Balance Polishing Mod Release 1.0

[Elric Galad]

For a long time I've been scratching my head about druid's Spiritshift.

The idea that such a key feature of the class could be 1/encounter for a limited without any possibility to get it back felt a bit weird.
And you even have to spend 2 talent points to get your weapon competitive with normal ones.
It was ok for PoE1 where combat were much less long.
Currently, only Druid/Wizard can hope to maintain spiritshift.

Now I come with following proposal :
What about making (Greater) WIldstrike add 2s (4s for Greater Wildstrike) of Spiritshift for each weapon hits or crits ?
This would basically make Spiritshift able to be prolonged as long as needed as long as you keep attacking. Wildstrike Frenzy would simply emphasize this effect while adding a very powerful On Crit effect (with BPM).

Notes about subclasses :
- It makes Shifter Drawback much more significant. That being said, it also emphasizes their flexbility : you can be Boar or Bear for as long as needed and pick the right Shift for the right situation. I would almost say it fixes the subclass.
- It benefits more Fury because of possible double Hit. I think it is neat, but given that Fury looses a lot from loosing Rejuvenation spell, so I think it is OK.
- For Lifegiver, it is arguably a big buff. But you have to attack to get it. So while you're casting healing spell, you're not extending duration. Also, Lifegiver Form is basically a Spell Stick. Lifegivers arguably don't have to pick Wildstrike since you're probably won't be using your form for attacking. Also BPM buffs summons, so Livegiver becomes comparatively weaker. In a nutshell, I don't think it is too broken for them (and they could already benefit for long Spiritshift with a Wizard multiclass anyway).

[Boeroer]

4 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

What about making (Greater) WIldstrike add 2s (4s for Greater Wildstrike) of Spiritshift for each weapon hits or crits ?

There is a small hidden problem:

Cast Kalakoth's Minor Blights (from scroll or as Wizard), then Spiritshift. Minor Blight (fire) will be replaced with claws but the spell is still active. When it's time the fire blight would get replaced: yo'll get a new blight into your main hand even if you are shifted. This blight does AoE dmg and thus hit rolls. It also works with Driving Flight. Thus you could generate a lot of weapon hits with just one attack.

Very niche problem, I know - but maybe a hint that this solution may have some hidden pitfalls. 

Why not just make spiritshift a true modal like all the other modals? The upside of Spiritshift is Wild Strike and a rel. good armor without recovery - the downside is not having unique armor and weapons. The normal cooldown of modals might prevent abuse (see Shifter) - or maybe it would need to be longer with Shifter, don't know. Or just remove or reduce the shift-healing.
For Livegiver maybe the PL boost/debuff while/after Spiritshift should either get removed (doesn't make much sense anyway imo and the Lifegiver already has "no druid summons" as a downside) - or the buff should work like a short-lived drug (+5 PL to rejuvenation, followed by a -5 PL to rejuvenation "crash") that is induced by Shifting und removed by shifting back (just a quick idea that would encourage shifting back and not just stay shifted forever I guess).  

[Constentin Lévine]

3 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Cast Kalakoth's Minor Blights (from scroll or as Wizard), then Spiritshift. Minor Blight (fire) will be replaced with claws but the spell is still active. When it's time the fire blight would get replaced: yo'll get a new blight into your main hand even if you are shifted. This blight does AoE dmg and thus hit rolls. It also works with Driving Flight. Thus you could generate a lot of weapon hits with just one attack.

I think you cant attack with other weapon than the Claw when spiritshifted : if you could, the boar DoT would be applied and the Wildstrike Frenzy bonus too, in AoE with the minor blights. I tried but the druid fail to attack (Spiritshift fom the Mantle too). 

Modal is a good option mainly if you want to build around the Spiritshifted form. The on-crit is a little game breaking especially for Wildstrike Frenzy : the AoE proc on crit is over balanced, druid become one of the most powerful melee attacker with BPM 

[Elric Galad]

As far as I know, modal cooldown isn't a parameter.

But there's a simple thing to do if we decide to go this way : set all spiritshift to Infinite duration, but leaving them to once per encounter.

Basically as it was in BG.

I think it would perfectly balance Shifter vs other Subclasses (leaving Livegiver apart for the moment). Shifter would be able to use the most appropriate Shift, but spell ban would hurt relatively more.

Lifegiver could also get a specific penalty when Shifted. Take more damages, receive much less healing, do less damages, whatever (LifeGIVER).

 

Then, yeah, Spiritshift Frenzy might have been a bit overbuffed. It might be due that it gets intrinsic ability scaling as if Tier 8 and PL scaling as if Tier 2 (because it is a Wildstrike upgrade). I don't believe it was OP because it costs 3 Talents to get there and is available only for a short duration.

I can still tune it down if I go with Infinite duration shift.

[Boeroer]

1 hour ago, Constentin Lévine said:

I think you cant attack with other weapon than the Claw when spiritshifted : if you could, the boar DoT would be applied and the Wildstrike Frenzy bonus too, in AoE with the minor blights. I tried but the druid fail to attack (Spiritshift fom the Mantle too). 

Right. Usually there will be an animation hickup that prevents attacking bc. the Spiritshift forms have no ranged animation for firing the blights (I guess - but not even Storm Blight form works nor do attacks which require no animation at all, such as Riposte). I knew it was janky but I had the same issues with unusual weapons before (like the Citzal Great Sword) which could get resolved with picking other party members or canceling that attack and try again etc. - but this Blights/Spiritshift combo doesn't seem to be salvageable and will be stuck as long as the shift lasts. But it will leave you with a permanent natural Spiritshift weapon...    

It was just the first thing that came into my head as a potential loophole when I read about "prolong Spiritshift with the help of weapon hits".

Another downside of that solution would be that fast hitting characters (see: cat form, a multiclass with Monk, Barb, Streetfighter etc.) and everything that produces hits besides the actual active attacks (Riposte, Swift Flurry, Cleaving Stance, Retaliation like from the Champion's helmet/cape I guess?) and confused attacks on skeletons (abusing Blood Thirst/Swift Flurry/Cleaving etc.) would have an easier time to prolong the Spiritshift - which seems to have the potential for breaking the balance instead of achieving it. Only imo of course.  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Boeroer

[Constentin Lévine]

8 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

Then, yeah, Spiritshift Frenzy might have been a bit overbuffed. It might be due that it gets intrinsic ability scaling as if Tier 8 and PL scaling as if Tier 2 (because it is a Wildstrike upgrade). I don't believe it was OP because it costs 3 Talents to get there and is available only for a short duration.

But crit prolonge the duration  In other side, I always thought that if the +4s duration on kill worked for all beneficial durations instead of only the spiritshift duration, the Wildstrike Frenzy would be turn into a must-have but non-broken talent. The on-kill trigger only with melee attack from the spiritshift and at end level, ennemies are not like some twigs. 

[Elric Galad]

16 minutes ago, Constentin Lévine said:

But crit prolonge the duration  In other side, I always thought that if the +4s duration on kill worked for all beneficial durations instead of only the spiritshift duration, the Wildstrike Frenzy would be turn into a must-have but non-broken talent. The on-kill trigger only with melee attack from the spiritshift and at end level, ennemies are not like some twigs. 

But getting reliable Crits with a SC Druid without even specific weapon isn't easy. You have to use BPM entropy, that lasts 12s in latest version. I mean, it works, but that's a lot of set up. Meanwhile you can cast Great Maelstorm...

Or Blunderbuss + Avenging storm (28-40 base additional elemental damages per Hit, not Crit. But yeah, it single target). 

That said, in case of easy way to lenghten Spiritshift, I would indeed consider it a bit strong.

 

The fundamental question is : how strong is Spiritshift on its own (+ lash) compared to unique weapons + armor ? How does it compare to the arsenal of self buff a Wiz can get, or minor Avatar, etc...

Because if it is comparable to a couple of buff, then there is no big issue in making it lasts infinitely.

Low levels might be an issue though.

Edited January 11, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Boeroer]

Spiritshift is def. less impactful than wizard self buffs. Imo there's no definitive upside but more a "druidic" option as alternative for unique weapons + armors. Much like Transcendent Suffering is a more monkish alternative for weapons than a superior option. Thus I think making spiritshift a true modal (like the weapon proficiencies) wouldn't break the balance.

Some special cases might need special treatment though. Mainly the cases in which Spiritshift gives a powerful additional bonus (Livegiver's PLs and Shifter's healing). 

It would also be  more systemic solution. All modals should share the same basic mechanic. Because why is Spiritshift a modal but actually behaves like a 1/encounter ability? It's confusing and makes not much sense. I guess it's a relic from early development (maybe Spiritshift was indeed intended to be a proper modal?).

[Boeroer]

46 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

Low levels might be an issue though.

The usual weapon scaling would take care of the base dmg, but the Wildstrike lash would be an impactful bonus, yes. Mostly because it's fixed. I don't think it's a big issue but still...

Could be solvable with a scaling Wildstrike bonus? I mean Spiritual Weapons (Priest) scale their lashes, Sneak Attack scales with PL. Why not start Wildstrike smaller (like 5%) and add 5% every 2nd character or Power Level or so (just an example, may be too weak... maybe add 3% every PL - stuff like that). I'd prefer Power Level because it would give SC a slight advantage - like Sneak Attack for Rogues.

That would also make Greater Wildstrike obsolete in its current form. It could add a secondary effect though. Maybe just weaker ones of those that Wildstrike Frenzy already gives (besides the on-kill-effect). Wildstrike Frenzy could then add more ooph to those things.
And why is WS Frenzy not giving a passive action speed bonus? That would be universally useful for casting as well as fighting with weapons - and it says "Frenzy" in the title.  

[Elric Galad]

30 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

The usual weapon scaling would take care of the base dmg, but the Wildstrike lash would be an impactful bonus, yes. Mostly because it's fixed. I don't think it's a big issue but still...

Could be solvable with a scaling Wildstrike bonus? I mean Spiritual Weapons (Priest) scale their lashes, Sneak Attack scales with PL. Why not start Wildstrike smaller (like 5%) and add 5% every 2nd character or Power Level or so (just an example, may be too weak... maybe add 3% every PL - stuff like that). I'd prefer Power Level because it would give SC a slight advantage - like Sneak Attack for Rogues.

That would also make Greater Wildstrike obsolete in its current form. It could add a secondary effect though. Maybe just weaker ones of those that Wildstrike Frenzy already gives (besides the on-kill-effect). Wildstrike Frenzy could then add more ooph to those things.
And why is WS Frenzy not giving a passive action speed bonus? That would be universally useful for casting as well as fighting with weapons - and it says "Frenzy" in the title.  

To be honest, my main concern at low level was not Wildstrike. Yup, it's pretty powerful, but it costs an ability point when those are scarce. 15% lash is good but not that much.

The "+5 AR + scaling Cloth armor" is much more concerning. That and the 2 "abilities" per form which are noticeable.

 

Side note : BPM added a +1 PL/+2PL to the corresponding element to Wildstrike/Greater Wildstrike. The bonus isn't that big and add more option to druids. Especially because it is the only way to get +2 PL to Decay/Acid spells. But Deltro's Cage + Lord Dalryn's Voulge is still vastly superior if one wants to buff Relentless Storms & its friends.

 

The 1/encounter modal feels necessary in order to avoid reworking completely the subclasses. It could be limited to Shifter. But that would be a bit harsh for poor shifter. And Lifegiver would require an even bigger rework.

Somehow I like the committing aspect of 1/encounter shifting.

[Not So Clever Hound]

45 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Some special cases might need special treatment though. Mainly the cases in which Spiritshift gives a powerful additional bonus (Livegiver's PLs and Shifter's healing)

I like the modal idea and I love where this discussion is going because I completely agree that Spiritshift in its current form needs something/some love - besides all the great rebalancing of Wildstrike and upgrades that Elric already did in BPM.

Just a couple thoughts particularly on your idea Boeroer:

The PL boost of Lifegiver is cool but certainly not gamebreaking, especially considering you also lose access to summons incl. the Primordials. To me it would make sense to simply set Rejuvenation PL at -2 (or even at +0) if not shifted and at +2 while shifted (i.e. a lifegiver is even more in touch with their innate rejuvenation abilities when they're closer to nature/in their animalistic form).

It might be obvious but I think it's important that shifted special abilities (Cat Flurry, Bear Terrifying Roar etc.) still be set at once per encounter even if the spiritshift is a true modal.

[Not So Clever Hound]

Just now, Elric Galad said:

Somehow I like the committing aspect of 1/encounter shifting.

I like the modal idea but what you suggest also makes sense i.e. a Druid can spiritshift and stay spiritshifted but they can't just switch back and forth like crazy, it's too taxing.

On top of being apparently easier to implement without reworking everything .

[Elric Galad]

6 minutes ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

It might be obvious but I think it's important that shifted special abilities (Cat Flurry, Bear Terrifying Roar etc.) still be set at once per encounter even if the spiritshift is a true modal.

BPM Wolf Knockdown is 3x encounter

Ha !

But in a nutshell, that's also part of the reason why I think keeping the modal 1x encounter isn't too bad.

 

In its current state, a Lifegiver gets +2 Rejuvenation PL, +5 while shifted +2 Water PL if taking the Water/Ice BPM Greater Wildstrike when casting Moonwell.

So the most well rounded MC HoT gets +9 PL.

It requires a downside  

[Not So Clever Hound]

2 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

In its current state, a Lifegiver gets +2 Rejuvenation PL, +5 while shifted +2 Water PL if taking the Water/Ice BPM Greater Wildstrike when casting Moonwell.

So the most well rounded MC HoT gets +9 PL.

It requires a downside  

Ah yes there is the synergy with the Water PL bonus from BPM it is true. Thanks.

Yes I agree, my point was very simply that on average, the Rejuvenation PL bonuses are really nice but won't be as determining as comparable offensive bonuses in winning or not an encounter (there will be exceptions to that, I'm saying on average).

Killing enemies faster with better offensive abilities = lower future incoming damage (cuz dead or controlled enemies) AND you deal more damage. 
Stellar healing with better rejuvenation abilities = just mitigating incoming damage.

[Elric Galad]

1 minute ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

Stellar healing with better rejuvenation abilities = just mitigating incoming damage.

But if you don't die and the enemy can't regenerate the damages you do, you win. Even more safely.

[Not So Clever Hound]

8 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

But if you don't die and the enemy can't regenerate the damages you do, you win. Even more safely.

Aye 'tis true.

But in many big fights that matter (not the "win-more" scenarios) enemies have healing too and nasty abilities you want to shut down fast... and in really big big fights where you want to rely upon continued healing, you may need more sustain than limited resources of Lifegiver (looking at you Herald).

EDIT: what do I know, I play solo 90% of times anyway and the strategy there is different  

Edited January 11, 2022 by Not So Clever Hound

[Elric Galad]

14 minutes ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

Aye 'tis true.

But in many big fights that matter (not the "win-more" scenarios) enemies have healing too and nasty abilities you want to shut down fast... and in really big big fights where you want to rely upon continued healing, you may need more sustain than limited resources of Lifegiver (looking at you Herald).

Or Lifegiver with a Cipher friend, or with a Potion of Enlightenment...

Healing is incredibly powerful in deadfire. It's a matter of playstyle, but I personally consider it a key to victory.

That's why I would consider giving Lifegiver -50% healing received while Shifted

(And maybe limit the penalty to 180 fixed seconds as I did for Furyshaper)

Edited January 11, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Not So Clever Hound]

1 minute ago, Elric Galad said:

Or Lifegiver with a Cipher friend, or with a Potion of Enlightenment...

Healing is incredibly powerful in deadfire. It's a matter of playstyle, but I personally consider it a key to victory.

That's why I would consider giving Lifegiver -50% healing received while Shifted

My favorite was a Sorcerer shifted using all that nice healing + Wall of Draining to Blood Sacrifice non stop... sadly he's not as effective/broken good now in BPM...   with a -50% healing factor received on top, with inversions... this previously mighty Werecat will become a sickly little kitten.

[NotDumbEnough]

I'd be careful about that as Cat Form in particular has really strong weapons for multiclassing. They're comparable to monk fists but require no investment in terms of power level.

[Elric Galad]

5 hours ago, NotDumbEnough said:

I'd be careful about that as Cat Form in particular has really strong weapons for multiclassing. They're comparable to monk fists but require no investment in terms of power level.

To be honest the Bear Form due to AR and Boar Form due to 40% lash are about as good. BPM Stag Form has the same carnage as Barbs and +10 all def. All are pretty good (BPM Wolf is meant to spam some knockdown and would fit much less for perma form).

But I see your point.

Spiritshift may feel a bit too good to get an infinite duration.

And not impactful enough to just be 1/ encounter.

[Testlum]

One possible route you could consider would be cooldowns. Maybe the druid needs to wait for X duration before their Spiritshift is reset, or maybe they need to cast X spells to reset it.

[dgray62]

Or maybe get 1 Spiritshift per PL?

[Boeroer]

That's 9 shifts for SC lvl 20 at least. Sounds excessive.

They way I see it:

if it looks like a modal (I also mean the UI element) it should behave like a modal.

If it should work like a per-encounter ability: why not make it a proper per-encounter ability (in UI-form and function)?

I think the only reason why it's still implemented as a modal is because modals have cooldowns. While it makes no sense for most druid subclasses to have a modal with a cooldown when it's 1/encounter anyway - it makes sense for the Shifter I guess? 

But I wonder: can't there be a cooldown for a set of per-encounter abilities, too? Looking at Grimoire switching which induces a cooldown to a set of per-encounter abilities (aka the Wizard's spells).

I think that would be more consistent with the rest of the mechanics (if doable).

Having a thing that looks like a modal (and would make sense to be a modal) but actually works like a 1/encounter ability is just confusing and inconsistent imo.

I'd still prefer the shift to be a true modal, but if not I would also be happy with a per-encounter solution that at least has the proper UI elements and not that weird modal/encounter chimaera.

Greater Wildstrike/Wildstrike Frenzy could add 1 shift per encounter maybe? But that would be weird with Lifegiver I suspect. Also the +5/-5 buff debuff with Life giver shifting really messes up the idea of multiple shifts. I personally would just get rid of it since it's complicated and doesn't really do much - especially since the Druid mostly has HoT and not healing on the spot. HoT gets a severe punch in the crotch when you shift back after casting it. Which is almost always the case because Spiritshift is short and it takes some time to cast HoTs after the shift starts - and HoT's durations become longer and longer. So a lot of ticks will suffer from the -5 PL debuff (effectively -3 because the +2 PL passive will always be on). Maybe just give Lifegiver +3 PL to rejuvenation instead of +2 and +5/-5 - and be done with it? No fuss with shifting and multiple shifts. No abuse of Wall of Draining/SoT + Lifegiver shifting-PLs and so on. 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Boeroer

[Elric Galad]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

That's 9 shifts for SC lvl 20 at least. Sounds excessive.

They way I see it:

if it looks like a modal (I also mean the UI element) it should behave like a modal.

If it should work like a per-encounter ability: why not make it a proper per-encounter ability (in UI-form and function)?

I think the only reason why it's still implemented as a modal is because modals have cooldowns. While it makes no sense for most druid subclasses to have a modal with a cooldown when it's 1/encounter anyway - it makes sense for the Shifter I guess? 

But I wonder: can't there be a cooldown for a set of per-encounter abilities, too? Looking at Grimoire switching which induces a cooldown to a set of per-encounter abilities (aka the Wizard's spells).

I think that would be more consistent with the rest of the mechanics (if doable).

Having a thing that looks like a modal (and would make sense to be a modal) but actually works like a 1/encounter ability is just confusing and inconsistent imo.

I'd still prefer the shift to be a true modal, but if not I would also be happy with a per-encounter solution that at least has the proper UI elements and not that weird modal/encounter chimaera.

Greater Wildstrike/Wildstrike Frenzy could add 1 shift per encounter maybe? But that would be weird with Lifegiver I suspect. Also the +5/-5 buff debuff with Life giver shifting really messes up the idea of multiple shifts. I personally would just get rid of it since it's complicated and doesn't really do much - especially since the Druid mostly has HoT and not healing on the spot. HoT gets a severe punch in the crotch when you shift back after casting it. Which is almost always the case because Spiritshift is short and it takes some time to cast HoTs after the shift starts - and HoT's durations become longer and longer. So a lot of ticks will suffer from the -5 PL debuff (effectively -3 because the +2 PL passive will always be on). Maybe just give Lifegiver +3 PL to rejuvenation instead of +2 and +5/-5 - and be done with it? No fuss with shifting and multiple shifts. No abuse of Wall of Draining/SoT + Lifegiver shifting-PLs and so on. 

 

 

I honestly believe that we should keep Lifegiver adjustment for later, when we already have a solution for all other classes.

The reason why it is a modal is that it is cancellable. That's a significant change to have Forms not cancellable anymore, esp for Shifters.

I have no specific issue with it being a funky modal.

And what about making Spiritshift a Tier 1 Spell ? Without any other changes, although I wonder what happen when one puts a modal in a spell slot. There are already Attack Abilities as spells.

This would give a couple more cast with potential access to ressources regen, Shifter would keep the versatile form aspect + longer duration + healing (tuned down ??).

 

A true cooldoown could also work (Spiritshift deactivated for n seconds after it stops). It would work for Per encounter abilities of the Forms. 

It would even work for Holy Radiance by the way.

Youhou, introducing cooldowns ! (Although Forbidden Fist is already in the game...).

 

Edit : something like :

- Spiritshift : fixed 30s cooldoown after it ends

- Shifter : fixed 15s cooldoown after it ends

- Cat flurry : fixed 60s cooldoown

- Boar Roar : fixed 60s cooldoown

- Wof Knockdown : fixed 12s cooldoown (fixed time have to be multiple of 6s because TB - this Ability might be weak then, but another way of buffing could work)

Forms cooldoown could be rebooted by new shift.

 

Bonus : Holy Radiance fixed 90s cooldoown

 

EDIT : I would have to check if it works. I think it is possible to enable/disable an ability based on a status (that's how Spiritshift activable abilities such as Cat Flurry work)

Edited January 12, 2022 by Elric Galad

[Boeroer]

28 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

Youhou, introducing cooldowns ! (Although Forbidden Fist is already in the game...).

I guess you didn't mean to adress me with "Youhou" but that it's just an exclamation of joy. But I'll respond to this anyway.

I don't like it when cooldowns are used as a basic mechanic or cornerstone of a system. See Tyranny or Diablo etc.

Although one could see recovery as a sort of cooldown, it's not really for me because it's universal: all actions (except walking) have to wait until you can act again, while cooldowns on abilities only affect the use of that ability.
Thus a system with ability-cooldowns as the go-to mechanic usually leads to a behaviour where you spam all abilities you have to prevent to wait for any cooldown to complete - and then you start the cycle anew. As a result the player tends to pick up as many different abilities as they can.
For the opposite reason I also don't like fixed, non-replenishable resources (see Guile etc.) - because they do the opposite: abilities fight for the resource points and players will get motivated to only pick very few of those abilities which will need that "fuel".
Both approaches limit the player in a way that I think is "unfun".

Recovery is kind of a cooldown for the whole character. This prevents the (imo) awful results ability cooldowns will lead to.
When I talk about cooldowns I mean ability-cooldowns that only prevent the usage of that (or a certain subset of) action.

That doesn't mean that cooldowns cannot solve problems easily - like spamming spiritshift for spike healing when you are a shifter - without putting the whole character into a pause (like recovery does). If they are not everywhere they are not too bad per se.
I just realize that spiritshift should have a longer animation phase though - could solve some problems and make cooldown redundant... but that's another discussion. 

I still wouldn't put abilitycooldowns into a system if there's only one small use-case. As I wouldn't do that with any mechanic really since it makes the mechanics less systemic and less predictable.

But since there's already cooldowns in Deadfire's system (Grimoire switching causes a cooldown on spells only, there's a cooldown on modals like proficiencies and chants - but weapon switching induces no cooldown but adds recovery time, reloading is basically a cooldown for that specific weapon, but I digress...) I think it's okay to use them to prevent spammage in certain situations - without locking the whole char down - like recovery would do.

I don't know about any cooldown with Forbidden Fist though. It puts a stackng curse on you that raises its cost by 1 wound. Afaik nothing (besides getting knocked out) prevents you from using it over and over again - as long as you have the wounds for it. Or what did I miss? 

 

47 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

The reason why it is a modal is that it is cancellable. That's a significant change to have Forms not cancellable anymore, esp for Shifters.

Oh, good point. That would get lost with an per-encounter ability, true. Hm... But on the other hand: Form of the Fearsome Brute and other shapeshifting stuff (Changeling's Mantle) are not cancelable either. And do players really use that feature of "cancelablility" (is that a word?) often with Spiritshift? It makes a lot of sense with weapon prof. and chants - but I believe Spiritshift gets cancelled almost never (unless Shifter who gets pummeled too badly - but still weird action to unshift just in order to heal imo).
So... one reason more to implement it as a proper "non-funky" modal, eh?

But actually FotFB leads me to these other thoughts:

50 minutes ago, Elric Galad said:

And what about making Spiritshift a Tier 1 Spell ? Without any other changes, although I wonder what happen when one puts a modal in a spell slot. There are already Attack Abilities as spells.

Generally a good idea imo. Not as a modal though. Form of the Fearsome Brute already is a shapeshifting spell and that kind of works. At least handling Spiritshift the same as FotEB would add consistency.
But on the other hand: what about Shifter?  4 shifting spells in one tier sounds bad. Just add 1 form in every tier until PL4?

Thinking about it more I would actually prefer to see FotFB getting implemented like I would like Spiritshift to be implemented: as a proper modal. This would add consistency and make FotFB more attractive, too (to me at least).