I'm looking for some insight into how the lesser shifter forms are balanced from the Imm perspective. For the most part, I've had no trouble with 1st tier (final) forms. Not that I've had every one of them, but each time I've gotten one, even if it hasn't been perfect for what I was doing, they seem mostly balanced.

However, with the lesser forms, there seems to be some very big winners, and some huge losers. In my head, I imagine some sort of formula of the sort that dam redux 75% = dodge 85% = regen 5% and something similar for offensiveness to determine an overall strength rating of some sort. And the general goal is to make the overall strength of forms sort of consistent across forms of the same tier.

However, what I have actually experienced is that some things seem to be weighted much much higher than others. For instance, it feels like having a lagging ability like pinch is weighed heavily into the "strength rating", but I would argue that something that lags my for 4 rounds and my opponent for (at best) 2 rounds isn't all that powerful. A lot of time, shifters are more concerned with ranking ability than PK anyway. Are the forms "balanced" with PK focus in mind?

I'm just looking for some insight to see if how I evaluate the usefulness/overall strength of a form is in line with how the Imms who look at these things evaluate it, since by my evaluation, something like the stink badger is pretty pathetic compared to other forms of it's tier, and the sand lizard is pretty awesome compared to everything that isn't tortoise in that tier...

Skunk:
This weasel-like animal has a thick coat of luxurious black fur, broken only by a single white stripe along the spine which travels all the way up the back of its bushy tail. It has a short, pointy face with a delicate nose, and seems quite harmless aside from a certain oily, sulfurous odor which seems to cling to it. It trots along on its prominently clawed feet with a certain fearlessness, its tail curled comfortably behind it.
tr : 16(16) Int : 17(17) Wis : 16(16)
Dex : 19(19) Con : 17(17) Chr : 14(14)
Hitroll : 20(10 ) Damroll : 17(17 )
AC pierce : -150 Divinely armored AC bash : -150 Divinely armored
AC slash : -150 Divinely armored AC magic : -150 Divinely armored
AC element: -150 Divinely armored

Skills
Bite : Bite your opponent
Spray : Spray your opponent with a stinky cloud
Burrow : Burrow under the soil of the wilderness to hide

Automatic Abilities
Second Attack
Dam Reduction : Minimal Damage Reduction
Dodge : Average Dodge Ability

Stink badger:
A small, stocky animal with a pointed snout, this badger fusses along on short,
muscular legs. The claws upon its front paws are disproportionately large and
give it a strange appearance considering its tail is so small. A patch of white
hair starts at the crest of its head and extends the length of its spine, dividi
ng the otherwise dark fur of its back.
Stats
Str : 19(19) Int : 16(16) Wis : 15(15)
Dex : 15(15) Con : 22(22) Chr : 12(12)

Hitroll : 26(26 ) Damroll : 19(19 )
AC pierce : -210 Divinely armored AC bash : -210 Divinely armored
AC slash : -210 Divinely armored AC magic : -210 Divinely armored
AC element: -210 Divinely armored

Physical effect: 'form bonus' modifies constitution by 2 for -1 hours.
Skills
Shapeshift : Shapeshift to another form
Revert : Revert to your normal form
Enliven : Alters the energy state of your being
Kinspeak : Speak to others in your form family
Skills
Bite : Bite your opponent
Rake : Rake your claws against your opponent's body
Spray : Spray your opponent with a stinky cloud
Feign Death : Play Opossum and pretend to be dead
Burrow : Burrow under the soil of the wilderness to hide
Automatic Abilities
Deflection : Thick Hide for Deflecting Blows
Dam Reduction : Damage Reduction
Dodge : Minimal Dodge Ability

I haven't had either of these forms myself recently, but Skunk is tier three and stink badge tier two (with tier one being final form). According to diku wiki, hits decimates-mauls. Stink badger I've seen in action very recently. I suspect the person who got it dropped link and won't be playing that character anymore. It hit dismember-ish and dodge like a brick with crappy dam redux. Given that it is basically an upgrade skunk, is feign death and rake + some extra damage really enough to push this form to being on the same level as the spider, gazelle, ostrich? Compared to the giant toad the shifter in question had in tier two, the stink badger was literally useless for ranking. In a fight against a bard at hero, sure, spray might be useful, but that seem awfully niche to up the overall strength rating of a form so much.

And if you have pimp RP as a shifter who has ANY badger form you can get the honey badger form.

Honey Badger should be as powerful as Jack Blaguar. It don't give a #### though.

I don't think they compare inter tier but intra tier. So compared to ostrich and spider,gazelle, stink badger gives you the option of not reverting to cast faerie fire, since the spray not only gives -chr but renders the guy unable to use hiding skills. That might be worth some "utility" points.

Some of the info there is legit and current, some is out of date, and some was always misinfo.

But my current forms are nigh useless, and the wiki has correct info on them.