Hi, I just recently started playing D&D (havent even finished my 1st campaign yet) and I really need help about how to build a good Dragon Shaman. For example, What is a good race/totem/feat list/equipment or anything like that that would maximaize playing as a Dragon Shaman. I know they focus heavy on support with their auras and touch of vitality and that they can be like a backup tank, but im too nooby to know much else about how to really play them. If anyone could give me a good build or give some suggestions about Dragon Shamans in general for when a get to re-build my character... it would be greatly appreciated.
Help with Dragon Shaman
- Thread starter SeanXD
- Start date
Nicholas Vanderbilt
First Post
A Dragon Shaman is rather widely versatile and as such there are several good options open to it. Their known primary abilities to invest in are Strength (for general melee combat) Constitution (for more hp and for an increased save dc on your breath weapon [the number that a target has to beat on a reflex save to dodge the damage]) and Charisma (for the healing points of the Touch of Vitality)
These of course are the primes to consider should you adopt only the Dragon Shaman class. So the question to ask is what type of character do you want to be? Typicaly only 2 Ability scores get focused on heavily (Especialy if you do point buy as opposed to rolled out scores) and as such you could consider a combo of Str + Con, Str + Cha, or Con + Cha. If you keep Strength lower your character will be less likely to focus on doing mass damage and more focused on how much they can take and how much they can eventually heal. If you drop the Constitution you'll likely make for a bruiser that relies on auras to beef their defenses or attacks. If you drop Charisma then you'd wind up relying on your class levels for your healing and be a general bruiser with aura capabilities.
These of course aren't your only options though, the versatility of the 3 stats allows you to be open toward multiclassing as several other classes. For example I've made a cohort for my character who started out as a cleric and became a dragon shaman. I focused the character into Cha and Wis heavily. She's essentially and anti-undead character who also is big on healing and buffing. Her high charisma and some items that helped boost it up further Made it so that she can use several Turning uses against Undeads, and enables her a large Touch of Vitality healing. In addition I gave her a feat called Sacred Healing which allows you to use up a Turning attempt to cause a large amount of healing in an area. Also she has the Double Draconic Aura feat to allow her to have 2 of her auras active at once.
Simply put it can combo well with several things by following any path involving Cha or Str and well Con just simply helps any class based on increased HP if nothing else.
These of course are the primes to consider should you adopt only the Dragon Shaman class. So the question to ask is what type of character do you want to be? Typicaly only 2 Ability scores get focused on heavily (Especialy if you do point buy as opposed to rolled out scores) and as such you could consider a combo of Str + Con, Str + Cha, or Con + Cha. If you keep Strength lower your character will be less likely to focus on doing mass damage and more focused on how much they can take and how much they can eventually heal. If you drop the Constitution you'll likely make for a bruiser that relies on auras to beef their defenses or attacks. If you drop Charisma then you'd wind up relying on your class levels for your healing and be a general bruiser with aura capabilities.
These of course aren't your only options though, the versatility of the 3 stats allows you to be open toward multiclassing as several other classes. For example I've made a cohort for my character who started out as a cleric and became a dragon shaman. I focused the character into Cha and Wis heavily. She's essentially and anti-undead character who also is big on healing and buffing. Her high charisma and some items that helped boost it up further Made it so that she can use several Turning uses against Undeads, and enables her a large Touch of Vitality healing. In addition I gave her a feat called Sacred Healing which allows you to use up a Turning attempt to cause a large amount of healing in an area. Also she has the Double Draconic Aura feat to allow her to have 2 of her auras active at once.
Simply put it can combo well with several things by following any path involving Cha or Str and well Con just simply helps any class based on increased HP if nothing else.
TBH, I tend to want to go in and fight a bit, so i think i would probly want to have a char with high str., the dual buff sounds realy good (what is the exact name?), for the power& defensive aura at once, but what other two feats would be useful for a DS who would want to get in the action a little more than a standard healer/buffer?
Also, I read that oyu can get some nifty options if you pick to be a Dragonborn race, what could i get from choosing that race exactly?
Also, I read that oyu can get some nifty options if you pick to be a Dragonborn race, what could i get from choosing that race exactly?
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Dragonwriter
First Post
Dragon Shamans are a lot of fun. You can handle a variety of situations and get some sweet abilities depending on what dragon you chose for your totem. So, what's your totem dragon?
Double Draconic Aura is only available at 12th or higher level. The feat appears in Dragon Magic.
If you can get a race that boosts Str or Con, that would be good. Dragonborn Human is quite nice for this. I know, Dragonborn Water Orc is the favorite for creating a super-bruiser, but that would get a serious penalty to Cha. You might want Dragonborn Dwarf. +4 Con for -2 Dex and -2 Cha. THe Cha penalty isn't too bad... Doing a point buy, you can come out with a decent Cha (12 is good) and very nice Con. At least, I think so... Away from my Races of the Dragon book right now...
Currently, my very own Dragon Shaman is functioning as the party tank. With a high Str and Con, he's the biggest and toughest member of the party. And, surprisingly, he has a higher Cha than everyone else except our Sor and is the face for the party... Go figure.
But, with 32-point buy, a Dragonborn Dwarf could be like this...
Str 16 (10 points)
Dex 10 (4 points)
Con 16 (4 points)
Int 10 (2 points)
Wis 10 (2 points)
Cha 14 (10 points)
At least, like I said, I think it could wind up like that. You're pretty well suited to melee combat, and can use your touch of vitality quite well. Throw in your Power aura and you can deal out decent damage. Currently, my Dragon Shaman wears a nice breastplate and a heavy shield (we're about 3rd-4th level) and has a very high AC.
About Dragonborn, you get some nice bonuses for fighting dragons, and can choose to get a breath weapon (okay ability), wings, or dragon-like immunities (don't remember exactly what). But you also must listen when Bahamut calls you. And don't mess up, or you get hit with a really nasty curse that strips you of your dragonborn status, as well as probably killing you.
Double Draconic Aura is only available at 12th or higher level. The feat appears in Dragon Magic.
If you can get a race that boosts Str or Con, that would be good. Dragonborn Human is quite nice for this. I know, Dragonborn Water Orc is the favorite for creating a super-bruiser, but that would get a serious penalty to Cha. You might want Dragonborn Dwarf. +4 Con for -2 Dex and -2 Cha. THe Cha penalty isn't too bad... Doing a point buy, you can come out with a decent Cha (12 is good) and very nice Con. At least, I think so... Away from my Races of the Dragon book right now...
Currently, my very own Dragon Shaman is functioning as the party tank. With a high Str and Con, he's the biggest and toughest member of the party. And, surprisingly, he has a higher Cha than everyone else except our Sor and is the face for the party... Go figure.
But, with 32-point buy, a Dragonborn Dwarf could be like this...
Str 16 (10 points)
Dex 10 (4 points)
Con 16 (4 points)
Int 10 (2 points)
Wis 10 (2 points)
Cha 14 (10 points)
At least, like I said, I think it could wind up like that. You're pretty well suited to melee combat, and can use your touch of vitality quite well. Throw in your Power aura and you can deal out decent damage. Currently, my Dragon Shaman wears a nice breastplate and a heavy shield (we're about 3rd-4th level) and has a very high AC.
About Dragonborn, you get some nice bonuses for fighting dragons, and can choose to get a breath weapon (okay ability), wings, or dragon-like immunities (don't remember exactly what). But you also must listen when Bahamut calls you. And don't mess up, or you get hit with a really nasty curse that strips you of your dragonborn status, as well as probably killing you.
Arkhandus
First Post
Dragon Magic and Draconomicon (both supplements put out by Wizards of the Coast for 3.5) have some feats and stuff that are useful to Dragon Shamans, though Draconomicon is more about helping DMs run dragons. I don't have either, myself, so I can't give any suggestions based on them. ^_^;;
In general: Dragon Shamans have some good utility and flexibility, but each Dragon Shaman is likely to be pretty narrow in their abilities. My halfling copper-dragon shaman for example, was sneaky and a good liar but not much else; he had some toughness, a bit of healing, and a bit of damage output, but wasn't much use in combat (never got to the point of gaining a breath weapon or touch of vitality). Dragon Shamans have so few skill points and class skills, plus they need several ability scores.
The energy shield and breath weapon of a black or copper Dragon Shaman is probably most useful, because relatively few monsters have any kind of special defense against acid. Blue and bronze Dragon Shamans are the next most useful in that regard, as electricity is likewise rarely resisted, but has the drawback of some monsters absorbing electricity for some benefit (certain golems, shambling mounds, etc.). Black and copper Dragon Shamans also have useful adaptations (water breathing and spider climbing). Silvers also have a useful adaptation (feather fall). Reds, blues, whites, and brass have the least-useful or most-rarely useful adaptations.
For a melee-oriented Dragon Shaman, put a good score into Strength (16+) and Constitution (14-16), an above average score into Charisma (14+), and the rest is up to you. You'll need good Strength to help you actually hit stuff in combat. You should have good AC, or at least decent AC if you use a two-handed weapon (my halfling went with Shield Specialization etc. instead), but Constitution will still help, especially once you get your breath weapon. Charisma is roughly as important, but more or less worthless to you until Touch of Vitality.
You won't have enough of an attack bonus to make much use of Power Attack, so take Intimidating Strike instead (PHB2). You still can't use it too often or too heavily, but one successful use alone will make an encounter easier. Vexing Flanker (PHB2) with Combat Reflexes (its prerequisite) will make you much more accurate when flanking an enemy, if your group works well enough together to get plenty of flanking opportunities. Combat Focus, Combat Stability, and Combat Vigor (all PHB2) may also help at mid-upper levels. Weapon Focus is probably a worthwhile choice as well.
Dipping a level into Barbarian, Rogue, or Fighter can help boost your combat ability (with rage, or sneak attack for flanking etc., or a bonus feat and better proficiencies). Dipping a level into Crusader or Warblade (Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords) can really help too (with Warblade, you could take Punishing Stance, Steely Strike, Steel Wind, and Stone Bones for a bit more offensive and defensive power). Feat-wise, the Tome of Battle also has Ironheart Aura and Vital Recovery that can be useful if you dip into Warblade for one level.
In general: Dragon Shamans have some good utility and flexibility, but each Dragon Shaman is likely to be pretty narrow in their abilities. My halfling copper-dragon shaman for example, was sneaky and a good liar but not much else; he had some toughness, a bit of healing, and a bit of damage output, but wasn't much use in combat (never got to the point of gaining a breath weapon or touch of vitality). Dragon Shamans have so few skill points and class skills, plus they need several ability scores.
The energy shield and breath weapon of a black or copper Dragon Shaman is probably most useful, because relatively few monsters have any kind of special defense against acid. Blue and bronze Dragon Shamans are the next most useful in that regard, as electricity is likewise rarely resisted, but has the drawback of some monsters absorbing electricity for some benefit (certain golems, shambling mounds, etc.). Black and copper Dragon Shamans also have useful adaptations (water breathing and spider climbing). Silvers also have a useful adaptation (feather fall). Reds, blues, whites, and brass have the least-useful or most-rarely useful adaptations.
For a melee-oriented Dragon Shaman, put a good score into Strength (16+) and Constitution (14-16), an above average score into Charisma (14+), and the rest is up to you. You'll need good Strength to help you actually hit stuff in combat. You should have good AC, or at least decent AC if you use a two-handed weapon (my halfling went with Shield Specialization etc. instead), but Constitution will still help, especially once you get your breath weapon. Charisma is roughly as important, but more or less worthless to you until Touch of Vitality.
You won't have enough of an attack bonus to make much use of Power Attack, so take Intimidating Strike instead (PHB2). You still can't use it too often or too heavily, but one successful use alone will make an encounter easier. Vexing Flanker (PHB2) with Combat Reflexes (its prerequisite) will make you much more accurate when flanking an enemy, if your group works well enough together to get plenty of flanking opportunities. Combat Focus, Combat Stability, and Combat Vigor (all PHB2) may also help at mid-upper levels. Weapon Focus is probably a worthwhile choice as well.
Dipping a level into Barbarian, Rogue, or Fighter can help boost your combat ability (with rage, or sneak attack for flanking etc., or a bonus feat and better proficiencies). Dipping a level into Crusader or Warblade (Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords) can really help too (with Warblade, you could take Punishing Stance, Steely Strike, Steel Wind, and Stone Bones for a bit more offensive and defensive power). Feat-wise, the Tome of Battle also has Ironheart Aura and Vital Recovery that can be useful if you dip into Warblade for one level.
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Thanks for all the help guys, I think I can piece together a decent DS now from all the advice. If anyone still has any good information they wouldn't mind sharing about this class/ oppinion of the class, I'm still going to check this thread and try to get a deffinate build in my head =)
Shin Okada
Explorer
As already mentioned, the main weakness of Dragon Shaman is that they must choose one energy type for their breath weapon. So, when meeting something immune to that type of energy, your breath weapon becomes useless. Acid seems to be the best one but still there are creatures immune to it. Electricity is not so good if your DM like to use a lot of demons.
Check Draught of Metamagic Breath in Draconomicon. Most of them may be too expensive for your character. But Breath Flare Drought costs only 50 gp and cheap enough. other Draughts may worth having for emergency.
Also, if your PC is a Dragon or a creature with (Dragon Blood) subtype, Dragon's Draughts in MIC are usable.
Another option is to take ranks in Use Magic Item skill and use magic items of Metabreath Spells.
Check Draught of Metamagic Breath in Draconomicon. Most of them may be too expensive for your character. But Breath Flare Drought costs only 50 gp and cheap enough. other Draughts may worth having for emergency.
Also, if your PC is a Dragon or a creature with (Dragon Blood) subtype, Dragon's Draughts in MIC are usable.
Another option is to take ranks in Use Magic Item skill and use magic items of Metabreath Spells.
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