Another shaman in velious topic!

[DrKvothe]

I’m back from about a year absence to the game (Hi friends!) and I have some questions about Velious as a shaman. I read http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132972 but since I never played Velious live (or any endgame content live, for that matter), I’d like a bit more detail. Here’s my magelo: http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Winga although I’m using dusty rusted arms/wrist (instead of jarsath). So basically I’ve got a bunch of junk and an epic =D. My immediate goals are to hit 60 and get Torpor. I don’t know if I’ll be finished with either one before Velious comes out, because my play time is extremely limited.

1) Is the plane of mischief or skyshrine armor remotely realistic for someone without time to be active within a raiding guild?
2) If the answer to the above is no, should one consider Kael armor? The set offers ~50 more armor and a small amount of additional stats. If so, is it realistic to do this after completing the coldain ring quest line? Are there any other really notable advantages to Kael?
3) What 6-man grouping experiences can I expect from Velious?
4) What new leveling opportunities, solo or grouped, can I expect for 57-60?
5) For alt leveling, how would your ideal leveling path to 55 or so differ with the release of Velious?
6) Can the coldain ring quest be completed twice, once to 10 and a second time to 9? If so, do the buffs from the lvl 9 and 10 rings stack?
edit: 7) How quickly (or at all) will a shaman run into the worn AC cap in velious?

[iruinedyourday]

I like all of these questions.

[loramin]

I haven't played Velious since since 2001-ish, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but ...


1) Is the plane of mischief or skyshrine armor remotely realistic for someone without time to be active within a raiding guild?


2) If the answer to the above is no, should one consider Kael armor? The set offers ~50 more armor and a small amount of additional stats. If so, is it realistic to do this after completing the coldain ring quest line? Are there any other really notable advantages to Kael?

As I remember it there were three faction armor sets: dragon, giant, and dwarf. The dwarf set was the only one you could get without a raid (it just required killing giants, while the other two required killing raid dragons).

I think Velious also introduced some armor in the Plane of Growth, but (obviously) that's raid only. Then there's Mischief armor, which is great except it will be REALLY hard to get (both because Mischief quests can take forever and because everyone and their brother will be fighting over Mischief).

So, I think any non-raider should initially go for the dwarf armor line, then supplement it with pieces from Mischief or random pieces (eg. 7th Shawl).


3) What 6-man grouping experiences can I expect from Velious?
Um, lots? Not sure about specifics, but I will say that the Per-Level Hunting Guide (http://wiki.project1999.com/Per-Level_Hunting_Guide) will have most if not all of them once Velious comes out.


4) What new leveling opportunities, solo or grouped, can I expect for 57-60?
As a 57 Shaman myself this is a question very near and dear to my heart. As I remember it there are LOTS of places to level in that range in Velious, but I don't remember any except the Kael arena. I remember doing that a lot though (both for dwarf armor and for dragon/dwarf faction).


5) For alt leveling, how would your ideal leveling path to 55 or so differ with the release of Velious?
When I played on live I *started* when Velious came out, so as soon as I got to Velious levels (min 35 I think?) I headed over. Again it's been too long to remember specifics, but there was definitely a leveling path from 35 or so to 60 in Velious (I want to say animals in the frozen wastes, then spiders in crystal caverns, then giants, but that's probably missing stuff).


6) Can the coldain ring quest be completed twice, once to 10 and a second time to 9? If so, do the buffs from the lvl 9 and 10 rings stack?
I think you can wear both, but I don't know if the buffs stack (I doubt it). This post makes it sound like at least wearing both is an option:
http://crucible.samanna.net/viewtopic.php?t=367&highlight=damage+shield+stack#p3927

Hope that helps.

[DrKvothe]

Small bump and another question (#7) edited into OP.

[Daldaen]

6. Rings will not stack clicky wise. Also keep in mind the 10th ring does not stack with Regrowth or Fungi staff.
7. A raider with Chestplate of Vindication and Shaman Boots from PoM will cap fast :P. Honestly though worrying about AC on a shaman is pretty meh IMO.

[DrKvothe]

That's interesting about the ring, such a shame! So with the 9th ring we'll get a damage shield, 10th we won't. Weird!

The AC question was related to choice of offhand/ranged. Although I guess SBS and talisman of benevolence would trump any of the other combos available to non-raider, even without considering lower AC options.

[hammertime7795]

That's interesting about the ring, such a shame! So with the 9th ring we'll get a damage shield, 10th we won't. Weird!

The AC question was related to choice of offhand/ranged. Although I guess SBS and talisman of benevolence would trump any of the other combos available to non-raider, even without considering lower AC options.

You should still get the atk bump and the ds from tenth ring the regen just wont stack.

[Daldaen]

No.

The buffs will not stack.

Regrowth will prevent 10th ring from sticking on you.

[hammertime7795]

No.

The buffs will not stack.

Regrowth will prevent 10th ring from sticking on you.

Ahh well they should. 10th ring is probably not worth doing as a shaman anyway DS is marginally useful and the regen wont stack. Stats are nice but there are rings that are just as good if not better for shaman.

[Daldaen]

Should in your opinion sure. Should in classic, definitely not.

The ring is still the best ring for shamans outside of the Vulak+AoW ring combination. That being said the ring will be rough to obtain on this server.

[hammertime7795]

Should in your opinion sure. Should in classic, definitely not.

The ring is still the best ring for shamans outside of the Vulak+AoW ring combination. That being said the ring will be rough to obtain on this server.

Should as in on lucy it says it should only overwrite the regen slot. Its not a matter of opinion its a matter of how buff stacking works.

[Daldaen]

Should as in on lucy it says it should only overwrite the regen slot. Its not a matter of opinion its a matter of how buff stacking works.

Yes and EQ buff stacking takes the best.

If you have Ring Clicky (10 Regen, 10 ATK, and 10 DS) and someone casts a Regrowth (15 Regen) on you... The Regrowth will overwrite (cause it's the higher regen value) the ring clicky and you lose the other benefits of the ring clicky.

I distinctly remember ring holders getting annoyed with druid regen clicky BPs in Velious and PoP cause it would overwrite their ring and prevent it from sticking until they removed regen.

Same reason when I cast Cheetah it strips my wolf form. The Runspeed on it is the same slot and better value. I lose the ATK and vision benefits of wolf form at the cost of the higher Runspeed. That's how EQ Buff stacking works.

There were weird classic examples of allowing regen stacking (see the Fungi Staff+SoW/Regen example). That is due to old buff code which we do not have working on this server. Nor is it something that would've let the 10th ring and regrowth to stack.

But I think we are in agreement on this?

Tl;dr - Ring is boss.

[Byrjun]

Ahh well they should. 10th ring is probably not worth doing as a shaman anyway

Nah. Unless you somehow get both Ring of Destruction (Avatar of War) and Crystasia's Crystal Ring (Vulak), you'll want the Coldain Ring. You'll also want the Regal Band of Bathezid if you don't have either the AoW or Vulak rings.

I've been pushing the idea of IB doing the 10th Ring War for people for a share of the item drops, so hopefully even "casuals" will be able to complete up to Ring 10.

1) Is the plane of mischief or skyshrine armor remotely realistic for someone without time to be active within a raiding guild?

Probably not but thankfully there's only 1 piece you really need, legs. Thurgadin may be the best you can get, but that's fine. Your main goal as a "casual" Shaman is to be killing Vindicator. Even if there's a long line ahead of you within your guild, with an 8 hour respawn most guilds should be able to kill him semi-often. The boots and BP are really nice.