudden Maximise. The reduced area of effect compared with Fireball is sometimes advantageous. Spike Stones is wonderful as both a battlefield control spell, and as a way to protect your resting area (particularly when combined with Sudden Extend). I also take a few cure spells as an emergency healer (the cleric can't be everywhere) and to combat undead. Neutralise Poison also gets a workout, as does Lesser Restoration. However, most of my damage and battlefield control is through Summon Natures Ally, with the Augment Summons feat. Huge earth elemental, dire wolves with animal growth, something that flies or swims etc. It gets very messy, very quickly, and who cares about spell resistance then.

I don't go much for wildshaping, except to escape a grapple, scouting, or to make room (by flying). However, I have changed into a rhino a couple of times and charged for the bonus damage from their special attack. And I do have Natural Spell feat.

Equipment is bracers of armor, ring of protection, magical mighty composite longbow, and not much else.

He has certainly changed my party's view towards druids.

 

[Prism]

Wall of thorns is a great spell. Very hard to get out of (DC 25 Str check to move even 5'), completely shapeable to miss your allies, no save, no SR. Oh, and druids can walk through it freely so turn into a bear and go in

Summonings are good. SM IV to get a unicorn that can cure you and neutralize posion, or a brown bear for combat

Use your wildshape to scout if needed in addition to combat. As the others have said get natural spell

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Also pro-con your animal companion. I've always been fond of the Crocodile, myself ... a little slow, but has a powerful melee attack (tail slap)

As I've said before, obviously a misprint - no way should a Medium creature's tail slap do 1d12, especially when the bite is only 1d8. My guess is they copied it from the giant crocodile stat block.

The Improved Grab ability of crocodiles, bears, and pythons is useful, but keep in mind it only works on creatures at least one size smaller (so Animal Growth helps here). Dire lion's pounce and rhino's charge are also potent weapons.

Druids are ridiculously powerful if there are magic item shops with everything in the DMG and they are willing to patronize them. You'll have to decide if that fits with your conception of how a druid should act (if not, I'd suggest some Craft Item feats). If you do want to buy your items, the DM will have to decide if medium-sized dragonhide fullplate is available for the pittance that the DMG lists it as - after all, how many Colossal dragons have been slain in your world? I'd say it's absurd enough that you shouldn't count on your DM allowing it.

A low-level animal companion (e.g. horse or dog) will have a great AC and attract less attention but will have poor damage potential. Still, with the Share Spells ability, you're always better off keeping it within 5' of you than sending it off into combat without you.

 

[MonkeyDragon]

Thanks for the tips, everybody. I've definitely got some stuff to think about now.

Ahh, my mouse. Good old Demetrius. What happened with that, was, the very first time I played this character, it was as a one shot prequel to my joining the group (I was still away at school at the time). I was sent, along with the samauri, to clear out a bad wizard man who was sending nasty babboons at a village. We went to his house and started clearing it out, but the large ape thing turned on the wizard and killed him before we could. The ape also killed my first companion. On the way out, I saw a mouse hiding in the corner, and decided to talk to it. Turns out it was the wizard's familiar. I was nice to him and asked if he wanted to come with me, and he did. I took leadership, and my DM concocted a "liberated familiar" template. 8 class levels later, and all is well.

The goodness is a little give and take. On the plus side, he's pocket-sized. No one ever expects the mouse. And with weapon focus (ray), an excellent hide check, and sneak attack, he's pretty good with a ray of frost. On the down side, he cant actually participate in combat, and it's hard to demand a share of treasure for a mouse, so my own share has to finance anything he needs, anything I need, and anything my companion needs. Also, with only a few sorceror levels, he can't get through SR, and undead are tough. But I really like him. He adds a lot to my character.

 

[Hypersmurf]

On the plus side, he's pocket-sized. No one ever expects the mouse.

NOBODY expects the mouse! His chief weapon is pocket-size; pocket-size and rays... rays and pocket-size! His two weapons are rays and pocket-size, and an excellent hide check...! His three weapons are rays, pocket-size, and an excellent hide check, and sneak attack... His four... no... Amongst his weapons... amongst his weaponry... are such elements as rays, pocket-size... I'll come in again.

-Hyp.