score to heighten your endurance and your guardian powers.

Suggested Class Feature: Primal Guardian Suggested Feat: Primal Instinct

Suggested Skills: Arcana, Heal, Insight, Nature

Suggested At-Will Powers: call of the beast, chill wind, grasping claws

Suggested Encounter Power: frost flash Suggested Daily Power: fires of life

Predator Druid

As a predator druid, you hunt down and destroy those who despoil the natural world. Yours is the magic of the bared fang, the stalking wolf pack, and the blood-red moon. Your powers make striker your secondary role, with a focus on dealing significant damage along with your control effects. Make Wisdom your highest ability score to get the most

out of your attacks, followed by Dexterity to enhance your predator powers.

Suggested Class Feature: Primal Predator Suggested Feat: Primal Fury

Suggested Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Nature, Perception

Suggested At-Will Powers: flame seed, pounce, savage rend

Suggested Encounter Power: darting bite Suggested Daily Power: savage frenzy

CHOOSING DRUID POWERS

As you choose druid powers, you have two factors to consider. One is how the powers fit into your character concept—whether you imagine your character as more of a guardian or more of a predator. The other is how much time you envision spending in beast form. This factor is independent of your choice of build; both guardian druids and predator druids can choose powers that are mostly used in beast form or mostly used in humanoid form. But it’s important for how your druid feels during play.

The easiest strategy is to choose the power at each level that appeals to you most. If most of those powers are beast form powers, then you’ll spend a lot of time in beast form, using powers that you enjoy. If most of those powers are ranged and area powers you use in humanoid form, that will change the way you play your character. As long as you enjoy the powers you’re using, that’s fine.

If you need more guidance, choose beast form powers for about half of your powers. At 1st level, choose one or two beast form at-will attack powers, then choose either a beast form encounter power or a beast form daily power. As you advance in levels, continue trying to balance your power selections between beast form powers and other powers.

Remember that you can use retraining (Player’s Handbook, page 28) to change your power selections if you find your choices unsatisfying.

C H A P T E R 2 | C h a r a c t e r C l a s s e s

Druid Powers

Your powers are evocations that call on primal spirits to alter your physical form and hamper your enemies. You call up roots and vines from the ground, summon lightning from the sky, engulf your enemies in fire, or transform yourself into a fierce predator whose howl can shake your foes with fear.

Class Features

Each druid has the power wild shape.

You assume an aspect of the Primal Beast or return to your

humanoid form.

At-Will Polymorph, Primal

Minor Action (Special) Personal

Effect: You change from your humanoid form to beast form or vice versa. When you change from beast form back to your humanoid form, you shift 1 square. While you are in beast form, you can’t use attack, utility, or feat powers that lack the beast form keyword, although you can sustain such powers.

You choose a specific form whenever you use wild shape to change into beast form. The beast form is your size, resembles a natural beast or a fey beast, and normally doesn’t change your game statistics or movement

modes. Your equipment becomes part of your beast form, but you drop anything you are holding, except implements you can use. You continue to gain the benefits of the equipment you wear.

You can use the properties and the powers of implements as well as magic items that you wear, but not the properties or the powers of weapons or the powers of wondrous items. While equipment is part of your beast form, it cannot be removed, and anything in a container that is part of your beast form is inaccessible.

Special: You can use this power once per round.

Level 1 At-Will Evocations

You draw forth the savagery that dwells in every creature,

compelling your enemies to fight without forethought or plan.

At-Will Charm, Implement, Primal, Psychic Standard Action Area burst 1 within 10 squares Target: Each creature in burst

Attack: Wisdom vs. Will

Hit: The target can’t gain combat advantage until the end of your next turn. In addition, on its next turn the target takes psychic damage equal to 5 + your Wisdom modifier when it makes any attack that doesn’t include your ally nearest to it as a target.

Level 21: 10 + Wisdom modifier psychic damage.

A howling gust of icy wind savages your enemies, scattering

them.

At-Will Cold, Implement, Primal

Standard Action Area burst 1 within 10 squares Target: Each creature in burst

Attack: Wisdom vs. Fortitude

Hit: 1d6 cold damage, and you slide the target 1 square. Level 21: 2d6 cold damage.