Author Topic: What's the best class and prestige class that focus on natural attacks? (Read 9963 times)

Silveron · « **on:** August 22, 2012, 05:38:08 PM »

I need to make a 10th level character for a side game we are playing for a month or two, while our current DM is too busy to work on game.

I decided to play a Frey (cat race that looks like a house cat that can walk on two legs, from oathbound, +0 level adjustment). They have claw (1d2) and bite (1d3) natural attacks. I am not worried about such utterly abysmal damage on them because he is starting us out with a lot of gold. There are plenty of magic items that you can enchant natural attacks like a magical weapon. So I can make those attacks +5 and do +3d6 (ice,fire,shock) or more damage from different weapon enchantments, as if they were +8 weapons.

What I need help with is any and all advice I can get on what class/feats/prestige classes do I use to make the most of natural attacks?

Thanks in advance.

altpersona · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2012, 05:41:28 PM »

evil ?

souleater?

sirpercival · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2012, 05:54:01 PM »

Totemist does a bunch with natural attacks, but I would say the absolute best you could do (other than soul eater) would probably be DFI bard. Is homebrew allowed?

Alternatively, you could just play a gishy sorc.

Silveron · « **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2012, 06:32:38 PM »

Evil is out. Have a few players that think if they are good that they have to act like paladins out to rid the world of all evil.

What book is Totemist in?

I am currently running a rogue/wizard so do not want to turn around and run a sorc. I have never played warlock before and have a 1st level one ready to go when we start a new 1st level game. So do not want to jump to a 10th level warlock without any experience playing one before.

So I am looking for a more melee based class that is or can be made good with natural attacks.

Jackinthegreen · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2012, 06:35:22 PM »

Totemist is in Magic of Incarnum. The main ability I know of is it can get girallon arms, which grant four claw attacks. There are of course others things it can do pretty well, but I don't personally know much of them.

sirpercival · « **Reply #5 on:** August 22, 2012, 06:53:11 PM »

Quote from: Silveron on August 22, 2012, 06:32:38 PM

Evil is out. Have a few players that think if they are good that they have to act like paladins out to rid the world of all evil.

What book is Totemist in?

I am currently running a rogue/wizard so do not want to turn around and run a sorc. I have never played warlock before and have a 1st level one ready to go when we start a new 1st level game. So do not want to jump to a 10th level warlock without any experience playing one before.

So I am looking for a more melee based class that is or can be made good with natural attacks.

Can you use Tome of Battle? A DFI Bardsader sounds like something good you might want to do.

Rebel7284 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2012, 07:27:40 PM »

Warshaper can RAW get an infinite number of natural attacks.

Druid is probably the most powerful class for natural attacks though.

InnaBinder · « **Reply #7 on:** August 22, 2012, 07:32:56 PM »

Psychic Warrior's various Claw abilities are pretty solid.

Jackinthegreen · « **Reply #8 on:** August 22, 2012, 07:35:46 PM »

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19866038/The_king_of_smack.?pg=1 might give you an idea along the Psywar line.

zook1shoe · « **Reply #9 on:** August 22, 2012, 09:31:29 PM »

Warshaper
Totemist
Druid (or other wild shaper)
Thayan Gladiator
Black Blood Cultist

linklord231 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 22, 2012, 09:42:42 PM »

Totemist and Druid focus mainly on gaining more natural attacks rather than powering up existing ones. Thayan Gladiator and Black Blood Cultist focus more on making existing natural attacks stronger. Warshaper does some of each.
King of Smack (the Psywar suggestion) is one of the more extreme examples of stacking things on to natural weapons to make them hit like a ton of bricks, but relies on several buffs in order to reach full power. Depending on how far you go, it might be too powerful for your game.
Caelic's Boogeyman is evil, but is one of the best examples of using Soul Eater to add negative levels to your natural attacks.

Would you rather focus on making your existing natural attacks more powerful, or on gaining a bunch of attacks?

brujon · « **Reply #11 on:** August 23, 2012, 12:22:26 AM »

Quote from: Jackinthegreen on August 22, 2012, 06:35:22 PM

Totemist is in Magic of Incarnum. The main ability I know of is it can get girallon arms, which grant four claw attacks. There are of course others things it can do pretty well, but I don't personally know much of them.

Skin of the Manticore gives ranged Natural Attacks, which is something extremely hard to find and very useful. Pumping enough essentia into it makes it deal surprisingly high damage, which is relatively easy to do given a Psycarnum build tailored to it. Build it off a Synad to exploit it's ability to break action economy (which is easy with psionics) and get access to Rapidstrike/Improved Rapidstrike, dip Lion Totem Barbarian and get Totem Rager for a really scary and flavorful beastly charger that is versatile. In a pinch you can switch from pouncing to ranged, and dimension door away from grapples, or get Girallon Arms, pump essentia and out-grapple anything other than a Black Blood Cultist. Getting pounce from something other than Sphinx Claws frees up the Hands Chakra for something like Acid Damage, or the ability to survive below -10 HP, or a plethora of other things if you use Obtain Soulmeld to access Incarnate & Soulborn melds.

I was actually going to play something like this in a campaign but i had to drop it for personal issues...

Jackinthegreen · « **Reply #12 on:** August 23, 2012, 12:45:11 AM »

There's also the possibility of going druid to wild shape into a fleshraker dinosaur. Some tricks with it include the spell Venomfire. Note that the spell lasts hours per level and grants 1d6 per level as acid damage on every attack. The combination of pounce, poison, and potential grappling and pinning are doozies. A Goliath druid could take a barbarian level to get the rage substitution, then take Powerful Wild Shape and thus become a Large fleshraker and also add on to the poison's DC thanks to an increased Con from rage.

I'll definitely have to look more at Skin of the Manticore. A ranged natural attack is indeed rare... And now I have hydralisks on the mind. lol

linklord231 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 23, 2012, 04:25:35 AM »

The soulmeld you're talking about is called Manticore Belt, on pg 77 of MoI. It never actually says it's a natural attack, but it's heavily implied. So things that enhance natural attacks may or may not work with the Belt; ask your DM.

Empirate · « **Reply #14 on:** August 23, 2012, 04:41:26 AM »

For prestige classes, somebody needs to mention the Master of Many Forms. After some levels of this, you're just limited by the monster books in play, and by time spent researching...

Silveron · « **Reply #15 on:** August 23, 2012, 05:12:26 AM »

And here I thought this was going to be easy lol...

I have not played psionics since 2nd edition and I have a 1st level psion ready to go to start to relearn. So jumping back into psionics with a 10th level psychic warrior, I would most likely make a mess of it with my nose in the books every turn trying to learn how to use all my powers.

The race I am starting with (Frey) has natural attacks, so I have no need to change shape to gain them. With the Necklace of Natural Weapons I can enchant the natural attacks just the same as magical weapons and Ring of Adamant Touch makes natural claws into Adamantine weapons. So I am not dependent on class to boost attacks or to gain ability to use natural attacks.

So my main focus is what gets me the most natural attacks. What class levels should go where since I am starting out at 10th level and what feats make the most of natural attacks. Most of what has been suggested are prestige classes so I do not know what I should take before them.

Jackinthegreen · « **Reply #16 on:** August 23, 2012, 05:43:16 AM »

It's not so much the damage that might be a problem, it's the size of the user. If this race is tiny, you'll generally want a way to get to small or medium because those sizes can actually attack outside their own square. A druid would work well with that since you start out being limited to small and medium animals for wild shape.

Could you post the full racial rules description? Or a link to the book, if it exists online?

Sagroth · « **Reply #17 on:** August 23, 2012, 06:08:52 AM »

Warshaper and Thayan Gladiator are good options.

Also, if you have LA buyoff, the Feral template can be a good choice in some instances(though the best benefits require racial hit die).

Also, consider those shards from Eberron that increase natural attack damage(I cannot recall the specific name,of the shard or the book, sorry).

dumah87 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 23, 2012, 08:49:23 AM »

Bear Warrior
Black Blood Cultist

Silveron · « **Reply #19 on:** August 23, 2012, 10:07:21 AM »

Frey
The Frey are a race of upright felines that strongly resemble domestic cats in their morphology. They are strong-willed and clever, and quick and tenacious in a fight.

• Frey gain a +2 to Dex, +2 to Cha, -2 to Str, and a -2 to Con.
• Frey are size small, and thus gain a +1 to AC and to all attack rolls. A frey has a base speed of 20. However, if its hands are free, a frey can drop down onto all fours in order to move at a rate of 30.
• Frey get a +2 racial bonus to Listen checks and a +8 bonus to Jump checks.
• Frey have natural weaponry. They have 2 claws that do 1d2 points of damage, and a bite that does 1d3. Use of their natural weaponry does not provoke an attack of opportunity (as if the frey possessed the Improved Unarmed Strike feat). The critical threat range for both attacks is 20 (x2).
• Stinging Strike (Ex): Once per day per character level, a Frey can strike at a sensitive area he instinctively is drawn to, such as at a dog's nose or a human's groin. If the frey hits with his normal attack, it does an additional 1d4 points of damage. This is a free action that is added onto a standard attack action. This ability can only be used in a round in which the frey takes a full attack action, and its use must be announced by the player before the attack roll is made.
• Remarkable retreat (Ex): Frey get a +4 dodge AC bonus against all attacks of opportunity.
• Springing leap (Ex): A frey can jump up to many times their height. When calculating the result of jump checks, frey are not limited by a maximum distance.
• All frey have low light vision.

The Feral creature template sounds great. Changes claws to 1d6 dmg and like the 10ft to movement.

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Author Topic: What's the best class and prestige class that focus on natural attacks? (Read 9963 times)