The current state of Spiritshifting: Ideas, reworks and more

[Harpagornis]

Reworked several things...

 

Taste of the Hunt moved from Boar to Wolf as it represents THE hunter aspect better while also giving the Wolf a bit more durability. Hunters Mark expands this even more.

 

Ferocious Strikes (Wolf Level 4 Ability) was removed!

 

The new Level 4 Boar Ability is now "Boar Gore" which is a heavy double attack dealing bonus raw damage while also applying the Sickened Affliction. With its passive regeneration and Level 16 Ability "Proliferation" the Boar should still be the most robust Form.

 

Natures Mark and Natures Terror - the Level 2 and Level 5 Auto Granted Spells were removed as well cause they also contained the "Elements" keyword. This small "nerf" should be no problem thanks to the reworked abilities.

 

The new Auto Grant Spells are: Level 2 -> Touch of Rot, Level 5 -> Plague of Insects.

 

The Level 16 Cat Ability Game Over! (Flurry of Blades) is now deadly like never before as i not only increased the AoE but also damage to 28-42 while also buffing its Penetration to 15 (!) - lets hope this is no overkill. On the other hand the ability felt really weak before. At least for a level 16 Ability!

 

The Boar Charge damage rework (20-30 base) plus the removal of recovery makes Boar play more interesting now while also giving it a bit more punch.

 

I am still thinking about a Life Leech Ability or passive but so far i cannot see where to apply it. Maybe we could remove the Boar Regenration with it?

 

Next stop will be the passive talents so the will apply only to the Spiritshift Forms. Lets see if we can get this done!

Edited September 24, 2018 by Harpagornis

[mant2si]

Thanks for hard work Could you share updated version (or put your mod on Github, Bitbucket) ? 

[Harpagornis]

Here is the latest version - have fun!

 

P.S. I think i have solved the problem that the talents will only apply to the Spiritshift Forms - check it out!

Spiritshifting Evolution 0.31.zip

Edited September 24, 2018 by Harpagornis

[Harpagornis]

Some small changes:

 

- Moved the talents "Beast Slayer" and "Priomordial Hunter" to PL4

- Moved the talent "Vicious Strikes" to PL 5

- Moved the talent "Bark Skin" to PL 6

- Added a new spell for PL5 called "Exskeleton Plate" which gives a 100pt. shield for a short time. Removed the stun effect.

- Removed the PL2 Spell "Woodskin" cause the ability screen got too crowded so some talents were not shown anymore.

 

Looks like things are finally growing towards the first Beta Version!

[JerekKruger]

Great work Harpagornis! One question, how hard would it be to make Spiritshifting a modal and, if it is possible, would it be possible to do so only for Shifters? This is the big thing I'd love to see changed.

[Harpagornis]

Once spells are disabled in human form (still not working) we should give Shifters the opportunity to use Spiritshifting out of combat. I always wanted to see a Boar charging out of stealth into big groups: BOOOM!!!

[mant2si]

I don't think that you can make save file with summoning weapon or armor, because game engine need to unsummon it on combat end

[Harpagornis]

After doing some level 10 test fights i do not think that the new Shifter is really OP - at least not at this stage. He eats so much damage against bigger groups that i am constantly forced to use everything (!) at my disposal while shifting a lot to get extra healing and refreshed abilities. On the one hand its a lot work but on the other its really thrilling. The extra CC´s and afflictions also help a lot while Camouflage from Cat is always a nice escape. I havent done any high level group fights against enemies like Fampirs but so far things look "pretty balanced". Or am i mistaken @mant2si?

[InsaneCommander]

Subbing to the thread.

[Harpagornis]

I am a bit depressed at the moment as there seems to be no easy way to disable spells for human form only. I reworked the tables so that it should work in theory but in practice its not applied for unknown reasons. If i cant get a solution here we might be forced to find other ways to strip away some power from Shifters. If this is really needed.

 

What comes to my mind is something we all know from good old Baldurs Gate: Making the Shifter incompatible with certain classes or subclasses.

 

On my personal list of bans would be:

 

Paladins: I never liked these holy fanatics a lot. And i think @mant2si will agree that they are borderline OP at the moment... no?

Chanters: My personal hate class. The image of a singing Shifter is just like NO! NEVER EVER! Agreed?

 

Any throughts on that one? Good idea? bad idea?

[mant2si]

I am a bit depressed at the moment as there seems to be no easy way to disable spells for human form only. I reworked the tables so that it should work in theory but in practice its not applied for unknown reasons. If i cant get a solution here we might be forced to find other ways to strip away some power from Shifters. If this is really needed.

 

What comes to my mind is something we all know from good old Baldurs Gate: Making the Shifter incompatible with certain classes or subclasses.

 

On my personal list of bans would be:

 

Paladins: I never liked these holy fanatics a lot. And i think @mant2si will agree that they are borderline OP at the moment... no?

Chanters: My personal hate class. The image of a singing Shifter is just like NO! NEVER EVER! Agreed?

 

Any throughts on that one? Good idea? bad idea?

Sound as good idea

 

I found one more bug, I think your mod hide new Ranger abilities from patch 3.0

[Harpagornis]

Yeah, the reason for the blocked new Ranger abilities are the old Progression Tables - will update this soon!

 

Banned classes are next on my list as well as a new PL9 ability for Single Class Shifters - this one should rock!

 

If this is done i will upload a new version - hopefully today!

[GuyNice]

I'm a late comer to the thread but I'm really excited after reading some of the changes you've made to shifters. Looking forward to new playthrough as one with the new DLC. Subbed.

[Harpagornis]

Here is a new version that will not disable the new Ranger Abilities @mant2si and @GuyNice!

 

The new PL9 Ability will take more time so i only did minor changes.

 

Turned the new PL5 ability "Exoskeleton Plates" as AutoGrant. This should make it easier for Shifters to survive bigger group fights! Removed the Recovery Time!

 

Placed all new Talents at PL4 as things got too crowded - lets hope this does not break the balance too much regarding +2 AR and//or +2 PEN.

 

Removed the Recovery Timer for the Level 10 Stag Ability "Revenge" (Blade Turning) to make Shifter play even more fast paced!!

 

Banning Class Combos is more trickier so this will also have to wait a bit more...

 

Lets hope there are no new bugs!!

Spiritshifting Evolution 0.41.zip

Edited September 26, 2018 by Harpagornis

[GuyNice]

Thanks for the update! The changes sounds great, I'll check it out.

[Harpagornis]

Hhmmmm.... the PL9 ability... lets call it "Incarnation" is slowly growing even though i am not yet satisfied.

 

So far it gets Tier 1 Inspirations for all Attributes plus Health & Damage - pretty much like the Minor Avatar.

On top of that it summons a huge area of Insects that deal 40-50 initial damage plus a 60 second Raw DoT.

 

The T1 Inspirations feel pretty dumb so the question is: What else? Life Leech maybe? Ideas are welccome!

[InsaneCommander]

An aura of afflictions? The enemy would be frightened or staggered when seeing the incarnation.

[Harpagornis]

Thanks for that input @InsaneCommander!!

 

I reworked the ability - here are the stats:

 

PL9 - Primal Savage

Self: +120 Health per 12 Seconds, +20% Damage, +20% Action Speed

Enemies: 40-50 Raw Damage + 9 per 3 secs. Sickened and Staggered

As the spell targets Fortitude (always too high!) it gets +30 Accuracy

Duration: 30 seconds

Casting Time: 1,5

Recovery Time: 0

 

Well - that doesnt look too bad. No?

[GuyNice]

Sounds great!

[Harpagornis]

I finally found a way to get things like spelldisabling working. But as we stomped the Shifters spell selection already we might skip that part...

 

What is in my opinion not okay is the stupidity of scrolls. We banned Great Maelstrom from the Shifter? Oh, i can still use scrolls. I say: Stop!!!

 

As the Shifter is a Master of unleashing the Inner Beast and using its Intuition rather than studying books he should be limited to self learned spells. No?

 

What about an ability called "Savage Mind" that does not allow him to use any scrolls? I think this would work with his background AND balancing.

 

Any ideas on this one? Other options or things a Shifter should NOT be able to use? Feedback is welcome!

Edited September 27, 2018 by Harpagornis

[JerekKruger]

I think that's a good solution to the problem Harpagornis.

[GuyNice]

Hey, I tried the mod with a new game and for some reason the new abilities are not usable. I can see them when shifted but can't select/activate them. Also the talent tree appears correctly in character creation, but in-game when I open the "View Tree" I don't see the new talents and the spell selection is wrong. Did I install incorrectly? I only used the file you linked here in the previous page (version 0.41).

 

Edit: I'm fine with disabling scrolls too.

Edited September 27, 2018 by GuyNice

[Harpagornis]

The new Shifter abilities for each Form are activated automatically at...

 

Level 4

Level 10

Level 16

 

You also gain additional shifting for each Form at these levels.

 

But you are right: The UI is not showing the modifications. Lets hope i can fix this soon!!!

Edited September 27, 2018 by Harpagornis

[GuyNice]

Oh, so this is just a display error? Are the right talents and spells available at level up? I was hoping to start a new playthrough as a single class Shifter with this mod this weekend.

[Harpagornis]

Yes, you get the abilities when leveling up. Using an old save also works but there might be some issues.

 

I will upload a reworked version tomorrow and will also update the tooltip soon so it gets clearer when you get the abilities.

 

But let me tell you this: Once all abilities are available the Shifter is a BEAST!

 

Thats how it should be no?