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A D&D 4e thief with "Surprising Charge" (+1[W] damage on a charge against someone with CA) and "Cunning Stalker" (grants CA on any isolated enemy) does astonishing amounts of damage on a charge.

There are a significant number of druid feats which enhance charge attacks. How can a thief with druid multiclass take advantage of these feats? Furthermore, how can a thief make the most use of wildshape restrictions on "weapon attacks" when the MBA itself is a weapon attack?

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They can.

A half-elf Thief multiclassed Druid (Initiate of the Old Faith feat, grants Wild Shape) with Dilettante + Versatile Master feat for an at-will MBA Beast Form power (Grasping Claws, Savage Rend) can do it easily. Pounce is an option for purely charging, but usually, the other two are better.

If you want to dump Wisdom, you can take the Vampire's Vampire Slam at-will power through Dilettante, and give it the Beast Form keyword with the Wild Dilettante feat. Alternatively, you can take the Druid at-will with the Adept Dilettante feat to change the ability score it uses (Wisdom) to Constitution or Charisma.

Revenants with Half-Elf Soul can do it as well, and their stats match up better for a Thief. However, it takes up another feat slot and you lose Human and Elf feat support. Paragon Multiclassing is an alternative for other races, but it restricts you to the Druid multiclass.

I would suggest taking the Sneaky Staff feat to make use of Sneak Attack and Weapon Finesse bonuses. Clarification, as pointed out: Sneaky Staff wouldn't work in beast form.

Claw Gloves will add more damage.

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You can actually..

I found a way around it.

You will still have to multiclass druid of course so you'll need some investment in wisdom. This will now open you up to the charge feats that require having wild shape as a prereq. (Note that it just said you need to be in beast form, not that you HAVE to use wild shape to go into beast form) now take a were theme, I usually take wolf for the extra speed but you can choose whichever has more flavor for your character. The were polymorph works very similar to wild shape as in you can't use powers without beast form while within it BUT at level 10 this all goes away. Your free to use whatever power you'd like while staying in your beast form. You can now use claw gloves and druid feats that require you to be in beast form. So at the beginning of each encounter just go into your theme's beast form and charge away. Ta-daa you have a charge thief with druid shenanigans.

Best build to go for is a pixie thief multiclassed druid with a were theme and the right items (vanguard rapier,(take gritty sergeant background) horned helm, marauder's armor, claw gloves and boots of the fencing master). I was able to charge with a +5 to the attack roll, 6 D8 + 1 D10 + 1 D6 + 8 added to my damage roll.

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They cannot.

PHB2 page 184 -

A feat that has a class as a prerequisite is available only to members of that class, including characters who have joined the class through a class specific multiclass feat. As long as your character is multiclass in Druid and meets all the requirements of a given feat you can take it.

As for the wild shape, once you shift into a wild shape it clearly states (PHB2 page 84) that you cannot use weapons only implement powers and properties. Remember that you drop anything you where holding when you shift. There is a limit on attack, utility and feats also. Only those with beast as a key word.

Book Quote:

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.

The druid enhancements would still affect the MBA of the wildshape but not the weapons previously held, because these would have been dropped during the shift to the wild shape and so would not apply.

Additionally the examples of Surprising Charge and Cunning Stalker and others like them would be invalid a part of the attack because they don't have beast in their key word list.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I think sure you're incorrect about "a limit on attack, utility and feats also". There's a sentence on PHB2 pg84 saying that powers with the 'Beast' keyword can only be used in your beast form, but it doesn't say anything about other powers no longer being allowed, and nothing at all about feats. \$\endgroup\$
    – DCShannon
    May 21, 2015 at 3:42

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