How is the Shifter on it’s own, and can it be made to work?

[Vhaidara]

dev intent

If the devs intended it to be a separate ability, they very easily could have made it a separate ability. It's not exactly hard to do.

As is, this method is the closest thing that shifter gets to being a halfway decent class, because it allows it to function as a dip for a pair of decent natural weapons, compression, and ooze empatht. Which makes it a pretty fun dip for, say, a rogue. Compression is a thief's wet dream, and suddenly you can befriend all those nasty oozes in the sewers? That sounds like great use of a level.