Two handed bear druid for starting out

CyclopsSlayer · Jun 19, 2023

Hmm, one question. in the Nature's Protector feats you go up the Ursa's line. Doesn't that require a shield equipped in Bear form, and a shield would prevent usage of the Falchion?

unbongwah · Jun 19, 2023

CyclopsSlayer said:
Doesn't that require a shield equipped in Bear form

Not anymore: "Tiers 3/4/5 - Nature's Protector - Ursa line's restriction has been updated to be usable by druids in bear form either using shield or wearing medium or heavy armor." The devs forgot to update the in-game tooltips, though.

CyclopsSlayer · Jun 19, 2023

unbongwah said:
Not anymore: "Tiers 3/4/5 - Nature's Protector - Ursa line's restriction has been updated to be usable by druids in bear form either using shield or wearing medium or heavy armor." The devs forgot to update the in-game tooltips, though.

AH! That explains it. Thank you.
Just getting back into DDO after a long time away and 'common knowledge' items aren't so common for me.

TelContar2246 · Aug 2, 2023

If going 18 Druid, 1 FvS, 1 Fighter. What order would you take the levels?

Contessor · Aug 2, 2023

I really cannot see the purpose of taking 1 warlock. 1 level of fighter allows you to take a third natural fighting feat (since you gain martial proficiency) plus another for the fighter level. Haste boost only cost 4 AP points to max as well, so you can drop the 8AP in Vistani, effectively adding 5 more AP to spend freely.

One could even argue that going 13-15 Druid/1 FVS/3-6Fighter might be an option. You would lose heal, but that’s not a big deal.

djaimgo68 · Aug 3, 2023

Warlock is for the proc off the aura and how it interacts with the Arcane Warrior feat.

I think this thread (https://forums.ddo.com/index.php?threads/looking-for-a-build-12-druid-base.379/) has a good explanation of the various trade-offs around how many Druid levels you want vs. other options via multi-classing. It's specific to Druid/Barb/FvS, but the Barb discussion also applies to using Fighter or any other class.

For Druid18/FvS1/Ftr1, I would go Druid 3 right off to get to Bear form. Mix Ftr level in when you want that feat to show up in the build and FvS when you have the 4 AP available to spend on Divine Will vs. when you want your spells that get the most out of Bear.

morningfrost · Aug 5, 2023

CyclopsSlayer said:
AH! That explains it. Thank you.
Just getting back into DDO after a long time away and 'common knowledge' items aren't so common for me.

I jump here to ask: can someone explain to me how animal shape works? Do you still use the weapon you have equipped? How does it work with unarmed fight? I'm very confused about this, my understanding was that natural fighting mean you use your claws.

unbongwah · Aug 5, 2023

morningfrost said:
I jump here to ask: can someone explain to me how animal shape works? Do you still use the weapon you have equipped? How does it work with unarmed fight? I'm very confused about this, my understanding was that natural fighting mean you use your claws.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Wild_Shape

The tl;dr summary is:

Your base [W] damage and critical threat range are based on your equipped weapon; any proc-on-hit damage effects from your weapon will also carry over. 1H weapons get 1x STR modifier to damage; 2H weapons get 1.5x STR modifier. [Stat substitution effects will carry over to animal form, e.g., Falconry's Killer Instinct.] Any weapon-specific feats you take like Improved Critical should match your equipped weapon. Generic bonuses to weapons will carry over to animal forms, but certain special attacks such as Stunning Fist or Quick Strike do not work for animals.
Natural Fighting are the only combat-style feats which directly affect beast shapes; SWF, TWF, Shield Mastery, etc. do nothing. [Elemental, Thorn, and Hive forms are still humanoid so they use regular weapons / combat styles.] Natural Fighting gives +4 to Melee Power, Physical Resistance Rating, and Doublestrike per feat (max of 3); for bear druids, they also boost Strikethrough and damage modifier (with 2H weapons). Instead wolves gain extra attack speed (+30%) from Winter Wolf form + Swift Hunter.

For a bear build like Strimtom's (or mine), you're only getting a +1 critical multiplier bonus from Nature's Warrior, so you should use a weapon with the widest available critical range, such as falchions or Sword of Shadows. This build takes advantage of Focused Wrath's +2 crit multiplier bonus and also the extra Strikethrough from Frenzied Berserker which carries over to bear form; though you need the THF feat chain to unlock the FB enhancements.

morningfrost · Aug 5, 2023

Thanks, this explains a lot!

Two handed bear druid for starting out

CyclopsSlayer

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unbongwah

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CyclopsSlayer

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TelContar2246

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Contessor

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djaimgo68

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morningfrost

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unbongwah

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morningfrost

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