Can a shapeshifter hold their own as a tank? Using the proper spells before and then changing to werewolf/greater wolfie form, would that work?

with the ease-of-use shapeshifter rebalancing mod, yes

otherwise, dont bother with single-class druids. if you must have druid spells then make a r/c or use Jaheria

Yes they can work as a tank. Built as a PC so they can better handle going without their shape shifting and combining in some of the typical Druid Buff's they can work really well. Any Werewolf will get 3 attacks a round and once you get over that XP hump at about level 15 you'll have a whole lot of spells to work with. AC changing rings and such are also a real nice touch even with the natural AC they get when shape shifted. And they are pretty much necessary when not shape shifted. The Staff you get at the end of SoA seems basically built to be used by Shape Shifters with it's permanent bark skin and +3 ac.

They make good characters to work in either the caster roll or a decent fighter. Not an Ultimate fighter but then everybodies opinion of what the ultimate fighter is is different.

As said, get the Rebalancing for the love of all. Otherwise Shapeshifter is just a sad joke, Rebalancing gives them what they should rightfully have.

they tank pretty well if you can wait long enough for them to get that greater werewolf form. I believe they can regenerate in that form, but I can't remember for sure.

Yes they Regenerate in their Greater Werewolf Form. Nothing that is rediculously combat altering but certainly enough to be noticable outside of combat.

And that rebalancing with the rediculous ammount of Regeneration and everything else is so mislabeled it's not even funny. But these guys seem to find it necessary as the only way to play so what do I really know right? i can't even play through the tactics stuff.

Shapeshifting re-balance is a total joke, really, I can not believe the designers were serious, it is too powerful even for tactics etc. Besides, if you have Tactics and others to make your game harder, why don't you get something extremely powerful and unbalanced to make your game easier? I fail to see the point. Sorry.

She is a PC for a multiplayer game. Her stats are:
Str 15
Dex 18
Con 16
Int 10
Wis 15
Cha 15

The tanks for this game are: shapeshifter, monk and blade. The 'no armor' party, I guess, except for the C/T. :p I do have the Rebalncing mod installed.

Until you get to Level 13 I believe it is and get the GWW form your Dex is actually going to go down in Werewolf form but it will help you more out of it. It drops to 16.

With the rebalancing mod none of that will probably matter much though might as well just make the others stand around. The monk's Powerful when it comes to combat but he's going to look like a joke next to the rebalancing mod shape shifter.

@silverstar. I think somebody played some video game or found different things in random files and just went "Oh I want to have the ability to do that but better!" when they made it. I wouldn't be surprised if even I could solo Mellisan in like hard core or insane or something with one.

Stats look good enough, but if you don't have tactics etc. installed your game will be ridiculously easy, it will be no fun I fear.

I wouldn't find Tactics fun besides.

The Shapeshifter Rebalancing in Refinements makes werewolves good for mostly soaking up hurt, especially the Greater Werewolf, which regenerates 3 hp/round, but the damage output isn't too good, even in Greater form.

But vanilla game with rebalanced Shapeshifting may be too easy. Even if you play on insane diff.

Unless I'm mistaken, Shapeshifter re-balancing is putting things back to what they should be by 2e rules. It may be a little over-powering, but if so it's only because the disadvantages of the Shapeshifter were not properly implemented. Blame the game's designers, not the mod. :nono: (Though if they could fix that with the mod too...)

EDIT:
Weimer? :skeptic: Well forget it, then. The only thing I'd get from Weimer would be EoU (or the WeiDU format), and that only because there aren't any alternatives.

[ May 21, 2006, 23:17: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

@ Felinoid: Weimer's rebalancing still breaks the rules because it allows a shapeshifted druid to cast spells. It also breaks the rules (I think) because the elemental resistances and what not stack with any worn magical items the druid carries instead of superceding them as they would in 2e. Refinements gives a much closer to PnP fix, and if you don't like their HLA system, you don't have to use it to get the fix.

The Stacking of natural elemental resistances(shape shifted ones included) and magical items that give elemental resistances are part of the core game. Not a mod.

It also breaks the rules (I think) because the elemental resistances and what not stack with any worn magical items the druid carries instead of superceding them as they would in 2e. Jaheira's always stacked with and without mods.

This Shapeshifter Rebalancing is part of EoU, at least, my version.

The Stacking of natural elemental resistances(shape shifted ones included) and magical items that give elemental resistances are part of the core game. Not a mod.I know. It's still incorrect......and it doesn't have to work that way, either. I'm comparing shapeshifter rebalancing to PnP, not vanilla BG2.

Whether correct within the rules or not, the Rebalanced Shifter makes the entire game (Tactics and insane difficulty or not) a joke. Most fights can be won by simply turning on the basic fighter script and making a cup of coffee. The normal werewolf isn't so bad but once you get greater, the game is over. I like the concept of a shifter and so wanted to make the mod work but I literally couldn't install enough difficulty-enhancing mods to make it fair.

I'm no coder. I don't even try. Really the only thing that bugs me is how weak the claws enchantment is for hitting foes. And you could take the Core shape shifter just make it be able to cast spells. Which if you ask me should be possible anyway considering they are god Given. but that's all they need to make them super powered and it's a lot more fair than the rebalancing mod.

that Slayer thing in the last pocket plane encounter in ToB is the only thing that I know of that heals anywhere as fast as the rebalancing shape shifter mod.

Yet people complained when I happened to take advantage of the dispelled claws.

Do they get one shapeshift per day or does it add up per level; like 1 shapeshift every 5 levels?

Over time they get more and more times that they can shape shift. I think I ended ToB with like 8 or 9 on Cernd but maybe it was more like 7 or 8.