by CivilianNo2
Dark Stone Shaman is a versatile, melee-oriented character.I built my Shaman with Tier 4 Transformation, Tier 1 Spiritual Warrior and plan to go to Tier 3 Spiritual Warrior.
Starting options determine an initial animal form:
Bear = damage output, +STR, +CBT, 5+ Armor
Wolf = party support, +CUNNING, +MOVE
Mouse = defense and initiative -CBT, +INI, 3+DEF
There are three spell trees:
-Shapeshifting
-Protection
-Battle
Despite the name, Battle is easily the weakest of the three for spell contributions to combat, and you'll get more mileage in combat out of three of the Shapeshifting spells (Cougar Strike, Buffalo Charge, Bear Form) than you will any of the Battle Spells.
You can get additional animal forms or Movement/Combat spells as early as
level 2.
I think there are several powerful Level 8 builds for the Shaman
Upgrade 4-3-0-0
Upgrade 3-4-0-0
Upgrade 3-0-4-0
Upgrade 2-0-4-1
Just like any other class, there are four upgrade trees:
-i)Spiritual Warrior; access to Battle/Protection spells and nice stat increases
-ii)Transformation; more spells, combat buffs for animal forms
-iii)Dark Stone Mastery; dark stone and dark stone items are beneficial
-iv)Tribal Lore; seems the weakest of the four trees, but the only tree that gives access to two additional Magic dice.
I can see i-iii) all being powerful and uniquely different playstyles, even within the same character class. iv) gets a pass as the weakest.
In game where the power control is largely determined by limitations on the number of anvils that can be carried for gear, eliminating anvils off of your gear in Dark Stone Mastery seems like it could be very powerful with the right gear. Shapeshifting is the opposite of using Dark Stone gear, where you can use no items in animal forms and can cast other spells while still in animal form. Spells are randomly generated, but potential killer mixes are there.
Grit recovery built into the class has two mechanisms:
-Spiritual Warrior Tier 2 (1/Turn, 2 Magic to regain Grit on a kill)
-Bear Form (If a bear, on a kill, regain Grit on 5+ on any kill)
I think you need one of these, if not both, and the most reliable is the Tier 2 skill.
You need some items for Grit recovery for the Shaman to be very effective.
Bear seems more powerful L1-L3, when it's kind of difficult to get into Bear Form with a limited number of Magic dice. At L6, I want to use more items and not be stuck in Bear Form not being able to use them. Compare at Bear = 4 attacks with 1 reroll with chance of Grit recovery on each kill, or using gear with up to 8 attacks (3CBT, +1 CBT weapon, 1 reroll due to Dark Stone Inlay, +1 Fangs Mutation and up to +3CBT for Crimson Hand Robes) that are boostable.
Most of the time I don't want to be a bear, but ducking into Mouse Form is still very useful for moving through spaces with enemies (and allies) in them and increasing Initiative.
Higher level Bear Form with Grit and the ability to cast spells and attack will dish out considerable punishment (AKA straight up murder) any opponent without Endurance if you're willing to blow your wad of Grit.
KEY ITEMS FOR MY DARKSTONE SHAMAN
Gambler's Jacket: recover d3 Grit at will.
Tonic/Nectar: recover Grit, recover d3 Grit
Lucky Dice: 1/adventure, +1 to one dice. Helps a lot when you 'need' Mouse or Bear form.
Feathered Hatchet: +1CBT, +1DMG, Tribal. What's not to like?
Black Fang Hatchet: Darkstone for +3 damage/hit adds up with your easy access to Dark Stone.
Crimson Hand Robes: get injured, get up to +3CBT. Better at higher levels with more HP.
Staff for the +1 Magik is nice, but you don't really need it once you have mad amounts of Dark Stone. STR isn't great starting at 2, and you are committed to Dark Stone Staff and Satchel (2 anvils total) giving you only 5 anvils to work with.
+MOVE items are a nice bonus; you don't want to be wasting Grit for your melee-oriented character to get there.
Level up bonuses are generally decent, with a few duds (2d6=2,9,12) but you're generally happy with most of the table as long as your stat up d6 rolls aren't 1's.
I've had tons of fun with the Dark Stone Shaman, and would recommend it as a fun class to play if you can pick it up.