Being Everything:

Eggynacks Comprehensive Druid Handbook

The Basics
Introduction
The Rating Guide
Filling Roles
Ability Scores
Class Features
Race
Templates
Skills
Feats
Summoning
Wild Shape
Animal Companion
Casting
Initiate Feats
Miscellaneous

Core Only
Magic Items
Cheap
Moderate
Expensive
Prestige Classes
Dip Options
Various Variants
Alternate Class Features
Flaws
Traits
Gestalt
Spells (0th-4th)
Zeroth Level
First Level
Second Level
Third Level

Fourth Level
Spells (5th-9th)
Fifth Level
Sixth Level
Seventh Level
Eighth Level
Ninth Level
Summons
Summon Natures Ally I
Summon Natures Ally II
Summon Natures Ally III
Summon Natures Ally IV
Summon Natures Ally V
Summon Natures Ally VI
Summon Natures Ally VII
Summon Natures Ally VIII
Summon Natures Ally IX
Animal Companion

To Advance or Swap?
Animal Companion Abilities
Feats
The Warbeast Template
Starting Options
Fourth Level
Seventh Level
Tenth Level
Thirteenth Level
Sixteenth Level
Nineteenth Level
Wild Shape
Level Five
Level Eight (Large)
Level Nine
Level Twelve (Plant)
Level Thirteen
Level Fifteen (Huge)
Level Sixteen (Elementals)
Level Eighteen

Level Twenty (Huge Elementals)

Alternate Wild Shape Forms
Aberration Forms
Dragon Forms
Shifters
Racial Abilities
Shifter Traits
Saurian Shifters
Shifter Substitution Levels
Moonspeaker
Shifter Feats
Miscellaneous Shifter Stuff
Exalted Druids
Vow of Poverty
Exalted Feats
Being a Saint
Acknowledgments
FAQ

Reshys Planar Shepherd Mini-Handbook

Wild Shape
Wild shape is either the second or third best druid ability, depending on where you
place summoning, and it is ridiculously vital to the way druids operate. Given a 16
hour adventuring day, the long duration of wild shape means that you have the
capacity to be in a form other than your own most of the time by level 6, all of the
time by level 7, and actually all of the time, including nights, by 8. Given the high
power level of alternate forms, this means that the various monsters scattered
throughout various books are going to inform your physical stats and abilities to a
far greater extent than the work you do on the base druid will. Wild shape form
choice isnt nearly as critical as spell selection, but once you have a good spell list
in front of you, acquiring a strong stable of forms is a critical next step if youre
trying to maximize your druid power.

Of Bears and Bats

When working with wild shape, especially animal forms, there are two main
philosophies that apply. The first, and it is the better known of the two, is the way
of the bear, named after that most iconic of wild shape forms, the brown bear. This
philosophy tends to be one of the first things you see when seeking out druid
optimization advice, and it usually takes the form of the now somewhat memetic
slogan, You are a bear, riding a bear, that shoots bears. In general, as it applies to
wild shape, this means taking on forms, including the bear but certainly not limited
to it, with high strength, a good attack routine, and some strong combat
maneuvers, like pounce or grapple. In a broader sense, this means making wild
shape your primary mode of encounter problem solving, and setting your casting
subservient to wild shape, in the form of buffs, both long and short term. The big
benefits to this philosophy are that its very direct, taking out opponents in a
fashion which, due to the mass of potential forms, can adapt to various situations,
and that it doesnt pull much from daily resources, as you dont necessarily have to
even cast a spell in an encounter to find victory. It has also been said that this path
is the one that suits a druid best, and that alternate plans could be better
accomplished by a different class
The second path, and it is the one I favor, is the way of the bat, named after the
king of this style of druidry, the desmodu hunting bat. In contrast to the way of the
bear, the way of the bat dictates that you make casting your primary mode of
encounter problem solving, and set wild shape subservient to casting, in the form of
abilities that are beneficial for magic use. The big quality youre looking for here is
flight, enabling you to keep away from enemy combatants, but youre also looking
for high AC, in order to protect you from attacks that do manage to come your way,
and high dexterity, for both initiative and ranged (touch) attack purposes. The big
benefits to this philosophy are that you get to make maximum use of your most
potent class feature: casting, and that you reduce your risk a lot by staying out of
the way of direct combat. There is much to be gained by using wild shape as a
platform for magic use, and it is one of the biggest things that druid casting brings
to the table over the casting of the class competitors.

So, which path should you take? In many ways, this is a matter of preference more
than anything, but thats not a particularly helpful answer. Instead, I would advise
going down the way of the bat for the most part, destroying your opponents with
magic, and then swapping over to the way of the bear if and when you run low on
magical resources. The main idea here is that you shouldnt feel the need to be
particularly constrained by one mode of thought, and should instead keep both
paths in mind, such that you can take the best path in every combat.

Becoming Familiar with Familiarity

During your tenure as a druid, youve likely noticed the following highly problematic
line: The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with. So, the
question becomes, what is familiarity, and how do you get it? The answer to those
questions is that no one can say for sure. These terms werent really defined
anywhere, and there have been many arguments in the past about just how much
you need to do before you can access a wild shape form. However, my research into
the topic has revealed a solution to the problem, nestled on page 26 of the rules
compendium. There, it says, The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid
has seen or could reasonably know about. This rule supports both commonly used
avenues to familiarity, which are knowledge (nature) rolls and just seeing the
creature in question.

In this fashion, we arrive at a significantly easier problem to solve, which is how to

accomplish one of those two things. By far, the easier of the two methods is
pumping knowledge (nature), which is effective for both animals and plants, and if
youve picked up the ability somehow, vermin. Reaching the target score, which for
identifying a monster is 10+HD, is trivial. The real goal is hitting 14 by level five (or
15 by level six, if youre waiting for natural spell to start transforming), because
thats the maximum HD of a creature you can become at that level, and after that
simple skill boosting will carry you through all levels. At level five, you start with a
base score of 8, boosted to 10 by nature sense. That leaves four points, which can
be gained in any number of ways. As a quick list, a positive intelligence mod, 5
ranks in survival for a +2 synergy bonus, and a masterwork tool for a +2
circumstance bonus are all rather easy to gain by level five. The second method,
actually seeing the animal in question, is somewhat more campaign and DM
dependent than the knowledge method. One useful trick is using summon natures
ally spells to summon an animal, and using that animal to gain the requisite
familiarity. Animal companions can also potentially fill knowledge holes in this
manner. You certainly cant learn everything youd want in this manner, but its a
handy trick if theres crossover between your wild shape desires and your other
abilities.

Enhance Wild Shape

While this spell was certainly mentioned in the context of, yknow, spells, it is by its
very nature a thing critical to high end wild shape optimization. To restate the
effect, what this spell does is it enables access to a creatures extraordinary special
qualities. And there are a lot of good or great extraordinary special qualities. On
animals, these tend to come in the form of alternate vision modes, with scent
extremely common, and blindsense available. On plants, things become a good deal
more varied, with a vast array defensive abilities like regeneration, fast healing, and
various immunities. If you expand out beyond traditional forms, making use of
aberration wild shape, then this spell just does everything, ranging from multiple
actions a round to crazy defenses to equally crazy vision modes. The main point is,
Im going to be mentioning this spell all over this section of the handbook,
whenever theres an extraordinary special quality worth grabbing hold of, and its
good idea to have a basis for what youre dealing with.

Level Five
Barracuda (Storm, 166): The barracuda, as aquatic forms go, is a lot like the
medium shark mentioned below. You have the same 60 ft. swim speed, which is a
big asset, and in exchange for dropping to 14 AC, and losing a bit of oomph on your
bite attack, you pick up a +1 to dexterity, which gives you better initiative, touch
AC, and ranged touch attacks, along with sprint, which enables you to charge three
times your speed instead of two. These two forms are very similar in power level,
but of the two, the barracuda is probably more useful, because it works better at
druid preferred long ranges in exchange for combat utility. Its not like the shark
form was enabling you to be a melee powerhouse anyway, so youre really just
sacrificing the occasional somewhat better attack on the margins, and even in that
role sprint might very occasionally do some work.

Black Bear: With three natural attacks, and 19 strength to capitalize on those
attacks, the black bear appears to be a solid option for beatstickery before you gain
access to large forms. Its not a claim that is inaccurate in excess, as this offensive
power is of a sort not generally available at these levels. However, the black bear
suffers from a couple of major issues that make it a non-ideal choice of wild shape
form. The biggest problem with the black bear is how horribly low its AC is. With a
total of 13, a druid in black bear form is unlikely to withstand the brunt of an
opposing melee attack. This problem can be mitigated through intelligent buff and
item use, particularly luminous armor and a monks belt, but youre still running a
pretty low AC, especially compared to other medium options. The second problem is
the general dearth of non-damaging combat options. Unlike the brown bear, the
black bear lacks improved grab, which was the brown bears sole contribution on
the combat maneuver front. This is a problem that is not so easily solved through
tricks that are easily accessed by druids, and the distance you have to go for
efficient tricks is too far for what you get out of it. All in all, while the black bear is
one of the more efficient melee options for its level, the black bear is not an
efficient melee option when compared to the other things youre capable of doing..
While a buff and kill strategy is a feasible one, it is by no means the best strategy
available when you gain it.

Deinonychus: The deinonychus is one of the best core medium beatstick forms
available, easily beating out the black bear, and even providing decent competition
for the fleshraker in some ways. The strongest aspect of the deinonychus is easily
the attack routine, launching four reasonable natural attacks and doing so on a
pounce. You even get a 60 foot move speed such that you can perform that pounce
from a good distance away. The second major aspect of the deinonychus, and the
thing that puts it above many other core options like the black bear, is that it has
an AC of 17, which while not the best out there, is certainly high enough that you
wont get hit all the time. There is a major disadvantage to the deinonychus
though, especially when compared to the fleshraker, and that is that you dont get
any combat maneuvers to use during your pounce, so youre not really doing
anything but damage. Really, between that, the lack of poison, and the lower AC,
its almost never going to be correct to choose the deinonychus over the fleshraker.
Still, if you happen to not have access to the fleshraker, either due to book
limitations, or because the fleshraker was directly banned for its insanity, then this
should be your go-to form for face consumption.
Desmodu Hunting Bat (MM II, 65): The desmodu hunting bat represents what is
easily the best flying form, the best defensive form, and maybe even the best form
in general, out of medium choices. It has been mentioned numerous times in this
handbook, in conjunction with any number of spells and abilities, and now we arrive
at the form itself. The first major aspect of the bats power is their flight ability .
Desmodu hunting bats get a 60 ft. (good) flight speed. The speed is obviously
rather good, but whats really attractive is the maneuverability. Theres just about
nothing out there that gets good at this level, and good represents a big jump over
average. In particular you get hover, which is useful for summoning in midair, and
for any number of standard maneuvering things.

The second factor in the bats favor is its dexterity. With a dexterity of 24, the
desmodu hunting bat gets a +7 initiative modifier, a touch AC of 17, and
consequently, a normal AC of 20. Additionally, a high dexterity means high ranged
and ranged touch attack rolls, and some powerful spells, like splinterbolt or blinding
spittle, make good use of that fact. That mod also gets applied to reflex saves,
which makes for a nice bonus to what is by far your most lackluster save.Finally,
though its not available to you immediately, if you can gain the Ex abilities of your
wild shape forms, through things like enhance wild shape, exalted wild shape, or
master of many forms, then desmodu hunting bat grants you 120 ft. blindsense.
120 ft. blindsense is a highly powerful vision mode, allowing you to locate anything
within its radius, unconstrained by most things, including spot checks, blindness,
concealment, and even various illusions. While you need line of effect, and targeted
attacks will still carry the miss chance provided by concealment, a good number of
the best druid spells are AoEs anyway, so its not much of a hindrance. This is
solidly one of the more powerful vision modes in the game, and enhance wild shape
and exalted wild shape are both cheap enough to allow easy access. You will also
incidentally gain scent, as well as an immunity to the stunning and screech effects
of desmodus, but those are quite a bit less potent than blindsense.

Unfortunately for the desmodu hunting bat, the amazing advantages granted dont
extend to combat abilities. While the stat block appears to grant a decent +10 to
attack rolls, in actuality that benefit is coming from weapon finesse, and the feat
doesnt carry over unless you run one of those Ex ability granters. Thus, youre
limited to 2+BAB, which is less impressive. You do get a trip attack, which makes
you a bit better at beatsticking, and the high AC helps with taking blows, but its
just not enough. You can cast bite of the wererat to grant yourself weapon finesse
for rounds/level, which also grants a +6 to dexterity, but its a bit spell and action
intensive, and that price is high for the low damage attacks you get, trip or no trip.
Ultimately, the desmodu hunting bat is the mobile missile defense platform of the
wild shape world. You fly high above the battlefield, shrugging off attacks, and
casting spells down onto your enemies with impunity. The desmodu hunting bat
even remains reasonably competitive later on, owing to things like the blindsense,
good maneuverability, and high initiative, depending on what youre comparing the
form to. The desmodu hunting bat offers a ridiculous network of buffs, many of
which make your spell casting better, and it all adds up to a form that you should
be in as much as you can.
Dire Wolf: This creature has rather low damage, with only a single attack dealing
1d8+10, rather weak defenses, and no real utility that doesn't apply directly to
hitting enemies in the face. However, it does have one asset of note, which is its
ability to trip. With a +11 on the trip check, and an above average 25 strength
making your bite attack relatively accurate, you wind up with better odds of tripping
than most options of this level. Still, knocking someone prone only gets you so far,
especially with the limited reach and single attack that the dire wolf provides, so
this form isn't great at controlling the battlefield. If you just want to trip folks, then
dire wolf is a reasonable option, but in the broader context of combat capabilities,
the weak chassis and only alright combat maneuver means that it's not especially
high on the list.

Dung Snake (SK, 83): The most important ability here, by a wide margin, is
enhance wild shape granted fast healing 1, a defensive power nigh on unattainable
otherwise at this level, unless of course you do the same thing with the glacier
snake listed further down. Fast healing 1 obviously isnt going to make a massive
impact in combat, but it does mean that youre likely to be fully charged before
every encounter, which is a nifty thing if youre facing foes thatre likely to injure
you without killing you out of nowhere. Beyond that, enhance also gets you
immunity to disease and non-lethal cold damage, along with the usual scent and
low-light vision. On the chassis side, you only get a middling 15 AC, and a low
quality bite+constrict combo, but you do have a 20 ft. base, climb, and swim
speed, which is a pretty good setup. If youre using the dung snake, then, its
because you want that sweet low speed healing, and because you prefer this to the
somewhat worse glacier snake.
Eagle: The eagle is a creature mostly notable for one reason, which is that its
literally the only core flying form in this level range. Its certainly not bad in that
role, however. The two biggest disadvantages, as compared to a higher end choice
like the desmodu hunting bat, are average maneuverability, making airborne
casting occasionally difficult, especially when summoning, and the relatively weak
stats, with only 14 AC and +2 to initiative. The eagle does have one major
advantage over the bat, its 80 ft. flight speed, but even in that context its
overtaken by the pteranodon, which is listed lower in this section. Therefore, this is
mostly just going to be an option when book limited, but flight is an important
enough asset to make it a critical form in that context.

Fleshraker Dinosaur (MM III, 40): While the fleshraker isnt quite as strong in
wild shape form as it is in animal companion form, owing to both a lack of
advancement and the low payoff of personally engaging in melee combat, until you
hit large wild shape forms at level eight this is one of the only forms that makes
face beating a really viable plan. The high AC of this form means that youre not
losing defensive ground against the desmodu hunting bat, and the hyper-efficient
leaping pounce attack routine is one of the better combat styles youre pulling out
at this level. You also get a 50 ft. move speed, which is very reasonable, and poison
damage on your attacks, which is even better, especially when combined with
venomfire. Its just a form that is excellent overall, sullied only by its lack of access
to alternate movement modes.
Glacier Snake (SK, 84): Like the dung snake listed higher in this section, the
glacier snake has fast healing 1, acquirable through enhance wild shape. Unlike the
dung snake, however, the glacier snake is lacking a swim speed, the scent and
immunities gained through enhance, and the constrict ability. However, also unlike
the dung snake, the glacier snake has 16 AC and a pair of attacks instead of just
one. In other words, the two forms are very similar, but Id tend towards the more
qualitative benefits of the dung snake over the strictly numeric capabilities of the
glacier snake, especially because those advantages dont leave you with numbers
you can seriously rely on if you want to start attacking folks.

Leopard: While not a match for the fleshraker on any level where pouncing combat
maneuvers are concerned, the leopard is notable as the big cat option in this level
range, and a capable pounce and grab option in core. Even in core though, the
leopard still faces stiff competition from the deinonychus, which is a generally
superior physical combatant. However, what both of these other creatures lack is
grappling capabilities, completely missing on the deinonychus, and only present
after the success of the rest of the combat maneuver chain on the fleshraker. Which
means that, despite the fact that its running only a +5 to the check, the leopard is
heavily reliant on its grappling abilities for its viability. Ultimately, this is possibly
the best grappling form of this level, but the shallowness of that pool at medium
makes that only so impressive, so you really have to want that ability for this to be
worth your time.
Night Hunter Deep Bat (MoF, 18): This is a nifty little alternative to the
desmodu hunting bat, primarily notable for its 50 ft. (perfect) flight speed. Thats
pretty much it, really. The night hunter has a poor 14 AC, and a much lower
initiative mod of +3, but that flight speed is really something, with a
maneuverability that you rarely find otherwise. I dont know of any sources of
perfect maneuverability outside of this one among native wild shape options in this
level bracket, and its a thing that provides some unique benefits, like free rotation
and upward movement. The night hunter also has a better attack routine than a
desmodu hunting bat, along with a crappy frightful presence that only hits 1 HD
creatures, but those things arent particularly interesting. Realistically, a desmodu
hunting bat is just about always going to be a better choice, especially as its 60 ft.
(good) flight speed is actually going to be superior on occasion, but this form is
definitely a thing of interest, and might have some niche applications.

Nifern (SK, 79): Unlike the desmodu hunting bat, which is listed with blindsight
but later had its vision mode swapped to the weaker blindsense, the nifern has 60
ft. blindsight unchanged by any errata or update. Thus, this is the only non-aquatic
form at this level to grant this very strong vision mode, with only a casting of
enhance wild shape standing between you and it. The nifern is no slouch in other
areas either, with a reasonable four attack full attack, including a sting with
paralyzing poison, a slightly above par for the level 16 AC, and even hold breath.
Moreover, while the nifern is blind, that fact doesnt seem linked to the Ex special
qualities that youre picking up with enhance, so you presumably retain your native
vision capabilities. The main draw to the nifern, then, is its superlative vision
capacity, which exceeds just about anything else you can pull off this level under
most circumstances, and youre not losing a massive amount of creature value to
get it.
Porpoise: The porpoise is a creature equipped with possibly the best swim speed
available at this level range, at 80 feet, and that in and of itself makes it worthy of
note. On top of that though, you can also use enhance wild shape to grant 120 ft.
blindsight, which is an absolutely excellent vision ability. Theres a big downside to
this form though, and that is the lack of aquatic subtype, without even hold breath
unless youre running enhance. Thus, you really want something like heart of water
here unless youre hanging out near the surface for the most part, and at that point
you can just bring in any old form, albeit a likely slower one. The speed and vision
are the real upsides here, so if those arent enough for the situation, then you
should just go with something like a medium shark.

Pteranodon (Dragon Magazine #318, 68): While the pteranodon lacks a lot of
the assets that make the desmodu hunting bat so amazing, like its high AC, high
initiative, and enhance wild shape based sensory mode, it does have one major
ability above and beyond that of the bat. That being a massive 90 ft. (good) flight
speed, something otherwise unattainable at this level without serious effort. You do
also have marginally superior combat ability, particularly in the form of the nifty
dive ability, but nothing besides that maneuverability comes close to making the
drop in other capabilities worth it. Its rare that even that increase will be worth the
change over, but as a rare high point in terms of movement modes, its something
to keep in mind.
Sailsnake (MM IV, 124): As with the animal companion version, this is a form
uniquely skilled at ranged AoE debuffs, exceeding the swindlespitter in this area.
The big advantage to the sailsnakes venom spray is that the 1d4 rounds of blinding
comes with only a fortitude save for half, rather than one to negate, meaning that
enemies in that 20 ft. cone will be blinded for a round or two at least 75% of the
time, assuming the opponents save every time, and those numbers go up when you
add in the chance of failing the save. The sailsnake also tacks on a 20 ft. (poor)
flight speed, which adds to the forms ability to keep its distance while blinding
opponents. The main disadvantages here are a slower recharge rate on the spray,
six rounds instead of 1d4 meaning that youre getting off about one shot a combat
to the swindlespitters two or three, and a lower AC, 15 to the swindlespitters 18.
But, neither of those factors detracts from the effectiveness of that single blast of
poison, and while same level options like the desmodu hunting bat make for far
better platforms for your already existent ranged options, none can offer the same
intrinsic ability to disable opponents at low cost. Moreover, as with the companion
version, you can up the capabilities of this form a great deal by adding on
venomfire. In essence, this turns the sailsnakes venom spray from an automatic
blinding into a crazy blinding fireball effect, lacking in any kind of save or roll. This
shifts the sailsnake from pretty good to somewhere verging on great.

Shark, Medium: With a 60 ft. swim speed, and reasonable stats, the medium
shark is likely the best aquatic form when restricted to medium forms. You can
access 30 ft. underwater blindsense and keen scent through enhance wild shape as
well, and those are big upsides. You can even beat down a little with a mediocre
bite attack, or at least you can beat down better than other aquatic forms. If youre
not just travelling underwater with a heart of water equipped fleshraker or demodu
bat, then this is really where you want to be when it comes to underwater travel.
Swindlespitter Dinosaur (MM III, 41): In a world full of wild shape forms with
melee attacks, particularly the reachless melee attacks of the medium and small,
the swindlespitters ranged poison spray attacks are a nice thing to have. Granted,
poison spray isnt exactly a great ranged attack, with its low save DC, but its better
than nothing, and blinding folks has some utility. Beyond that, the swindlespitter is
mostly notable for its reasonable defenses, with 18 AC, +5 initiative mod, and
uncanny dodge accessible through enhance wild shape. The swindlespitter isnt a
great form by any means, or even a particularly good one, but its reasonably
unique at this level, and therefore something to keep in mind.

Level Eight (Large)

Brown Bear/Polar Bear: With 27 strength, improved grab, a pair of primary
natural attacks that trigger improved grab, and obviously, large size, the bear is a
prime grappling option for this level. The real downside here is the bears 13
dexterity, which means a +1 initiative modifier, 15 AC, and a crappy reflex save. In
return, you get a hard hitting form thats likely to grant grapple based victory when
thats a thing you need, and that incidentally gets a 30 foot swim speed if you go
with the polar bear, because life is good like that on occasion.
Cave Ankylosaurus (MiniHB, 57):

While I would generally prefer something

with a flight speed for the role, like a desmodu hunting bat, a very high 24 AC
makes the cave ankylosaurus a strong defensive option. Moreover, unlike those
aerial forms, the ankylosaurus offers something of an actual offense, with both a
solid tail attack and the ability to trample. This isnt the strongest defensive form
out there, but not ditching combat prowess makes the cave ankylosaurus a more
balanced option for that role than most.

Cave Triceratops (MiniHB, 58): This form is useful primarily due to the fact that
it represents your first access to both powerful charge and trample on one creature,
which makes for a highly synergistic melee combination. Powerful charge deals
large quantities of damage, in this case 4d6+12, but only if youre closing with an
enemy. This typically means that, in order to charge again, you need to either
change targets or take a turn backing up, otherwise relinquishing that bonus
damage. Trample, meanwhile, allows you to take a full round action to deal damage
to anyone you move over while taking a double-move, which here is 3d6+6
damage. This means that, after charging a particular foe, you can move away while
still dealing damage, and then charge again. Its a good amount of damage, and in
a rather unique form, which makes this a pretty good choice for melee combat. On
the chassis side, things are thoroughly average, with a 30 ft. movement speed and
18 AC. Nothing particularly influential there.
Desmodu Guard Bat (MM II, 65): The desmodu guard bat is, for the most part,
rather similar to the desmodu hunting bat, with the movement modes, AC, and Ex
abilities acquirable through enhance wild shape (except for scent, which the guard
bat does not have) all holding equal across both forms. However, there are some
key differences that are worth analysis. The advantage of this form is that the
guard bat makes for a marginally better beat stick. As a large creature, the guard
bats bite deals 1d8 damage instead of 1d6, and instead of the attack bonus being
fueled by a high dexterity combined with weapon finesse that you cannot use, the
guard bat runs a strength mod thats one higher, meaning a slightly higher to hit
and damage. The guard bat also has wounding instead of trip, which would
ordinarily be worse, but the tripping was unlikely to work anyway, so getting in
even more damage is likely to be better, especially against the more difficult
monsters youll be facing at this level.

The major disadvantage of the desmodu guard bat, in comparison to the desmodu
hunting bat, is that its a bit worse on defense. While the total AC is the same
between the two forms, the desmodu hunting bat has a dexterity modifier one
higher, which means a +2 to touch AC (when you factor in size), and a +1 to your
initiative modifier, ref save, and ranged (touch) attacks. The guard bat makes up for
this somewhat with a higher con mod, which grants a +2 to fortitude saves, and the
fact that the AC is coming from natural armor means a flat-footed AC one greater,
but the hunting bat is the likely victor in this exchange, owing to the ever important
nature of initiative. Moreover, the fact that the hunting bat is smaller can be
inherently advantageous, as it makes it easier to fit in places or hide, while the
guard bats greater size contributes little to the forms core competency. Thats
really what makes the hunting bat a more effective form than the guard bat, when
all is said and done. The desmodu guard bat sacrifices some degree of defense for
some degree of offense, and with forms meant for defense, thats not what you
want to be doing most of the time. The guard bat might have the advantage in
some cases, if you want an increased ability to eat away at life points, but in most
situations, you should likely stick to the desmodu hunting bat.
Dire Bat: If youre stuck in a core only environment, then this is where flying forms
start getting good. The big break point from other forms, as usual, is that 40 ft.
flight speed with (good) maneuverability, allowing you to hover in place as you sling
your spells. On the stat side, the dire bat is running an above average 20 AC, along
with a +6 initiative modifier, and your typical low quality bite attack. On top of that,
if you happen to have access to the spell compendium in your low book game, then
you can make use of enhance wild shape for 40 ft. blindsense. Overall, the dire at is
a form thats significantly worse than more obscure forms like the desmodu hunting
bat, but its still a strong set of stats in its own right.

Dire Lion: With pounce, backed up by the classic claw/claw/bite/rake/rake with

improved grab attack routine, the dire lion is a classic beatstick. A big selling point
is this creatures 25 strength, almost as much as a brown bear, allowing for top of
the line accuracy and damage on your attacks. The big downside here is that you
only get 15 AC, which you might need to boost some if you want to act as a
primary melee. At the same time though, the main goal here is to put up a strong
enough offense that your opponents dont have time to give you something to
defend against, and the dire lion is one of the better forms at this level for
accomplishing that.
Dire Barracuda (Storm, 147): In most respects, the dire barracuda is a strictly
superior version of the large shark, if not by much. You get a better movement
speed (80 ft.), better AC (17), the ability to charge three times your movement
speed instead of two, and even a slightly better attack. In point of fact, the only
real advantage the shark has is what you get through enhance wild shape, which is
only low-light vision and scent for a barracuda, but blindsense and keen scent for a
shark. As a result, the dire barracuda is a nigh on unmatched aquatic form for this
level if youre after speed, but if youre planning to run enhance then you may be
better off with the shark.

Octopus, Giant: This is a creature with eight separate tentacle attacks that can
activate improved grab against opponents of any size, at a range of 20 ft., at a
grapple mod of +15, and which has constrict to deal a bunch of damage whenever
it makes a successful grapple check. With all of those factors combined, along with
a neat bite attack, and a reasonable 18 AC, the giant octopus is one of the best
grappling options at this level. Or it would be, if it didnt have to hold its breath
above water, which it does. As is, the giant octopus makes for a great aquatic
combat form, but under other circumstances, you really need some way to bypass
that drown based drawback, like the spell air breathing. Beyond that, the giant
octopus can make use of enhance wild shape to access ink cloud, which creates a
cloud of total concealment, and jet, which lets it move 200 ft. as a full round action.
Neither effect is apparently limited to working underwater, which is a rather neat
thing.
Rhinoceros: With a single gore attack dealing 2d6+12, and with the ability to do
twice that on a charge, the rhinoceros is one of the better single big hit forms of
this level. Theres not much in the way of fanciness to this form, with no real
combat maneuvers and an only reasonable 16 AC, but sometimes you just really
want to hit something in the face, and this does that job well and consistently,
though pounce style beaters may do the general damage dealing job better.
Notably, the single attack method synergizes well with stuff like greater magic fang,
allowing the more powerful but single attack targeting mode of the spell to hit your
entire routine.
Shark, Large: Unlike the giant octopus, the large shark isnt all that much of a
beat stick, but like the medium shark before it, it makes for a reasonable aquatic
form. In fact, this form is in most ways the same as its medium predecessor, with
the same 60 ft. medium swim speed, backed up by the same possible underwater
blindsense, and a marginally better bite attack that constitutes the primary
difference between the forms. The reason this form is good is just about entirely
because the medium shark is still good, and this can act as a slight upgrade when
you value a good attack over the ability to fit inside smaller areas.

Level Nine
Smilodon (Frost, 118): The smilodon is a creature that comes one level after the
polar bear, and that mostly acts as an upgrade for your grappling based desires.
There are a few downsides here, like the grapple modifier at attack bonus being
reduced by one, the switch to bite as your primary attack, and the loss of swim
speed, but theres a lot to make up for it. First and foremost, the smilodon gets
pounce, with a pair of fancy rake attacks to go with it, which is an amazing ability.
Second, the smilodon triggers improved grab off of all three iteratives, and the two
claw attacks occur at only a -2 compared to the bite, which all means a likely
greater chance of initiating a grapple. Finally, you get a nifty +1 to your dex mod,
which doesnt change AC in this case, but which does change other pertinent details
like initiative, reflex save, and touch AC. Overall though, it is the pounce which
makes the most difference, allowing you to leap into combat, hit a bunch of times,
and likely grapple, where your bear shaped predecessor would be clawing a single
time, and often struggling to land a full attack at all.

Level Eleven (Tiny)

The addition of tiny creatures is a somewhat useful one, but that has very little to
do with the creatures being particularly useful. The list of tiny plants and animals is
vanishingly small, and contains no creatures with abilities or statistics that are
better than what you were getting before. Instead, the main thing you gain through
tiny creatures is the power intrinsic to becoming tiny. These are the most
inconspicuous creatures you can become, capable of sneaking away into the
shadows, or hiding behind nothing but their apparent weakness. The specific
creatures dont matter much, however, and perhaps the biggest advantage to any
given tiny creature is a situational one, defined by how inconspicuous a creature
would be in a given place. Sometimes a cat is going to make the most sense for an
area, and sometimes you think a hawk would fit in better. The only real ability that
provides crucial differences is flight, and for that, you should probably just go with
a hawk. Not much more to it than that. As a result of this mechanical
weakness/sameness, its not particularly worth delving into the nature of individual
options, especially because the best ones are all right there in core.

Level Twelve (Plant)

Briarvex (MM IV, 26): While the briarvex has reasonable punching ability, along
with a decent AC of 19, of primary interest here is the improved woodland stride
movement mode. This ability is like standard woodland stride, except it works on
magically manipulated terrain. On a druid, for whom magically manipulated terrain
is standard operating procedure, this is a godsend. Finally you can walk free atop
your entangle, or dally merrily across your plant growth, or even trot
unencumbered through your wall of thorns. This is basically freedom of movement,
particularly as it applies to a decent number of your own battlefield control effects.
On top of that, if you ever find yourself ensnared by a foe that also commands
nature itself to their whims, then this is the perfect form to turn to. Overall, the
briarvex is a bit of a situational form, but in those situations its pretty great.
Burrow Root (MM V, 14): The burrow root is an odd little defensive form most
notable for a couple of unique abilities, and a couple of somewhat less unique
abilities. First, you gain speed burrow as a movement option. This lets you burrow
up to 20 ft., through loose soil, three times/day, as an immediate action. The
immediate action part is the reason this could provide any actual utility, granting
what is essentially a location dependent druidic abrupt jaunt. Of course, youre
rarely going to be on loose soil, but having access to the ability when you are in the
right setting could prove invaluable, particularly because burrow represents a
perfect disruption of line of sight and effect.

Second, you get split as a special attack. This ability causes you to split into two
burrow roots when youre reduced to half your health. Neither you nor the child
plant can split 24 hours after a split, but you can likely lose and retake your burrow
root form to bypass this issue, and even if you cant, an army will build up fast. The
real issue is that its never made clear what allegiance these burrow roots have to
you, or what control you can exert. Its a fuzzy issue, though perhaps not an
insoluble one, and even an uncontrolled mob of plant monsters is a mob of plant
monsters, and thats a thing that you can make use of. Do note though that this
ability occurs automatically, and spawning a plant creature in the middle of combat
can be both help and hindrance.
Third, you get a few other things that are a fair sight less interesting. In addition to
the speed burrow ability, you also get 20 ft. standard burrowing. As for defenses,
you get a highly reasonable 22 AC, and the burrow roots ability to beat enemies up
is far from the worst with a 26 in strength. Finally, the base creature has both 30 ft.
blindsight and 60 ft. tremorsense, and those can be picked up with enhance wild
shape. Ultimately, the burrow root makes for a well rounded wild shape forms with
a few out there abilities. Id mostly recommend it if youre interested in the latter,
but incidentally picking up the former is a good deal. (Credit to Phelix-Mu.)

Demonthrorn Mandrake (MM V, 30): The demonthron mandrakes greatest

abilities are its two ranged offensive techniques, spore pod and tangle root. The
former shoots a pod with a range of 30 feet and a burst that hits a 10 ft. area, and
deals 1d8 damage immediately, five more on each of your turns, and then another
1d8 if theyre pulled off. They can also be removed with holy water or by passing
one of the DC 16 fortitude saves that pops up each round. The damage here is
definitely not stellar, but its safe and consistent, two things that you really want
when trying to attrition opponents out. That brings things to the second ability,
which holds you immobile but allows you to maintain an entangling effect out to 30
feet. The overall impact is a creature thats pretty good at locking opponents down
and slowly killing them, though youll definitely want to augment that with spells if
you really want to pull it off. It might even be more accurate to say that this
augments your natural spell based attrition efforts. You can also pick up
tremorsense to 40 feet with enhance wild shape, along with electricity and fire
resistance 10, and those abilities can also help with lock-down efforts a bit if youre
so inclined.
Dire Bear: The dire bear is the natural progression from the brown/polar bear, and
while its not that much better, the advantages it has, aside from the loss of the
polar bears swim speed, are basically strict ones. In the conversion, you gain +4
strength, +2 AC, and your damage dice for your claw and bite attacks are a bit
bigger, going from 1d8 to 2d4 on the claws, and 2d6 to 2d8 on the bite. The end
result here is that the previous bears are completely overshadowed, with the main
question being whether what is essentially a brown bear is still competitive at this
level. And, while there is certainly harsher competition at this slot given the pile of
plants on offer, youre still working with a solid and well rounded grappling form
here.

Ironthorn (Sand, 166): The ultimate goal of this form, when all is said and done,
is to hit your opponents with its poison. This is for the simple reason that the
poison deals 1d4 minutes of paralysis, which basically means that any enemy you
hit it with is dead. The path to that poison is a bit more involved than usual though,
requiring that you both hit your opponent with one of your two vine rake attacks,
and then successfully grapple them, before having them fail their save.
Unfortunately, while the ironthorns 25 in constitution gives that poison a higher
chance of success than is typical, its low 17 in strength makes getting that hit and
grapple in more difficult. The 15 ft. range on the vines helps, but hitting a powerful
opponent is going to take some strength boosting, or a lot of attempts.
Underlying that sometimes deadly attack routine is a highly potent defensive setup.
The ironthorn has 24 AC and only a 10 ft. base movement speed, which turns you
into something of a tank. Notably, enhance wild shape adds 60 ft. blindsense, which
is a pretty good vision mode, and DR 5/slashing or bludgeoning, which I guess is
better than nothing. The AC is probably the greatest asset, however, right near the
top of the range for wild shape forms. Overall, between the low strength and the
low speed, the ironthorn is a form that takes a bit of work to find high quantities of
effectiveness, but that poison is awesome enough to make that sort of investment
worth it.
Kelp Angler (FF, 112): The kelp angler, with its powerful mix of standard and
enhance wild shape based abilities, is quite possibly the best defensive form on land
or in water, at least at this level, though you might need a workaround for your lack
of ability to breathe air. On the chassis side, the kelp angler has 21 AC, a +6
initiative modifier, a 20 ft. speed/60 ft. swim speed, and four reasonably powerful
tendril attacks that you can improved grab medium or smaller creatures with. Its
nothing extraordinary, but its the sort of chassis thats never going to be especially
bad. Its somewhat reminiscent of the desmodu hunting bat setup, except with
swimming instead of flight.

Then you get into the enhance wild shape accessible abilities, and things get
bazonkers. This form gets blindsight out to 100 feet, which might just be the best
vision mode natively accessible with wild shape, especially when you consider the
fact that you see normally when its shut down, immunity to cold and bludgeoning
along with fire resistance 20, which is on top of those standard plant immunities,
regeneration 4 with a weakness to acid, which is a weakness that can be dealt with
easily enough with energy immunity, and even a +10 competence bonus on hide
checks. Its just so damn much defensive might, capable of shrugging off most HP
damage with ease, and spotting enemies with its blindsight before they can become
troublesome. The fact that youll often need to invest in order to make use of the
kelp angler on land, along with the need to use a spell with each use, means that
this form is one of the more costly ones out there. However, with all of those
abilities there for the taking, this is a price well worth paying.
Legendary Eagle (MM II, 136): Here, all the way at 12 HD, is the first serious
competition to the desmodu hunting bat for the role of best flying form. Most of the
eagles stats are definitely a step up from those of the bat, with a 100 foot fly speed
instead of 60, a +11 initiative mod instead of +7, 25 AC instead of 20, a somewhat
better attack routine, and even a constitution mod two higher.
Unfortunately though, the legendary eagle suffers from two major disadvantages.
First, the eagle is running a maneuverability of average rather than good, which
mostly means that you lose hover. The big implication of that loss is that its
significantly harder to cast spells with a one round casting time, particularly
summon natures ally. This generally means skipping out on those spells, increasing
maneuverability (likely with a pectoral of maneuverability), or reducing the casting
time of those spells, or at least the relevant ones (hitting just summons is easier).
Second, the legendary eagle lacks the ability to gain blindsense through enhance
wild shape, which is a big loss. Overall, if you can bypass these issues, or otherwise
dont care about them, then this is a better choice of creature, but if those losses
are a deal breaker, then this obviously isnt the defensive flying form you want.

Myconid Sovereign (MM II, 154): The myconid sovereign is a creature only
notable for its array of spore abilities, each usable a number of times equal to your
HD. By far the most interesting spore ability is animation, which allows you to cover
a corpse with fungus which reanimates it in 1d4 days, after which point it acts as a
zombie-like creature for 1d6 weeks before crumbling into dust. Its not entirely
clear what level of control you have over these creatures, but there is a strong
implication that you can order them around, especially as theyre called servants.
Next, you get a pair of single target save or X abilities, pacification and
hallucination, which daze and confuse the target, respectively. The DC seems to be
fixed at 15, so youre not running a high rate of success here, though the effects
are strong enough that you might want to run them if you have nothing better to do
with your actions.
The third ability you gain, rapport, allows you to open telepathic communication
with your party, albeit in 30-60 minute bursts, and in a range of 120 feet. This
might even hold up outside of a wild shape, though this is a usage with pretty
limited application, given the duration. Still, given an average telepathy time of 45
minutes (its not entirely clear how you determine where on the duration spectrum
you fall), this will run for 9 hours of speech limitation bypassing goodness at level
12. The final ability, reproduction, is rather odd, allowing you to germinate new
myconids. This ability has even less clear wording than animation, but you might be
able to make some plant friends this way, which is nifty. Ultimately, most of these
abilities are pretty mediocre, especially when attached to the lackluster myconid
sovereign chassis, with its 12 AC and 20 foot base speed. Theyre certainly
interesting, so you might want to toss this form out there on occasion for that
reason, but mostly youre in it for the plant-fueled animate dead. This is just about
the closest things a druid gets to native zombie creation, and any minionmancy is
good minionmancy. There doesnt even seem to be an HD cap on servants, so you
could plausibly put together a meat-puppet army, which is an amazing thing.

Shambling Mound: Shambling mound is a form that has exactly one interesting
ability, and that is its utterly ridiculous immunity to electricity ability that you can
get through enhance wild shape. Unlike most electricity immunity, this ability
causes you to gain 1d4 points of constitution every time youre hit with an electrical
attack, and theyre lost at a rate of one/hour. So, the clear idea here is to launch
electricity at yourself for while, and acquire so much constitution that youll still
have a massive amount even after a long period of time. Its pretty trivial to gain
an amount that makes HP damage pointless, and that causes you to autopass any
fortitude saves or concentration checks that come your way. The only remaining
issue is what your source should be for repeated electricity damage, and for that, I
recommend thunderhead (SpC, 219), a first level spell that deals a point of
electricity damage to a target every round for rounds/level. If you really want to
push things, this spell can be extended, or even persisted, for crazy levels of
constitution growth, but just launching a bunch of copies of the spell at yourself for
a day or two should be sufficient for most purposes. This is a trick that ranks pretty
high on the cheese scale, so use it at your own risk, lest books fly in your direction.
Vine Horror (FF, 185): This form has rather limited offerings, largely lacking in
combat ability, and hampered somewhat by the aquatic subtype. However, the vine
horror does have one interesting use, accessible through enhance wild shape, and
that is malleability. This allows you to, without losing any speed, travel through
cracks an inch or greater in thickness. Its narrow utility, certainly, and not
impossible to replicate from other sources (passage of the shifting sands works well
enough), but it has some reasonable applications if youre trapped in an area or if
you want to stealth into a location. Also helpful is the continued access to magic,
which something like passage of the shifting sands cant claim. Vine horror isnt a
particularly good form, but it does something reasonably unique, and that makes it
noteworthy.

Warbound Impaler (MM III, 15): Primarily an offensively oriented creature, the
warbound impalers greatest abilities are the eponymous impale and the less
eponymous thorn volley. The former ability allows you to make a grapple check
after a successful grapple to make the grappled creature helpless, a status that is
greatly desirable. You even lose your grappled status when you do so, opening up a
lot of combat options. The latter ability lets you loose thorns in a 10 ft. area
anywhere within 60 feet of you as a standard action, dealing 5d6 damage with a DC
22 reflex save for half. As one of the few ranged options made available through
wild shape, and as one of the even rarer area of effect options, thats a very good
ability to have.
Beyond that, the impalers notable offensive abilities are a 1d8+9 trample, and
through enhance wild shape, the ability to make four AoOs each round. The latter
especially is rather nifty, as the impaler only has two natural weapons. On the
defensive side, you get 19 AC, and can pick up resistance to electricity and fire 10
through enhance. Not great, but not awful either. Really, the impaler is all about
those already mentioned offensive options, because they offer a wider array of
choices than you usually get from a wild shape form. Its not the strongest set of
beatstick powers, but its a rather unique set, and quite a good one at that.

Level Thirteen
Legendary Ape: While the legendary ape can certainly beatstick on its own, with
its reasonable attack routine, including a fancy rend, in that role its usually going
to be inferior to other creatures. Thus, what youre really hoping to get out of the
legendary ape is a base creature for manufactured weapon use, which usually
means a quarterstaff. In this role, the legendary ape, with its 30 strength, 19 AC,
and obviously its handedness, excels. Moreover, as noted before, you can even beat
face in the standard way when the duration of your quarterstaff based buffs run
out. Quarterstaff use isnt really the best druid archetype out there, but if its one
you want to pursue, then this is about as good as it gets without some access to
alternate forms.

Level Fifteen (Huge)

Dire Tortoise (Sand, 151): While there are several other things that make dire
tortoise a desirable wild shape form, and those things will be covered later, if youre
a dire tortoise it is ultimately for one reason alone. That reason, to put it simply, is
lightning strike. Lightning strike is a special attack that causes you to always act in
the surprise round, no matter what, always. In ordinary combat situations, where
you and your enemy see each other at the same time, lightning strike represents a
free standard action at the beginning of combat. If your enemy attempts to sneak
up on you, then lightning strike will eliminate the advantage that the enemy would
otherwise gain. Moreover, unlike a normal dire tortoise, who can only capitalize on
this advantage with ordinary attacks, you are a druid, and a free standard action
could easily represent an ended encounter. For these reasons, dire tortoise form
represents the best action economy manipulation that druids get access to, and you
should thus be a dire tortoise as much as possible, as soon as you gain access to
the form. For best results, combine lightning strike with a belt of battle, so that you
get two standard actions at the beginning of combat, or with foresight, so that
youre always getting the first shot, instead of occasionally splitting it with your
unknown assailant.

While lightning strike is enough to singlehandedly make dire tortoise the best
natively accessible wild shape form in the game, it is not an ability that comes in a
vacuum, and the stats on a dire tortoise are decent, if not amazing. Dire tortoises
come with 25 AC, which is right at the peak of armor class, they have a 20 ft.
speed that comes in both normal and burrowing flavors, which is low but not
cripplingly so, and they get a trampling attack which comes attached to a rather
high 26 strength. If the dire tortoise has one major issue, it is that it has a
dexterity of 6. This means an initiative of -2, which makes getting the first round
after the surprise round, as well as getting the first surprise round, somewhat
difficult, and it simultaneously means a touch AC of 6. This deficit doesnt make the
dire tortoise much less amazing, but it hits your action economy manipulation a
little, and its a deficit thats well worth patching up, perhaps with some +dex item,
or a daily casting of primal instinct. In any case, whatever else happens, dire
tortoise is still dire tortoise, and that makes for some game breaking power.

Ironmaw (FF, 104): Out of all the combat wild shape forms, the ironmaw might
just be the oddest and most effective, all in a neat bundle. On the surface, this is a
pretty standard combat form, with a four tendril primary attack, supported by 30
strength, as well as a save against constitution damage and 3 damage/round
wounding on a successful hit, the capacity to pull enemies in and engulf them, and
a nifty bite attack. Then you notice that the tendrils have a range of 60 feet. Thats
just a crazy thing right there, with all of the secondary benefits of a melee weapon
(no AoOs on an attack, AoOs on your opponents, combat maneuvers, and those
little status effects that rarely show up on ranged attacks), tied together with what
could pass for a ranged weapon in most situations. Its not a thing you see very
often, and the fact that wild shape so rarely provides damage at range makes it
even better. If that were the end of things, the ironmaw would still be a capable
form, but that offensive capacity is compounded by reasonable defensive capability.
Without doing anything, the ironmaw has a top of the line 25 AC, and a casting of
enhance wild shape grants cold and electricity immunity, acid and sonic resistance
10, SR 30, and DR 15/magic and slashing. Overall, the ironmaw is a great form for
whenever you want to beat down, fully capable of consuming face and taking hits,
and is only really kept from the top of the pile by the existence of dire tortoise
form.

Octopus Tree (FF, 130): Above all else, the octopus tree is notable for being a
massive beatstick on land and sea alike. From an offensive standpoint, this is
primarily accomplished through its barrage of eight grappling tentacles, which even
allow for a swallow whole against opponents two or more size categories smaller
(which is a decent range on a huge creature), as well as its bite attack. This is all
supported by a very high 30 strength, for solid accuracy and damage alike. You also
just happen to have frightful presence, which isnt massively impactful, but it helps.
On the defensive side of things, without enhance wild shape it mostly comes down
to your 28 AC, and with enhance wild shape you get to compound that with
regeneration 10 (except against fire and cold, which are easy enough to defend
against separately), as well as immunity to acid, and maybe plant traits. All of
these things add up to a form that can dish out really large amounts of damage
without putting you in significant danger, and thats a strong thing to have.
Squid, Giant: This is a form akin to the giant octopus, except with a better attack
routine. Where the octopus is running eight tentacle attacks, and a +15 on the
grapple checks it uses with improved grab, the squid has tentacles, and a grapple
mod of +29. This is on top of the squids increased tentacle reach to 30 feet. The
squid also features an 80 ft. swim speed, a vast increase over the octopus 30, but
this is an advantage tempered somewhat by the squids lack of land speed. You
have to put in more work to get this form on land as a result, which makes this
more environmentally limited. Beyond that, the two forms are pretty similar, the
squid sharing the octopus ink cloud and jet abilities, and running higher base
tentacle damage but lower constrict damage. Just as its predecessor, the giant
squid makes for a reasonable grappling form, especially if youre in need of
something aquatic for whatever reason.
Udoroot (XPH, 214): The udoroot is a creature with no strength, no dexterity,

and above all, no movement speed. However, it is a creature with one big
advantage, and that is double manifest, which allows you to use to psi-like abilities
a turn. Now, if youre paying attention, youll notice that druids dont exactly have
psi-like abilities, and wild shape doesnt give them to you, which makes this a big
heap of nothing. However, in gestalt games, psionic classes make for highly
powerful second sides to druid, and because the manifesting granted by a psionic
class is a psi-like ability, combining this form with those classes makes for a
powerful little action economy breaker. After that, you just need to pick up any kind
of movement speed, whether it be snowshoes, heart of fire, or master air, and
youre good to go.
Yellow Musk Creeper (FF, 190): First and foremost, the yellow musk creeper
form is notable for its ability to create and command yellow musk zombies by
draining the intelligence of living creatures. This is a rather effective, if difficult,
form of minionmancy, and it makes the myconid sovereign into the natural point of
comparison. However, where the myconid sovereign has heavy tendencies towards
out of combat, the yellow musk creeper doubles as an effective combat form, a
necessity given the need to ensnare opponents for zombification. Right at the
outset, the yellow musk creeper has some reasonable combat utility, running a
decent 17 AC, a ranged touch attack musk puff which disables opponents and
doubles as your main method of zombification, and a bunch of weak vine whip
attacks to use in a pinch.
Where this form really shines though, outside of the zombies, is in its enhance wild
shape granted abilities. The spell grants both regeneration 5 and blindsight out to
30 feet (which doesnt inhibit normal vision), and thats a pair of highly potent
defensive abilities. Possibly the biggest downside to this form is the terrible 5 ft.
movement speed, but that can be mitigated through spell use. All in all, while the
myconid sovereign has definite advantages, primarily in the form of non-animation
spore abilities, the yellow musk creeper has enough in its favor to be competitive. I
would advise using myconid sovereign when you have a lot of downtime, and yellow
musk creeper when you expect some conflict.

Level Sixteen (Elementals)

Air Elemental, Large: The large air elemental is the penultimate creature in the
flying defensive line of forms. Compared to the desmodu hunting bat, the large air
elemental features a superior 100 ft. (perfect) flight speed, an also superior +11
initiative, and a tertiarily superior attack routine. Moreover, due to the nature of
elemental wild shape, you also gain the elementals odd abilities and feats, like
whirlwind form, DR 5/-, combat reflexes, and above all, all of those wacky
elemental immunities like to critical hits and stunning.
On the downside part of the equation, the large air elemental features two, one
each to the desmodu hunting bat and legendary eagle. First, compared to the bat,
the elemental lacks that ever-critical ability to gain blindsense, and second,
compared to the eagle, the elemental is down five points of AC. Overall though,
neither of these issues is really major enough to justify using those creatures over
the elemental, so if you have uses of elemental wild shape, and you seek a
defensive flying form, then this should be your choice in this level range.
Earth Elemental, Large: While the large earth elemental runs halfway decent
combat stats, theyre nothing compared to the capacity of non-elemental forms at
this level. Instead, the actually interesting thing about earth elementals is their
earth glide ability. Earth glide is certainly similar to burrow, an ability reasonably
common on wild shape forms, but where other forms tend to be somewhat limited
in the materials you can move through, and/or low movement speeds, the earth
elemental can move through anything but metal, and maintains its base speed of
20 ft. Its a bit underwhelming for 16th level, especially factoring in the lack of
sensory modes like tremorsense to pinpoint enemies while hidden below the earth,
but its a reasonable ability to have.

Fire Elemental, Large: Fire elementals are rather the weak link of the elemental
family, and it wasnt the strongest family in the first place. Ostensibly, your main
asset in this form is damage, as you get to set enemies on fire as you deal damage
already superior to that of other elementals, but the big problem with that plan is
that your damage in this form is woefully below par in the larger universe of wild
shape forms at this level. I mean, its not bad damage, but its nowhere near good
enough to justify it being your only thing, and it is pretty much your only thing in
this form. You dont get those high power movement modes that other elementals
get, and that ability, over anything else, is what made these forms even remotely
worth picking. I guess the spontaneous fire immunity/cold vulnerability could come
in handy at some point, because you probably need to spend a spell otherwise, but
its really a corner case scenario. It doesnt help that a big chunk of your damage is
vulnerable to fire resistance, putting your damage lower than even that offered by
other elementals.
Triceratops: This creature is akin to the cave triceratops of eight levels ago, with
the ability to both charge in for a mess of damage, and trample on the way out to
deal damage while preparing another charge. Except its, yknow, a lot bigger. The
damage and accuracy in both directions is significantly higher, befitting a 16th level
melee form, and the most notable change is sheer size, because hugeness enables
you to trample more enemies. As melee forms go, this one is pretty good, though
despite the rare synergies inherent in its combat style, its definitely not
spectacular. Your big payoff, after all, is just a 4d8+20 charge, which is a little
underwhelming at this level without some non-damaging elements.

Water Elemental, Large: While not nearly on the same level of beat stickery as
the giant squid from the level previous, the large water elemental does have its
advantages. This form features a great 90 ft. swim speed, an actually existent 20
ft. land speed, DR 5/-, and a solid 20 AC as the basic numeric stuff. Beyond that,
water elemental picks up vortex, which is reasonable as combat abilities go, drench,
which could maybe come up in a weird situation, and even cleave, great cleave, and
power attack as feats. The giant squid is solidly a better option if you ever expect to
get into combat, because its an actively excellent combat form, but the large water
elemental can be useful if you value that moderate boost in some non-melee
abilities over melee advantage on any scale.

Level Eighteen
Dire Polar Bear (Frost, 115): The big feature here is 39 strength, which is at just
about the peak for wild shape forms. This means that the traditional bear
claw/claw/bite with an improved grab bonus occurs at a level of accuracy and
damage that just doesnt occur anywhere else, especially when you factor in its
huge size boosting both grappling ability and damage. Everything else is just
completely standard bear, with nothing especially unexpected. Whether that highest
end bear capability is enough for your purposes at this level is somewhat
questionable, but if a bear is what you need for whatever reason, then this is top of
the line.

Level Twenty (Huge Elementals)

Air Elemental, Huge: And here we come to the ultimate form in the series of
defensive flying creatures. Apart from size sometimes getting in the way, the huge
air elemental has no disadvantages compared to the large air elemental, and there
is a good number of advantages. In particular, you get an extra AC, a +2 to
initiative, +4 strength, +4 dexterity, and +2 constitution, with the impact on saves
and attacks that that implies, the extra benefits granted by increased size,
particularly as applies to whirlwind, and finally, alertness, mobility, and spring
attack as extra feats. Ultimately, if you want to use a wild shape use on defensive
flying, and you might easily not in a world where dire tortoise and shapechange
dominate, then this here is the form for you.
Earth Elemental, Huge: This is mostly like the large earth elemental, but there
are some reasonable advantages to this form over that form. The biggest benefit
offered here is probably the increase in movement speed from 20 ft. to 30 ft.,
because if youre only taking a form for a movement mode, best to have that
movement mode as high as possible. Of secondary benefit are some reasonable
advancements in melee ability. Huge size offers its own advantages, and thats
compounded with a +4 strength, as well as awesome blow and improved bull rush
as bonus feats. You also get iron will, which is a kinda nifty thing. Overall, this is a
form that, while still not particularly impressive, is at least somewhat more
impressive than the large version.
Fire Elemental, Huge: As the large fire elemental before it, the huge fire
elemental is a form mostly set apart from its peers by a combination of extra fire
damage and fire immunity. And, as the large fire elemental before it, the huge fire
elemental falls far behind competing options in the fields of both fire immunity and
big damage. As such, while this is better than the large fire elemental in most
relevant ways, its still a rather poor excuse for a form, especially at this level.

Water Elemental, Huge: Like the large water elemental, the huge water
elemental is a solid but not top of the line aquatic form, and like other huge
elementals, the huge water elemental represents an upgrade but not a massive
one. Because the emphasis of the water elemental is on speed and defense, the
biggest gains on this form come in the form of a 120 ft. movement speed, 21 AC,
+4 initiative, and both alertness and iron will as extra feats. On top of that,
upgrading to huge also comes with some offensive boost, from an increase in attack
power alongside greater force behind the vortex ability. All in all, while the huge
water elemental may lag behind some other forms (giant squid, mostly), it has the
advantage of being a well balanced form with a top notch swim speed.