The Shapeshifter is a powerful versatility spec.So if you're playing a generalist mage (ie you take spells from all schools) then the added versatility is redundant. Most people who've replied so far have barely even scratched the surface of the specialization.
No, Arcane Warrior doesn't add much to a Shapeshifter. The Shapeshifter's forms ignore almost all offensive mods, so that leaves you with the weapon's base damage. That's about a 7 point increase in damage - that means you just took Arcane Warrior just to boost your Shapeshifter forms' damage by 7 points. No Blood Mage/Shapeshifter doesn't work that way. The Flying Swarm draws an amazing amount of aggro, so it's doubtful that you'll be able to regenerate a significant amount of HP before the form ends. In any case, the Swarm form's cooldown makes any attempt at abusing this pointless. Better to just turn off Blood Magic, use a healing poultice, and turn it back on again.
Wearing heavier armor is discouraged, unless you plan on making a str-based Shapeshifter. That build is unconventional, but in all fairness it works pretty well. To make a good caster Shapeshifter the trick is to select a focused spell selection. I suggest taking all the primal spells, or the Entropy spells. You'll also want to take a few Creation spells and perhaps Dispel Magic. Get the Arcane line - everything in it improves the Shapeshifter (Arcane Armor makes your human form tougher, allowing you to nuke/etc for longer; Staff Mastery improves your ranged attack, the one thing none of the forms cover; and and Spell Mastery gives you more spellpower, which improve both your spells and your forms). Spirit Healer actually works well with Shapeshifter, since shifting back to human form is instant. If need be, shifting back to human/elven form and casting Group Heal can be done in a second. One of the reason people don't find the Shapeshifter useful is because they don't have a focused spell selection. Versatility + versatility is pointless.
The forms' stats are spellpower dependent. So if you wanna pick Shapeshifter, you'll want to focus almost entirely on magic. This makes a primal spells Shapeshifter a very powerful character - anything that doesn't die to its magic gets killed by its forms (even your allies, but that's where Spirit Healer comes in). The forms' damage rely on its stats + the base damage, damage modifier and armor penetration of the weapon your character is currently using. To boost your forms' damage you can simply equip the most basic weapon you can find. Low str two-handed weapons are recommended, since the forms' attack speeds are independent of your own. Using a staff before shifting prevents you from missing, but also prevents you from performing criticals. A staff doesn't add anything to your damage. Few people are aware of how the Shapeshifter forms' damage is calculated, which is another reason why they think it sucks.
Your forms' toughness depend on its stats, specific bonuses and your gear. While the forms improve your survivability, if there was little to improve in the first place then don't expect miracles. This is one other reason why the class receives so much hate.
If your mage focused on +def items or dodge items though then your forms will optimize these, boosting them with its own stats and bonuses - the result, extremely tough/durable forms. Incidentally (or perhaps not), the best +def/+dodge/+spell resistance items are mage/universal gear.
The forms' skills are nonmagical. These ignore spell resistance, and are only affected by damage resistance/immunity. The forms also have many specific resistances and immunities.
Finally, like anything else "overpowered" in this game (yes, a good Shapeshifter is overpowered) there are particular bugs/glitches that can make a Shapeshifter on par with the most ridiculous full mana/stamina (bug) regen + massive sustained Arcane Warriors you can find, via the Overwhelm bug/s.
Bottomline: It's a mage. Like any other mage, it lives up to its name.
I have personally tried a Shapeshifter/Spirit Healer in nightmare and the gameplay went as thus: nuke everything in sight (basically Fireball/CoC/Flame Blast/Shock), use the occasional support spell (Group Heal/Heal/Dispel Magic/Force Field), shift for everything else (Spider to finish off stragglers, Bear to finish off a persistent boss, Swarm in case I attract more aggro than I can handle and my DoT's are taking their sweet time frying the annoying things).
There are a few interesting synergies, of course. Bear's Slam shatters petrified units, Life Ward keeps me safe while I shift, double Overwhelm (Spider and Bear) disables a boss for a good 12 or so seconds while my allies happily whack them, Fireball on partymates then Heal/Group Heal while you proceed to CoC/Shock/Flame Blast downed enemy units, etc.
Modifié par TBastian, 20 juin 2010 - 08:34 .
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