I'm pretty much brand new to Carrion Fields but have an idea what's going on due to experience on other MUDs. I have a low level shapeshifter and I was hoping to get more info on forms.

I'm not looking for a list of every form you get from each category (offense, defense, etc.), just more of a mechanics explanation: do you get 4 major, 2 minor, and that's that, and the six you get are randomly chosen from a large pool? If so, does that mean you might choose (for example) defense and just happen to get the 4 worst defense forms? Or have I totally misunderstood that part?

And second, from a general guidance standpoint: from the little information I've read, it sounds like shapeshifter isn't the best at "sealing the deal": no good roots/ensnare/stun type spells. So, I envision my character as someone not particularly aggressive, but very good at escape. Is defense or utility a better choice for someone who wants "slippery" forms? (Either able to vanish, or somehow run very quickly, or some other way to escape from an ambush?)

And then one final question: if I don't include offense as my major OR minor, does that basically mean none of my forms will do decent damage? (Since I wouldn't be very aggressive PK wise, I'm mostly thinking of damage vs mobs.) Does offense have any advantages besides creatures "hitting harder" (are there, for example, very fast hitting forms or forms that attack multiple times a round, automatically bash or sting or bite or some such thing?)

Thanks for any info and advice!

You get 4 Major focus forms, tiers 1(you get the form at levels 15-17),2(at levels 22-24),3(at levels 29-31) and 4( at levels 42-44); and 2 minor focus forms, tiers 3(at levels 35-37) and 4(at levels 47-50). Your forms are randomly chosen from large pools, but each tier has a different pool. You also cannot get a same form twice if you choose same focus as minor and major.


I advice you to choose utility as major. It has fairly good damage output and fairly good defense. Utility also offers some nice perks with its forms, such as forage, hide, camouflage and minimal movement cost. Offense has very good offense(Hits harder and more often than most of other things) and poor defense while defense forms are among the best tanks of the game with poor offensive output. Water forms have terrifying damage output and good defense(but cannot leave water) and air forms can fly high above the areas and travel quickly there. We have the forms listed in the class-formatted Skill Page in Dio's( www.qhcf.net ). We arranged them by tier and focus so the list should be easy to read. Just say if there's something unclear in the way things are represented there.

Utility is probably your best bet against mobs. I think utility/defense could be a good combo for land-based exploration as offense forms can't take blows very well. Utility/air could also work, as utility can work alone in exploration fairly well. Many utility forms are also fast runners.

As for forms, they are not very good at sealing the deal since their fighting methods are fairly predictable and most forms don't have any lagging attacks.

And yes, you can deal damage without offense, offense just deals a ton of damage. Generally it means that offense forms have more attacks, the attacks do more damage and such. Pick utility as major.

Edit: Additional tip: You should gear your shapeshifter for hp, since perks like damage roll from gear or stat bonuses won't carry over to the form, but hp, mana and moves will.

>I'm not looking for a list of every form you get from each
>category (offense, defense, etc.), just more of a mechanics
>explanation: do you get 4 major, 2 minor, and that's that, and
>the six you get are randomly chosen from a large pool? If so,
>does that mean you might choose (for example) defense and just
>happen to get the 4 worst defense forms? Or have I totally
>misunderstood that part?

Yes, that's it, you'll have 6 forms. Unless you really manage to impress the imms, in which case you might get an extra form which may or may not be better than the standard forms.

As far it goes for getting the worst forms... yeah, that could happen. Sure, someone might say the forms are all balanced somehow and there's no bad ones, but they're not being subjective enough. If I was a happy-go-lucky solo explorer I'd delete if I got the armadillo, for instance. It's all down to luck (unfortunately).

>And second, from a general guidance standpoint: from the
>little information I've read, it sounds like shapeshifter
>isn't the best at "sealing the deal": no good
>roots/ensnare/stun type spells. So, I envision my character as
>someone not particularly aggressive, but very good at escape.
>Is defense or utility a better choice for someone who wants
>"slippery" forms? (Either able to vanish, or somehow run very
>quickly, or some other way to escape from an ambush?)

Utility is just that; they tend to have utility sort of skills, which often include hiding/sensing hostile enemies/fast movement. Defense, too, has some of the latter two, but not in the same extent, and their defensiveness comes from either massive regeneration, taking very little damage, dodging most everything or some combination thereof.

Air, too, has the capability for easily evading enemies (at least when you're out in the open, most of the time), and water forms in ge neral don't *need* to avoid anyone, they are so superior on their own turf.

>And then one final question: if I don't include offense as my
>major OR minor, does that basically mean none of my forms will
>do decent damage? (Since I wouldn't be very aggressive PK
>wise, I'm mostly thinking of damage vs mobs.) Does offense
>have any advantages besides creatures "hitting harder" (are
>there, for example, very fast hitting forms or forms that
>attack multiple times a round, automatically bash or sting or
>bite or some such thing?)

Every focus's final forms will have some means of dealing damage (with the exception being the damn armadillo), though I'd stay away from air for that purpose since they tend to have so-so dodging, no damage reduction and attack only once. Utility is nice in this aspect, as well, as they're fairly good at doing damage too.

All in all, I'd suggest the tried and tested utility major for a newer player, and choosing whichever minor you feel like trying out.

>Yes, that's it, you'll have 6 forms. Unless you really manage
>to impress the imms, in which case you might get an extra form
>which may or may not be better than the standard forms.

Yep. To further expand on that, you get forms in this order:

4th tier form in major focus
3rd tier form in major focus
2nd tier form in major focus
2nd tier form in minor focus
1st tier form in major focus
1st tier form in minor focus

>As far it goes for getting the worst forms... yeah, that could
>happen. Sure, someone might say the forms are all balanced
>somehow and there's no bad ones, but they're not being
>subjective enough. If I was a happy-go-lucky solo explorer I'd
>delete if I got the armadillo, for instance. It's all down to
>luck (unfortunately).

It all really depends on what you want to do with the form.

Armadillo is terrible for solo exploration, absolutely.

It's also obnoxiously tough for cabal raids, levelling, and group exploration in the right hands. There isn't a better tank anywhere for many, many things than an armadillo.

all really depends on what you want to do with the form.
>
>Armadillo is terrible for solo exploration, absolutely.

Would it be too overpowered to have it deal at least one maim-MUTILATE per round? It is nearly worthless in almost any other use beyond fleeing and waiting out maledictions in solo adventuring.

n/t