Druid shape shifting

[Mellagar]

One thing I noticed in BG2 but not certain if it works in BG1 is that when a druid shape changes into a wolf or bear upon altering back into normal form they get back a few hitpoints. I've never tried this in BG1 so I don't know if it works there as well.

[Inoma]

Originally posted by SixOfSpades: And sorry to burst your bubble, but shapeshifting isn't as cool as it sounds. Fun for the first minute or two, but once the novelty wears off you realize they fought better in their normal form.

May be in BG1, but I must say my druid in IWD did a pretty swelling job being that fire elemental
*drools as he watched Galadawn burn a wizard in his lavaform*

I heard from a friend that Jahiera gets shapeshift at level 7. Also, it's a skill, not a spell, so it wouldn't matter on the scroll pages (kind of answering myself there, but... ).
If you plan on shapeshifting into a wolf, there IS a a cloak that does that for you. Besides, you only want to shapeshift if you have poor stats. My lil' druid got poorer stats as he became a wolf. He even got encumbered. Also, when I make up my mind to not use any magical weapons with a possible exception to some +1 weapons, those claws can be very usefull compared to a simple wooden club.

[SixOfSpades]

True, some of the Shapeshifting forms are nice (in BG2, the Avenger kit also allows you to Shapechange into a Sword Spider, Baby Wyvern, and Fire Salamander), but they're still nothing compared to your Druid form. Yes, they're nice--when you're starting out. You don't have any cool armor or weapons yet, your THAC0 isn't that good, etc., so Shapeshifting into a Wolf or something is a step up. But when you're a kickass high-level Druid with an AC of -4 or something, then any form you Shapeshift into is gonna suck compared to your normal form. Come on, here--Black Bear, Brown Bear, Wolf? Those are BG1 enemies; any BG2 character is going to mistake those animals for Twinkies and have them for a quick snack. Not to mention that when you're Shapeshifted, you can't cast spells.