Combat Skills by Class — The Shapeshifter

The Shapeshifter class skill list!

DeFi Kingdoms

Published in

DeFi Kingdoms Official

4 min readDec 19, 2024

What shape will your battle take?

**At the time of writing, all contents herein are considered “Pre-Alpha” and are therefore subject to change.**

The Shapeshifter

You never know who’s knocking on the door.

“There are many who wear the face of man but hold within them the heart of the wild. They are neither wholly beast nor wholly human, but something born of both — and more.”
— Excerpt from an unnamed Journal, Adelyn Archives
In the shadowed woods and ancient hills of Gaia, where mortal paths seldom tread, dwell those touched by primal forces untamed by civilization. Known by most as Shapeshifters, these beings stand as a bridge between man and nature, wielding powers that reshape not only their bodies but the very flow of battle. To see one in their element is to witness the raw, unyielding essence of the world, unbound by the confines of flesh or reason.
The Shapeshifter is no mere spellcaster nor hardened warrior. They are conduits of instinct, emotion, and fury, able to transform into forms that embody the wild’s many faces: the swift and deadly Beast, the cunning and venomous Fiend, and the towering, unyielding Behemoth. Each form serves a purpose, whether to rend, outmaneuver, or overwhelm, and all are tied to the Shapeshifter’s volatile connection to the natural order — and the chaos it embodies.
But the Shapeshifter’s power is not without a cost. Each transformation exacts a toll upon their vitality and spirit, and the more they linger in a form, the harder it becomes to return to their humanity. In their innate mastery lies their very peril — for the wild does not give without taking, and to lose oneself in the call of the Beast or the wrath of the Behemoth is to risk never returning. Yet, those who walk this path understand that such risks are the price of true power, the price of becoming exactly what the battle needs, precisely when it needs it.
Beast, Fiend, Behemoth — these are not simply transformations but deep and primal manifestations of the truths that dwell within all things.
Swifter than the springing wolf, the Beast’s claws rend flesh and leave wounds that bleed beyond mending. The Beast embodies raw instinct, feeding off lifeblood and harnessing the savage hunger of the wild. In the Beast, there is no room for hesitation — only the hunt, the strike, the kill.
Silent and patient as a shadow creeping over moonlit ground, the Fiend is cunning made flesh. Its poison seeps unseen, unraveling even the stoutest foe’s will. To face the Fiend is to know despair — for the bite of its venom is slow but inevitable, and its precision in combat is unmatched.
Massive and indomitable, the Behemoth strides forth as a living bulwark. Where it treads, the ground quakes, and the air grows heavy with fear. The Behemoth is the embodiment of endurance and might, capable of crushing shields, shattering ranks, and standing unmoved in the face of chaos.
Each form is a weapon, each form has its own way of getting what it wants — and the Shapeshifter wields them all with terrifying precision. Yet, between each transformation lies the human form — a state of balance and planning, where the Shapeshifter gathers strength and prepares for the next surge of primal fury. The mortal shape is not weak, but strategic, the calm before the storm of shifting flesh and clawed fury.
To live the life of a Shapeshifter is no simple thing. It requires one to embrace constant flux, to surrender to instinct, and to face the wild truths of their own soul. To walk this path is to live in a state of balance — between man and beast, reason and instinct, power and restraint.
And yet, it is this very struggle that makes the Shapeshifter who they are. Through every shift, every battle, and every transformation, they remind the world of what it has forgotten: that beneath the trappings of civilization, the wild heart of Gaia still beats, untamed and eternal.
“For some, the wild is a thing to be tamed. For others, it is a thing to become.”
- From Shifting Priorities by Wheaton Gargadusa, Curator of Historical Accounts at the Adelyn Archives

Combat Skills

A hint of one of the many forms of the Shapeshifter!

The full Shapeshifter ability list:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v-85TdGVg40I-NWKxii5UWBmqy6O9LjZgY3jIrAd8o8/edit?usp=sharing

Deep Dive

Our own magician, Workhorse, has written this blog post to give even more background of this wondrous class! https://x.com/0xWorkhorse/status/1869836786836418749

Notes

*DoD: Degree of Difficulty
10+ point skills cost 10 minus the cost of the basic version of the skill and require having the basic version
15 point skills are only available to Heroes with a matching Class/Subclass

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