So, what's the story with Druid Shapeshifter class

patroklos · Post by **patroklos** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 12:26 am

I'm thinking of staring a new game as one but I believe there are plenty dark spots there...

First of all, which ones of your attributes and how many points do get raised when you change to warewolf/greater warewolf?

Secondly, are your "paws" considered +weapons like monks fists? Because if they aren't there is a point after which the transformation doesn't have anything advantageous to offer and you just stick to a druid without ANY armor (or with his pants down, if you prefer...)

ReignsOfPower · Post by **ReignsOfPower** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 3:31 am

Who cares about the Shapeshifting table of the Shapeshifter. When u hit high enough level u will be changing into a Fire or Earth elemental no matter what Druid class u r.

About not being able to wear ANY armour. How much u wanna make a bet? A Shapeshifter can wear armour! If u got ToB install you can wear The Shadow Dragons and White Dragon scale.

Yshania · Post by **Yshania** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 6:00 am

I have a Druid Avenger in SoA. He can wear most leather, Ankheg plate and any armour made from dragon scale.

However, his best armour rating comes from bracers, the armours are useful for protection bonuses(ie prot from acid/fire)

An Avenger can shapechange into quite a few creatures, the most effective being sword spider (the only one I really use). When shapechanged into a sword spider he gets increased dexterity (5 attacks per round) with a +5 hit (can break through stoneskin) and additional poison damage.

He also has a decent spell book with one mage spell per level (1-6) in addition to some very decent druid spells.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Mon Jul 23, 2001 6:14 am

Shapeshifters should not wear armors, even though ToB gives the opportunity. Why? Cause you'll be doing most of your fighting in Werewolf, Greater Werewolf and Elemental form anyway. The AC will then be fixed to a the AC of this particular creature no matter what armor you're wearing. However, Rings and Cloaks of Protection will affect the AC. But should you be using for example Shadow Scale Armor, you're not allowed to use these. Also, Bracers of AC 3 combined with a Ring of Protection + 2 will give you the same AC, anyway, even in natural form.

Andrew Shih · Post by **Andrew Shih** » Tue Jul 24, 2001 6:13 pm

I got the following info and verified itself over the course of some discussions with a "shapeshifter expert."

Shapeshifters are MUCH IMPROVED in ToB. First of all, druids in general suddenly get 6 level 7 spells at level 15 whereas at level 14 they only had 1. Second, they get 30% elemental resistance (in addition to elemental shapeshifts and summoning) which is more than a Cavalier's.

Regarding the shapeshifter specifically, he can wear some dragon scale armor I believe. His attacks count as +2 weapons. Also, he can hold a shield in his left hand (or a second weapon, which he can wield especially well if you dual to fighter and put three points in dual-wield--you may of course want to put a +4 weapon in the left paw). But perhaps best of all, the AC of the Greater Werewolf is now -10 AC--that's BASE AC!!

--Riverwind