Shadows of Undrentide - Druid thoughts

Remove all ads!

I hate summoning and avoid it wherever possible because then I get less XP (which I still think is a crappy rule).

 

Sorry, I worked with an animal companion 90% of the time (finished lvl. 13), and it wasn't much of a problem. Sneak attack lvl. 4 or 5 can do miracles when you are getting the beating and you've got a little kitty beside you. Of course, it does presume that you have a little constitution too, and works best if you're a good enough level to get stoneskin (which level are you, total?). Aside from that... let's put it this way - dead summons don't cost you exp.

[ July 13, 2005, 16:16: Message edited by: The Shaman ]

 

I am currently Druid 6 / Shifter 1

 

HB, that manticore is a real SOB. I had to reload heaps of times before I could knock him over, and even then it was tough. You just have to make sure he can't keep tossing those tail spikes because they'll shred you in a couple of seconds. Dorna had to sneak attack about 5 times to get any significant damage through. I almost considered throwing out my familiar as a meat shield to get past him...

I'm at about the same point in my first run through SoU - I've opted for a dual-wielding human Fighter 4 / Sorceror 1 / Red Dragon Disciple X (currently 2).

 

I'm drawing a blank. Where is the manticore?

 

The manticore is in the area where I continually get the message "stinger tracks abound in this area"

 

Nothing like a factually accurate, but completely useless answer

 

Sorry, it's just after you first arrive in the desert and you have to go chasing stingers to find the one guy who knows his way across the desert.

 

Oh, now I remember. It is in the stinger caves and their is a cut-scene before you fight it. I guess it depends on the character. My sorcerer and Dorna had no trouble beating it.

 

Right. I thought the cut-scene was a nice touch. And that encounter was one of the most difficult fights in the game (taking into account the low level and so forth). So, i would still use a summon, Harbourboy. After all, what's the point of being a druid if you cannot call allies when the going gets really tough

If I remember correctly, the tactic I used was to turn on the Expertise feat and engage the manticore in melee. I could not hit it, but it could not hit me either (cleric with high AC) - and what damage got through I could heal. Xanos and a summon kicked the stuffing out of it.

 

HB, actualy, I went the full Shifter route, but I used the (Improved) Expertise feats. My conclusion was that I only used the Wyrmling shapes, as the other shapes just got beaten to craps. Improved Expertise is amasing when using breath weapon, since there is no attack roll on it. I suggest you get at least to level 4 in Shifter to get unlimited use of your wyrmling shapes, as they are about your most potent non-epic shapes. The epic shapes are cool, but I don't know whether you need to actually be an epic shifter to get them, though I suspect you do.

 

The character i've had most problems killing him with would be my soloing archer... and well, there's nothing that you can't kill with enouth potions ^^

And some less useful for SoU but still nice to know:
To get epic shifts, all you need is enouth wisdom and 5 levels of druid...
Dragon shape requires 30 wis.
Outsider shape requires 25 wis.
I'm not sure about the others, but 30 is the most.

 

Bah. The only way I found to kill the manticore was to change the difficulty level. The manticore has the ability to kill you in a couple of hits no matter where you are in the room so I just got wasted using any other strategy.

Now we're back fighting zombies again. It's just like Shaun of the Dead.

 

I must be really useless at this game because I'm finding the fights to be really difficult. I tried a dozen times to get past the Skeleton Blackguard but in the end, the only thing that worked was putting the difficulty down to the lowest level. Otherwise, he just smashed me up in a 2 or 3 hits.

 

I think it might be the Druid. Without using Summons (and I know the XP penalty sucks, but it's arguably even worse for Rangers) you're basically stuffed. My Fighter/Champion of Torm munchkin-build (yes: he dual-wields kukris, and no: I don't have any shame ) managed both these bits at the second time of asking (basically, when I knew what was coming). Dorna was my henchdwarf on both occasions, and weighed in with pre-combat buffs of Aid and Bless, as well as sneak attack damage from that massive acid-dripping Halberd you can nab from a stinger officer.

As a druid, you'll basically have to bite the bullet and summon some fodder for difficult battles. You don't have the HPs to tank or the out-and-out damage output to take him down straight off. And if you get narked about the -20% XP penalty, bear in mind that warriors are worse off at low levels, receiving huge XP penalties all the time, until about level 7~8 (I think; someone who knows more about how NWN allocates XP can confirm / correct this - I just try and piece it together from the dialog window). That's why Rangers suffer particularly badly - they're warriors, but rely upon stuff like Animal Empathy and their Animal Companion to help tank and deal damage at the same rate as the pure fighter would on his lonesome. You can, at least, take comfort from receiving a "spellcaster's bonus" to the XP you receive.

 

Maybe that is the problem. I find that every out and out melee battle is a struggle but Call Lightning is the only spell that can do any real damage. Deekin does his best to help but he always 'dies' soon after the battle starts. I now have 2 levels of Shifter but I find that the Red Wyrmling form doesn't seem that effective (it doesn't seem to do enough damage to get past damage reduction and it doesn't get all the attacks it needs at this level. Plus the breath weapon takes forever to warm up so I always get smashed before it has a chance to do any damage.) So I have effectively given up 2 levels of Druid, with the associated high level spells to get some new shapes that aren't much use. Let's hope that the 3rd level shapes are a bit better.

 

HB, do you have the expertise feat? My experience with the shifter is that no matter your shape, you will get hit alot, unless you have that feat. But the feat is only usefull if you have a non-ab dependant attack, like a breath weapon.

One point is, never forget to buff, even when you shapeshift. You really should get Stoneskin. That will help you through alot of battles. And also, if you use shapeshifting, you should take a slightly different approach to what equipment to wear. Since all AC bonusses on your equipment are changed to the same type, they no longer stack when shapeshifted, hence, having more than only an armor piece providing bonus is useless. You should read the very good faq about Shifters which should be on this site. It details very well what bonusses get added to your shape and how.

The problem with the Druid is you need your buffs, always. Never go anywhere without them. Most last long enough to cast them right after resting anyway.

 

Yeah, I'm so bored of casting Barkskin and Bull's Strength every five minutes.

But just reached my 3rd shifter level and the Minotaur seems to be fairly useful so far.

 

I second Imp. Expertise advice. I always take these two feats right off when playing a shifter, or even a pure druid at that. There are too many cool abilities you're missing if your AC is to low to actualy use them effectively.

This is probably what Meatdog is talking about. I found it of great help planning out my Shifter's career a while back


When i went through i had no problems with the manticore, i probably tanked in Shifted form with imp. expertise enabled while Dorna and my companion bashed him.
Dont remember how it went with the Blackguard skeleton though. In my latest game with a sorceress i found him exceedingly tough. Used some staff with high-lvl flame arrow spell to destroy him.

 

I also find traps to be very annoying for the Druid / Shifter to have to deal with.