A look at a non-raid geared shaman in Velious

[Byrjun]

I was kind of getting sick of 80% of this forum being raid bickering the past week, so I wanted to post something a bit off-topic.

Around the time that Rogean announced that Velious beta may be in a few months, I started to refresh my memory on what kind of gear to work towards in Velious.

So, today I threw it together into a Magelo to post here. Here is the link (http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Byrjunvelious). As you can see, your gear can still get pretty good even without all BIS tov loot.

I had to draw some lines here. First of all, no revamped Chardok loot. Loot from that zone provides huge upgrades for at least 4 slots, but it'll probably be a while before we see that stuff so I decided not to consider it so early.

Secondly, all loot had to be relatively affordable or obtainable by about a group of people. Basically, if you're in a guild you can get this stuff regardless of how advanced you are in the raid scene. What this means is no Mithril armor, Cowl of Mortality, White Dragonscale Helm, etc. Even though this stuff is droppable, it's going to take a long time to hit the market and it's going to be outrageously expensive.

The reason for these guidelines is that I invite others to provide similar gear listings for other race/class combinations. I know of several people myself who have never even experienced Velious and would be interested in this kind of thing.

Finally, a breakdown of the gear listed with some alternatives:

Arms

We start off with some Plane of Mischief loot. This stuff can take a lot of time, but the resist clickies (http://wiki.project1999.com/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=flower+of+functionality) are worth spending a few months in here alone. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Arm Guards (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Arm_Guard) provide a really great mix of HP, Stamina, Resists, and AC - all of the stats you want to be focusing on.

Until then, Crystal Chitin Armplates (http://wiki.project1999.com/Crystal_Chitin_Armplates) are an acceptable upgrade over the Dusty Rusted Vambraces (http://wiki.project1999.com/Dusty_Rusted_Vambraces) you're probably wearing right now.

Back

There's only one cloak in the game better than the trusty Hierophant's Cloak (http://wiki.project1999.com/Hierophant%27s_Cloak), and it's a raid drop (http://wiki.project1999.com/Cloak_of_the_Sky) just before NToV.

Chest

This is the easiest and most significant suggestion I can possibly make to a shaman in Velious: get a Chestplate of Vindication (http://wiki.project1999.com/Chestplate_of_Vindication) asap. This thing is absolutely nuts, and it's not all that difficult to get. Yeah, Derakor will probably be highly contested at first but with a relatively quick respawn hopefully your guild can get some shots in on him. I can't stress how good this item is. I used one until GoD, in other words I didn't replace this on live until the fifth expansion after Velious.

Until you get your hands on this glorious collection of pixels, use a Fungi (http://wiki.project1999.com/Fungus_Covered_Scale_Tunic).

Ears

Good earrings in this game are firmly within the realm of high end (http://wiki.project1999.com/Golden_Leaf_Earring) raid (http://wiki.project1999.com/Vyrinn%60s_Earring_of_Insanity) loot (http://wiki.project1999.com/Yunnb%27s_Earring), so you're stuck with the same black sapphire earrings you're probably using right now. It is worth keeping in mind that the Chardok revamp does bring the Hammered Golden Hoop (http://wiki.project1999.com/Hammered_Golden_Hoop) and Pearly Sarnak Bangle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Pearly_Sarnak_Bangle).

Face

Eyepatch of Plunder (http://wiki.project1999.com/Eyepatch_of_Plunder) is a really great item, but it's going to be incredibly contested for a long, long time. Alternatively you can get Crystal Spider Eyes (http://wiki.project1999.com/Crystal_Spider_Eyes) as a slight upgrade over Enshrouded Veil (http://wiki.project1999.com/Enshrouded_Veil), trading some fire resist for a small AC/HP/mana boost.

Feet

There's something about the feet slot that just attracts amazing shaman gear. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Boots) are by far the best piece of shaman Mischief gear, and it doesn't stop there. Boots of the Vindicator (http://wiki.project1999.com/Boots_of_the_Vindicator) are also great, and much more easily obtained if your guild is getting Derakor kills. If you have infinite money, you can even potentially buy the first pair of White Dragonscale Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragonscale_Boots) that appear for sale, which is one of the best items in all of Velious. Even Withered Leather Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/Withered_Leather_Boots) were quite amazing for Kunark gear. There's even more great options, but they're not worth listing since you should be able to get one of the items I just listed. If only all slots were Feet.

Fingers

Quests like Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV (http://wiki.project1999.com/Ring_of_Dain_Frostreaver_IV) were one of the best things to happen to players who didn't want to be part of the top raid guilds. Not only is this ring extremely good, it's fun to obtain and the final event drops a lot of other great items. Everyone will be doing this.

Chardok revamp brings the Regal Band of Bathezid, which is also excellent.

Hands

Coldain Skin Gloves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Coldain_Skin_Gloves) are a pretty great droppable shaman item. If you've duped enough platinum, you might be able to afford Mithril Gauntlets (http://wiki.project1999.com/Mithril_Gauntlets).

I'd mention Scaled Hierophant Gauntlets (http://wiki.project1999.com/Scaled_Hierophant_Gauntlets), but for that to be relevant you would have had to have made the mistake of making an Iksar shaman.

I've actually never done the Circlet of Falinkan (http://wiki.project1999.com/Circlet_of_the_Falinkan) quest, but know of people who have and it seems pretty easy and straightforward enough to make the stats on this item quite great for something that can be done with a single group. White Dragon Helm (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragon_Helm) is droppable, but if you somehow have enough money for this thing you're most likely going to want to turn it in for the White Dragonscale Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragonscale_Boots). If you can somehow afford both, this post is probably not for you anyways.

By the way, this begins the theme of "you want to have good CoV faction." Otherwise you're stuck with Platinum Tiara (http://wiki.project1999.com/Platinum_Tiara) and using vanilla gear in Velious is really sad.

The Shamanistic Shenannigan Greaves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Greaves) are kinda shitty, so for your legs slot you should just pick a faction and do their armor quest. Wolf Caller's Greaves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Wolf_Caller%27s_Greaves) are definitely the best, and again they require CoV faction.

Neck

Choker of the Wretched (http://wiki.project1999.com/Choker_of_the_Wretched) is a droppable reward from the final event of the Coldain ring quest, and it's really damn good.

Until you can get one, a 6 stat talisman like Ayillish's Talisman (http://wiki.project1999.com/Ayillish%27s_Talisman) is pretty good. I believe Ayillish is the easiest one to do, but you can also choose from: Derasinel, Draazak, Entariz, Harla Dar, Ionat, Jen Sapara, Kar Sapara, Zil Sapara, or Karkona (these are all dragons in Western Wastes that drop talismans with the same stats). Zlandicar's Talisman (http://wiki.project1999.com/Zlandicar%27s_Talisman) is droppable, but don't be deceived by this. It will not be sold for a long, long time, and if it ever is the price will be inflated because this is a Sleeper's Tomb key.

Shoulders

Your tradeskills are ready for Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl (http://wiki.project1999.com/Runed_Coldain_Prayer_Shawl), right? While eventually the 8th shawl will most likely never exist on P99, the Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl has acceptable stats as well as Flowing Thought which you should never pass on.

Strength of the Elements (http://wiki.project1999.com/Strength_of_the_Elements) is an alternative, although I wouldn't suggested it over the shawl even though I'm about the biggest proponent of +HP gear for a shaman that you can find.

Waist

Bone-Clasped Girdle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Bone-Clasped_Girdle) is almost breaking my "reasonably expensive" rule. However, there are quite a few people in non-raid guilds who have been able to afford them now, and I expect the price to fall further once Velious releases. Ultimately this will be an obtainable item once Plane of Fear is revamped and CT/Dracoliche's loot is moved to the golems.

Belt of Inconsistency (http://wiki.project1999.com/Belt_of_Inconsistency) is a respectable Plane of Mischief alternative, otherwise you can use something like Runebranded Girdle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Runebranded_Girdle).

Wrist

Bracer of Hammerfal (http://wiki.project1999.com/Bracer_of_Hammerfal) is quite excellent, considering how easy they are to obtain and how much bracer options suck until Velious. CoV faction is again required.

Spirit Wracked Cord (http://wiki.project1999.com/Spirit_Wracked_Cord) is the big daddy of revamped Chardok items, so it should be considered. Just be aware that some of the final items needed are extremely rare and will be incredibly contested by hundreds of people as soon as the Chardok revamp goes in. Godspeed.

Range

Talisman of Benevolence (http://wiki.project1999.com/Talisman_of_Benevolence) is yet again another CoV faction quest. This is another one that I've personally never done, but it seems doable by a single group. As an alternative, Eye of Narandi (http://wiki.project1999.com/Eye_of_Narandi) is yet again a reward from the final Coldain ring event.

Conclusion

Even if you're not in TMO/FE/IB, gear gets pretty damn good in Velious and it does take quite a lot of time and teamwork to get it all. Your goal for stamina will be 205 so you can max it at 255 with Riotous Health, and here we overcap at 210 even as a "low stamina" race (Barbarian). 2349 HP, 2665 mana, 987 AC, FT 2, and 80.2 average resists is beyond respectable even for raid gear. And again, this is not including some very good Chardok items.

Praise Velious.

[cyryllis]

Amazingly well thought out post which highlights an important issue. Thanks for this addition, its great for non raid characters to see how much more content will be opened up.

[citizen1080]

Well done sir, entertaining read and you made the wait for Velious even worse...in summary I hate you.

[Splorf22]

I've been checking the wiki periodically for Velious gear for warriors and enchanters. It's going to be pretty sick even without NToV.

I'm guessing Sakuragi will cross 6000 HP without too many issues (while an NToV warrior would hit 6500).

[Oleris]

If someone else is bored may they do something similar for a necro?

[Pint]

this is cool, i lol'd that shamans still sit at low mana though

[Byrjun]

this is cool, i lol'd that shamans still sit at low mana though

I'm not sure what you mean.

[Origin]

I've been checking the wiki periodically for Velious gear for warriors and enchanters. It's going to be pretty sick even without NToV.

I'm guessing Sakuragi will cross 6000 HP without too many issues (while an NToV warrior would hit 6500).

Full bis warriors in Velious will just be breaking 5k afaik. The numbers you're quoting are Luclin and early PoP. Unless you're talking fully buffed.

[Origin]

this is cool, i lol'd that shamans still sit at low mana though

Velious is a hps and ac expansion first and foremost. Resists are also up there, while mana lags behind.

For example, a bis wizard in Kunark can hit ~3.7k mana, while bis in Velious is ~4.5k. While hitpoints wise, a bis wizard in Kunark is around ~1.6k hps, while bis in Velious is 3.5k (+/- 100hps). From those figures you can clearly see the huge jump in hps and not that huge of a jump in mana.

And this is the case for all classes. Just look at how many 100hps items there are in Kunark and Velious versus high mana ones.

Taking all numbers as unbuffed btw.

[Origin]

Triple post! I'm rampaging!

If you folks want to play around with item sets for Velious, there's a server called Morell-Thule in the EQEMU list. It's GM command enabled server.

#level 60
#setallskills 255
#itemsearch itemname
#summonitem itemID

Can do all of your testing there.

[Byrjun]

I don't really want to start yet another HP vs. Mana shaman argument, but you can for the most part ignore +wisdom and +mana on gear. It's not useless... just not nearly as good as HP/Sta/Resists/AC.

I think I had like 150 wis until PoP on live. I did fine.

[Tecmos Deception]

Eh. I've felt like non-raid enchanter gear bums me out, but I guess following similar rules to what Byrjun did, Tecmos experiences pretty similar stat gains. Byrjun went up ~500 hp, ~600 mp, ~100 ac, and resists across the board. Tecmos gained ~300 hp, ~400 mp, ~100 ac, and resists across the board. I probably could do better than that for Tecmos without chardok or raid drops still but I only spent like 20 minutes skimming the wiki plus I am still sporting classic-era shit like crude stein on my velious magelo to try to keep my charisma maxed... lol.

[Hailto]

Good post byrjun.

[Tecmos Deception]

Sidenote - http://wiki.project1999.com/Earring_of_the_Frozen_Skull

Lol. A 4-charge, rechargeable DA item. Fucking awesome :)

[Aaron]

This is awesome. Looking forwrd to others picking up the torch and seeing similar threads for other classes.

[Daldaen]

http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:VelDruid

About the best I can think of for druids. Includes Mischief (fucking terrible zone), and Derakor Head (which can't be MQ'd and will likely rot all over the place for a non-raider).

Would require ToV faction and Kael faction so you'd have to bounce at some point in time.

[cyryllis]

How is plane of mischief terrible? Its easily the best zone in the expansion, raid zones not included. The quests are time consuming but the gear is solid and the flowers are incredible. The green flower stacks with every buff in game unlike the others...forever. it was never nerfed. Plus its afunzone design and supports a good number of groups. It was heartbreaking when they fucked the zone up after revamp on live

[Shinko]

+1 to this thread

[Daldaen]

How is plane of mischief terrible? Its easily the best zone in the expansion, raid zones not included. The quests are time consuming but the gear is solid and the flowers are incredible. The green flower stacks with every buff in game unlike the others...forever. it was never nerfed. Plus its afunzone design and supports a good number of groups. It was heartbreaking when they fucked the zone up after revamp on live

It was so horribly designed in its original incarnation.

That zone easily took up multitudes more design time than any other Velious zone, and then the only way you can zone in is by clearing NToV after a raid? A limit that would lead to a huge chunk of people never being able to access it. That itself is stupid.

Then all the dispell traps, and Halflings. So bad.

It would've been much better if they put the zone in to PoM in a CoV part of ToV, not a KoS part. So that you had to work to get there but it wasn't restricted to NToV raid guilds or DA class with SBI only.

[Byrjun]

Well, you could theoretically run from ntov to PoM w/ a DA idol before dying. I haven't done this, but have heard it's possible. It's also easy to just follow a raid in. Takes longer, but you're going to be in PoM for a long time anyways so what's a few extra hours.

Now I agree that PoM isn't exactly balanced. And obviously it feels like it was released in an unfinished state; very few classes even have armor from the zone. Some classes are missing random pieces (monks have no gloves, wizards have no boots). Also, the entire set up was pretty awful. You had to put a lot time into a random combine that was most likely going to give you a No Drop item that you can't even use. So we have a huge advantage knowing what combines result in which item.

All that said, there's some pretty great items you can work away at as long as you're not needed to poopsock dragons 16 hours a day.

[phacemeltar]

nice post. i would like to see more like this, especially for ranger.

[DrKvothe]

So the items kunark shaman can invest in, knowing they'll retain value in velious, are:
Spear of Fate (if you're buying MQ, it'll still be worth it)
Sarnak Battle Shield
Djarn's Amethyst Ring
Hierophant's Cloak
Black Sapphire Electrum Earrings

Is that accurate?

[BlkCamel]

So the items kunark shaman can invest in, knowing they'll retain value in velious, are:
Spear of Fate (if you're buying MQ, it'll still be worth it)
Sarnak Battle Shield
Djarn's Amethyst Ring
Hierophant's Cloak
Black Sapphire Electrum Earrings

Is that accurate?

I would say this is very accurate. Add JBB, although many will scream, "But its cold damage." It is still useful and will retain a good amount of value. SBS Will be supplanted by Lodi Shield, or fill in back slot for those without Hiero-cloak, so expect a bit of a value drop there. Maybe it didn't need to be said, but Fungi tunic will also retain its value for most shaman. Not everyone will get Vindi BP right away.

[Wolvefrost]

+1 to this thread

Seriously. My boner is about 3/4 mast. Fuckin A, stoked finally a constructive post towards the future of p99... and about my class?

Dear OP
I <3 u

[Tecmos Deception]

Nobody really needs to wait for someone else to do a post for their class. You can go to the equipment page of the wiki and filter by all eras (or just velious) and start sorting by your preferred stats until you see stuff you like. If the zone an item comes from is ToV or requires tormax head or crap like that, you can call it a wish list item but not something that you'll probably get unless you're raiding hardcore, and bam. Velious gear list.

[Emile]

Write one for every class please. That was a fun read.

[Byrjun]

I would say this is very accurate. Add JBB, although many will scream, "But its cold damage." It is still useful and will retain a good amount of value. SBS Will be supplanted by Lodi Shield, or fill in back slot for those without Hiero-cloak, so expect a bit of a value drop there. Maybe it didn't need to be said, but Fungi tunic will also retain its value for most shaman. Not everyone will get Vindi BP right away.

a) JBB is completely valid in Velious. I didn't remember any sort of change of resist rates going from Kunark to Velious. In fact, there are a lot of mobs where cold is the easiest spell to land (AoW immediately comes to mind).

b) Don't use Lodi shield as a shaman unless you really need the resists for a praticular encounter.

b) Fungi will always primarily be a twink item. Its value will probably keep rising. Less people will be camping king, and more people will be making hybrid alts once the exp penalties are removed.

[Wudan]

but for that to be relevant you would have had to have made the mistake of making an Iksar shaman.

Great post overall, but did you really have to be jerk here and be offensive to people who like to play Iksar for whatever reason? It was uncalled for and made me feel bitter about your otherwise excellent post. It is so ignorant in so many ways im not even gonna try to argue my points here.... if you dont have anything good to say about Iksar shaman, maybe you should just shut up.

[Daldaen]

I mean... Vindi BP is nice and all.

But for most soloing/grouping wouldn't 13 regen trump the 150~ HP / 15 sv All that Vindi brings. In a raid setting against AEs, definitely Vindi. Or soloing very challenging mobs that hit hard. But beyond that, I'd think Fungi would be bis because of how much FT it brings due to Canni4.

You're talking:

150~ HP for 80~ Mana

15 regen = 10 ticks to regain 150 HP = 80 free mana per 10 ticks = 8 FT
2 regen = 75 ticks to regain 150 HP = 80 free mana per 75 ticks = 1~ FT

Meaning to me Fungi gives you 7FT that Vindi doesn't.

Sell me on why it is so godly compared to Fungi beyond resist swap and tanking very hard stuff. For general trash/group/root rot.

[Byrjun]

Great post overall, but did you really have to be jerk here and be offensive to people who like to play Iksar for whatever reason? It was uncalled for and made me feel bitter about your otherwise excellent post. It is so ignorant in so many ways im not even gonna try to argue my points here.... if you dont have anything good to say about Iksar shaman, maybe you should just shut up.

Are you accusing me of being EQ-racist?

Anyways, it was just a joke. But I highly recommend against playing an Iksar shaman. Stats aren't very good and you lose out on too many good clickies.

[Alarti0001]

Are you accusing me of being EQ-racist?

Anyways, it was just a joke. But I highly recommend against playing an Iksar shaman. Stats aren't very good and you lose out on too many good clickies.

AC is king.

[sabinrf24]

re: Daldaen

Regen is awesome, and will always be awesome for a Shaman.

Since we're talking fungi vs. vindi chest, I'm going to assume the Shaman has Torpor.

Once you have Torpor, regen loses some value. You no longer have to wait for your health in order to canni - so regen serves to speed up recovery in low intensity situations, and to change the amount of ground humping you can do before you torpor.

I would wear the vindi chest 100% of the time if I had one - the 100hp in itself is an extra canni IV, and it takes ~7 ticks from a fungi to equal a single canni IV tick. It's not that the vindi is absolutely better in this situation, it's that it's close enough to the fungi in terms of practical benefit that I would rather have on the Vindi and have resists, AC, and health at my disposal (more useful in a scary situation) instead of regen (useful in sustained, controlled situations).

Edit: not to mention, higher max hp = higher hp once you get down to the level where you aren't wasting Torpor ticks. Getting down to the point where you aren't wasting ticks can be low enough to be risky depending on the content you're doing.

[Hiero]

nice OP. Shamans are kings of EQ

[Byrjun]

AC is king.

Maybe, but not so much on P99.

And even so, Iksar can't equip the JB BP to click it. Which is an AC buff. And DS.

[Daldaen]

The way I understand it, you always want to be under 100% HP. Even when Torporing. So that your active regen is constantly ticking.

While yes, it takes 7 ticks to make up the HP of a Vindi BP, HP pool itself isn't all that important. So long as you have an HP pool large enough to Canni down enough and torpor and never hit 100% by continuing to Canni, which you can easily hit with current gear, pre-Velious (and self buffs).

I do grasp the scary vs sustained situations argument, in which case I'd suggest getting both. But I'd think in a grind group setting you'd want a fungi on.

[Alarti0001]

Maybe, but not so much on P99.

And even so, Iksar can't equip the JB BP to click it. Which is an AC buff. And DS.

Here is hoping Ac is fixed for Velious. It is actually important there.

If you are worried about min maxing, there are better ways to get AC/DS on the cheap in Velious. Iksars come with static regen and AC bonus. Alot of it depends what you are doing though. I'd take an Iksar over a Troll in a raid situation and on the longer Solo fights. I'd take a troll for the trash farming/exp grind.

[Wudan]

Are you accusing me of being EQ-racist?

Anyways, it was just a joke. But I highly recommend against playing an Iksar shaman. Stats aren't very good and you lose out on too many good clickies.

clickie junkie you obv have no clue. stats get maxed, clickies are not game breaker for Iksar. Their regen and AC rules end game Velious. Saying it is mistake to make one is pretty ignorant. You play barb? ROFL

[Alarti0001]

clickie junkie you obv have no clue. stats get maxed, clickies are not game breaker for Iksar. Their regen and AC rules end game Velious. Saying it is mistake to make one is pretty ignorant. You play barb? ROFL

Shhh he is in A-Team... he knows better than yoU !

[Byrjun]

The Bramblecoat clicky from JB BP stacks with pretty much everything, including Kilva's and Bathezid ring for 59 self ds.

Edit: Forum trolls are here unfortunately, so I'm gonna dip out. That shit was supposed to be kept to the raid threads.

[Confit]

Great post.

This makes me remember how much fun I had in Velious! Custom helms were my favorite. I played a human monk on live and obtaining the badass look of a Shroud of Longevity and a Custom Cowl of Mortality was like beating the game for me. It will be fun bringing back my monk for Velious. This expansion is a wet dream for monks, if you think there are a lot of monks now... just wait. Ultimately that's why I switched from monk to enchanter on P99.

[Aaron]

Great post overall, but did you really have to be jerk here and be offensive to people who like to play Iksar for whatever reason? It was uncalled for and made me feel bitter about your otherwise excellent post. It is so ignorant in so many ways im not even gonna try to argue my points here.... if you dont have anything good to say about Iksar shaman, maybe you should just shut up.

You got way too worked up about a little joke.

[Alarti0001]

The Bramblecoat clicky from JB BP stacks with pretty much everything, including Kilva's and Bathezid ring for 59 self ds.

Edit: Forum trolls are here unfortunately, so I'm gonna dip out. That shit was supposed to be kept to the raid threads.

Buff limit.!

However, gear wise it was a nice post. You just need to stop assuming you are right "just because". Other's inputs are valid.

[Erasong]

Here is hoping Ac is fixed for Velious. It is actually important there.

If you are worried about min maxing, there are better ways to get AC/DS on the cheap in Velious. Iksars come with static regen and AC bonus. Alot of it depends what you are doing though. I'd take an Iksar over a Troll in a raid situation and on the longer Solo fights. I'd take a troll for the trash farming/exp grind.

alarti when i was running sky on my paladin i used to substitute cloth shit with more hp per slot then higher ac plate gear because ac was absolutely doing nothing. this was when you guys were first coming to the server tho and im not sure if anything has changed since then. also I dont know if it might have just been the level difference from a 50 doing sky mobs.

[Erasong]

I don't really want to start yet another HP vs. Mana shaman argument, but you can for the most part ignore +wisdom and +mana on gear. It's not useless... just not nearly as good as HP/Sta/Resists/AC.

I think I had like 150 wis until PoP on live. I did fine.

same rule applies for necro iirc.

for most my classes i focus hp resists and ac over all now that i think about it.

[Itap]

I was kind of getting sick of 80% of this forum being raid bickering the past week, so I wanted to post something a bit off-topic.

Around the time that Rogean announced that Velious beta may be in a few months, I started to refresh my memory on what kind of gear to work towards in Velious.

So, today I threw it together into a Magelo to post here. Here is the link (http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Byrjunvelious). As you can see, your gear can still get pretty good even without all BIS tov loot.

I had to draw some lines here. First of all, no revamped Chardok loot. Loot from that zone provides huge upgrades for at least 4 slots, but it'll probably be a while before we see that stuff so I decided not to consider it so early.

Secondly, all loot had to be relatively affordable or obtainable by about a group of people. Basically, if you're in a guild you can get this stuff regardless of how advanced you are in the raid scene. What this means is no Mithril armor, Cowl of Mortality, White Dragonscale Helm, etc. Even though this stuff is droppable, it's going to take a long time to hit the market and it's going to be outrageously expensive.

The reason for these guidelines is that I invite others to provide similar gear listings for other race/class combinations. I know of several people myself who have never even experienced Velious and would be interested in this kind of thing.

Finally, a breakdown of the gear listed with some alternatives:

Arms

We start off with some Plane of Mischief loot. This stuff can take a lot of time, but the resist clickies (http://wiki.project1999.com/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=flower+of+functionality) are worth spending a few months in here alone. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Arm Guards (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Arm_Guard) provide a really great mix of HP, Stamina, Resists, and AC - all of the stats you want to be focusing on.

Until then, Crystal Chitin Armplates (http://wiki.project1999.com/Crystal_Chitin_Armplates) are an acceptable upgrade over the Dusty Rusted Vambraces (http://wiki.project1999.com/Dusty_Rusted_Vambraces) you're probably wearing right now.

Back

There's only one cloak in the game better than the trusty Hierophant's Cloak (http://wiki.project1999.com/Hierophant%27s_Cloak), and it's a raid drop (http://wiki.project1999.com/Cloak_of_the_Sky) just before NToV.

Chest

This is the easiest and most significant suggestion I can possibly make to a shaman in Velious: get a Chestplate of Vindication (http://wiki.project1999.com/Chestplate_of_Vindication) asap. This thing is absolutely nuts, and it's not all that difficult to get. Yeah, Derakor will probably be highly contested at first but with a relatively quick respawn hopefully your guild can get some shots in on him. I can't stress how good this item is. I used one until GoD, in other words I didn't replace this on live until the fifth expansion after Velious.

Until you get your hands on this glorious collection of pixels, use a Fungi (http://wiki.project1999.com/Fungus_Covered_Scale_Tunic).

Ears

Good earrings in this game are firmly within the realm of high end (http://wiki.project1999.com/Golden_Leaf_Earring) raid (http://wiki.project1999.com/Vyrinn%60s_Earring_of_Insanity) loot (http://wiki.project1999.com/Yunnb%27s_Earring), so you're stuck with the same black sapphire earrings you're probably using right now. It is worth keeping in mind that the Chardok revamp does bring the Hammered Golden Hoop (http://wiki.project1999.com/Hammered_Golden_Hoop) and Pearly Sarnak Bangle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Pearly_Sarnak_Bangle).

Face

Eyepatch of Plunder (http://wiki.project1999.com/Eyepatch_of_Plunder) is a really great item, but it's going to be incredibly contested for a long, long time. Alternatively you can get Crystal Spider Eyes (http://wiki.project1999.com/Crystal_Spider_Eyes) as a slight upgrade over Enshrouded Veil (http://wiki.project1999.com/Enshrouded_Veil), trading some fire resist for a small AC/HP/mana boost.

Feet

There's something about the feet slot that just attracts amazing shaman gear. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Boots) are by far the best piece of shaman Mischief gear, and it doesn't stop there. Boots of the Vindicator (http://wiki.project1999.com/Boots_of_the_Vindicator) are also great, and much more easily obtained if your guild is getting Derakor kills. If you have infinite money, you can even potentially buy the first pair of White Dragonscale Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragonscale_Boots) that appear for sale, which is one of the best items in all of Velious. Even Withered Leather Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/Withered_Leather_Boots) were quite amazing for Kunark gear. There's even more great options, but they're not worth listing since you should be able to get one of the items I just listed. If only all slots were Feet.

Fingers

Quests like Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV (http://wiki.project1999.com/Ring_of_Dain_Frostreaver_IV) were one of the best things to happen to players who didn't want to be part of the top raid guilds. Not only is this ring extremely good, it's fun to obtain and the final event drops a lot of other great items. Everyone will be doing this.

Chardok revamp brings the Regal Band of Bathezid, which is also excellent.

Hands

Coldain Skin Gloves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Coldain_Skin_Gloves) are a pretty great droppable shaman item. If you've duped enough platinum, you might be able to afford Mithril Gauntlets (http://wiki.project1999.com/Mithril_Gauntlets).

I'd mention Scaled Hierophant Gauntlets (http://wiki.project1999.com/Scaled_Hierophant_Gauntlets), but for that to be relevant you would have had to have made the mistake of making an Iksar shaman.

I've actually never done the Circlet of Falinkan (http://wiki.project1999.com/Circlet_of_the_Falinkan) quest, but know of people who have and it seems pretty easy and straightforward enough to make the stats on this item quite great for something that can be done with a single group. White Dragon Helm (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragon_Helm) is droppable, but if you somehow have enough money for this thing you're most likely going to want to turn it in for the White Dragonscale Boots (http://wiki.project1999.com/White_Dragonscale_Boots). If you can somehow afford both, this post is probably not for you anyways.

By the way, this begins the theme of "you want to have good CoV faction." Otherwise you're stuck with Platinum Tiara (http://wiki.project1999.com/Platinum_Tiara) and using vanilla gear in Velious is really sad.

The Shamanistic Shenannigan Greaves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Shamanistic_Shenannigan_Greaves) are kinda shitty, so for your legs slot you should just pick a faction and do their armor quest. Wolf Caller's Greaves (http://wiki.project1999.com/Wolf_Caller%27s_Greaves) are definitely the best, and again they require CoV faction.

Neck

Choker of the Wretched (http://wiki.project1999.com/Choker_of_the_Wretched) is a droppable reward from the final event of the Coldain ring quest, and it's really damn good.

Until you can get one, a 6 stat talisman like Ayillish's Talisman (http://wiki.project1999.com/Ayillish%27s_Talisman) is pretty good. I believe Ayillish is the easiest one to do, but you can also choose from: Derasinel, Draazak, Entariz, Harla Dar, Ionat, Jen Sapara, Kar Sapara, Zil Sapara, or Karkona (these are all dragons in Western Wastes that drop talismans with the same stats). Zlandicar's Talisman (http://wiki.project1999.com/Zlandicar%27s_Talisman) is droppable, but don't be deceived by this. It will not be sold for a long, long time, and if it ever is the price will be inflated because this is a Sleeper's Tomb key.

Shoulders

Your tradeskills are ready for Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl (http://wiki.project1999.com/Runed_Coldain_Prayer_Shawl), right? While eventually the 8th shawl will most likely never exist on P99, the Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl has acceptable stats as well as Flowing Thought which you should never pass on.

Strength of the Elements (http://wiki.project1999.com/Strength_of_the_Elements) is an alternative, although I wouldn't suggested it over the shawl even though I'm about the biggest proponent of +HP gear for a shaman that you can find.

Waist

Bone-Clasped Girdle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Bone-Clasped_Girdle) is almost breaking my "reasonably expensive" rule. However, there are quite a few people in non-raid guilds who have been able to afford them now, and I expect the price to fall further once Velious releases. Ultimately this will be an obtainable item once Plane of Fear is revamped and CT/Dracoliche's loot is moved to the golems.

Belt of Inconsistency (http://wiki.project1999.com/Belt_of_Inconsistency) is a respectable Plane of Mischief alternative, otherwise you can use something like Runebranded Girdle (http://wiki.project1999.com/Runebranded_Girdle).

Wrist

Bracer of Hammerfal (http://wiki.project1999.com/Bracer_of_Hammerfal) is quite excellent, considering how easy they are to obtain and how much bracer options suck until Velious. CoV faction is again required.

Spirit Wracked Cord (http://wiki.project1999.com/Spirit_Wracked_Cord) is the big daddy of revamped Chardok items, so it should be considered. Just be aware that some of the final items needed are extremely rare and will be incredibly contested by hundreds of people as soon as the Chardok revamp goes in. Godspeed.

Range

Talisman of Benevolence (http://wiki.project1999.com/Talisman_of_Benevolence) is yet again another CoV faction quest. This is another one that I've personally never done, but it seems doable by a single group. As an alternative, Eye of Narandi (http://wiki.project1999.com/Eye_of_Narandi) is yet again a reward from the final Coldain ring event.

Conclusion

Even if you're not in TMO/FE/IB, gear gets pretty damn good in Velious and it does take quite a lot of time and teamwork to get it all. Your goal for stamina will be 205 so you can max it at 255 with Riotous Health, and here we overcap at 210 even as a "low stamina" race (Barbarian). 2349 HP, 2665 mana, 987 AC, FT 2, and 80.2 average resists is beyond respectable even for raid gear. And again, this is not including some very good Chardok items.

Praise Velious.

You realize every item you posted is Iksar wearable?

[Alarti0001]

alarti when i was running sky on my paladin i used to substitute cloth shit with more hp per slot then higher ac plate gear because ac was absolutely doing nothing. this was when you guys were first coming to the server tho and im not sure if anything has changed since then. also I dont know if it might have just been the level difference from a 50 doing sky mobs.

Alot has changed... although AC is still not perfect.

[Aaron]

Alot has changed... although AC is still not perfect.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/S8TRIo4br3I/AAAAAAAACv4/Zh7_GcMlRKo/s1600/ALOT.png

[Byrjun]

You just need to stop assuming you are right "just because". Other's inputs are valid.

I never said anything like that. You're just trying to start shit, go back to rnf.

You realize every item you posted is Iksar wearable?

Yes? The point was the Scaled Hierophant Guantlets are Iksar-only and there are better options anyways (Coldain).

[Ele]

Good read A+

[jaybone]

Great thread, this would be a great wiki page for each class.

[Itap]

Yes? The point was the Scaled Hierophant Guantlets are Iksar-only and there are better options anyways (Coldain).

You are implying Iksar are sub-par Shamans, yet they can equip every item you listed in your OP.

They will also have more AC then the non-Iksar wearing the same gear

[Alarti0001]

I never said anything like that. You're just trying to start shit, go back to rnf.



Yes? The point was the Scaled Hierophant Guantlets are Iksar-only and there are better options anyways (Coldain).


Not trying to start shit at all. I and others simply disagreed with a few of your assertions...Why is that a problem?

[Lune]

You are implying Iksar are sub-par Shamans, yet they can equip every item you listed in your OP.

They will also have more AC then the non-Iksar wearing the same gear

I play one because I love Iksar, but they definitely not optimal shamans.

No JBB, no slam, no frontal stun immunity!

[DrKvothe]

In this thread: people raging at Alarti during one of the few times he's actually being constructive.

[jaybone]

I play one because I love Iksar, but they definitely not optimal shamans.

No JBB, no slam, no frontal stun immunity!

this changes come velious, which i believe is what this threads about.

[Lune]

this changes come velious, which i believe is what this threads about.

Not one of those things change, unfortunately. JBB doesn't become iksar wearable. Increase in Iksar AC in Velious won't make up for the flaws.

[Alarti0001]

Not one of those things change, unfortunately. JBB doesn't become iksar wearable. Increase in Iksar AC in Velious won't make up for the flaws.

Why?

[Itap]

I play one because I love Iksar, but they definitely not optimal shamans.

No JBB, no slam, no frontal stun immunity!

Oh, I definitely understand that. But the original post is referring to Velious gear, All of which is Iksar wearable.

I was just pointing out how he tried to slam Iksar Shamans for being inferior to other races, yet all the items he linked can be equiped by Iksars lol

[Lune]

Why?

My bonus iksar AC makes up for, what wearing one additional piece of armor? Negates your hits by what, maybe an additional 3-5%? (Just saying numbers for the sake of illustration).

Is that worth not being able to JBB? Is it worth not being able to back yourself up against a wall and avoid being stunned?

It is for me, because I love iksar. But if my goal were to be a min/max solo God, I don't think I would have made the choice I did.

[Ele]

What is the net benefit of iksar bonus AC when the mob is slowed anyway?

[koros]

IF the ac actually does something, then iksar shaman are actually the strongest at soloing hard hitting mobs of any race shaman.

[Lune]

What is the net benefit of iksar bonus AC when the mob is slowed anyway?

http://i.imgur.com/7L9jdDW.jpg

[Ele]

lol

[Itap]

Shaman mobs are so overpowered on this server

[Alarti0001]

My bonus iksar AC makes up for, what wearing one additional piece of armor? Negates your hits by what, maybe an additional 3-5%? (Just saying numbers for the sake of illustration).

Is that worth not being able to JBB? Is it worth not being able to back yourself up against a wall and avoid being stunned?

It is for me, because I love iksar. But if my goal were to be a min/max solo God, I don't think I would have made the choice I did.

Like i said it depends what you're fighting. I'd take Iksar on Raids, and some of the tougher solo mobs, and Trolls on the exp and item farm trash.

[Daldolma]

Ogre for toughest solos, Troll for grind camps/extra long fights/duos.

You're welcome, now you can stop being wrong.

[Alarti0001]

Ogre for toughest solos, Troll for grind camps/extra long fights/duos.

You're welcome, now you can stop being wrong.

LOL...! WRONG The stun immunity is severely over-rated as you can still be interrupted from melee push. As an ogre you are still going to want to corner yourself if being melee'd, our outdistance a target. Not to mention what EQ considers "the front" can be severely limiting.

[Aaron]

LOL...! WRONG The stun immunity is severely over-rated as you can still be interrupted from melee push. As an ogre you are still going to want to corner yourself if being melee'd, our outdistance a target. Not to mention what EQ considers "the front" can be severely limiting.

I've tried explaining this to people many times. Ogre frontal stun immunity isn't all that great for a shaman. Much more necessary on a tank.

[Rheaume]

Great post!
I will print and refer to it often.
Thank you

[DrKvothe]

If Lodi shield isn't an upgrade for hiero, is it an upgrade for sarnak battle shield? You're losing 2 ac and 40 hp (stam unimportant, since you're presumably capped when buffed) for a gain of 10 wis (120 mana at 60), 10 fire/cold res, and worn enduring breath (*shrug*).

[Byrjun]

If Lodi shield isn't an upgrade for hiero, is it an upgrade for sarnak battle shield?

Nope.

If you want to min/max, go ogre. Push interrupts can be negated by tanking in a corner or just moving forward to reposition yourself (if you start casting at 200 and are pushed to 210, if you walk forward to 199 your spell is likely to go off). The stun immunity can be significant when you're always casting spells, especially when you get bashed at 1 second left of a jbb. That's a lot of wasted time, which is important if you're soloing something tough.

Also, I agree that regen isn't that important once you get Torpor. It's a decent bonus, but I'd rather have raw HP.

I'm going to *try* to stay out of shaman strategy / philosophy discussions though. This thread isn't for that. I've tried in the past, but there's no point because a lot of people aren't likely to change their opinions. All I can do is give my personal experience/advice based on playing a shaman since 2000 and doing all the raid / solo content from classic to GoD.

[TanDemain]

Great work Byr - awesome inpsiration

[Arteker]

if u want to play with hps mana then u forgot orb of infinite void .

[Clark]

Cool seeing all the old items

[koros]

Ogre for toughest solos, Troll for grind camps/extra long fights/duos.

You're welcome, now you can stop being wrong.

Look. It's really quite simple. Stun immunity is not going to determine what you can solo. Damage taken per second vs hp recoverable per second is what matters. If you take less average damage per second, you can solo things that hit harder. That's all there is to it. In some incredibly rare cases, an ogre might survive a fight during that 1 in 32 seconds bash that interrupts that another race wouldn't. But if you're dying from that, you've probably already lost the fight.

[Byrjun]

if u want to play with hps mana then u forgot orb of infinite void .

I did "forget" to include it, partially because I hate the graphic and partly because it's expensive raid loot. I mentioned stuff like White Dragonscale Boots though so I probably should go back and mention the orb too.

[koros]

I did "forget" to include it, partially because I hate the graphic and partly because it's expensive raid loot. I mentioned stuff like White Dragonscale Boots though so I probably should go back and mention the orb too.

The guy is groupable (possibly soloable) and spawns in about a day. It's definitely not raid loot

[Byrjun]

I'm trying to remember that shit, I think he's near Tormax but yea I doubt Tormax will be up often. Possibly soloable but it would probably be pretty tough, the hard part is the pull iirc.

[quido]

I have 3665 mana.

[jaybone]

I have 3665 mana.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSqrBbs4tzSrjcLbFomAEEb2_aYIizB3 NoxGpTp3LzUBWWYkbihtA

[Arteker]

I'm trying to remember that shit, I think he's near Tormax but yea I doubt Tormax will be up often. Possibly soloable but it would probably be pretty tough, the hard part is the pull iirc.

he is in the room behind throne room , he is a wizard 20ish khp nuke hard but in general easy, doable with 2 dudes well egared who can solo pull him.