Shaman progression

[Aradas]

Quick question about shaman gear.I am currently running around at level 18 in rawhide/leather armor and a fine steel warhammer someone gifted me.I know banded is a good choice but not many sellers of it near Halas.What are some reasonably priced armor/weapons I should be looking for?

[whippetofspades]

You won't find much for sale over near Halas in general. Better off making the move to the Freeport area and having someone make you a set of banded. It should be around 90pp for the set. You'll be able to pick up a +wis hammer like a Wraithbone or Sharkbone in EC for around or under 100pp as well. Plenty of good cheap weapons available, beetle stinger is another that comes to mind.

[Jimjam]

In my experience it only takes about 100pp to level blacksmithing to a half decent amount and brute force the combines for a full set.

After that, if you find one other guy that would want a set of banded the skill has basically paid for itself and more.

For weapons, your best bet might be sending tells to people killing icegiants asking them to check for newb weapons they have stached when they hit up bank.

In halas itself you can quest yourself a gavel of justice for a +mana range slot. If I were you I'd buy a shop bought two handed warhammer (or scrounge a fine steel one from ice giants) to tide you over until you find a better ratio weapon.

[loramin]

Best thing you can buy for any character are Platinum Fire Wedding Rings, they give +55 HPs and 5 AC. I think they cost about 250pp so your first 500pp should be towards the rings 100% without question in my opinion.

You can basically get by on looted gear as a shaman and don't need to invest too heavily, buy cheap +wis gear and maybe target specific drops you want and hunt them down (SolA for example has lots of really great low/mid-tier loots and is rarely camped).

As sad as it sounds if this is your first character you have a long road to hoe to get the items that really make shamans shine. Spells alone level 50+ will cost you ridiculous amounts of money. I would start your Fungi Tunic savings fund today as it is a game changer.

^^^

This. Shaman really don't need gear, or at least not purchased gear.

When I started my shammy a friend gave me a Barbarian Spiritist's Hammer and a couple of 5/55 rings, but none of that was essential. The rings were nice, but there were very few times when I could honestly say "I wouldn't have died if I'd only had 100 more hp at the start of the fight" ... I almost always died because (for instance) I should have gated at 30% but stuck around until 20% thinking I could kill the mob, or I didn't see a red and it killed me in 0.5 seconds, or some other way where a few more max HP wouldn't have mattered. As for the BSH it didn't even start proccing until 35 I think, and even then the procs were rare enough that it didn't make much difference, so it might as well have been any generic magic weapon.

I don't think I purchased a single piece of equipment until I was in the 40s; before that it was just spells and food/drink/bags.

The only thing I'd disagree with Spyder on is that I'd save up for a JBB first. It's super useful from 45 on, and once you get 30-35k more saved up you can always sell it to buy a fungi.

[NegaStoat]

Medium banded armor can be obtained just for the cost of the materials (you buy them) and then during server prime time, politely ask in North Freeport for someone to do the combine for a tip (odds are they won't want it if you're a new player). Tons of players use the North freeport bank and many of them wanted the Coldain Prayer Shawl and took smithing to do this and can make banded. They'll just click the button for you with the forge right there outside of the bank.

City of Mist is a constantly camped instance and the Springwood Club 9/25 +5 Wis 1h blunt drops often. Again, during server prime time if you have some nerve and can get an Invis from Field of Bone, you can jam in and score one very cheaply (50-100pp max as someone just wants to unload it as it's Lore).

Karnor's has Jarsath armor drops which a Barbarian can wear. Again, if you have the nerve to head in during prime time, getting a full set is possible if you're willing to invest in some Invs vs Undead potions / Cloudy potions and know the zone. If you don't know the zone well, run a Brell worshiping small rogue in and scout it out. I suggest a brell worshiping small rogue alt as it will see use later in the Hole if you're bothering to make an alt rogue scout at all.

You get a nice free shield from your epic quest series so just hold out for that. The 55 HP fire opal rings are sex. Get them. Loramin caught the other highlights.

[loramin]

Tons of players use the North freeport bank and many of them wanted the Coldain Prayer Shawl and took smithing to do this and can make banded. They'll just click the button for you with the forge right there outside of the bank.


The Shawl quest actually doesn't require blacksmithing (it did on live, for the 8th shawl, but since that came out in Luclin we won't see it here). However some of the other "epic" Velious quests (I think the coldain ring and/or the spirit of garzicor) do require it.

Plus, even though they're nearly pointless here, people still do tradeskills just for the "fun" of it too.

[feste]

I just learned smithing on my necro because no one was around to make large banded for an alt. I have a ton of components left if you'd like a set pm me.