Just a quick note - you don't need to give up the helm slot to use the mask of the shapeshifter. Use it then take it off and you will not change back until you put it back on and use the skill again. So go ahead, make him an elf and then put a normal armored helmet on him.
LOL, are you serious? I read elsewhere that this didn't work because if you took the helm off he would revert back to being Undead, so I never bothered to actually try that. I played the entire game with Fane as Undead, and he would have been better (other than for lockpicking, which would have just taken a few seconds of switcheroo to handle) as an Elf more often than not.
I carried his mask around every playthrough thinking "Man, if only I could actually use this...". Going to try this now.
Edit: Unless there's a trick or glitch to getting this to work, it doesn't work normally. Fane changes right back to Undead as soon as the Mask is removed. Bummer. Is it just Fane's Mask that doesn't work, and the crafted one does? Otherwise, I don't even know why the hell the recipie exists since it's so convoluted of a process to even make, plus you get a completed one right after you exit the Fort anyway...
