Paizo’s development team has posted a pair of FAQs for the Shifter class from Ultimate Wilderness:
Shifter Claws: Shifter claws can bypass a wide variety of damage resistances, even epic, but not magic. Is that intentional?
No, at 3rd level, the shifter’s claws should also count as magic.
Shifter Wild Shape: If my 4th level shifter shifts back to human form, can I really not shift into animal form at all for the rest ot the day?
You should be able to shift back and forth more easily. Remove “once per day” from the first sentence. Remove the 4th sentence from the shifter’s wild shape. Replace the second-to-last paragraph with “A shifter can use wild shape for a number of hours each day equal to her shifter level + her Wisdom modifier. It need not be consecutive but must be spent in 1 hour increments. For abilities that function based on ‘uses of wild shape,’ each hour of wild shape counts as a use.” This change will be reflected in the next errata.
These changes should make the class a little more playable, especially if you were on the fence about it before.
Updated Wild Shape text:
Wild Shape (Su): At 4th level, a shifter gains the ability to turn herself into the major form of one of her aspects and back again
once per day. This ability functions as beast shape II, except as noted here. The shifter can turn into the major form of only one of her aspects at a time.The effect lasts for 1 hour per shifter level or until she changes back.Using wild shape to change to a major form or back is a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. Often a particular aspect’s major form grants abilities beyond the normal effect of beast shape II. Each major form details the abilities the shifter gains with that major form and at what level; she gains these instead of the form abilities from beast shape II, but she still gains beast shape II abilities that are size dependent.A shifter loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal of that form can make, but she can communicate with other animals of the same general grouping as her form. She can also communicate in nonverbal ways with allies.
A shifter can use this ability an additional time per day at 6th level and every 2 levels thereafter, for a total of eight times per day at 18th level.A shifter can use wild shape for a number of hours each day equal to her shifter level + her Wisdom modifier. It need not be consecutive but must be spent in 1 hour increments. For abilities that function based on ‘uses of wild shape,’ each hour of wild shape counts as a use.
A shifters can take feats and other abilities that require wild shape; for the purpose of qualifying for prerequisites, her effective druid level is equal to her shifter level.