shape shifting-useful?
shape shifting-useful?
I was wondering what the deal was with shapeshifting. I couldnt find much in the manual about it. Des your AC change when you shape shift? What about AC and THAC0? What are the advantages, of say Jaheira shapeshifting to a brown bear vs. a black bear? Is it orth it?
Shapeshifting in PnP could be really fun from a roleplaying side of things, but doesn't see much use in BG. When you shapeshift you get different Thac0, Attacks, AC, Str, Dex, Con, and hp.
Brown Bear, Black Bear, and Wolf are all pretty much useless in BG2...and not much better in BG1.
The Brown Bear is the best of the three with 3 attacks and decent Thac0, but it's AC isn't anywhere close to what a fighter would have.
Even the werewolf and greater werewolf are of limited use. A druid shapeshifter with effort can get the greater werewolf AC down around -8 to -10, 3 attacks, decent damage and Thac0...but weak compared to any decently equipped fighter. Werewolf does make the first dungeon easy though.
I haven't tried Avenger. It seems the Str and Con penalties shouldn't be that big a deal if you're in form a lot, but it would be nice if they could at least change into a regular Wyvern instead of a baby...after all, mages can SUMMON regular wyverns.
Brown Bear, Black Bear, and Wolf are all pretty much useless in BG2...and not much better in BG1.
The Brown Bear is the best of the three with 3 attacks and decent Thac0, but it's AC isn't anywhere close to what a fighter would have.
Even the werewolf and greater werewolf are of limited use. A druid shapeshifter with effort can get the greater werewolf AC down around -8 to -10, 3 attacks, decent damage and Thac0...but weak compared to any decently equipped fighter. Werewolf does make the first dungeon easy though.
I haven't tried Avenger. It seems the Str and Con penalties shouldn't be that big a deal if you're in form a lot, but it would be nice if they could at least change into a regular Wyvern instead of a baby...after all, mages can SUMMON regular wyverns.
When Shapeshifting, all of your physical attributes change to those of the new shape. Additionally, you gain new immunities accordingly.
While the basic Druid changes (wolf and bear) are nice, they're not very powerful combat-wise (though in a real Roleplaying game they can be very useful). The Shape-shifter isn't very powerful either, as his Werewolf forms might have high magical protection, but his AC is miserable compared to that of a well-equipped fighter and he can't use magical weapons.
The avenger forms aren't very good either... The Wyvern utterly suck, the Salamander has some nice abilities but nothing a mediocare fighter can't get, and the Sword Spider has a lot of attacks and poison, but no magical weapons.
The only true useful form is probably a Troll - there's an item in the game which allows you to shapeshift into one (*spoiler* cloak of the sewers, you can find it in the SEWERS) and it allows fast regeneration. Very useful while soloing, or if your priest is off line.
[This message has been edited by Earcaraxe (edited 11-07-2000).]
While the basic Druid changes (wolf and bear) are nice, they're not very powerful combat-wise (though in a real Roleplaying game they can be very useful). The Shape-shifter isn't very powerful either, as his Werewolf forms might have high magical protection, but his AC is miserable compared to that of a well-equipped fighter and he can't use magical weapons.
The avenger forms aren't very good either... The Wyvern utterly suck, the Salamander has some nice abilities but nothing a mediocare fighter can't get, and the Sword Spider has a lot of attacks and poison, but no magical weapons.
The only true useful form is probably a Troll - there's an item in the game which allows you to shapeshift into one (*spoiler* cloak of the sewers, you can find it in the SEWERS) and it allows fast regeneration. Very useful while soloing, or if your priest is off line.
[This message has been edited by Earcaraxe (edited 11-07-2000).]