Shapeshifter (Strategy)

This page is for in-depth strategies for the Shapeshifter, as it is one of the most complex characters in the game.

# General Strategies

## Windows

Windows are extremely valuable to the Shapeshifter, as hosts cannot be killed by climbing through and their loss of health is of little consequence. Simply breaking a window and climbing through can be an easy and simple way to complete many missions or obtain some extra loot.

## Possessing shop owners

Wanted will make Shopkeepers and Bartenders Annoyed at you. This means they will always try to chase you away and will never turn their back on you if they see you. Thus, you will need to be extra sneaky to possess them. For merchants that are standing behind a counter:

* Possess another host and walk behind the counter and stand behind the merchant, slightly off to the side but still out of sight.
* Next, use your Possession Stone to unpossess your host and move behind the merchant. Your previous host will suffer from Dizzy long enough for the cooldown on Possess to finish.

* Possess the merchant, wait for your old host to run off, and you are free to do whatever you want with your new body!

* Keep in mind that hired Goons will become Hostile if they see you Possess the merchant so plan accordingly. Also remember that your previous host can still see you while dizzy, so try to time the possession to when they're facing away, and they won't suspect you.

## Possessing NPCs standing against a wall

It can be frustrating to meet an NPC with their back to the wall, but as long as they aren't grouped up with Aligned NPCs, liable to chase you out if they see you, or stood in a corner, they can still be possessed. This is most useful for possessing Bouncers, Goons and Supergoons, all of which have good or great stats:

* Stand next to them.
* Hit the wall next to them. They will turn to face the noise.
	+ Make sure not to hit a breakable object, or to break the wall, or they will become Hostile. Also be wary of passing Cops, as the sound will also make them look towards you.
* Quickly get behind them (you can walk through them if you must) and possess them.

You only have a short window to possess them, but multiple attempts! If it doesn't work the first time, reset and try again.

NPCs in corners will need to be killed or baited out of their corners to be possessed if needed for the Big Quest.

## Possessing Annoyed NPCs

Annoyed NPCs actually can be possessed even while they're yelling at you, by quickly walking back and forth through them while spamming the possess button. However, an annoyed NPC will attract their nearby allies while yelling at you, who will become Hostile if they see you possess them, so be careful.

## Safely disposing of previous hosts

It can be dangerous to allow previous hosts to leave, especially if they are a wandering class. If the level has at least one unguarded window though, there is an easy way to dispose of a useless host without losing your Health:

* Break a window.
* As the host, climb through the window. Keep doing this until your Health reaches 1.
	+ Climbing through a window can never kill you, so you won't lose health from the host dying in this way.
* Go somewhere safe and depossess.
* Punch the previous host once before they recover from Dizzy, preferably after possessing a new host. This kills the previous host.

## Traits

* Diminutive should be removed early on, as even though you should spend little time outside of a host's body it leaves you 1.5x more vulerable to damage when not in body, and much more knockback prone.
* Because NPC hosts have low health, Modern Warfarer, I'm Outtie, and Don't Make Me Angry are valuable traits for the shapeshifter.
* Friend of the Common Folk and Random Reverence affected characters stay Loyal/Aligned to you regardless of who you are possessing, even when possessing NPCs who are "Common Folk" or randomly aligned themselves. This makes both traits very useful, although Friend of the Common Folk can be highly problematic if your Big Quest requires you kill a Slum Dweller.
* Learning how to use Class Solidarity will allow players to gain complete immunity to an entire class at will by possessing any one of them - for instance, they could possess a Goon and the other goons in different buildings will ignore you. However, this has the drawback of making the player *unable* to use a body to attack another member of the same class unless they are Hostile.
* Secret Vandalizer can be a downgrade for Shapeshifters, as it prevents them from hitting walls in order to allow possession of NPCs against walls. This can be worked around by instead shooting walls to draw attention.
* No In-Fighting is not recommended as it makes you unable to kill Aligned characters when possessing NPCs, and can make Big Quests extremely painful to complete if unlucky.

# Class-Specific Strategies

Moreso than any other class, Shapeshifters have the best versatility, but they also require the most preparation time to make best use of Possess. Below is a list of the useful benefits each class gives you:

## Slum Dweller

Very common at lower levels. Super Studious gives you more experience. You can't use Jack of Extra Trades at all, and while Potential To Not Suck does work, it affects the Slum Dweller and not YOU. Because they are pretty weak in a fight, the best uses for a Slum Dweller are to scout a level or before you complete a quest to gain an XP boost from Super Studious.

## Goon/Supergoon

Great for missions - good/great fighting stats, no natural enemies, Aligned with the rest of the Goons in the building, and Wrong Building (useable even without characer DLC) allows you to make noise and still get out without a fight.

## Bouncer

Easy to possess once you know the trick (see above section) since they're rarely accompanied, and they're aligned with the building's owners, offering an easy way into many restricted areas. Also has great stats, without the usual Bodyguard trait holding you back. Allows usage of the Bouncer's Stomp special ability, even without the character DLC. You aren't as tanky as a player Bouncer, though plus you're slow, so be sure you can finish the fights you start.

## Gangsters

Useful on early floors because you can easily find gangsters to possess. You can then go on the recruit other gangster to help you. However, they become less common as the game goes on. Be wary of the rival gang if you don't want a fight, but if you do, you'll get some extra XP. Gangsters can be kept as followers upon leaving the host's body as long as the host is depossessed and killed outside of the gangster's view. Gangsters will also leave the player party should they possess a gangster of an opposing color.

## Cop

A strong class but you need to be careful trying to possess one. Handcuffs is a powerful skill when used right; taking out foes with ease for more XP than normal. The Law makes other Cops (and as shapeshifter Supercops) Aligned to you, letting you walk around without fear. Just don't kill or steal from innocents as cop or you will lose XP. Although strong, cloning Cop followers is not recommended as they become hostile upon leaving the host body.

## Thief

One of the first classes you should look for. Use Sticky Glove to rob everyone on the level blind to stock up on Money. Afterwards, you can look for another Thief and make use of Honor Among Thieves to buy thief tools.

## Hacker

A rare class, but always worth searching for. Unlimited hacking with Laptop opens up a lot options for you. Alerts can be managed by pre-clearing nearby buildings and hiding within them. Hack the floor's ATM, Sell-O-Matic, and Slot Machines prior to leaving and make sure to find a better host for combat once done with all your hacking.

## Doctor

This is risky class to use. Chloroform Hankie is a powerful ability but you cannot use any weapons. You must be stealthy or you will be at a huge disadvantage if a fight breaks out. Wears off somewhat in usefulness in later levels, where Chloroform Hankie becomes much more difficult to use, though Doctors also become more common as wanderers later on. A great class if you want to knock out cops for electability, or simply to make travel outside of a host body more safe.

## Shopkeeper

Awesome at ranged combat, and Art of the Deal can also help on certain item retrieval missions. If you need to buy anything on your current floor, try to possess a shopkeeper first. Their Shrewd Negotiator trait reduces the prices for items from other merchants. Possessing Shopkeepers can be difficult because they'll try to chase you away. See the previous section for how to possess them.

## Bartender

Not as good as Shopkeeper at ranged combat, but still decent. You may have Serve Drinks, but they do not carry a Drink Mixer so you are limited to serving Beer and Whiskey. However, their real strength comes from having Charismatic, which gives you a lot of bonuses, and you even get Drug-a-lug! Possessing Bartenders, like Shopkeepers, can be difficult because they'll try to chase you away. See the previous section for how to possess them.

## Slavemaster

Sort of a mixed bag. They come with strong weapons, they do NOT have Ideological Clash, and you gain control of nearby Slaves when you possess one. On the other hand, you can't use Enslave without already having a Taser or some other way to stun NPCS, they do not have a Slave Helmet Remote, and are very slow. Also, you will lose the Slaves when you unpossess them, so use them while you can.

## Slave/Former Slave

Possessing a Slave is next to worthless, even as a suicide bomber, as you can't control where your owner goes. However, Former Slaves retain a Slave's oddly strong speed and melee, making them a good Possession target in earlier levels. They can be easily freed by possessing their master first, or purchase their freedom at 1/3rd the usual cost (freedom cannot be purchased from Upper-Crusters). Former Slaves work for Shapeshifter's Big Quest.

## Scientist

Scientists lack the cool starting items that players usually get, but still have Tech Expert and Drug-a-lug. Releasing a Gorilla gives your current host a good ally, and makes them an option for possession. Releasing a Zombie and then killing any other Scientists that survive the violence can be a great way to start a Zombie apocalypse - see Zombie below.

## Gorilla

The Gorilla is a melee powerhouse. Use Primal Lunge to do as much damage as possible. You will need to clear a science lab to find them, unless you are in Park, but this is easy enough by knocking on the door and possessing the Scientist that answers. You can possess them before they've run away, or afterwards while they're roaming around.

## Firefighter

An average class. Their stats are okay and Fireproof Skin might be useful in Industrial but the rest of their traits are not very useful. Water Cannon is good for shoving NPCs into nearby hazards, but there are usually better options available. Also, all other firefighters are Aligned with you and you can get them to your location by causing a fire.

## Cannibal

Eliminates much of the danger associated with the Park, at the cost of making Soldiers Hostile towards you. Other Cannibals can make very good backup - lead a Hostile NPC into a Cannibal-owned location and let them take care of it.

## Soldier

They are found mostly in the Park, but are not armed to the teeth in weapons like the player version is. However, they have decent stats, are relatively tanky due to Modern Warfarer, and are easier to possess than cannibals.

## Vampire

The rarest of classes found in Park but can also be found in Downtown and Uptown. Decent in melee combat but you must use Bite to heal. Camera Shy will get very little use in the Park but might be more useful in other areas.

## Zombie

If you can find one and sneak up on them, *take them*. A single intelligent Zombie can quickly start an apocalypse, limited Health or not. Zombies created with Zombie Phlegm will remain Aligned to you once you depossess your host, and can even be taken between floors. They can even serve as backup hosts if your original Zombie host dies, and your allies won't become Annoyed! Played right, this can turn floors up to Downtown into free wins, and potentially beyond.

## Upper-Cruster

Surprisingly, this class is really good. They are really fast, they have Upper-Crusty which lets you summon a Supercop from an Alarm Button that you can control like any party member, and all Cops and Supercops are automatically Loyal to you. Also, if you possess an Upper-Cruster with a Slave, you gain control of it the same way a Slavemaster does. Upper-Crusters aren't very good in combat, so try to use the police to do your dirty work for you.

## Mobster

Lacking the Extortionist trait and Friend Phones to gain more followers, possessed Mobsters are rather limited compared to their starting counterpart but are still strong, retaining their alignment with mobsters and otherwise respectable stats.

## Supercop

One of the strongest classes in the game but REALLY dangerous to try and possess. Failing will cost you a lot of health and possibly death. However, they have the best stats in the game. They have the Handcuffs special ability and The Law trait like the Cop. If you really want to possess one, you should try to stun them with something like a Taser or a Dizzy Grenade. However, it is possible to sneak up on a lone Supercop if you are very careful.

## Assassin

Possibly the strongest class in the game, but only appears in surprise ambushes should you go too long without paying your loans. Assassins spawn hostile to whatever body they first see the player possessing and are of great threat, and as such going into debt to be able to possess one is **NOT** recommended. If you do wish to possess an Assassin however you'll need to either stun one prior to possessing it or look for a "possess" option on seemingly nothing when walking around, as Assassins turn invisible when camouflaged.

## Other NPCs

* Workers have above average melee but low firearms.
* Office Drones and Clerks have low health/melee but above average firearms.
* Drug Dealers have high speed and Drug-A-Lug.
* Musicians have low melee and are 20% more likely to have an effect when using Turntables.
* Jocks and Wrestlers can be possessed, but only spawn in boxing rings and are not much better than Gorillas, having high melee, low firearms, and their respective traits/abilities.
* Ghosts and Cop Bots are immune to possession.

# Election Victory

Although more difficult than with most characters, the Wanted trait can actually help in gaining a electoral victory as killing naturally hostile characters such as Cops grants extra electability points, allowing you to get a positive electability by killing all Cops and Vendors on floors with 6 or more cops. Extra care needs to be taken when gaining electability by means other than killing Cops however:

* Leave your host's body before freeing prisoners/slaves or they will instead be Loyal to the NPC you possessed when freeing them.
* Votes can be gained from Crepes and Blahds by possessing a Gangster, recruiting followers of the same gang color, and leaving the host body. Just keep sure to be out of sight when leaving and killing your host body, or your followers will become hostile regardless.