This little post is my crude attempt to set things right. I am not to be held accountable for any stupidity that results from one reading this post and still thinking that the Shapeshifter is anything like the Druid in WoW. If you want a semi-accurate demonstration of the playstyle, just observe how the character Morrigan fights her battles in the Sacred Ashes trailer.
Is Shapeshifting based on the Strength attribute?
NO. Shapeshifting is based on the caster's magic stat. Your forms' normal attack damage is based on its own new strength score, but this strength is calculated based off a percentage of your Shapeshifter's spellpower. This makes the Shapeshifter the only mage spec who has to dedicate every single attribute point into magic, in order to power up his forms' strength, dexterity and constitution scores. Incidentally, doing so makes him the ideal nuker.
What does Shapeshifting really add to my character?
Versatility and Survivability.
Many players have long bemoaned how the game seems to lack a spec that toughens up a casting mage, particularly nukers, who have to flit in and out of harm's way and frequently draw aggro (which is why a pure nuking build is so rare it's almost nonexistent) . Even the Arcane Warrior trades spellcasting for melee prowess - it's not really the ideal spec for spamming nukes throughout the entire battle, unless you count switching to melee mode and spamming auto-attacks as something comparable to true mage DPS. This is why mass CC is the norm, along with over-the-top tank tactics, multiple mage parties, etc.
The Shapeshifter is, first and foremost, a caster. Do not even think of Shapeshifting when you're in the perfect position to nuke your enemies silly. 95-100% of all your attributes is in your magic score, so you better be doing all you can to make sure your enemies feel every. single. point. But with great magical power comes an incredible amount of aggro. So you nuked the hell out of someone like Branka and now she's down to 1/3 HP. And very, very angry at you. What to do? The Blood Mage would probably **** his pants and spend the rest of the battle hiding behind the tank The Spirit Healer would recite some obscure chantry verse and pray for divine intervention. The Arcane Warrior would mostly likely switch to melee mode and kite/tank. The Shapeshifter? Any of several things: a) Shift to Spider and Web/Spit Branka, then Overwhelm her and watch happily as party members and co. chop her to pieces
Shift to Bear and do the same c) Shift to Flying Swarm and kite her, nothing in the game can outrun the swarm, or d) Any combination of a, b and c, just for kicks. This type of playstyle essentially demonstrates how the Shapeshifter should be played - a caster with a bag of tricks. Given a room of monsters the Shapeshifter basically unloads hell then shifts into the appropriate form to deal with survivors. Unlike the AW the Shapeshifter is also perfectly fine with using mage gear (less fatigue, better casting bonuses). The Shapeshifter is also capable far more burst physical damage with his form abilities/talents than what an AW is capable of doing using normal attacks given the same time frame - this is offset by the form's low normal attack damage, which is why Shapeshifters are NOTsupposed to stay shapeshifted for very long. Some builds go against this and these builds work fine in Origins but start losing power in Awakenings, what with the sheer number of other powerful mage spells introduced in the expansion.
You might also note that almost all the Shapeshifter talents are available sooner than any other specs'. This reinforces their role and usefulness - what chances do a level 10 AW or BW have against someone like Branka? While the Shapeshifter, at least, already has the Flying Swarm. By level 12 Shapeshifters will already have Master Shapeshifter and Overwhelm, significantly improving their DPS, while the AW and BM struggle on. By the time BM and AW's reach level 14 and their toil begins to pay off, Shapeshifters will already have the option to take Spirit Healer and Group Heal, solidifying their role as the game's ideal nukers at the earliest levels.
I heard no enchantments, sustaineds work while shifted. WTF?
No enchantments save defensive ones (+defense, +armor, etc) work while shifted with two exceptions: Armor Penetration (staffs/staves), and +critical mods.
No sustaineds work while your character is shifted. This includes the spec sustaineds, like those from the AW. You may not use most items (including poultices) while shifted.
These are sacrifices you have to make when you shift forms, which is why you need to be very careful about when you choose to shapeshift. 300-600 burst damage from a good Overwhelm in bereskarn form or near-total immunity to physical attacks from a properly geared Flying Swarm does not come free. As a rule of thumb, avoid shapeshifting against undead and Gaxkang. Incidentally, these creatures are the ones most vulnerable to nukes - fire for undead, Mana Clash for Gaxkang.
How do I increase form damage?
Before everything you should know that your character window is buggy when it comes to showing exact form damage, similar to how it is for AW's.
Form damage is dependent on three things: form stats (which in turn are dependent on your character's spellpower), the base physical damage component of your current weapon, and the damage modifier of your current weapon. Note that form attack speed does not scale with weapon attack speed - a spider will attack just as fast regardless of your current weapon.
For early game and Origins the best way to increase form damage is by switching to a tier 1 weapon (preferably two-handed) when Shapeshifting. Several of your attacks will miss, but flanking, raging (bear) and investing points in Combat Training will help minimize this. This may seem like novel way to play a mage but it works very well (think a two-hander with the attack speed of a dagger-user fighting level 10 monsters) and it's a phase you'll be quickly forced to grow out of. By mid-game onwards you will be facing heavily armored monsters (like dwarves, knights, ogres and heavoly armored darklspawn) so switching back to a staff (massive armor penetration) allows you to bypass most armor and continue doing decent damage with skills like Overwhelm. By endgame (Awakenings) the sheer amount of +spellpower staffs available makes switching weapons a thing of the past.
What item bonuses are most important for a Shapeshifter?
Before you go stacking +magic items from gear, remember that you already have magic covered with your stats. Stacking magic from gear only works well in Awakenings - in Origins, you should focus on getting either +defense gear or +dodge gear. These bonuses make you tougher in your normal form and stack with your enhanced physical stats while shapeshifted.
So for early game I suggest using +defense gear (Chasind Robes, Thane Helm, Enchanter's Boots, etc) and get Arcane Shield ASAP. As you earn more gold/sovereigns you can start aiming for more powerful and expensive items (Reaper's Vestments, First Enchanter's Cowl, Imperial Weavers, Spellward, Lifegiver). I encourage people to try out the latter item set in particular - once you've experienced the benefits of 40% dodge and possibly 50%+ total spell resistance along with Rock Armor/Arcane Shield/Forcefield/heals and no penalty on healing poultic use you'll never look at a casting mage the same way ever again. Who says you need to take the AW spec to become immortal in DA:O?
How tough are the Shapeshifter forms?
Depending on gear, they may die in a few hits or be just about as tough as a shield tank, minus the healing poultices. The forms have several immunities which makes them quite resilient - all are immune to special attacks with an animation, for example, which means the Shapeshifter is the only mage capable of nuking mobs in Awakenings without fear of Overhwelm or Knockdown, via the Flying Swarm form.
Stacking +defense or +dodge significantly improves their survivability. In Awakenings a Shapeshifter can reliably go one on one against dragons and win, while shifted. More efficient means of dragonslaying do exist, however.
What spells should I get as a Shapeshifter?
Three types: nukes, support, utility. Note the lack of mass CC - as a nuker, extra CC is redundant when your targets should already be dead.
For nukes I recommend getting Fireball and the three cone spells: Cone of Cold, Flame Blast and Shock. The combination and repeated casting of these spells results in the most damaging spell sequence in the game. Feel free to test its DPS against any other sequence. You'll find that the sequence does more DPS than even some class special abilities + Time Spiral in Awakenings. Spell Might and Mana Clash are good optionals.
For support spells get Heal and Forcefield. Let's face it - friendly fire is inevitable in DA:O. In fact, when your tank is surrounded by stunners it might be better to just nuke them all and throw the tank a Heal. Force Field is the single most powerful support spell in the game.
Utility boils down to taking the Mastery spells (and Attunement, in Awakenings), Rock Armor and Spell Shield. Dispel Magic is a good optional. Note that the Spell Mastery line improves everything you do. You may not benefit from Arcane Shield while shifted but it helps you nuke for longer periods and combined with Rock Armor all but neutralizes possible interruptions as your character channels Shapeshift. Spell Shield and Dispel Magic are for tackling Crushing Prison and curse/CC users. Many people advocate the use of the load recently saved game option ie. reload button for dealing with these spells, I'm not one of them.
What second spec goes best with Shapeshifter?
By far, the Spirit Healer. The simple reason is that, being a nuker, there's nothing more fun than nuking everything (and I do mean everything) while keeping your party members alive. Even in Nightmare. It sure saves your from having to arrange monsters a certain way or control your tank so mobs are in perfect position when you nuke. The amount of micromanagement for this would require more effort than mass CC-ing, which makes it inferior. If you had to mass CC because your nuking style is inferior then you have successfuly defeated the purpose of the Shapeshifter spec, since mass CC makes the Shapeshifter talents redundant (mass CC already offers utility and survivability).
So I'm beginning to understand the playstyle, but I need numbers...
There's some good Shapeshifter info here and here. Credit goes to the guides' respective owners.
Can you show us Shapeshifters in action?
Learning vids:
Basic Shapeshifter gameplay (level 7), nightmare mode. This mage's resilience is largely due to Arcane Shield and partly due to the mage's Shapeshifter bonuses. With Arcane Shield he is able to reach a total defense score of 69. This is with Enchanter's Footing, Belt of the Winds, the Lucky Ring (+1) and the Chasind Robe. This value can ideally be higher.
The present equivalent is a same-level Alistair in Splint Mail and using Shield Defense. In the vid, just before he kills the final bandit he opens his character window. Note the Spider's defense (68) . The value is this high partly because of how the Spider's Dexterity stat is very closely tied to magic/spellpower, and partly due to his items. The Spider's nuke (Poison Spit) is also tied to dexterity.
If you watch closely you'll see Sten doing around 30+ damage a swing. The Spider does around 20+ which, considering its attack speed, is excellent for early game (more so because you're actually a nuker - feel free to enjoy how you can hit as hard as a DPS warrior at these levels, due to enemy scaling you'll grow out of it soon enough ).
While in Spider Form the weapon this Shapeshifter was using Ser Jory's Balanced Greatsword, a two-hand weapon with no strength requirement.
Shapeshifter vs Flemmeth, nightmare mode, level 13 Shapeshifter. Yes you heard that correctly - level 13. If you're wondering why no forms were used then the reason is simple - because none of the forms really work well against her.
As important as knowing when to use your forms, is knowing when not to use them. Flemmeth spams AoEs, uses fire damage (two of the three forms have fire vulnerability) and is immune to Overwhelm. Even if you use the Overwhelm bug on her ideally you should also be helping your party survive this encounter. Besides, persistent spells do wonders in this fight.
The whole fight (minus the pauses) took 3 mins - the full duration of one Greater Fire Balm (check the buff) and is a testament to the awesome power of nuking. Did I mention this was only a level 13 character?
The fight should be a lot faster with a group or with a higher level Shapeshifter. Feel free to compare this vid with other mage vs Flemmeth solo vids.
Note that any mage other spec (besides an offense-minded Spirit Healer) with these very same spells at level 13 would be probably be considered a badly built one, and yet with the exception of Chain Lightning all of these spells are standard Shapeshifter choices.
Fireball + the Cone spells. Nuking 101: cast these spells, rinse/repeat. Your job is to dish out enough burst damage to prevent your party from getting overrun, and the "traditional" method of just throwing single-target spells or throwing the occasional AoE is only for AW's and BM's, who have high fatigue/needs to keep CC on mobs/I-can't-afford-to-get-hit issues. Stalkers may not be darkspawn, but the idea remains the same. When nuking in the general direction of party members be sure to throw the occasional Heal/Group Heal/Forcefield.
Ironically this nuke-happy Shapeshifter dies at the end from an Overwhelm. Feel free to use Swarm Form to scout areas when you play, or use a rogue. Character level 14.
The Overwhelm bug. There's actually a cheesier bug, but we won't go into that.
This particular bug works against mobs you can't Overwhelm, since as you gain levels and your spells grow more powerful you'll only be using your forms for the added burst and utility their skills offer. The exception is the Swarm, which offer various immunities and is basically an 'alternative' nuke spell.
To execute the bug simply "cast" Overwhelm repeatedly. Make sure your character is actually doing damage before you cancel the animation. A staff was used for this demonstration, as using a staff makes all your forms' attacks auto-hit. Higher DPS is possible with a melee weapon, but apparently this particular character didn't take Combat Training. Flanking, given the situation, is also impossible. Character Level 14, Overwhelm is available at level 12 (Master Shapeshifter).
Modifié par TBastian, 19 février 2014 - 06:45 .
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