Also, the creature types available should vary by level. That is to say, a level 1 Druid could be a bear cub, but a level 19 Druid could be a Dire Bear. And damage should increase according to level, but not necessarily according to animal type — the way they’ve done it makes a bit more balanced. Although if I were an NPC or monster, I’d be pissed if a 25th level Druid/pigeon were kicking my ass.

A lot of the classes in 4e have been streamlined/stripped of character. Maybe they’re trying to break some of the stereotypes/archetypes of previous editions, but for me that makes the game more bland. Having to accomplish certain goals as you level up was a challenging part of AD&D1 and 2, so why drop those requirements?

I’ve played a cleric in 2nd, 3.5 and I’m playing one in 4th right now. My cleric can stand up in melee, has some ranged holy attacks, and buff and heal his allies. He can do everything my 3.5 cleric could do and is actually more potent than my 2nd ed. cleric.

Why? They took that advantage away from the cleric for the sake of game roles.

From what I recall from the reviews and excerpts of Martial Power didn’t they already do this with the Ranger’s animal companion? Couldn’t they just apply the same concept here? It wouldn’t necessarily have to be as specific as animal types either. Categories as broad as ’skimisher’ or ‘mauler’ could work just fine.

not in 4e ^_^

i think the elemental caster idea is stupid. i remember in 2nd edition, druids were listed as a religion class…. (it was grouped with the cleric). and they had this wierd thing where there was a druid hierarchy, and at lvls 12, 16, and 20, you had to defeat a higher-ranking druid to lvl… now, THAT’s flavorfull. :)

“That said, I actually disagree and am happy that they’re trying to make it a hybrid class instead of taking what I’ll call the easy way out and just split them into two more lame classes.”

I agree. the wizard is a super-controller. the only controller that they could create that would be better than the wizard would be a wizard that deals more damage. (if you don’t believe me, play a paragon lvl eladrin wizard with the spiral tower paragon path and be prepared to kick major ass). I just wish they’d make it more of a nature-devoted class than a controller. like the bard, it used to be, (at least in 2nd ed), more of a RP class, and now that’s gone. bummer

Then, after we had finally defeated our enemies and went back to town to deliver the item we had snagged from them, we were ambushed. I expended an action point, turned into a rat, and got the heck out of dodge. Oh, way better to be one rat of millions in the city than a badger. That would have made me easier to find, and also prevent me from sneaking away through a hole in the wall. Thankfully, my teammates were not bugged much by my “run away to fight another day” attitude. At level 2, you have to pick your battles wisely. Oh wait, that requires a high WIS score :-)

I *do* agree, WotC should do some more work on refining the Druid class to better fit the Elemental Caster + Beast form archetype. At present it’s a bit schizoid.