Harpagornis

Okay, the first tests against bigger groups were quite funny as the screen was full of red numbers even though small ones. For now i put it at PL 5 while "Tough" went to PL4. Further tests are needed! How big has your Shifter grown @GuyNice? Not to forget: Here is a new version. As many small things have changed it would be great to get feedback about any bugs! Spiritshifting Evolution 0.7.zip

Barbarian gets his Retaliation at PL9. It triggers on Critical Hit but then its a full attack - ouch! I will do some number tweaking and testing but i think that PL6 should work well. Lets see!

Hhmmmm... i think that 30% damage reflection is okay. The big question is: Which PL is this? 4? Or better 5-7? I can switch this with another one to keep enough space for all talents!

Some numbers: - Base Value for Galawain_Reflection is 30% - Monks get Rooting Pain at PL4 which deals 4-8 damage per wound to everyone around Hhhmmmmm....

Okay - here we go: New Talents: Alpha Predator (PL9) -> +2 PL when shifted Vampiric (PL9) -> Heal for 25 % damage dealt I must admit that i would like to put the Reflection Talent very low cause in the last time we only considered higher tiers. Another problem is that there is no more room from PL 2-7 without killing existing talents. So if we put the chance or the percentage of reflected damage low... hmmmm... your thoughts about that one? EDIT: STOP! There is room at PL4! Hah!!!

Oh, there are lots of possibilities @uuuuhhii - i agree on that. But the ball of lightning is already linked to the Fury subclass - which is not the main focus at the moment. Maybe later. I was also thinking about adding a completly new form but after some time i realized that its already quite hard to balance "only" the old forms. As you may have seen the whole mod changed a lot (!) in the last week(s) and only in the last days i finally think that we have reached something which i can call "the final phase" before launching a first official version. I dont think that the Shifter Weapons are too weak if you think about all the talents it gets. More damage, more penetration, two types of damage for each form and not to forget: Powerful abilities that will hurt a lot. However: If everything works it could maybe the time to build in some more features. We will see! Regarding new talents: Alpha Predator would also work as a name @GuyNice - no? I think reducing Vampiric to 25% is a compromise - for now!

Hmmmmm.... i am not a big fan of PL talents but i also like "Vampiric" a lot. Even if we put it "only" at 33% (like Wolf) it will increase the survival rate of any form significantly. Not to forget that it also soaks life from any DoT that is ticking. Imagine this with Primal Beast + Plague of Insects + Proliferation... holy cow... the Druid will be immortal. At least for some time. But what we could do: Change Prestige (+1 PL) into something like "Beastial Prowess" (+2 PL for Spiritshift only). EDIT: Yes, Reflection would work great too!!!

After some resting i got time to start reworking lots of entries and descriptions. With other words: The Shifter Forms now display the abilities they get at the specific levels. Finally the character creation text is updated and working so every player can get a quick overview about the new Shifter. As i did not like the name "Greater XYZ" anymore for the second tier form i renamed it to "Elder XYZ". Sounds nicer - no? The next step will be the integration of at least one new talent and/or spell. I think we might soak some inspiration from the new Galawain challenge: Vampiric - Heal from damage dealt[/font][/size] Reflecting - Reflect damage back as Raw Unstoppable - Cannot be interrupted / Immune to Afflictions Exalted - Gain Permanent T3 Inspiration (random) Vengeful - Gain stacking Power Level when a friendly is killed Accelerated - Attacks much faster Bullish - Attacks interrupt and knock back Hardened - Additional AR and Max HP Prowling - Invisible (until attacks) and re-stealths if scoring a kill Volatile - Explodes when defeated My favourites are Vampiric and Bullish so far. Maybe we can use one or more of the abilities and build some new upgrade trees. Any suggestions?

Hey Obsidian, when will you remove this Gouging Strike/ Brand Enemy cheese? I cant see it anymore...

Problem solved: gui.stringtable -> character creation description This works now after eliminating a old entry for another language (which the game loaded again and again)

Okay, i found that i have to use the gui.stringtables for character description but whatever i do the game says "Missing String XYZ" even when using the original folder. Is there some logic in this madness?

The problem: For whatever reason the new Shifter description is not showing up. I changed the ID´s 2256 and 2257 and 3727 (plus creating new texts) in the Ability.Stringtable and also canged the entries in the Ability.Gamedatabundle for Shifter. So in theory the Game should now load the new descriptions - but no. Thats even more strange as all other ability descriptions are working. Is there any other table i have to change or what am i missing? Thanks for your help!

I will try to code this tomorrow @GuyNice. But i have another idea that would work really well with Druid: Earth Talon. Or with other words: A talent that gives the Shifter a chance to petrify enemies when landing a crit in close combat. Maybe we can even build upgrades: Earth Talon (PL6-7, 50%) -> Greater Earth Talon (PL 8-9, 100%). The duration should be very short - something around 2 seconds (with hig Int this is still ~ 3 seconds).

Yeah, we need something more special @GuyNice. Your idea sounds interesting even though there are so many conditionals that i dont know if i can get this working! Maybe tomorrow! P.S. Here is the resetted version with only some smaller updates and tweaks. Lets hope i havent found a way to revive the savegame killer! Spiritshifting Evolution 0.61.zip

Yeah, i am not really satisfied with the "feature" either but for whatever reason it breaks some hidden strings whenever i want to change it... Therefore i removed shifting outside of combat for now. I changed the penalty in humanoid form to -25 Deflection. Keep it or kill it? I got the feeling that today is not a good day for modding... cannot keep any focus... however... i have build a first PL 9 talent: Fury: Whenever the Druid gets critically hit he will immediately strikes back at the attacker. Now the big question is: What happens when getting hit from an Archer?

Its no bug, its a feature @GuyNice! As removing the effect proved to be difficult i decided to give it a try - lets call this feature "Echoes of the Beast". I dont think thats its gamebreaking if you take over the immunity into Human Form especially as you will suffer the PL penalty. I am also aware that the PL penalty will play no role in most fights but the intention was to make fighting in "Human Form" more unappealing. Maybe PL is not the ideal attribute so we might change that. A heavy deflection penalty might also work. Maybe even better. Ideas are welcome!

The Shifter Boar Form has a very similar Charge Attack that also does crush damage to anyone caught in the line - very cool. To bad you need a mod for this...

The Shifter already has several active spells to call summons so getting another via talent feels rather... hmmmm... boring. Its either some RNG or something different. We could also change the Conditionals of calling summons: If its not shifting then maybe when getting critted, something like "Guarding Presence". Maybe we should sleep about this one... no?

Yeah, i think that a permanent animal companion would be too much. What we could do is that each Spiritshift has a small chance to summon help - maybe 25-33%. There are lots of good talent when looking at the other classes... Suvival of the Fittest from Ranger... Persistent Distraction from Rogue... Hearbeat Drumming from Monk... As i said earlier... so many options!

Okay, the next step is a talent for PL9. There are several choices... should it be: 1. A offensive talent (for instance: stun or interrupt on crit) 2. A defensive talent (for instance: damage shield when hit by crit) 3. A utility talent (for instance: chance to charm beasts) There are so many options. Any suggestions are welcome! After this is done its - maybe - time to test the mod by myself. Maybe!! P.S. Thats exactly what i intended @GuyNice. You now have to chose more carefully if early shifting is a good idea or you wil run out of shifts being much weaker for the rest of the fight. But - hey - there is always "Camouflage" from the Cat. If you dont used it earlier!

The next version is ready for testing! Changelog 0.6: - Moved the "Bark Skin" talent up to PL6 - Moved the "Vicious Strikes" talent up to PL7 - Added the new talent "Hunter´s Instincts" to PL5 - Reduced the passive healing of "Vampiric" for Wolf Form to 33% - Added the new talent "Embrace the Beast" to PL0 (-5 PL in natural form) - Added the option to use Spiritshift outside of combat to increase tactical depth Especially the last two points will be of major interest: How much will they change and/or influence the playstile of Shifters? We will see! Spiritshifting Evolution 0.6.zip

Okay, the new changes for shifting are working even though with a "nice sideeffect" - but more on that later. I will try to upload version 0.6 tonight!

Oh, this is (nearly) the first time i have switched the seats cause for the last decade(s) i have only been the hardcore-powergamer-nerd that always was on the hunt for masochistic solo challenges. That was very enjoying. But creating the game - or in this case - a specific class in a way that its "a blast" is also fun. Especially as diving into the codes is still unknown territory for me but - yeah - i am learning new things each day! While you keep going with your Shifter @GuyNice i have already coded the next step. But before releasing it i should explain the idea behind it: For me the Shifter is not only a master of transformation but about focusing on the "Inner Beast". He has learned to control it and - even more - he has gained access to completly new abilities. Abilities that a "normal" Druid will never learn cause they lack something which i call "Embrace the Beast". With this innate talent the Shifter gets supernatural powers when unleashing the Beast but he also loses a lot of his strength - and his mental focus - as long as he remains in his "natural form". To make it short: He loses 5 PL´s when NOT being shifted. This makes a normal combat initiation like "Cast a Spell -> Spiritshift" very supoptimal so - and here comes the Gate Opener - this "forces" us to allow shifting out of combat. Open your mind for all the possibilities! Charging as a Boar out of stealth into the middle of group. Sending an Archmage to sleep with Concussion Blow. With other words: The sky is the limit. Well. Nearly. Are you ready for some "madness"?

I have to say "Thanks!" @GuyNice cause without "some help" from the Community this Mod would not be the same. No: It would not exist. Thanks to complications when modding. Thanks to my most chaotic nature. So its always good to have some backup here. People who know how modding works. Others who keep giving me essential feedback and new ideas. Thats great! Thats "Evolution"... hah, i always knew that this name would be good! With regard to the new talent: I got your point @GuyNice and its right. Shifters already should be able to hit (nearly) any beast or primordial. The problem is that there is no command that increases damage only against specific races so i have to fall back to another idea - what about this: Hunter´s Instincts: Innate knowledge against primordial creatures and beasts have given Shifters an inherent chance to land a critical Hit against them. I have set the numbers to "25% of Hits are turned into Crits" - thats the same number you get from the Intuitive Inspiration. Sounds okay!?

Even though i like the idea we must notice that there is already a talent at PL9 that adds +1 PL in general. Getting +1 PL when shifted seems a bit too powerful at PL5. Therefore i think its not a bad idea to continue the Beast & Primordial Talents as these are THE enemies where the Shifter has innate knowledge about. What about: Hunter´s Instincts: Innate knowledge against primordial creatures and beasts have given Shifters an inherent chance to Graze against them. Sounds like a plan - no?