20 levels of shifter is out of the question, so what else do we have? I've been trying to break this class all weekend... and I am failing hard hehe. Multiclass seems to be the only real way to solidify the class after level 8, and since the keystone ability of shifter isnt that attractive anyway I don't think it would hurt it too much to dip out of it. Shifter has lots of weaknesses, but there's another forum already for that, what are it's strengths?
strength list for me:
1. at will claws - pair with a race that has a bite already and you have a good/accurate sneak attack delivery device
2. Large form at level 4 - this is an early boost (in a way could be a disguised weakness if your fighting in a lot of enclosed spaces like in a pathfinder mod or something, but lets assume its a strength hehe)
3. prestige class friendly - the higher level you get with this class the less awesome it is so all those prestige classes you wanted to play suddenly sound attractive.
4. decent armor class options - lets admit keeping some wisdom while armored is kind of attractive? I could see some solid tank-like builds out of this class.
Shifters absolutely need mutated shape to stay at all competitive, so it looks like all builds will need that super high wisdom stat.
Possible prestige ideas that could be fun:
Dragon disciple - was I the only one disappointed at the lack of dragon shape for shifter?
Shadow dancer - a shadow jumping tiger with rogue talents sounds fun. Shadow dancer was always a weak choice for most other classes, but alas not for shifter! And you can use the shadow evocation in form since its not a spell.
Assassin - all of the yes. Fits great with the class I think and since natural weapons are great sneak attack delivery devices, this fits great.
Stalwart defender - would love to see a silverback stalwart defender or something like that.
Multiclass dips from other classes:
monk - 3 levels of flowing monk gives you a strong AC boost when fighting many enemies, also helps ease the feat burden a bit of getting feral combat training to really open up what you can do with your claws (including getting still mind for monastic legacy)
fighter/brawler - 4 levels of a fighter flavor of your choice goes a long way in getting the shifter caught up to the feat level of other martial classes.
sorcerer - only really for dragon disciple entry
ranger - only if it's ever clarified it shapeshifting hunter feat will work with shifter. RAW i would say no, RAI i certainly think this is reasonable with the ambiguity of how you read "A shifters can take feats and other abilities that require
wild shape; for the purpose of qualifying for prerequisites,
her effective druid level is equal to her shifter level." which sounds like it was meant to be a catch all for getting them access to wild shape feats but doesn't quite spell that out. (a discussion for another thread perhaps?)
Races:
I immediately think of Aasimar (Plumekith), Kitsune (with realistic likeness and fox shape for added shifter goodness), and Tengu (racial sub for the claws, even though they are redundant the granting of unarmed strike feat for meeting prereqs gives you a lot of steam to start some exciting feat chains at level 1, useless of course if you plan on taking monk though), and oreads have some interesting feats and really good ability score bonuses for a shifter
I hadn't thought of Shadowdancer for Shifter... Yeah! Maybe two great but weak tastes could taste great together! Unfortunately, it would work best with a good Charisma, meaning you'd need 5 out of 6 Ability Scores. Same with Assassin, except Intelligence instead of Charisma.
Stalwart Defender sounds like the real gem, though. It maintains your full BAB, which is one of the only things Shifter lords above other shapeshifters, it gives another AC bonus, adds DR, and has talent-type powers to pick from. It even has a good Will save and a bonus to it when in Defensive Stance. The Shifter can use a Large size and maybe reach to synergize with what Stalwart Defender's AoOs and keeping opponents away from allies (taking up and threatening a lot of space is important, since you won't be able to 5-foot step during your Stance until 14th level). The biggest problem here is that you won't be able to abuse Pounce during Defensive Stance.
The biggest problem here is that you won't be able to abuse Pounce during Defensive Stance.
Hmm well if you could get immune to fatigue you could cycle the stance maybe? If you wait until level 9, 1 level of oracle with the lame curse will give you immunity to fatigue with a -10 to movement but still could be worthy.
The pounce forms don't really impress me. Pounce is nice but it is easily shut down, as charge lanes are easily blocked, and otherwise these forms don't interest me. But if you are looking to mix pounce and defensive stance, cord of stuborn resolve gives stance cycling, and taking Bull and Wolverine aspects give bonus HP and a Str buff to make up for lack of Str belt.
That said, a Frog Shifter/Fighter seems promising to me. Tongue Attack is something somewhat new (it isn't an ability Druids get) and a real nice trick for a tank. Grab at 15' keeps enemies from attacking squishy allies by pulling them back to you. Damage is weak but with Anaconda's Coils you can rack up some decent damage by catch-and-release grappling, getting 3 instances of damage each turn at 8, 4 at 15. Get Hamatula Strike and a helm of the mammoth lord and it becomes 6 instances of damage, which isn't too shabby. Might work well with Stalwart Defender, but it needs a lot of grapple feats on top of the 3 feats for SD.
Wolverine also looks pretty nice, especially multiclassing into Ulfen Defender. Gets some nice mobility options, greater rage, and more ways to rip off barbarian (and also fighter some).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Horizon Walker could be an interesting way of continuing on with the Shifter's theme of connecting with nature.
Plus with Dimensional Agility and Dimensional Assault you get the ability to teleport pounce. That could be fun.
20 levels of shifter is out of the question, so what else do we have? I've been trying to break this class all weekend... and I am failing hard hehe. Multiclass seems to be the only real way to solidify the class after level 8
I thought not taking the Oozemorph archetype was supposed to leave it solid . . . .
{. . .} Multiclass dips from other classes: {. . .}
Any synergy between Shifter and Druid? (I haven't seen the Shifter class description text yet.)
{. . .}
That said, a Frog Shifter/Fighter seems promising to me. Tongue Attack is something somewhat new (it isn't an ability Druids get) and a real nice trick for a tank. Grab at 15' keeps enemies from attacking squishy allies by pulling them back to you. {. . .}
I wonder how many Jar-Jar Binks clones we are going to get . . . .
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Possibly the best thing to use oozemorph for is to get the level 1 and 2 stuff, and then teach someone druidic and loose your ooze form and get shunted back into a normal character but keep stuff like compression and everything except the negatives basically.
(The ozemorph only loses SU abilities. The only SU ability is the ability that makes it a useless ooze)
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
When life gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give me lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!
A lot of people in the Shifter comments thread taking this advice to heart.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm interested in trying to make an Elementalist Shifter who primarily fights with a weapon and uses wild shape only for utility (say, a fly speed or burrowing, b/c medium elementals aren't great in combat).
I'm thinking of a half-elf using weapon finesse with a Branch Spear (eventually made agile) whose first element is Air and Second is Earth could theoretically control a reasonable amount of space while being fairly tough with good damage.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
When life gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give me lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!A lot of people in the Shifter comments thread taking this advice to heart.
Except we got a crabapple instead of lemons. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Shifter 1/Druid 19
Best shifter build. More flexible shifting, better shifting at higher levels. Lots of ribbon abilities like animal companion and full 9th level casting to make up the 5 bab loss.
Or
Shifter 1/Beastkin Barbarian 19
Gets basically everything the shifter would normally get except wild shape is measured in rounds per level not hours. On the bright side you can pick your form for each combat rather than being stuck in forms. Much more versatile. Oh and you eventually get huge sized animals.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Speaking as someone who loves the concept and have made 4 shifters since release.
It is the worst class I have ever seen.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Speaking as someone who daydreams about sneaking an Expert into a party of PC classes: this class is only playable if you dip into real classes.