Question about shifter Druid...

[Belzyk]

So I'm thinking of taking a shifter Druid for a spin and was wondering how their ACF played. I really like the looks of the level 1 one. But the shifter one just looks painful. Whats the pros and cons of the ACF that replaces wildshape.

[eggynack]

The wild shape trade is horrible. You get a pile of incredibly marginal upgrades to what, on a druid, is an incredibly marginal ability. And, critically, wild shape is very good. They could have made the shifting upgrades much much better and it'd still be awful. They could've had it make shifting last all day, and give significantly bigger boosts to the natural weapons, and get two or more shifting forms, and some other stuff besides, and it'd still be awful. Don't take it. You can take substitution levels piecemeal, and it's the best thing to do with shifter druid substitution levels.

Edit: Also, the natural weapons thing will often do nothing, cause dreamsight is usually going to be a better choice than the natural weapon granting forms. Especially because you can just get better versions of the natural weapon stuff from actual wild shape. So, you're basically just after duration and uses here, and you still wind up with way less of both than with wild shape, which is, of course, far more powerful. Point being, beyond just being a bad trade, wild shifting also simply has next to no impact.

[Pluto!]

Cons:
Loses 2/3 of the abilities that make the Druid great
Does not stack with most ability enhancements

Pros:
Easy to use
Stacks benefits when polymorphing via spells or equipment.

It's a very weak ACF and is almost a straight loss, but reining in and simplifying the Druid's Wild Shape isn't necessarily a bad thing for the game.

[eggynack]

Cons:
Loses 2/3 of the abilities that make the Druid great
Does not stack with most ability enhancements

Pros:
Easy to use
Stacks benefits when polymorphing via spells or equipment.

It's a very weak ACF and is almost a straight loss, but reining in and simplifying the Druid's Wild Shape isn't necessarily a bad thing for the game.
I don't know where the 2/3's thing comes from. Shifter druid substitution levels, like all substitution levels, as I said, can be taken piecemeal, and that makes assessing it as a whole object illogical. In point of fact, while wild shifting on its own is an awful trade, and while making all three trades is quite bad, making only the first, or far more likely, the first and fourth level trades, is quite good. Losing the animal companion hurts, but you get an array of buffs strong enough to justify that.

[Pluto!]

Yeah, the first time through the OP, I assumed the OP was talking about the shapeshifter ACF. Shifter sub levels make more sense.