Druid

[Target]

Hi IW.

Been playing other games and I've now decided to come back to NWN's. I started the game when it first came out as a Barbarian, but now I would like to play though as a Druid, can I have some suggestion on how to build a powerful one, and what to put my points into, spells to pick, best familiar to take with me, etc and anything else that would help.
I don't really know what weapon/s to choose so some ideas there would be great as well.

Cheers

[Larry_OHF]

Whenever I have not known, I have always just chose the "recommended" button. If that is not "recommended" by the IW populace, I will be eager to see what gets posted here as much as you!

[Stratos]

I assume you want to play a pure class Druid...

Stats:
* Strength -A Druid is a good spellcaster and can be played as one, so a very high strength score is not really needed. You can later turn into various animals which can increase your strength, and you also get the Bull's Strength spell to boost this stat. 10-14 should be enough unless you want to melee alot.
* Dexterity -Druids only get the light and medium armour proficiency, and the lighter the armor you wish to use, the higher the dexterity score should be. If you intend to use medium and heavy armour, you don't need to spend many points on dex (around 12), although it will boost your low reflex saves.
* Constitution -A Druid has a d8 hit die, so you'll get a decent amount of Hp already, and there's always the Toughness feat. Regardless, Hp is good and Con. will boost your Concentration skill so don't forgo this stat. 14 or so should be enough, more if you want to fight melee alot.
* Intelligence -You already get 4 skill points per level and that is usually sufficient. Add here if you really want more skill points.
* Wisdom -By far the most important stat for the Druid as his spellcasting is based on it. It will determine which spells you can cast (11 Wis. for 1st level ones, 12 for 2nd level ones etc.) how hard they are to resist and how many bonus spells you get. Consider at least a starting wisdom score of 16 if you intent to use spells alot, and add points here whenever you can. A Druid can afford to do that.
* Charisma -There are only two class skills for the Druid that is based on charisma, Animal Empathy and Persuasion, so you don't need to boost this stat much. Personally I never go below 10 in any stat, but that's just me.

For an Animal Companion, the Dire Bear and Dire Wolf are good starting pets, and you can change whenver you level up. Personally I'm a fan of the Panther as it can do sneak attacks just like a Rogue and get Rogue feats such as Uncanny Dodge and Evasion. Draw the enemy towards you, or a summon or a henchman, and let the little kittie flank the enemies. It doesn't work on undead or constructs and the panther doesn't have that many Hp, so beware.

[ 04-12-2004, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[Stratos]

Spells to consider:

Lv. 0 ( cantrips)
Curer Minor Wounds and Resistance.
Cure Minor Wounds is good in the beginning and Resistance gives you a small bonus to all your saving throws.

Lv. 1
Cure Light Wounds, Summon Creature I, Magic Fang (SoU), Entangle and Grease.
Summon Creature I gives you an additional ally, and Magic Fang will boost your Animal Companions fighting ability, and will turn you pets claws into a +1 weapon making it able to punch through damage reduction. Enemies will eventually save against Grease and Entangle, but can be useful in the beginning especially since a Druid get immunity against these spells at lv. 2.

Lv. 2
Barkskin, Bull's Strength, Flame Lash, Lesser Dispel, Lesser Restoration, Summon Creature II.
Barkskin will enhance your AC and Bull's Strength your strength. Lesser Dispel will strip enemy spellcasters of their protection spells, and Lesser Restoration will get rid of unwanted penalties to you stats, AC, attack rolls or anything else that might have befallen you. Flame Lash is a direct attack spell that does fire damage, and if I'm not mistaken, it isn't capped or capped very high so it will continue to grow in strength as you level up.

Lv. 3
Call Lightning, Greater Magic Fang(SoU), Spike Growth(SoU), Quillfire(SoU).
Call Lightning is a good attack spell that does a good amount of damage to nearby enemies, and Greater Magic Fang is really an upgrade of the lv. 1 spell Magic Fang, and it grows in power as you progress in levels. Spike Growth will slow down and damage enemies, and while I haven't used it much myself; I've heard that Quillfire is a good spell. There also a healing spell, an elemental protection spell and a summoning spell on this level, but similar spells exist on other levels so I wont mention them further on. Just memorize them if you need them. Neutralize Poison and Remove Disease is also avaliable on this level.

Lv. 4
Stoneskin, Flame Strike and Dispel Magic.
Stoneskin will give y ou a much needed damage reduction of 10/+5 and Flamestrike will damage all in the area of effect with half divine and half fire damage. Allies will also take damage but only from the fire. Dispel Magic is just a more powerful version of it's lesser brother, and the latter might be enough for your needs.

Lv. 5
Awaken, Death Ward, Icestorm, Inferno(SoU), Owl's Insight(SoU), Slay Living, Spell Resistance and Vine Mine(HotU).
Lots of goodies here. [img]smile.gif[/img] Awaken will further enhance your Animal Companion, Death Ward will make you immune to any death spell or ability and Owl's Insight will boost you wisdom score by half your casters level; that's a 10 bonus at level 20 and will make your spells harder to resist. Icestorm will cause ice/bludgeon damage over a large area, and Inferno will cause fire damage to a single target. Slay Living will attempt to kill a living target, and even if they succeed their save, they'll still take some damage. Spell Resistance will give you a SR of 12 +1 per caster level, and Vine Mine let's you either cast Entangle, cut enemies movement speed in half or give you a bonus to hide checks.

Lv. 6
Drown(SoU), Greater Stoneskin, Regenerate and Stonehold(HotU).
Drown will attempt to drown a living target, and if they fail their save; die instantly. Greater Stoneskin is an improved version of Stoneskin, Regenerate will let you regenerate 6 Hp per round, although the duration isn't very long. Stonehold will encase everyone in it's area of effect in stone if they fail their save. Energy Buffer (elemental protection) and Greater Dispelling is also available on this level.

Lv. 7
Creeping Doom, Firestorm, Harm, Heal and True Seeing.
Creeping Doom will create a mass if biting insects over a large area, and anyone in it will take damage which will grow the longer they stay inside. Firestorm causes fire and divine damage over a large area, Harm lower living enemies Hp to 1d4 on a succesful touch attack, and Heal will fully restore the targets Hp. Heal and Harms effect will be reversed if used on undead ie. Heal will work as Harm and vice versa. True Seeing will allow you to spot enemies using a Sanctuary or Invisibility spell.

Lv. 8
Bombardment(SoU), Nature's Balance, Premonition, Sunbeam and Sunburst(SoU).
Bombardment will bombard enemies will falling rocks, Nature's Balance will lower your enemies spell resistance and heal your allies some, and Premonition is the most powerful version of the Stoneskin series of spells prior to epic levels. Sunbeam will cause great damage to undead, less so to other but can cause blindness instead. Sunburst is similat to Sunbeam, but instead of blinding living targets, it will instantly destroy Vampires of they fail a relex save.

Lv. 9
Earthquake(SoU), Elemental Swarm, Mass Heal, Shapechange.
Earthquake will cause damage to anyone caught within it's area of effect (except you), Elemental Swarm will summon a powerful elemetal to aid you, and if it dies before the spell expires; another will take it's place until four elementals have been summoned. Mass Heal is really just a Heal spell to covers a large area instead of just one single target, and Shapechange will allow you shift into either a red dragon, fire giant, balor, death slaad or iron golem. It might not be so useful at these high levels, though.

[ 04-12-2004, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[Target]

Wow, cheers Stratos, that's a great help!!
I like the sound of that Shapechange one
Looking forward to giving this a go, never really played anyone who can cast spells, usually gone for the biggest sword I can find, so this should be a nice challenge.
I think I'll play the OC first then go through SoU and HotU, might get to add in a privilege class as well.
Will have to think about what weapon to use, as I think some melee might be needed. Unless my Animal Companion, summoned creature and henchman can take care of the fighting…

[Target]

Oh and yes I want to play a pure class Druid

[Stratos]

A scimitar and a shield is a pretty good combo, but you can always pick Martial Weapon Proficiency if you want to.

[Target]

Cool, sounds like a good combo. Would you bother with a long-range weapon?

[ 04-13-2004, 10:43 AM: Message edited by: Target ]

[Timber Loftis]

Yes, do bother with a long-range weapon. Slings are good, and do blundgeoning damage. I carry around a magic bow, crossbow, and sling -- I found them and figure hanging onto all of them allows me to use any of the magic ammo types I've found.

As for the martial feat suggested, not a bad idea -- but I'd suggest just picking up a few levels of Ranger instead. You'll get a couple of hand feats that way. You'll also get the chance to spend some points on some different "class skills."

Out of the basic animal companions to choose from, I prefer the bear. Good HP, good attack, at the beginning of the game, it's a tank.

Oh, and Stratos mentioned a Druid being immune to grease and entanglement -- sorry, but IIRC it's only entanglement.

[Target]

I'll pick up some longrange weponds as well.
Daft question but what does IIRC mean?
Was just building my new Druid, and have Sou and HotU loaded onto my computer, I saw a few skills, creat armor/trap/wepond are they new traits and do they work in the OC?
Cheers