Monk/Druid vs Barb/Druid

[Carnifex]

As the topic suggests:

A monk/druid obviously benefits tremendously AC wise from a single monk level, where's the Barb/Druid gets to rage, and use a vast array of weapons and armor at the expense of AC.

The Druid I'm looking for is focusing mainly on the spellcasting and I fail to see what the Barb/Druid has to offer that is more appealing than the Monk/Druid.

Even though shapeshifting is weak, is that reason enough to go barb/druid and wade into melee swinging a poleaxe of doom once you're outta spells, rather than shift into something and bring alot more AC to the table as well ?

And no, I won't be using the Shapeshifting MOD that's out there.

//Carnifex

[Klorox]

I'd vote for Monk1/Druid.

If you want to go super cheese, add a level of Cleric of Bane.

[kmonster]

The best choice is pure druid.

[Crenshinibon]

Because item bonuses stack with the shapeshifted forms, wouldn't it be better to pool all your points into Wisdom and still receive a good AC while at the same time getting a decent combat ability? It doesn't equal to Mordaniken's Sword mind you, but it's still something.

[Carnifex]

*this was supposed to be in another post*

[Carnifex]

Originally Posted by kmonster

The best choice is pure druid.

What would a lvl30 druid have over a monk1/druid29 except for marginally higher DCs ? That doesn't seem to outweigh monk wisdom bonus AC to me, but then again, the IWD2 ruleset is quite *different* from what I'm used to.

I've mostly built characters under the nwn1/nwn2 rulesets, but the ability to create your whole party appeals to me, and who doesn't love IE games in general ?

[Aerich]

Faster level progression as a druid. A druid 7 will have the same XP as a druid6/monk1.

If you aren't going to get the shapeshift mod, I'd pick a level (or 4) of fighter over monk levels or barbarian levels. A bit of extra AC while shapeshifted doesn't help all that much (a lot of the shapes are kind of weak for the level at which you achieve them), but the movement bonus is ok. I'm not big on Rage, either, since it wears off and becomes a liability (because of the subsequent fatigue) in a fight of any consequence. Again the movement is ok, as is the bit of extra HP.

If you really want a mix-in class, how about fighter? It won't hurt your BAB, it'll give you an extra feat (GSF: Evocation and Transmutation are good for druids, as are Spirit of Flame and Scion of Storms), and allow to use whatever weapons and armour you want. You can make your druid a very good melee attacker with 4 levels of fighter and specialization if you wish (recommended 18 Str and specialization in a two-handed weapon proficiency like Polearms). Save most or all of the fighter levels until after you hit 20 lvls of druid, though.

[Carnifex]

Originally Posted by Aerich

Faster level progression as a druid. A druid 7 will have the same XP as a druid6/monk1.

If you aren't going to get the shapeshift mod, I'd pick a level (or 4) of fighter over monk levels or barbarian levels. A bit of extra AC while shapeshifted doesn't help all that much (a lot of the shapes are kind of weak for the level at which you achieve them), but the movement bonus is ok. I'm not big on Rage, either, since it wears off and becomes a liability (because of the subsequent fatigue) in a fight of any consequence. Again the movement is ok, as is the bit of extra HP.

If you really want a mix-in class, how about fighter? It won't hurt your BAB, it'll give you an extra feat (GSF: Evocation and Transmutation are good for druids, as are Spirit of Flame and Scion of Storms), and allow to use whatever weapons and armour you want. You can make your druid a very good melee attacker with 4 levels of fighter and specialization if you wish (recommended 18 Str and specialization in a two-handed weapon proficiency like Polearms). Save most or all of the fighter levels until after you hit 20 lvls of druid, though.

I'll consider your idea of a fighter mix-in, I guess a polearm will bring more hurt once he's outta nukes than a shapeshift would.

//Carnifex

[kmonster]

Originally Posted by Carnifex

What would a lvl30 druid have over a monk1/druid29 except for marginally higher DCs ? That doesn't seem to outweigh monk wisdom bonus AC to me

You loose a full caster level. Especially in normal mode when you won't reach more than level 17 each caster level helps a lot, both in terms of spells you can cast and their level depending spell effects. One party member getting an AC bonus isn't as useful as having additional powerful spellcasting options available to help the party.
At higher levels in HoF mode the AC bonus is considered irrelevant since the monsters will hit you anyway so it's not even as useful as the BAB you don't get for a monk level. So even at level 30 the pure druid can hold his own. But it doesn't matter anyway since even in HoF mode you won't reach level 30 unless you cheat or exploit.

[Klorox]

Let me add to my Monk vote: I wouldn't take that monk level until you've hit a nice plateau as a Druid. I usually like adding another class after getting Static Charge... it's an awesome spell.

I also squat until a new spell level is available, so that usually means every 2 caster levels.