Shaman specifics?
DeCrunch
Member Posts: 14
Hey everyone,
Amber said in the stream today that she might write down the specifics of the shaman class, i.e. race restrictions, weapons, alignments... Any chance for that?
Amber said in the stream today that she might write down the specifics of the shaman class, i.e. race restrictions, weapons, alignments... Any chance for that?
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[spoiler=Shaman class description]
SHAMAN: Shamans forge a divine connection with the natural world, similar to the way Druids commune with nature, but Shamans are more spiritual than primal. They directly tap into the energies that flow through the earth and air, through plants and animals, and even through the dead, and shape these energies to obey their will. Nowhere is this more evident than in their ability to summon powerful spirits as guardians and defenders. A being of two worlds, Shamans value balance over dominance.
CLASS FEATURES:
– May only wear leather, studded leather, and hide armor
– May not equip shields larger than bucklers
– May only use the following weapons: dagger, club, spear, axe, quarterstaff, dart, sling, and shortbow
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any weapon class
– May only become Proficient (one slot) in any fighting style
– May cast Druid spells
– Does not automatically learn all spells of a given level as Druids do. Instead, Shamans select new spells to learn when they gain levels; once learned, the Shaman can cast them daily without memorization.
– In addition to learning new spells at every level, the Shaman gains immediate access to a number of shaman-specific spells, which can be cast like any other spell in their repertoire: Spirit Ward, Writhing Fog, Spiritual Clarity, Spirit Fire, Recall Spirit, Spiritual Lock, and Ether Gate
– Gains use of Detect Illusion skill with 20% points as a base, with an additional 4 points per level, up to a maximum of 100% at level 20
– May use Shamanic Dance at will
SHAMANIC DANCE: Shamans can summon spirit allies by performing a ritualistic dance. While dancing, the Shaman takes a -4 penalty to armor class and cannot move, attack, cast spells, use items and special abilities, or perform any other activity. Each round while the Shaman dances, there is a 35% base chance plus 2% for each level of the Shaman that a spirit will answer the call, up to a maximum of 75% at level 20. Any summoned spirits will disappear if the Shaman moves, stops dancing, or if the spirits leave visual range. The spirits grow in power as the Shaman gains additional levels:
Level 1: Minor animal spirits (snake, fox, hound), up to 2 spirits at the same time
Level 6: Major animal spirits (bear, panther, boar), up to 3 spirits at the same time
Level 12: Minor nature spirits (lesser air spirit, lesser earth spirit, lesser fire spirit), up to 4 spirits at the same time
Level 18: Major nature spirits (air spirit, earth spirit, fire spirit), up to 5 spirits at the same time
The type of the summoned spirit is randomly determined from all the spirits available at the Shaman's level. For example, a level 12 Shaman will summon either a minor nature spirit, a major animal spirit or a minor animal spirit, but cannot choose which one appears. Spirits will do their best to protect the Shaman but are not controlled directly.
– Does not gain bonus spells per day for high Wisdom
– Alignment restricted to neutral good, true neutral, or neutral evil
– May not dual-class or multi-class
– No Stronghold. The Shaman is not eligible for any stronghold. (This affects only the Shadows of Amn campaign in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.)
– Hit Die: d8
- Only Humans, Half-Elves and Half-Orcs may become Shamans
[/spoiler]
Bonus tidbit: participants of the upcoming Public Beta for BG:EE and BGII:EE will be able to play as a Shaman.
Kind of sad that they don't get any strongholds, though. You'd think they'd be a close enough fit for the druid stronghold, but I guess not.
[spoiler=More Shaman details]
Despite some similarities Shamans are not a druid kit, they are a separate class entirely. Shamans also do not share the druidic ethos which allows druids to wear heavy armor and shields as long as they aren't made of metal (i.e. no Ankheg Plate for Shamans).
[/spoiler]
Come to think of it: will there be shaman specific items in SoD? If so, will they also become buyable in base BG:EE, BG2:EE and ToB? What about Shaman HLA's and general progression beyond level 18?
( tagging @Grammarsalad and @subtledoctor since this may interest them.)
Shamans use a similar HLA pool to Druids but they don't get the elemental transformations or greater elemental summoning. Instead, Shamans get brand new unique HLAs such as Ethereal Retribution, Spirit Form and Favored of the Spirits.
It is cool to see them be able to use bows. However, weak summons might make the shaman dance a bit useless later one, at least at times. We will find out!
EDIT: Whoops, didn't read properly. Edited out a question
That first disadvantage makes me think that they might have externalized attributes a bit more--wisdom at least.
A modder is going to have to address that stronghold issue.
I'm really curious about any 'change dance' opcode. I can think of some interesting kit ideas for that.
I like the detect illusions skill. I'm hoping that we can use that button to detect traps if we add the right skill points. I'm hoping that it is not like the bard pick pocket button where is absolutely must be used for that only one thing. I'm hopeful
I wonder how the unique spells are added... Via clab, or something more... Creative
For example, if i have 5 skeleton warriors summoned (and alive), will my shaman summon anyone while dancing?
The reason I'm asking is that I'd love to play the entire saga BGEE, SoD + BG2EE with a Shaman but don't want to deal with the no stronghold restriction so would the above be a good "workaround" fix for that?
Thanks!
I. How to get builds for each platform
To participate in this beta, you must first have purchased the game on the platform you wish to test on. Note that purchasing on Beamdog gives you access to the PC and Mac versions, while purchasing on Steam gives you access to the PC, Mac, and Linux versions.Steam: Opt in to the beta for PC, Mac, or Linux by installing BG:EE or BGII:EE. Then do the following:
[/spoiler]
(it would be a bit weird to be the only shaman in the world, except during SoD where i suppose you encounter some)
It does make sense to make them druids though. But I fear that they will be underpowered because pure druids suck in bg2 and shamans will not be better