Shaman Root rotting - I feel like I'm being inefficient

[tkelly5]

Hello. I have a 34 shaman, and I've been root rotting things for fun and profit and xp and all that. My normal routine is send Fido in, enstill, malo, disease, poison, then call off fido and hang out, refresh poison once or so, and maybe send fido back in for the last couple of %hp. I will normally cann a few times while sitting to try and get some mana back

I feel like I'm not being very efficient with this, and I'm not entirely sure why. I often find myself going through almost a full bar of mana in killing a single blue mob (even non-healers). Is root rotting just not terribly efficient just yet, or is there something else I should be doing?

Also, I find that Enstill has been breaking early and even getting resisted a lot...should I maybe do pet-malo-enstill instead?

Thanks!

PS am ogre with 139 wisdom

[bomaroast]

34 Shaman should be using a pet and slowing/tanking for the pet. Maybe toss in a dot or two. You'll want to ditch the caster gear and focus on ac/hp. Root rotting at that level for a shaman is more of a change-of-pace thing. It's not terribly efficient. Face tanking for the pet will always be more efficient than root rotting, but once you have an epic and torpor root rotting is doable.

Also, stop using enstill. Root all day every day. You don't waste mana from early breaks and early recasts.

[Wallicker]

Why aren’t shamans charm killing until atleast 40? With canni heals sow and charm animal i would have a field day

[tkelly5]

34 Shaman should be using a pet and slowing/tanking for the pet. Maybe toss in a dot or two. You'll want to ditch the caster gear and focus on ac/hp. Root rotting at that level for a shaman is more of a change-of-pace thing. It's not terribly efficient. Face tanking for the pet will always be more efficient than root rotting, but once you have an epic and torpor root rotting is doable.

Also, stop using enstill. Root all day every day. You don't waste mana from early breaks and early recasts.


See, I was told the exact opposite and that I should stop slow tanking as soon as I got 34 and use enstill, so now I don't know who to believe.

[tylidian]

Definitely slow tank until JBB at 45. I just started root rotting instead of primarily JBB at 55.

[tkelly5]

Definitely slow tank until JBB at 45. I just started root rotting instead of primarily JBB at 55.

Alright. SHould I spend the money to get SCHW? I have a PWC to smack things with, but no haste item

[tylidian]

Yes. Just resell it when you hit 45 and get JBB.

[bomaroast]

See, I was told the exact opposite and that I should stop slow tanking as soon as I got 34 and use enstill, so now I don't know who to believe.

You should not listen to whoever told you that anymore.

[NegaStoat]

Hello. I have a 34 shaman, and I've been root rotting things for fun and profit and xp and all that. My normal routine is send Fido in, enstill, malo, disease, poison, then call off fido and hang out, refresh poison once or so, and maybe send fido back in for the last couple of %hp. I will normally cann a few times while sitting to try and get some mana back


Give this following strategy a try. It's what I used the moment I hit 34 on my Iksar shaman and let me stop using melee entirely from that point on with very good results. First, use the link below to help find some mobs that would con a low blue to you.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Mobs_By_Level

Next, get ahold of a clickie item like a shrunken skull earring as a preferred choice, or a spyglass if you're completely broke.

Now, line up your set of low blue targets that you can single pull and Haste your pet. Pull the first target with either Shock of the Tainted or Winter's Roar, depending on your specialization choice if it might help with the cast. Click your item to refresh your gems instantly and root your target as it takes its first few steps. Back up some, nuke a 2nd time, click your item, DoT, and send your pet in. Depending on your target's health, you may have to Nuke, Root, DoT, Nuke, send pet in.

The key with the target being a low blue is that your roots and spells will land as reliably as possible, and your goal is to set up your pet hitting your target after you've buttered it up with your spells doing about 40% of its health, leaving 60% left for your hasted pet and the DoT to finish off.

While the pet and DoT is doing their thing, you can be sitting for the remainder of the fight doing some Canni dancing while the target croaks. Your pet WILL get beat up. But it also recovers health damned fast during this level range.

Give it a try before you run out and buy a bunch of melee gear. I would, however, suggest getting your Wisdom up some more and/or getting more +mana gear if you use this method.

[Jimjam]

Why aren’t shamans charm killing until atleast 40? With canni heals sow and charm animal i would have a field day

My shaman is early 30s, I had success using invis to go to the low level wolf pit in permafrost, then pulling the large dire wolf to where I was going to fight and charming there. The mob is a level 24 spawn I think, making it the perfect pet. Really chewed through goblins good!

On live in my 30s I used a summoned pet, turned off taunt, grabbed mana regen buffs and aggro kited several lions at a time with dots just outside OT outpost.

[Snaggles]

The trick is fighting low hp/level blues in high ZEM areas. HHK guards for example.

I root rotted guards in NK by the gypsies but would just nuke down Cynthia in rathe. Both will take you past 40. Doing it again tho I’d prob do HHK and duo 4th floor. The plat and access to a bank and vendor easily beats the other two areas mentioned.

It sound like you’re fighting high level mobs. Scourge is very efficient but takes an eon to do its thing. Enstill usually lasts well on lower mobs but malo definitely helps. If you are camping one spawn and have time to med back before repop efficiency doesn’t matter at all.

[Qtip]

Pwc, haste item, self haste and regen.

Pull with slow and just beat on with pet. Once mob flees let pet finish while you canni back the mana/regen. You can none stop kill until you reach 45 and get a JBB.

Then move to freeport and do guards to 50 just using root and click. After that you can do ghosts in TT with JBB and root until 54.

[Tethler]

After that you can do ghosts in TT with JBB and root until 54.

Which ghosts? I camped the ghosts near the Emperor Ganek ruins on my necro and started getting a lot of green cons by level 50. Are there camps with higher level ghosts?

The xp there was great. I flew from 47-50 really quickly.

[Troxx]

Why aren’t shamans charm killing until atleast 40? With canni heals sow and charm animal i would have a field day

I don’t think many leveling shamans even think about doing so to be honest. I enjoyed charming on my shaman a lot until the final spell (stops around the level of hunting the higher level of OT) is no longer viable. Charming on the shaman I always found most profitable duoing with a ranger/Druid for longer duration snare. I did have some success with a dedicated healing cleric and once with an enchanter.

With the buffs, regen, heal and slows a shaman brings to the table, it’s much more efficient to buff and heal a pet and snag a partner a bit lower level than yourself and just split the cost with a person vs losing half to the pet. Rangers (especially non twink) are generally happy for the opportunity and I just had them chain pull while I babysat the pet. Ensnare on breaks and toss piddly ranger heals. If Druid I’d ask them to do similar on top of finding a pet if their own. This allowed me to keep my Med and canni-dance time as high as possible for recharge slows and heals.

Done properly charming is much faster than melee soloing or root rotting and it doesn’t take much gear. It’s doable naked.

[jolanar]

For Iksar, the level 29 Charm works great in Lake of Ill Omen on Sabertooth Grimalkins.

It should get you to 31 pretty handily. Not sure it would work well for 32 to 34 though since stuff starts greening out in LOIO then.

At 34 you can charm some of the Sabertooth Tigresses in OT, but never tested that since I was lazy after getting the pet.

[exqcme]

Chiming in with question. anyone know a possible solo spot for a 55+ shammy epicless?
Kinda wish i have epic but love to know a spot i can solo occasionally.

[Wallicker]

If I was a shaman I would charm kill alligators in CT. Good zem too range alligators are lvl 32-33 so you can charm them and it’s probably good xp til low 40s

[Wallicker]

Or Invis swim down and charm the frenzied bull shark in kedge, Invis it, gate to entrance and bam your a shaman with a pet that hits in the 60s! If you get in trouble zone and go get your pet again... this strat would be good til low 50s and kedge always empty!

[Jimjam]

Large Dire Wolf near goblin archaeologist is exactly at the max level for befriend animal. Root it between the wolf and goblin area, invis back to your camp, wait for root to break then charm and start killing. Shaman permafrost XP 29+.