Mana per hour useage on 'third option' forms could be heavy.

This would greatly punish people who picked air forms so they could fly about with their fox/lion combo - imagine needing 50-60 mana per hour to keep a form going *grin* It certainly makes my second option sound like a really good trade. Mana would also become a gearing option with shifters at hero, not only hp.

Taking away something else, like spiderhands(near useless anyway) and fumble (awesome vs knocked out targets!) would even things out. There's plenty they could sacrifice to make three options even out. It certainly sounds better each time I run up the combinations in my head. Very few are truly overpowered and most would make them really interesting (Ram/Anaconda/Vulture, Lion/Mongoose/Alligator, Dolphin/Osprey/Jaguar, Lemur/Porcupine/Hyena, Eagle/Squid/Tiger, Lion/Tiger/Sand lizard ). I want one already An urge many players might have never felt before! I'd even be willing to juggle the tiers to make pk start lower (get a first major form at 39-41? About when Invokers get shields, conjurers have their major servitors, Transmuters have duo already and Necro's have PWK! (he he))

Thinking this way about shifters, even quest forms don't become obsolete. From what I can tell, they'd often combine two foci strengths (flying defense, water offense, defense utility, etc) and this would simply be a cheaper option that meant you didn't have to shift more to gain xxx advantage at that moment.

Yhorian.