@Fardragon The Exotic Dancer reminds me of the Dervish Class from Rolemaster... let me see if I find it to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...
I found a descritption but it seems that old Rolemaster books do not have any open content...
Dervish: 4 This semi-spell user of Channeling is not unlike the dancer, in the way he moves with complete control of his body. The profession is by-and-large painted as being a dancing zealot, focusing his power to induce and inspire religious fervour. The magical dances that he performs have a myriad of uses, including enchantment, holy communion, swift travel, and combat. Often, one would underestimate this profession, not perceiving the potential combatant behind the veil of the dance. While this might seem an easily viable profession for Middle-earth, such power is actually rarer than it would seem. The dervish's abilities to travel magically and to use magic for the movement of objects would certainly be of a type not seen often, and the spells which do harm would lead one dangerously towards corruption if used with abandon. Aside from the nature of the Dervish's power is the consideration of where such power comes from. Nessa the Vala would seem a likely gifter, but such gifts may be largely restricted to Elves. Also, some Dark cults may also receive such skills, to lend power to some priests, especially in 'barbarian' cultures.
I made a Shaman but I didn't stick with her for too long. I kind of already had my plan for a Cleric and the character all rolled up and a whole concept for the character and everything and so I went back to him and he's currently about to go deal with some bandits.
I gave up on the shaman actually. They're not as strong as I originally thought. Those early summons are useless, only good for fodder if they come out. You're left with a Druid that takes longer to level up and acquire her spells.
When using the dance, the character avatar should do the second casting animation where their arms are outstretched, repeatedly in a loop (and with no magic effect of course) until the dance is toggled off
Been trying it in BG1. Class seems to be straight garbage so far, weakest caster in game afaik aside from paladin, and the spirit dance ability is ok at best and very boring to use.
Also, the documentation doesn't say which stat his spellcasting and bonus spells is based on, which I personally found to be infuriating (I assume charisma)? The biggest problem with the original game is that they don't tell you how to make a character good (hell even viable) and it looks like there's no change in that tradition. I think this is a big turn off for a lot of players.
I've got a the NPC shaman in my SoD party and I'm simultaneously playing a Half-Orc shaman solo through BG1.
My general impressions:
Core concept: I like it - it's an obvious variation on existing classes, but it has been given a bit more personality than just sorcerer-druid
Spellcasting: One obvious benefit is you essentially have access to spontaneous healing through this character, which is a stand-out advantage. The new shaman-specific spells aren't hugely powerful, but they do complement the existing spellbook with things like AoE damage. The druid spell selection isn't great overall though, and I've found that I actually have more spell choices than needed for most levels, which will likely lead to all shaman having access to all the most powerful spells, making them quite samey. I'd actually argue reducing spells known would make them more interesting. It does mean some marginal spells are easier to use - for example, I wouldn't normally memorise Call Lightning because it's useless indoors, but a shaman can just use the slot on another spell.
Shamanic Dance: This is the most unique and original part of the character, and I think it's good once you get the hang of it. The way it locks your character means you have to think about where to use it most effectively, but its turned the tide of a couple of fights for me. Sometimes frustrating that you can't directly control the summons, but that's obviously stopping you from being able to summon an infinite army of cannon fodder from a safe position.
Weapons: A pet hate of mine about BG and dnd rules from 2E is the weapon restrictions, especially for divine casters. While the shaman also has a rather arbitrary weapon scheme, at least it's different to clerics' and druids' schemes. It's nice to have a healer who can use a bow.
Detect Illusions: I've never really used this ability, so not sure what to make of this. To be totally honest, I think another quickspell slot on the action bar would be more useful...
I don't believe the shaman has a casting stat, much like the sorcerer, which is a shame. I'm not sure it needs bonus spells like clerics or druids, but some sort of bonus would have been nice.
Comments
I found a descritption but it seems that old Rolemaster books do not have any open content...
Dervish: 4
This semi-spell user of Channeling is not unlike the dancer, in the way he moves with complete control of his body. The profession is by-and-large painted as being a dancing zealot, focusing his power to induce and inspire religious fervour. The magical dances that he performs have a myriad of uses, including enchantment, holy communion, swift travel, and combat. Often, one would underestimate this profession, not perceiving the potential combatant behind the veil of the dance.
While this might seem an easily viable profession for Middle-earth, such power is actually rarer than it would seem. The dervish's abilities to travel magically and to use magic for the movement of objects would certainly be of a type not seen often, and the spells which do harm would lead one dangerously towards corruption if used with abandon. Aside from the nature of the Dervish's power is the consideration of where such power comes from. Nessa the Vala would seem a likely gifter, but such gifts may be largely restricted to Elves. Also, some Dark cults may also receive such skills, to lend power to some priests, especially in 'barbarian' cultures.
Also, the documentation doesn't say which stat his spellcasting and bonus spells is based on, which I personally found to be infuriating (I assume charisma)? The biggest problem with the original game is that they don't tell you how to make a character good (hell even viable) and it looks like there's no change in that tradition. I think this is a big turn off for a lot of players.
My general impressions:
- Core concept: I like it - it's an obvious variation on existing classes, but it has been given a bit more personality than just sorcerer-druid
- Spellcasting: One obvious benefit is you essentially have access to spontaneous healing through this character, which is a stand-out advantage. The new shaman-specific spells aren't hugely powerful, but they do complement the existing spellbook with things like AoE damage. The druid spell selection isn't great overall though, and I've found that I actually have more spell choices than needed for most levels, which will likely lead to all shaman having access to all the most powerful spells, making them quite samey. I'd actually argue reducing spells known would make them more interesting. It does mean some marginal spells are easier to use - for example, I wouldn't normally memorise Call Lightning because it's useless indoors, but a shaman can just use the slot on another spell.
- Shamanic Dance: This is the most unique and original part of the character, and I think it's good once you get the hang of it. The way it locks your character means you have to think about where to use it most effectively, but its turned the tide of a couple of fights for me. Sometimes frustrating that you can't directly control the summons, but that's obviously stopping you from being able to summon an infinite army of cannon fodder from a safe position.
- Weapons: A pet hate of mine about BG and dnd rules from 2E is the weapon restrictions, especially for divine casters. While the shaman also has a rather arbitrary weapon scheme, at least it's different to clerics' and druids' schemes. It's nice to have a healer who can use a bow.
- Detect Illusions: I've never really used this ability, so not sure what to make of this. To be totally honest, I think another quickspell slot on the action bar would be more useful...
I don't believe the shaman has a casting stat, much like the sorcerer, which is a shame. I'm not sure it needs bonus spells like clerics or druids, but some sort of bonus would have been nice.