Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Summary:

Say that 3 times fast.

Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1233113024|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Occam's Razor: All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.

I've tried (and failed miserably) in the past to change the hotbar to where it is still active while Wildshaped.

Driving home tonight it hit me (and then I hit myself for not thinking of this sooner): screw the hotbar.

We have the tools (especially with the expansion) to do our own bar with action buttons. Each could be tied to a feat (and made invisible when the player doesn't have the feat) that executes the feat (Do the action, stupid).

One known issue would be that you need to have a target selected for the GUI to work (when it fires an attack/use feat action, you need someone to use it on).

So… in the spirit of better later than never: What would be the top 10 feats you wish you could use while Wildshaped.

Off the top of my head: (Improved) Knockdown, Dragon's Breath, Whirlwind, Elephant's Hide, Touch of Healing (mine), (Improved) Disarm, Expose Weakness, HiPS, Acidic Splatter (mine), Clap of Thunder (mine).

Last edited on 1233113044|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Kaedrin + Show more

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

sly_1 1233114226|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

woah dude being able to ikd in wild shape would pwn. any chance of including this, at least for appropriate abilities, for polymorph?

ie in polymorph maybe you are not supposed to cast spells (that is restricted to druids using natural spell iirc) so maybe you can't use the reserve feats. But maybe you can use ikd, disarm, hips, etc?

Imo this is starting to get into territory that the prc hak from nwn1 could never get into. The next step is custom gui's for spellcasting classes blackguard, assasin, etc, that look and work exactly like the existing spellbooks for druid, cleric, sorcerer etc!

Sorry, nothing really to add in the way of feat suggestions for you just wanted to express my enthusiasm! :)

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1233118533|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Dragon Form would also be able to breath every 15s as well. ;)

Well, I could do spellbars for the custom spellbooks but the problem is I *really* lack the knowhow to make the icons show how many uses are left (if you even can, which I don't know). Worst case you keep the feat versions on the quickbar for the counter and each use of the gui bar decrements the appropriate feat. Honestly though, adding 20 spells for even just 1 class would be 20 buttons on a GUI. That's a LOT to always be on the screen (even with a close button you can bring back up via a feat).

So realistically I'm not inclined to fight for GUI real estate to do spellbooks (*cough*, for stock stuff).

The first "test" of this is going to be Energy Substitution. You click from one of 5 buttons (normal, 4 elements) and that sets a localvar on the user. Then the energy spells check that localint and deal the appropriate damage type. Eventually they will use the correct vfx as well (actual acid fireballs, electrical ice storms, cold meteor swarms).

Such a "gui bar" can also be used for a *cough* MoMF bar that has all the shapes on it at once (instead of fighting with 5 feats).

It's got a lot of possibilities but screen real-estate is only so big AND this can have an impact on any other mod that changes the GUI. It doesn't so far (that I know of).

If I did support arcanes it would probably be a different bar. However, as has been pointed out to me to death, Arcane forms are soooo much stronger than wild forms so why should I boost arcane forms further? (Not a slam against anyone, but a strong complaint by quite a few about wasting time on druids).

Last edited on 1233119690|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Kaedrin + Show more

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Giant2005 1233119784|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Barbarian Rage, Sacred Flames (Sacred Fist), Blazing Aura and Feint would be useful imo, if you are doing the same for polymorph-type spells, Eldritch Blast is a must!

Doesn't HiPS already work when shifted?

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1233121102|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I don't use HiPS (nor rogues) so I didn't know how it worked. I just test rogue prcs, hips is a constant/internal feat. ;)

Rage? Really? I've never seen a druid/wildshape build with barb in it since every one of their class features is worthless compared to forms and technically there is a spell that duplicates rage.

The SF abilities I can see though I doubt many druids go heavy monk? You need at least 13 druid to get Dire forms, 12 druid for plant, and 16 for elemental.

I thought Feint was more for pure rogues? Bluff isn't a class skill for Druids/Rangers though there is always able learner.

Edit: Eldritch Blast isn't touchable since it's a spell.

Last edited on 1233121227|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Kaedrin + Show more

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Giant2005 1233129973|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Well Barb/Druid combos would actually be pretty useful if you could rage while Wildshaped - a shaper's biggest problem is trying to get a decent AB. Considering rage stacks with other bonuses, Barb levels would be a good choice for that very feature, plus the DR, high BAB, high HPs and movement speed would never hurt for a shaper to have. Would also make some of those Barb/Divine hybrid PRCs a cool feature to add (I'm pretty sure they exist but I don't have any books on me).

The main Druid shape I use is the Winter Wolf which only requires Druid 10 (or Lion of Talisid 8) adding 13 levels of Monk to the build wouldn't be so bad if you could use Blazing Aura. BA's wis requirement which is usually a killer in anyh melee build isn't a problem for a shaper so it would actually have a use for once beyond Shuriken, the Monk AC and Greater Flurry are already great benefits to a Shaper and with Improived KD and Expose Weakness being usable (What about stunning Fist?) more Monk levels is going to be a reasonable choice. Adding Blazing Aura to the mix would benefit a Shaper heaps considering they generally have a huge Wisdom score. Druid 10 and Monk 13 still leaves 7 levels to play with which isn't so bad - I have a few ideas in mind for the Monk heavy shaper that would have potential.

You are probably right about Feint, it won't get a lot of use. I have some builds with 5 Invisible Blade levels that still wouldn't even use it, Feint sucks so badly it isn't a huge priority for any build BUT if I were going to make a feinter, I would like it to be a Shaper. As a Shaper I could boost my Charisma without sacrificing my AB and have a Bluff skill high enough to make Feint (almost) worth using. With Charisma being a potential primary stat, what about making Divine Shield usable? With Sirine's Grace and the upcoming Verdant Prince, adding Divine Shield to the mix would be truely awesome.

To summarise: Unless there is a heap of work involved and you really do need to keep the list short, I'd still like the feats I suggested to be included (I don't care as much about Feint if it is time consuming) but I would like to add Stunning Fist and Divine Shield to the mix (again, not so much for the Divine Shield if it is time consuming - and I think even I would feel kind of cheesy maxing out my charisma and adding it to my AC three times…).

To summarise my summary: My preference for feats to be usable in Wildshape would go in this order with most desired at the start:
Oaken Resilience
Expose Weakness
(Improved) Knockdown
Stunning Fist
Barbarian Rage
Sacred Flames
Blazing Aura
(Improved) Disarm
Elephant's Hide
Feint
Touch of Healing
Divine Shield
Acidic Splatter
Clap of Thunder
Dragon's Breath
Whirldwind (Can't imagine many Druids bothering to meet the requirements for this one)

I also took the liberty of adding Oaken Resilience to the list, don't worry I won't do a "to summarise the summary of my summary" paragraph.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Gregory (guest) 1233218841|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Lion's swiftness would seem to be a good one to add.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

nicethugbert 1233265646|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Fiery Burst
Storm Bolt
Toxic Gift
Holy Warrior
Battle Dancer
Fiery Fist
Fiery Ki Defense

EDIT: Canaith Lyrist opens up bard/druid builds and dagger spell shaper opens up rogue/druid builds and SF opens up monk/druid builds so any feat a monk, rogue, or bard might use is worth considering.

Last edited on 1233266111|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By nicethugbert + Show more

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

purtellfr 1234852198|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

So I guess in order to get Dragon's Breath working every 15sec you will need Dragon Shape first.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1234878145|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Yes

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kunikos (guest) 1234891150|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Combat Feats:
Taunt
Whirlwind
Stunning Fist
Knockdown

All Racial Abilities (Planetouched and Underdark races)

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kunikos (guest) 1234893395|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

After thinking about it some more I guess racial abilities don't make sense, unless it's an ability of the form you are switching to.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

purtellfr 1234904317|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

In order to get Dragon Breath you will need a lot of planning.
Because to get Dragon Shape it already does take a lot of planning an you usually get it at 29th level.
This means you'll need to get Dragon Shape at 27 in order to get Dragon Breath at 29th level.

Ishhhh

Gotta change my build now to make it work…

Witch feat to remove in order to get the Breath ???

Interesting…

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kunikos (guest) 1234909576|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

purtellfr: post a build in the builds forum if you make one, I'm curious

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1234911351|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

You get Dragon Breath for free as part of Dragon Shape. You won't need to waste any feats on the ability. I'm not sure what gave you guys the impression that you would have to waste feats to take racial abilities.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

purtellfr 1234911600|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

For now Dragon Shape doesn't have the Dragon Breath ability yet…

I thought it was the same feat as DD from 3rd level or so.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1234911818|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

No, not even close. The damage is much, much higher and it's only a cooldown instead of 1 use/day.

I'll more than likely need to code up the functionality for it if the existing breath's won't work (haven't tested them yet).

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1235435694|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I believe I have the last piece of the puzzle so a wildshape gui, energy substitution gui, and custom spellbooks are good to go. When I find time of course. =)

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

purtellfr 1243733568|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Cant wait for all of this. Druid's will Rock once again…

Fear not my friends..

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

nicethugbert 1243848565|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

The time is now! Strike while the iron is hot! It's what Chuck would do.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

sly_1 1243869070|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Oh hey regarding the limited real estate why not implement solutions like nwn1 and nwn2 to increase the # of slots without increasing the size of the toolbar?

ie in nwn1 there was 1 bar, when you press the shift button it reveals a new row, when you press ctrl it reveals a 3rd row, thus giving you 3x the total # of rows. In nwn2 obviously there are 10 rows you press shift + 1-0 to access or manually cycle through to get to the row you want.

I liked the nwn1 system but imo all these solutions are fine, if you don't want to gobble up/clutter the screen with your gui make it like the nwn1 bar or the nwn2 bar with multiple rows!

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1244149882|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I'm fairly certain the UI isn't THAT responsive.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

purtellfr 1245381580|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

What will be the the initials Feats available with your new GUI ???

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1246225258|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

To be determined.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Dra'vex (guest) 1249209484|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

What about Elemental Essence being on the list? It's already tied to Wildshape.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Kaedrin 1249317854|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

All of the feats tied to wildshape uses/day will be updated for it.

Re: Druids using feats while Wildshaped

Soranar (guest) 1250224652|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

kaedrin you can get a lof of decent druid forms from only 10 levels of druid, or even just 8 of talisid

magical beasts only require wildshape 4 times a day (and they're not so bad since you get more feats and abilities to use with them)

for example

Monk 11/ cleric 1 (domain animal) or druid 1/SF10/ Lion 8

build would be great since you'd get improved knockdown from 11 monk , greater flurry, +5 AC , spellcaster 17 and monk wis ac bonus

I take cleric to prevent alignment changes and to use a wis +2 (grey orc)

would that mean you could use divine might and divine shield too? just a thought

but for now most of the best builds is just monk1 / druid 29 with maybe a few nature's warrior in there