Transformation

The backbone of the Sifters are Transformations. Not only for combat purposes, they are to further inter species understanding by showing you different perspectives from others. This is why there is a lottery in the first place, in order to make communication a vital part of being a Sifter.

Limitations
Even after accepting the recklessness of heroes, Azmuth hasn't given up to have at least a few safeguards on.

Complexity
One is the complexity limit. Messing with DNA is reckless and idiotic. Which is synonymous for "something people like Ben will do". To keep damage to a minimum he has insisted on a system that will prevent rampant use of SMI and complete chaos and possibly some end of the universe scenarios.

Each sifter has a complexity limit that corresponds to their rank. The total complexity may not exceed that limit. Each transformation has a complexity, it is calculated as such: $$\#SMI + \sum Complexity(Aliens)$$ Which means the total number of SMI used on the transformation plus the sum off the complexity of all aliens within the transformation. The complexity of an alien is equal to its rarity tier minus one. Mythical aliens are only included as a formality, since they are not in the lottery pool and can't be acquired by any conventional means.
 * 1st Tier Common. Complexity: 0
 * 2nd Tier Uncommon. Complexity: 1
 * 3rd Tier Rare. Complexity: 2
 * 4th Tier Epic. Complexity: 3
 * 5th Tier Legendary. Complexity: 4
 * 6th Tier Mythical. Complexity: 5

Legendary Limit
Some aliens are by themselves forces to be reckoned with, which gave birth not only to the tier system, but also to Azmuth's insistence that there may only be one of the 5th tier aliens in any transformation for regular sifters.

This means, that any and all transformations may only have 1 Legendary or Mythical alien inside them.

Fusion Limit
Mixing two different DNA types and making them work with each other is hard. Especially if you want the result to be actually useful. This process is extremely complex and time consuming. Theoretically a 4 alien fusion is possible, and a 5 alien fusion might be possible, at least according to Sifter R&D. But, for the time being, the organic high speed computers used to fuse aliens can only mix up to 3 different DNA strands.

This means, in game terms, you can only create fusions with a maximum of 3 alien DNA samples, none of them can be duplicates.

Mastery
Each transformation has its strengths and weaknesses, but to get the most out of it, you have to get used to it.

When first created it has a mastery of 1, which means it is at 50%. Each point of mastery increases the actual stats by 10% to a maximum of 140% You improve your mastery by leveling up your transformation via Roleplaying, Drawing or Writing stories. The details of leveling up are found here. For every 10 levels you gain, you improve mastery by 1. The maximum level you can achieve is 100 which gives your mastery 10.