So, druids are powerful, eh?

[Rashak Mani]

What makes Druids powerful is their Summon Monsters converting spells !

Their summon list is quite good. Dire Bat as a 2nd lvl spell ! Summoned animals might be kept away by a Protection from X spell... but don't care about Spell Resistance for example. Summoned Animals might have good Grapple abilities for example.

Druids compared to mages can actually survive melee combat if they must... or when the spells are running low. Wildshape is great not only for combat... but for spying and escape too. Druids are powerful in 3.5

 

[Legildur]

I feel sorry for all DMs who feel they MUST run the summoned creatures themselves. I let the player handle it, and the player is the one who has to keep track of the stats, just like a long-term NPC companion.

I agree. However, a player has to be careful not to play the animals too smart, otherwise I could see why the DM may take over. Other players in my group often say 'make your summoned dire wolf go there' or similar (like a 5ft adjustment to enable another player to charge). While wolves can be tactically clever when fighting with other wolves to support them, I decline to allow similar tactics when fighting alongside humanoids.

I also typically don't commit my animal companion to battle unless the situation is dire, or relatively safe. Once again, the other players often want my riding dog to help out, but I decline as I don't want to unnecessarily risk my companion.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

Yeah. If you read my previous post my character is currently in the arena. In this arena true rez is free to all contestants who die. I have been abusing my unicorn and it has gotten eaten and killed and near death almost all the time, but you can bet outside the arena I’m going to keep that unicorn as safe as possible. You can bet letting a unicorn die on your watch won’t go well on your revere nature resume.