Oaken Resilience for a shifter druid?

[mrieder79]

I have heard that you cannot use Oaken Resilience while in wild shape. My toon is a shifter druid so I question the usefulness of the feat if I would potentilly have to return to human form to activate it, exposing my toon for a few rounds.

Do most shifters just use it as a short term (10 minutes, right?) buff? Or does it actually work in wild shape.

I was thinking about taking a different feat unless it really is critical to have.

Any input from veteran druids is welcome.

[Elthan]

See pvp coming up - use it and shift.
It's faster than buffing and as a shifter you don't get much use for many feats tbh.

[Nomster]

If you are using Jagged Tooth, Greater Magic Fang and Flame Weapon and unshift, you have to reapply these buffs each time. So if you want to use Oaken Resilience and unshift every 10 mins, keep that in mind. All the other buffs still stay, its just those that don't.

I think some shapes have some immunities. I'd probably say something wrong if I guessed which those were...

[Hoihe]

Plant Shapes
Elemental Shapes


I think that's it. Maybe dragon but nay sure.

[Nomster]

NWN 2 wiki says red dragonshape has sneak immunity. It didn't have any specifics about the other shapes.

Oaken Resilience is great if you don't plan on being shifted constantly but many of the benfits are gained somehow else. If you want to use the Magical Beast Shapes, it could be useful for the crit immunity.

Type of feat: Druid
Prerequisite: Druid level 12
Required for: None
Specifics: This feat allows the druid to expend one of her wild shape uses in order to gain temporarily immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning and critical hits. Lasts ten minutes.
Use: Activation

Posion: You're already immune
Sleep: Mind affecting so you have a good defence.. and if you're elf/half elf you're immune.
Paralysis: You're going to use Freedom of Movement for Tortoise Shell anyway.
Stunning: Not sure if Freedom of Movement protects you from stun effects, I can't recall ever being stunned but I haven't been in the late epic areas.
Critical Hits (and sneak attacks): Should be plant, elemental and dragon shape (do correct me if I'm wrong).

Freedom of Movement lasts 1 min / CL and can be dispelled.

[Karond]

Stunning: Not sure if Freedom of Movement protects you from stun effects, I can't recall ever being stunned but I haven't been in the late epic areas.

It doesn't. However, isn't dragons mind immune? I'm not sure about that though, but if they are, it would explain it for you

[Nomster]

I don't have dragon shape, yet... Been using the elemental shapes mostly. Never been stunned but perhaps I haven't been exposed to a high DC attempt..? I dunno. What category does stun fall under, is it mind affecting?

NWN 2 wiki says dragons (edit: as in shapeshifted) are immune to mind affecting, paralysis and sneak attacks.

[Karond]

Elementals are mind immune.

[Nomster]

Didn't know about that. So, stun is mind affecting then.

[Elthan]

Elementals are mind immune.

Getting to 18 on a druid is a long haul - unless i somehow fail to realize how shifter druids need each and every feat they have barring oaken as a pre-epic filler.

I'd still say having alot of immunities without casting anything (pvp-signal or in times when you're out of buffs/got dispelled in terms of pvm)

[Karond]

Elemental is on level 16, right? And before that, you can get alot of immunities out of plant shape at level 12. Before that, you typically get 4 feats. Do one of them really need to be oaken resilience to survive?

I would build a druid for what it will be at level 30. Oaken resilience is nice for the crit immune on a dragon, but your AC will be skyhigh anyway. So it's not a critical feat to have. Natural spell is critical. As for the rest, you might want to look at spell penetration feats, spell focus conjuration feats or AB feats.

[AC81]

Oaken resilience gives immunity to sneak attacks as well (?) I think. Also, stun, paralysis, sleep, critical hits.

[Karond]

Oaken resilience gives immunity to sneak attacks as well (?) I think. Also, stun, paralysis, sleep, critical hits.

Sure, the reason I mentioned only critical immune is because its the only one taking effect.

Druids are automatically immune to poison. Dragons and many things they shift into are immune to sleep and stun. Since they cast freedom of movement, they're also immune to paralysis. Thus, the only real benefit you get out of this as a shapeshifter is the critical immunity (which gives immunity to sneak attacks yes, but dragons are already immune to that!).

[DrowChyld]

As far as AC goes you are better off with FoM + tort. High level = +9 AC but this feat is still useful when in humaniod form. Its activated instantly with no animations so you can trigger this without anyone knowing...but only in humanoid form.

I hear once upon a time that it cannot be dispelled but I'd need someone else to confirm that.

[gimchi]

Basically (as a shifter focused druid) you can look at Oaken Resilience as an emergency thing in normal form, or to give you it's benefits for the first ten minutes after shifting (prior to lvl 27).

It is impractical to keep shifting in and out of forms if you are doing serious, challenging adventuring... too easy to get caught in fragile humanoid form.

So it comes down to a judgement call ... what do you want your druid to be best at, or do more often? If it's offensive casting then best use the feat slot for something else.