Shapeshifter ...

Jumbik

Soo I would like to create one. For RP reasons mainly and I will want him in BG 2 also. My question is. Is it fixed already, or is it at least fixed to a point that its playable without nasty surpraises? I mean mainly the claws echants so i can hit enemies with some protection on? I suppose there are some mods that can be used but I would rather not use them if I could choose it.

Jumbik

It seems that not many people actually know this. I tried to do some research but found only a year old threads with the statement that it is buged... But a year has passed. I would be ok with the fact that it would be fixed in BG2 but not in BG1 as that is the place where it will mater the most.

fish0331

yes, I would like to know too. Anyone found any changes that make shapeshifter more viable in bg2/tob?

Jumbik

I have found out now, that in BG 1 EE, werewolf gets bonus from equipped items, or it at least seems so from one thread on these forums.

I do not have BG 2 EE yet. Could anyone test if this still apply in it? Or if you get any bonus from weapons so that your paws can overlap the +2 threshold? I would really appreciate it.

fish0331

plox

Xukuth

Werewolves are still bugged in essentially the same way as in vanilla, except that I think they get bonuses from amulets and rings now, but they no longer get a constitution bonus from the shapechange.

The resistances and weapon damage are still as broken as ever.

fish0331

do gauntlets of crushing or gauntlets of Aln Zekk synergize well with them?

Dungeonnoob

I belive thaco boosting items work, but not the enchantments.Not 100% on this but greater werewolf gets +3 enchantment iirc.

fish0331

I guess no one has a shifter in bg2ee tob?

GamingFreak

Shapeshifters are terribad. By and far the worst Druid kit available. And I'd go into super detail why it's bad, but let me point out the key thing here: Werewolves in-game get bonuses that Shapeshifters should have gotten, but didn't. Their claws afaik don't get much better. The Greater Wolfwere form is okay but it doesn't fix the key problems that Shapeshifter has.

Basically this means that you have a shapeshift form that you can use for defense to get away while your party does the real physical damage work, and then you go out of your shapeshift form and get to spell casting from a nice and cozy distance... all of that in exchange for no armor. It's honestly a pretty lame trade-off, and if you want to make a Shapeshifter for role-playing reasons, then keep in mind that your role is actually still going to be casting. The Werewolf form just doesn't make you a good frontliner at all.

You'll be passable up front for a while, but you'll eventually be getting in the way of the real meat of your party, and so back to the back-lines you go.

mylegbig

The SCS version of shapeshifter is actually pretty good. If you're going to use SCS, might as well use that too.

Jumbik

SCS? That is some mod? If it is some enhancement one without any drastic changes to game play then I could try it out.

magpie

Sword Coast Stratagems. It increases the challenge of the game, mostly by AI improvements and minor tweaks. I'm playing with it for the first time now, and it's mostly very enjoyable. Mages are very difficult to take down though, even in BG1, unless you have counter strategies to the stuff they use.

As for the tweaks to druid shapeshifting, it changes it so that you no longer shift by using the ability, but by equipping a `paw' weapon created permanently by the ability (only usable by the character that created it).

It works a bit differently, and I can see how some find it a bit clunky. But I love it, because:
-unlimited shapeshifting: the daily limitation is more an annoyance than a balancing factor or something, so I'm glad to be rid of it.
-instant shifting (this is the big one): you immediately shift to the form by selecting/equipping the paw. So you can cast a spell, immediately drop into bear form to land a few hits, and pop back to human to cast something else without a pause. It makes shifting more tactical and more interesting.

In addition I think he tweaked the actual abilities you get a bit, which may or may not include a slightly better werewolf/greater werewolf shape, not sure.

There is also Weimer's shapeshifer rebalancing (optional part of BG2 Tweaks) that works similarly, but that one is.. over the top. It allows spellcasting in werewolf shape, makes the shape much, much better and adds a bunch of good spells to the druid spell list for some reason.

who_is_daniel

Isn't there a bug with using the "Weimer's shapeshifter rebalancing" that makes the paws go away after a few rounds?

who_is_daniel

The info I was referring too was from:

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/10972/bgee-bug-with-opcode-122-magically-created-inventory-items#latest

I have tried "Weimer's shapeshifter rebalancing" from the "bg2_tweaks-v14" mod and it seems to be working fine. I apologise for posting and passing along information that (at least now) was incorrect.