level progression help please

[Teh Bandito]

i am making a monk/shifter (w/ druid levels of course) and i'm wondering if you guys have any suggestions on level progression.

my main forms will be dragon and constuct for melee and them maybe rak or other forms as convienient for spells and immunities

anyhow i am aiming for ki strike +5 so i'll need 19 or 20 levels of monk, and then i'll need enough levels of shifter to get all the (or as many as i can get) of the forms (dragon, construct, outsider, undead)

thanks for any help you can give

[Stratos]

I wonder if that kind of character is possible with those abilities. Ki Strike +4 and +5 are epic feats, IIRC, and requires an epic Monk. To get Construct Shape you need'll a WIS score of 27 and to get Dragon Shape you'll need a score of 30. Add to that that you need at least 5 levels of Druid before you can become a Shifter, and even if you start with 18 in Wisdom you'll still need to take several Great Wisdom feats as epic feats.

I tried a Druid/Shifter build a few days ago in a leveler. I started with a Druid with 18 Wisdom, went up to level five and then went on to become a Shifter until I had 10 Shifter levels and then had to take 5 more levels as a Druid to become an epic character. I putted every ability point into Wisdom and picked up several Great Wisdom feats, but it took until level 30 before I had enough Wisdom to get Dragon Shape. Of course, I did take all the other shape feats as well, so if you only want DA you might be able to get it earlier.

If you want to add Monk levels as well to this build, you'll hit the level 40 cap before you get an epic Monk, so I don't think Ki Strike +5 and Dragon Shape is possible. I might still be possible if you level up as a Monk more than a Shifter, but then you'll have to ignore some epic shapes and only aim for Dragon Shape.

[philip]

Originally posted by Stratos: but it took until level 30 before I had enough Wisdom to get Dragon Shape.

Did you use a periapt of wisdom? With +6 you have 24 WIS 5 increases till level 20 is 29 and one epic feat or another item could give you the last point.

[andrewas]

Only base ability scores count for feat prerequisites, bonuses from items do not apply.

[Stratos]

Yes, what andrewas said. Only base scores count for feats, spell levels etc. in NWN, that's why you need to plan from the very beginning if you intend to choose some epic feats as they require 25+ in ability scores.

A Druid 5/Monk 15/Shifter 20 is still a possible class combo. It have to be Lawful Neutral, though.

[philip]

Hmmm.. Must make tomes

So it counts for the number of spells you can cast under lvl 20 as well?

But I'm curious now, are there any mods you're playing with lvl 40 or is it all multiplayer?

[Teh Bandito]

its all multiplayer

the thing is, i tested it out and was able to get ki +4 and +5, but it requires almost 20 levels of monk, they are epic feats but only require epic character, not epic monk, specifically. you get ki +3 at 16 for monk, and then you need to time the last 2 feats with levels of monk, while taking shifter in between.

the reason why i feel monk is so important is because of damage reduction and attacks

without monk levels, unarmed forms get 3 attacks, while with monk levels they get 5. ki-strike helps to get past damage reduction, which if very important.

[ScottG]

hmm, sounds like a screw-up if monk bonuses bleed through to non-humanoid shift forms. I could see it for the undead shift form, but the others seem hinky..

If your considering this route (and it works) then think about 20 levels as a Monk and as a Druid with the shapeshift into a greater elemental with all the Monk bonuses (major cheese!) (picture the Fanstic Four's the THING..)