Just how integrated is Ulbrig?

[Brian]

I like the cut of his jib so I'm considering making him a permanent member of my party. But 2 things - I have no idea how his class works (do his weapons and armor add to his shifted form?) and I'm skeptical that he's as seamlessly integrated into the main story as the other companions due to him being a later add-on. Can someone with tons of experience with the game let me know?

[Schlumpsha]

He fights without weapons. Think of him like a scratching Monk with pointy nails. Same when he transforms into a griffon. Shifter is a very straight forward class. You toggle on its features and let Ulbrig attack. No micromanagement needed. You can give him armor, but his class has a passive to account his WIS for AC when not wearing metal armor.

Ulbrig is integrated. But not quite as seamlessly as the base companions. Say, he interjects into conversations but the other person doesn't really talk back to him. Outside the DLC content and A Dance of Masks that is.

[Brian]

Alright, I'll sideline him then for my first real run. I'll pick him up on any potential run #2.

[Cutlass Jack]

Ulbrig is integrated and great fun to have along. Worth taking along for a playthrough to mix things up. You wont miss anything over other companion choices if he works for your party setup. Your companions come to you with their quests, including him. And his personal quest stuff is bigger than most of the team. So you'll be using him.

He also shows up with some great early game accessories you'll probably want to swipe.

Shifter itself is a great class, and he's got a unique overpowered variant of it. I also love making Wenduag a manticore shifter for the ranged version.

[pete3great]

Originally posted by Schlumpsha:

You toggle on its features and let Ulbrig attack. No micromanagement needed.

Shifter powers like to toggle themselves off randomly, so, yes, some micromanagement is needed.

[Schlumpsha]

Originally posted by pete3great:

Shifter powers like to toggle themselves off randomly, so, yes, some micromanagement is needed.

True. The most annoying thing is that some Shifter archetypes kick toggles off the hotbar each time the character levels up. Re-arranging them again and again can be a pain. Had that happening with a weretouched for instance.

[Carnwennan]

Originally posted by Schlumpsha:

Originally posted by pete3great:

Shifter powers like to toggle themselves off randomly, so, yes, some micromanagement is needed.

True. The most annoying thing is that some Shifter archetypes kick toggles off the hotbar each time the character levels up. Re-arranging them again and again can be a pain. Had that happening with a weretouched for instance.

start combat
why cant I charge?
welp, there goes my swift action for this turn

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by Brian:

I like the cut of his jib so I'm considering making him a permanent member of my party. But 2 things - I have no idea how his class works (do his weapons and armor add to his shifted form?) and I'm skeptical that he's as seamlessly integrated into the main story as the other companions due to him being a later add-on. Can someone with tons of experience with the game let me know?

If you don't understand his class, perhaps sideline him for this play through and pick him up next play through. You'll get it eventually.

The shifter class is basically a fighter that specializes in natural weapons.

The shifter can go the monk route of being unarmored with Wis adding to AC in addition to Dex, or you can armor up and even take a shield with the class. There's a ranged natural attack archetype (child of the manticore). Shifters are pretty versatile, at least as much so as the fighters are.

Since this game gives access to the "Brutality Incarnate" mythic power, that allows natural weapons to ignore DR, natural weapon specialists are very useful to have.
https://pathfinderwrathoftherighteous.wiki.fextralife.com/Brutality+Incarnate

There's a transformation option for each shifter archetype. It's basically the same as they are normally, but with usually more attacks and a bigger form. You don't have to use it, but it's often an improvement. Think of it as an option to rage like a barbarian.

Like the barbarian rage, you can't cast spells while shifted, which only matters if you multi-class, just like for the barbarian. However, there is a feat, natural spell, which allows you to cast spells while transformed. It's a handy feat that only druids and shifters can take, even though it applies to the transformations of other classes and spells.

[Brian]

Yeah I was dumb and gave him the Shifter Rush feat because I didn't know what I was doing and didn't think I was going to bring him along. Now I want to trade it out but all of the respec mods are screwing him up (either not allowing me to pick his unique class from the list or assigning him double the amount of gained feats if I respec to "recruitment level"). So he's stuck for now. Oh well.

[Fizzban]

Honestly I rarely used him outside of his missions. As a character he is pretty cool, but I found him to die easily and in my group he just had little use. Nice flavor you might say.

[Schlumpsha]

Originally posted by Brian:

Yeah I was dumb and gave him the Shifter Rush feat because I didn't know what I was doing and didn't think I was going to bring him along. Now I want to trade it out but all of the respec mods are screwing him up (either not allowing me to pick his unique class from the list or assigning him double the amount of gained feats if I respec to "recruitment level"). So he's stuck for now. Oh well.

Easiest solution would be to get a mod that unlocks his archetype to the player. That way you can fully respec him without worries. TabletopTweaks-Base does that for instance.

[Cutlass Jack]

I think the easiest solution would to just use the respec guy (Hilor) instead of a mod respec.
Other than the cost of course.

The feat I really hated taking on him was 'master shapeshifter' because it left him stuck in griffion form with no way to turn it off. But they may have fixed that since I respeced out of it.

[pete3great]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

I think the easiest solution would to just use the respec guy (Hilor) instead of a mod respec.
Other than the cost of course.

The feat I really hated taking on him was 'master shapeshifter' because it left him stuck in griffion form with no way to turn it off. But they may have fixed that since I respeced out of it.

It's a separate command to turn back into a person. I was confused by this myself.

[Schlumpsha]

Originally posted by pete3great:

It's a separate command to turn back into a person.

This. Any polymorph form / wild shape gets the same command for turning back.