11 réponses à ce sujet

[BloodsongVengeance]

heyas;

  first up, it would be nice if it were possible to save out tactics files and post them for others' use.  (im thinking like the guild wars skillset/skill bar save files; basically a string of characters you can copy and paste real easy to save/load and share.)


  but meanwhile...  anybody have any general advice on shifter tactics?  like... when would a mage use them?  morrigan never uses her shifter abilities.  i'm kinda wondering if i should program her with some, but under what circumstances is shifting better than nuking?

[Xiphias]

When you've run out of mana?

[gsmithcat]

I've tried shape shifting and it's kind of meh... I prefer to run Morrigan either as a spell caster or arcane warrior. I think the ranger talent is much better. It's nice to have a spider as a fifth character.

[Sir Elliot]

Best tactic for shapeshifting is to not take it as a spec.

[Xeremius]

Look at the Project Mods, there is one with better shapes...

[BloodsongVengeance]

dont you need a lot of mana to shapeshift and maintain the shape??



well, if morrigan is the last one alive and there's a buncha wolves... bearshape is pretty good.

[nuculerman]

BloodsongVengeance wrote...

dont you need a lot of mana to shapeshift and maintain the shape??

well, if morrigan is the last one alive and there's a buncha wolves... bearshape is pretty good.

No.  It's like any other sustained ability.  It just decreases your maximum mana but requires no mana to actually cast.

Shapeshifting is way underpowered.  But if you enjoy it the tactics are a lot like a spirit healer/blood mage, only you DPS until you run out of mana instead of buff and heal.  I'm not sure about tactics on flying swarm though.  I've never actually used it.  It's always seemed counterproductive to me.  The way I play Morrigan when I make her a shapeshifter is basically, CC, DPS, DPS, CC, DPS, mana pot, CC, DPS, DPS, Berserker Bear, Knock Down, DPS, DPS, DPS... etc.

It works pretty well but it's not ideal.  I typically just ignore shape shifting all together now and turn her into a DPS blood mage.  Because honestly, Blood Wound and Blood Control trumps any shapeshifting ability by quite a bit.  It gives you better AoE DPS AND better CC.

[Kesshi]

BloodsongVengeance wrote...

dont you need a lot of mana to shapeshift and maintain the shape??

well, if morrigan is the last one alive and there's a buncha wolves... bearshape is pretty good.

I, like you, thought that a shapeshifter would be an awesome class to play.  On my first play-through I made a mage, and was so very happy when I got shape-shifter...  I mean, I had been pumping my strength and constitution anticipating shapeshifting only to found out that the shape I really wanted to play, the Flying Swarm, uses spellpower instead of strength for damage.  Oops!

To answer your specific question, The Flying Swarm is the only shape which requires a constant mana drain to maintain, it requires mana to use its special ability, and it loses mana when it gets hit.  You don't lose health when you get hit, and when you damage something, you gain life.  So if you want to stand around as a mage never casting and spells waiting until you have 10 life and then shape-shifting, Then Flying Swarm is for you!  <_<  Seriously, the Shape Shifter is pretty pathetic.

You can stay in Flying Swarm forever with a little help from a mage.  I've grown fond of Wynne and her Rejuvinate, Spellbloom, and Mass Rejuvinate spells.  Even while being hit my mage can remain in Flying Swarm for a long time, if not forever.

The one redeaming value of Shape Shifter is that the Flying Swarm IS VERY FAST.  For all the running around I'm down now, I love the Flying Swarm.  I go from point A to point B zippity quick!  Then again, if I'm going to have Wynne babysitting me everywhere I go, I  may as well just spec Wynne for Haste and have her haste everybody... Hindsight is 20/20 they say.

I decided to salvage my character and rather than start anew, focus on Arcane Warrior, but I then realized that I can use my Magic to wear armor.*  Now I have a level 15 Mage AW/SS with 33+2 Strength and 21+4 Constitution.  Oh well, one fun thing I can do to survive is charge the enemy as a wisp, then once they drain all my mana away (if they can) I have a plethora of buffs and I am wearing a ton of armor.  Hey, gotta put that strength to use somehow!  I pop Rock Armor, Arcane Shield, Death Magic (If applicable), Spell Wisp, Flaming Weapon, and Combat Magic and start swinging my sword.  Since I have no mana from just coming out of Wisp form, it doesn't matter if I'm down to 69 max mana. 

*In my defense, I started playing DA:O while I was (and still am) incredibly sick.  My critical thinking skills and applied thinking skills are minimal right now.  That is, I'm skimming over stuff I should be reading, and it's leading to some pretty comedic happenings.

If you want to have some fun with your character, try a turning your Shifter into a Shifter/AW.  One truly awesome scene was when I was taking down the dragon in the west.  My Sword and Board Mage finished it off.  If you haven't seen the Sword and Board Dragon finishing move yet, you need to!  I laughed for the entire duration of the animation knowing it was a mage doing it.  I was thinking "Wow, she must have spent many nights in training with Alister if you know what I mean..."  (My mage is romancing Alister.)

Also, I haven't run the numbers, but I'm thinking that the armor being worn affects your shifted armor and defense.  I noticed that my bear form currently has 28 armor and 69 defense, and I'm thinking that's higher than while naked or simply with robes.  I should note that due to my mess-up, I'm wearing this armor through strength, not magic.  I'm not sure how the relationship between armor and strength works out while shifted, because I don't think the Arcane Warrior's Combat Magic Use-Magic-Instead-Of-Strength thingy works while shifted.

This character is a mistake of a mistake, and she isn't super powerful, but she has proven very entertaining to play.  She's not quite as durable as the Golem for tanking, and actually is much less durable than even Alister, however with Death Magic, Shimmering Shield, and Drain Life she can take quite a beating without drawing upon other party memebrs.  Add that to the fact that she makes up for her shortcomings with the ability to quickly fall back into "mage mode."  Even while being beaten on, she can pop off Heals and Rejuvenates and keep herself topped off with self buffs, she's definately worth having around.  One more level until Fade Shroud and a 38 Strength for an Armor upgrade!  Oh goodie!

Uhh, to summarise, Shifters kinda suck.  But that doesn't mean you can't have some fun with them.  

Modifié par Kesshi, 04 décembre 2009 - 09:42 .

[TastyLaksa]

There was one battle with the spiders that everyone died except morrigan. Shapeshifted her into a spider and had a spider to spider beat down. Morrigan won! Other times I have often forgotten that she can shift shapes

[astreqwerty]

you can combine shapeshifting with arcane warrior..equip a nice armor and good accesories(there is a certain build with which you can have +10 mana regen) and in bear form you become a powerfull tank and u can also use the swarm form because u get a hell of a lot mana regen..though arcane warrior/blood mage does both better(tanking/dealing damage)

[ussnorway]

How have you built her up?
STR = she is your tank i.e. best in the game because she is immune to grab but still puts out more damage than Shale. Turn her into a bear then have her 'Rage' > self > any time & 'Slam' > enemy > nearest visible target.
Magic = she is a nuke in a dress... micromanagement is the best here.

p.s.
Set her to aggressive if you tank with her.

Modifié par ussnorway, 07 février 2011 - 09:39 .

[Last Darkness]

Unless you are using a mod that gives 25-30 tactic slots being a Shapeshifter/Mage is far to complicated to setup.



Its better to focus on one or the other. Shapeshifting or mage