TomeNET

(7.7b) Useful low-level forms for weapon-based mimicry and more                 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mimicry users who use weapons have less choices for forms than martial artists
who do not need to rely on humanoid forms and can just utilize easy-to-get
forms such as fruit bat, wild cat, spiders, birds or hounds right away to
great effect.

To use weapons however, the form must be humanoid or very close to it, which
rules out animal forms. To make form-hunting a bit easier in the beginning here
is a list of useful low-level forms that are humanoid and allow the player to
wear/wield full equipment:

 -- Note: Forms usable by shamans are marked with an asterisk '*'. --

Forms you can already get in Bree town:
---------------------------------------
Village idiot    1  It's pretty weak and has slightly erratic movement which
                    can be a bit annoying but it gives a speed bonus which can
                    be somewhat useful when fighting.
Mean-looking mercenary
Battle-scarred veteran
                 1  They can improve your initial HP (hit points) and AC
                    (armour class) fairly well.
                    They both have slightly erratic movement though.

Further forms:
--------------
Note: Nearly all of these actually occur in packs (although some of them might
      also sometimes appear on their own) making them even easier to attain.

Small kobold     1  Actually very weak, but it has poison resistance. This way
(or normal kobold)  this form may help you to kill Rotting corpses (see below)
                    which have poisonous melee attacks. ;)
                    Not really useful other than that.
*Blue yeek       2  Very weak, but has acid resistance and can actually pass
(or *brown yeek)    tree terrain, making it useful in dungeons with lots of
                    trees allowing for an easy escape from danger by simply
                    retreating into trees - except against enemies that can
                    also pass trees of course, eg any animals.
Novice mage      2  Sort of weak but has 'Blink' spell (aka Phase Door) and
                    more.
                    It occurs solo at depth 2, but in packs at depth 6!
Novice priest    2  Sort of weak but can cast fear/curse and self-heal spells.
                    It occurs solo at depth 2, but in packs at depth 6!
*Poltergeist     3  Useful only for shamans because it has no limbs!
                    This form can pass solid walls and makes you invisible!
                    Also gives fear/confusion/cold/sound/insanity/time
                    resistance, free action, poison immunity, and you won't
                    bleed from cuts.
                    However, since Poltergeister are invisible, finding them
                    might prove troublesome. An easier to spot ghost form is
                    the 'Phantom warrior' (see further below).
Novice ranger    4  Can pass trees easily. Gives an extra shot with slings or
                    bows. This can be pretty powerful early on if the
                    character has a decent 'Bows/Throw' ability or has a bow
                    that is well enchanted to-hit.
                    It occurs solo at depth 4, but in packs at depth 8!
Novice mindcrafter
                 4  Free action, resists confusion and slightly insanity too.
                    Can cast blind/slow/confuse/fear spells.
                    It occurs solo at depth 4, but in packs at depth 8!
Large kobold     5  As all kobolds it has poison resistance. It also has a lot
                    of hit points and very good AC for its level.
Bullywug         7  This doesn't have particular advantages except for being
                    smart (+INT bonus), but it is actually aquatic. That means
                    you can use it to roam deep water areas without drowning.
                    (Aquatic forms cannot be used outside of deep water or you
                    would suffocate because your body cannot breathe air.)
Rotting corpse   8  Free action, resists confusion/fear/cold, poison immunity,
                    brands melee attacks with poison, decent AC.
                    Despite its lack of physical thoughness this is a very
                    underrated form considering all the beneficial abilities.
Shadow Creature of Fiona
                 8  Somewhat rare, gives free action and resistance to poison,
                    darkness and confusion.
*Phantom warrior 8  Useful only for shamans because it has no limbs!
                    This form can pass solid walls!
                    Also gives fear/sound/insanity resistance, free action,
                    poison immunity, and you won't bleed from cuts.
Tengu           10  Moves quickly, high HP, good AC, can blink/teleport and
                    more, resists fear and fire, can levitate. A secret tip
                    for form hunters! (Does not occur in packs.)
                    Even if you have a better form already, you can still use
                    this form's teleportation (or any other) ability by making
                    a macro in the macro wizard that changes to Tengu,
                    teleports, and then changes back to your previous form.
*Master yeek    12  Although everyone knows that Yeek = weak, this particular
                    kind of Yeek can cast some interesting magic spells.
                    And as a plus it's actually immune to acid.
*Air spirit     12  Useful only for shamans because it has no limbs!
                    Since this is an 'E' form, shamans learn it very quickly.
                    An insanely powerful early shaman form, since it gives a
                    big speed bonus, levitation and invisibility!
                    It also gives free action and resists fear, confusion,
                    light, dark, bleeding (cannot be cut), insanity,
                    electricity and poison and immunity to either electricity
                    or poison.
Illusionist and Druid
                13  These two have an array of spells at their disposal, one of
                    them being 'Haste Self' which speeds themselves up
                    temporarily, which can be a very powerful asset.
                    These two monsters appear somewhat rarely though.
                    (Later on, 'Mage' is a mid-level form that also provides
                    haste spell and is actually more common to find.)
                    (These two do not occur in packs.)
*Ogre           13  This strong form can cross forest and mountain terrain.
                    Note that Ogres also count as giants which means that
                    shamans can use this form too.
                    (This monster occurs somewhat more rarely than the others.)
Black orc       13  Good HP, good melee damage, +1 extra shot w/ slings/bows.
*Black Ogre     15  Slightly stronger than Ogre but cannot move through woods.
Lizard man      16  Good HP, can swim easily, resists water, immune to acid.
                    (This monster occurs somewhat more rarely than the others.)
*Ogrillon       16  Very high HP for its level, good melee damage.
                    Note that Ogrillons also count as giants which means that
                    shamans can use this form too.
                    (This monster occurs somewhat more rarely than the others.)
Uruk            16  Good HP, good melee damage, good AC, +1 extra shot w/
                    slings or bows, poison immunity.
*Umber hulk     16  Shamans can use full equipment in this form, others cannot.
                    Since this is an 'X' form, shamans learn it very quickly.
                    It's not really strong but it destroys walls just by moving
                    into them, allowing you to tunnel easily without any
                    digging tool.
                    Also it is immune to poison, paralysis and confusion, you
                    won't bleed if you get cut, and its melee attacks may have
                    a confusion effect (which makes fighting it in close combat
                    a bit dangerous).
                    (Does not occur in packs.)
*Forest troll   17  High HP, good AC, can pass trees, and like all trolls (and
                    hydras by the way) has extraordinarily fast HP regeneration
                    (2x as much as and not stacking with REGEN flag).
*Earth spirit   17  Useful only for shamans because it has no limbs!
                    Since this is an 'E' form, shamans learn it very quickly.
                    Similar to Air spirit (see further above) this form comes
                    with very useful abilities (and more hit points), even
                    though it is less speedy than Air spirits. Earth spirits
                    can pass solid walls and also fly, giving them ultimate
                    mobility. It gives free action and resists fear, confusion,
                    light, dark, bleeding (cannot be cut), shards, fire, cold,
                    electricity and poison, and gives immunity to one of
                    fire, cold, electricity and poison.
Elite uruk      20  Good HP, very high melee damage, good AC, +1 extra shot w/
                    slings or bows, poison immunity.
Dark-elven Lord 20  Good HP, resists darkness but is susceptible to light-based
                    attacks. Moves fast and even has a 'Haste Self' spell in
                    his array of spells that boosts his speed further.
                    This monster occurs somewhat rarely.
                    (Does not occur in packs.)
                    Even if you have a better form already, you can still use
                    this form's haste-self (or any other) ability by making a
                    macro in the macro wizard that changes to Dark-elven Lord,
                    hastes self, and then changes back to your previous form.

(The number is the monster level and therefore the amount of monsters you need
to kill to learn the form.)

Some of these forms have useful abilities, mainly teleport, haste self and heal
which you might want to use even though you already use another, better overall
form. The solution is to just create a macro (using the macro wizard is the
easiest way) that polymorphs into the form with the useful spell, then casts it
and then polymorphs you back to your previous form, all in one macro, ie in one
keypress!

Of course some of these forms might also be useful for martial arts users.
(Note that martial artists cannot make use of ranged weapons or weapons in
general though, without losing their excellent bare-handed melee skills.)

Commonly seen advanced forms: Bloodletter of Khorne, Storm Giant, Dragonriders.