Recommendation for a Shifter multiclass?

[HoopleDoople]

My first playthrough of Deadfire will be with a Druid, and I'm particularly interested in the Shifter subclass. The Shifter seems like it would greatly benefit from multiclassing with a martial class, but I'm not sure which pairings would be particularly effective. I'm hoping that beta players can help provide some insight.

 

Some specific combinations that I'm considering:

 

Shifter + Barbarian - Carnage and Frenzy should greatly enhance the Shifter. Berserker subclass seems a poor fit. Mage Slayer also seems questionable, depending on what is categorized as a beneficial spell effect. Corpse-Eater definitely fits thematically, but I don't understand the mechanics of Rage well enough to know if this is worthwhile. Default Barbarian could be the way to go if this is a worthwhile multiclass.

 

Shifter + Monk - a Shifter will likely be taking quite a bit of damage and can presumably afford to with the innate healing from switching forms. Utilizing this damage to generate wounds would be a natural combo. Helwaker looks like the most promising subclass by far.

 

Shifter + Ranger - I'm definitely intrigued by the so-called Beastmaster multiclass. If it works how I'm imagining, it could be a neat jack of all trades multiclass, switching between spell casting, ranged combat, and melee combat as needed. But it also might just be bad at everything and too boring while shapeshifted. Stalker looks the most promising while Sharpshooter is an obviously poor fit. I'm guessing it's not worth having to take the time to summon your pet with Ghost Heart for this multiclass.

 

The other classes didn't immediately catch my interest for a Shifter multiclass, but I'm open to hearing about any good options. Any other related advice for a Shifter such as recommended Race, attributes, gear, and tactics are also welcome. Hopefully I can put together some semblance of a plan for my character so I can hit the ground running when Deadfire launches next week.

[Ganrich]

All those are solid fits. Stalker being melee oriented makes the moat sense with Shifter, IMHO. Of course fighter would work too.

 

I am planning a Skald/Shifter at some point. Open with a spells/Invocations to debuff, shift and move to melee, when you have enough phrases to cast an invocation you drop your shifted form and cast some spells, and then shift to a new form. Chants work while Shifted, but invocations do not. Rinse and repeat. You have a spiritshift for every situation and it rocks.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Ganrich

[Voss]

My first playthrough of Deadfire will be with a Druid, and I'm particularly interested in the Shifter subclass. The Shifter seems like it would greatly benefit from multiclassing with a martial class, but I'm not sure which pairings would be particularly effective. I'm hoping that beta players can help provide some insight.

 

Some specific combinations that I'm considering:

 

Shifter + Barbarian - Carnage and Frenzy should greatly enhance the Shifter. Berserker subclass seems a poor fit. Mage Slayer also seems questionable, depending on what is categorized as a beneficial spell effect. Corpse-Eater definitely fits thematically, but I don't understand the mechanics of Rage well enough to know if this is worthwhile. Default Barbarian could be the way to go if this is a worthwhile multiclass.

 

Why does berserker seem a poor fit?   The bonuses should apply, and help the shifted forms hit harder and have more DR.  

 

Mage slayer seems very bad- from the way people have talked about it (and videos), mage slayer decreases the duration of everything, including barbarian abilities and probably shapeshift.

 

Corpse eater seems... thematically interesting but impractical.  The eating and recovery time seems problematic.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Voss

[HoopleDoople]

 

My first playthrough of Deadfire will be with a Druid, and I'm particularly interested in the Shifter subclass. The Shifter seems like it would greatly benefit from multiclassing with a martial class, but I'm not sure which pairings would be particularly effective. I'm hoping that beta players can help provide some insight.

 

Some specific combinations that I'm considering:

 

Shifter + Barbarian - Carnage and Frenzy should greatly enhance the Shifter. Berserker subclass seems a poor fit. Mage Slayer also seems questionable, depending on what is categorized as a beneficial spell effect. Corpse-Eater definitely fits thematically, but I don't understand the mechanics of Rage well enough to know if this is worthwhile. Default Barbarian could be the way to go if this is a worthwhile multiclass.

 

Why does berserker seem a poor fit?   The bonuses should apply, and help the shifted forms hit harder and have more DR.  

 

Mage slayer seems very bad- from the way people have talked about it (and videos), mage slayer decreases the duration of everything, including barbarian abilities and probably shapeshift.

 

Corpse eater seems... thematically interesting but impractical.  The eating and recovery time seems problematic.

 

 

If I understand it correctly, all the Berserker's attacks and abilities damage both friend and foe when frenzied. I would guess that carnage is a manageable issue, AoE spells problematic, and storm spells in particular unusable. Shapeshifting will certainly be the focus of the character, but I still want the flexibility to drop out of Shapeshift and cast spells as needed.

[Yosharian]

Mage Slayer is absolute trash. So Obsi have done a remarkable job porting it from BG2!

[Boeroer]

Mage Slayer is very circumstancial but very good against enemies who make a lot of use of their abilites. You can completely lockdown bosses or other annoying guys like Engwithan Saints and prevent them from using their special abilites. But in multiclass with somebody who buffs himself Mage Slayer is not good because of the reduced durations. Did somebody test if Spiritshift also gets reduced?

[HiddenWings]

I have the same issue with Barbarian Subclasses for a Shifter multiclass. Corpse Eater fits thematically, but it's mechanically kind of bad. Mage Slayer is just bad; its drawback reduces the duration of Spiritshift. (As an aside, it also lowers the duration of Frenzy. I don't know why you would go with this one ever.) Berserker is probably mechanically the strongest, but it does seem like you would have to use frenzy very carefully.

 

If I were to go Tempest, I might just use barbarian without a subclass.

[InsaneCommander]

I intend to have a Berserker/Shifter some day, regardless of any problems with friendly fire. It just seems like an interesting combination to me. I even considered it before knowing how "confused" works in Deadfire.

[HoopleDoople]

I'm leaning towards running a Shifter / Stalker for the flexibility it could potentially offer. Any advice on what sort of race and attribute distribution might work well with this multiclass?

 

The new affliction resistance racial bonuses look interesting, but I have no idea which ones would be most useful to different character types. I'm also uncertain of the value of the Island Aumaua's immunity to slog zones (how common and debilitating are slog zones?). And is the Boreal Dwarves gaining graze against primordial/wilder still accurate (I thought I heard that graze was added back into the game for everything)?

[divjak]

I would match up shifter with melee class that has a bunch of abilities that I can use while shifted, maybe a rogue, or monk 

 

 

with rogue, you get interupt on a bunch of their abilities, sneak attack, lots of damage built in, and when you are shifted you attack fast, so you can react much better, without the need to  wait for long recovery

 

with monk you can stack lightning strikes with wildstrike, and  heart of the storm, you also get duality of mortal presence for an increased durations with int boost, and then stunning blow for CC, and other interesting stuff, and if you pick nature godlike, I think swift strikes and thundering blows also gives you power level boost

Edited May 4, 2018 by divjak

[cactot]

 

with rogue, you get interupt on a bunch of their abilities, sneak attack, lots of damage built in, and when you are shifted you attack fast, so you can react much better, without the need to wait for long recovery

 

Also, terrifying roar from bear form should enable sneak attack's bonus damage.

[divjak]

 

with rogue, you get interupt on a bunch of their abilities, sneak attack, lots of damage built in, and when you are shifted you attack fast, so you can react much better, without the need to wait for long recovery

Also, terrifying roar from bear form should enable sneak attack's bonus damage.

 

well yes, and if you dont play solo, its not that hard to get flanking bonus, or sneak attack enabler from other party members while  in cat form, wolf is good as it gives you movement speed, and that can be combined with movement talents, which makes you move really fast, rush enemy caster and knock him down while casting, boar gives you fighter like regeneration I think, which is good for tanking... and stag when dealing with group of bunch of small enemies 

 

 

also, for instance, shifter/ranger is not my cup tea, because both classes are rather passive,  i think both do better when multiclassed with classes that have bunch of abilities, unless you prefer a rather passive build.

If i was going for ranger/druid combo, i would not pick a shifter, maybe the healer one, to heal while my pet contributes to damage  

Edited May 4, 2018 by divjak