27 shaman here. When does it get better at soloing?

[hamirez]

So far my dots are weak and the afliction gets resisted all the time.

Also what is the best place for an Ogre Shm to solo at my current level?

I got 147 Wis with a non twinked life.

Name is Gordos on blue

[Baler]

KFC (aviaks) in South Karana is a decent options at 27.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Evil_Shaman_Solo_Guide
I remember following this guide pretty closely and hitting 51 in two weeks.

Later levels I did Loio goblins with JBB

[Jibartik]

I mean, its ok in classic, but when you get the JBB and Epic and Torp you're like Ohhhh-ly CRAP! Im a GOD!

I am curious how a fully decked out lustrious AC shaman solos, if jacking AC in classic to the max gives them a good advantage soloing? But Alas I have not Captain-Ahabtismo'd my way to that build hehe :o

[Gozuk]

Gets way better when you can summon a pet

[hamirez]

I mean, its ok in classic, but when you get the JBB and Epic and Torp you're like Ohhhh-ly CRAP! Im a GOD!


I think it doesnt happen for 80% of the shamans.

[Jibartik]

Yeh, it makes me wonder about the class on green, that's why I'm curious if the legacy AC packed shamans might have a whole new take on it? Or i could just be wishful thinking that there is more to this game that hasn't been min maxed already lol

[Jimjam]

If you’re getting resisted too much you may be fighting too high level mobs. Many find 24 a big improvement. 29 is a good level if you can find a level 24 animal (I used the large dire wolf in permafrost).

[Vaarsuvius]

I did treants in SK as long as they conned blue to me

They can be hard if you let them buff when the spawn and cast their Dots / DDs on you but charming Elephants, or even better Bull Elephants worked great.

They were amazing xp & loot (tons of SP, GPS, FS staves, some minor gems).
Camp's quite popular, but I met a lot of nice people there and ended up sharing camp with (evil) necro | monks | shamans very often and it was even easier and a more relaxed camp

The vendor up top aviak city would also buy from/ sell to my iksar shaman so I 'd bound myself up there to sell without having to go back to NK gypsie camp

[Henlolizar]

Would the centaur merchant just SW of treants not sell to Iksar? That was incredibly convenient for my ogre. When you get too weighed down in junk currency, just buy/sell some Great Staffs at a small loss and keep on farming.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Since you are on blue, this is easier to solve. From levels 1-40, it is usually better to melee on a Shaman instead of using your DoTs. You correctly point out that Shaman damage spells are pretty bad early on.

You should haste yourself, slow the enemy, and melee the mob to death. This will be more mana efficient than using your DoTs, since you are only spending mana on slow and maybe malo if they are resisting your slows. Healing yourself after tanking the damage is also generally more mana efficient, since it cannot be resisted, unlike your DoTs.

Here is a list by level of what you should get weapon wise. This changes after certain levels due to the damage caps designed to limit how powerful a weapon is. Shamans use the Priest Table found here: https://wiki.project1999.com/Game_Me...bat_and_Damage

Levels 1-9: https://wiki.project1999.com/Smoldering_Brand
Levels 10-19: https://wiki.project1999.com/Guard_Captain%60s_Mallet (If you want to be lazy and stick to Smoldering brand until level 20, you probably could do that. If you want an upgrade, this is about the best you can get for cheap).
Levels 20-29: https://wiki.project1999.com/Poison_Wind_Censer
Levels 30-45: https://wiki.project1999.com/Granite_Face_Grinder

To farm the money for your weapon, go to Misty Thicket and kill Halfling Guards at the wall. They are good XP too until level 40. Deputy Felp and Deputy Looh are alone at the opposite ends of the wall, and should be fairly easy for you to do. They drop a 10pp spear 100% of the time, and are on a 6 minute timer.

When you need to sell, you can sell in Runneye if you haven't killed any Goblins in Runneye since the 2.0 revamp. There are a few merchants near the bottom of the zone, as well as a banker. You should be apprehensive to the merchants. The banker is on a different faction, but he won't attack you as long as you don't sit down in the banker room. You can bank at a banker even if they con scowling ready to attack. I would bind at the merchant and gate whenever I was full on spears. You should become very familiar with the layout of Runneye, and be able to run out fast back to the wall.

EDIT: Also buy a cheap haste item, like https://wiki.project1999.com/Silver_Chitin_Hand_Wraps . At level 29 you get your first haste spell, https://wiki.project1999.com/Quickness . With gloves and Quickness you will have 52% haste, which is pretty nice at level 29.

[Vaarsuvius]

Would the centaur merchant just SW of treants not sell to Iksar? That was incredibly convenient for my ogre. When you get too weighed down in junk currency, just buy/sell some Great Staffs at a small loss and keep on farming.

You're absolutely right, he would, but unlike the centaur vendor the aviak vendor has an unlimited amount of gems (topaz and a couple others IIRC) that you can buy and sell for a very small fee to turns all your gold/ silver / copper pieces into plays.
Then with sow, running back from KFC to treants takes a couple minute tops.

[Sinbillibnis]

From my experience, Gozuk and DeathsSilkyMist comments are spot on. For a lot of people getting a fungi or epic "early" can be difficult or even completely out of reach. When I hit 46 and got a jbb, I went from a slow, but steady solo'er, to feeling completely overpowered. A jbb, while not cheap should be significantly more attainable for most, excluding lizards of course.

There are milestones where the class has noticeable improvements in it's ability to solo: canni, pet, and once you get access to stronger slows, soloing becomes much more manageable.

For the most part you won't melt mobs, but you can sustain a steady grind as well asjust about any class after you get a pet and canni. This requires a more active play style, making use of global cool downs and being aware of server tick timing.

A fungi, epic, and/or jbb on its own can be game changing. With 2 of the 3 you are incredibly strong. If you have all 3, in my opinion, most normal content you would think for exp'ing purposes would be largely trivialized.

[kjs86z]

At 34 you can get surprisingly good XP charming animals.

Then at 39 you get canni 2, chloro, an even better pet, and a great slow where you / your pet can start tanking hardly taking much damage.

Keep at it, you're almost to the promised land!

[Christina.]

It'll get easier at 34.

[xaix1999]

don't listen to any one telling you to get a jbb or fungi or epic
you can't use them (except the fungi) for 20 levels at least

I'm an iksar but i got lucky and bought a scaled mystic set for cheap
I've been collecting and selling drops for a bit
I'm currently 36 and i got <100 str and stam with 174 wis
at 34 the pet is nice but most of the time hits for <28
which isn't bad since almost free damage and doesn't break charm

the real trick with wis shamans (I'm conjuration specc'd, i solo mostly) is planning your diseases and poisons
there will be slow levels like 29 wasn't super awesome for me
but at 34 i got a great disease spell and had a decent poison
24 you get canni so you can get your canni ticks while canni dancing
you will be a root/rot class for a while if not the rest of your levels
shamans that go melee usually have another character that farmed money to Twink out their shaman
it's not needed

if you are trying to be a wisdom shaman, at 24 you can group very well
at 29 you become more helpful in groups since you can haste your melee group mates
at 24 you can go to guk or even unrest, which both can keep you busy till at least 40
with shamans you can be one of two players
melee with fists full of cash
or a wis shaman that knows how to play their class and even experiments

[xaix1999]

some levels your poison does better
some levels your disease does better

[DeathsSilkyMist]

shamans that go melee usually have another character that farmed money to Twink out their shaman
it's not needed


You do not need to be heavily twinked to be a melee Shaman. You only need a good ratio weapon, a haste item, and a slow spell. You will get your first haste spell at 29, which will further increase your DPS.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Poison_Wind_Censer and https://wiki.project1999.com/Silver_Chitin_Hand_Wraps cost no more than 1.5k combined. Maybe cheaper if you get lucky.

It is very easy to farm 1.5k by the time you hit level 25, even if this is your first toon. Just kill Halfling Guards at the Misty Thicket wall for a bit. If you just camp Deputy Felp (single pull, level 25), you will make 100pp an hour, and get good xp. Once you hit level 27, you should be able to do Felp and Looh (single pull, level 27), which will double your pp per hour.

At low levels, Shaman DoTs are sadly just not very good. However, Shamans do get a maximum of 200 weapon skill by level 50. That is the same as a warrior! The only downside is Shamans use the Priest damage table, instead of the melee damage table. But that is made up for by the fact that Shamans can haste themselves, and STR buff themselves.

Melee Shamans will out DPS a root/rot Shaman at low levels with a good weapon and haste item, and you save more mana. This is because you aren't casting as many spells, and your spells are getting resisted less. You simply need to cast slow on the enemy, maybe a malo, and maybe a root. Your haste, str buff, and healing spells cannot be resisted by yourself.

The melee strategy works quite well up until level 40. Once you hit 40, monsters get a considerable boost to their HP, AC, and damage. This is where melee starts to fall off, since you are getting hit much harder, and missing more.

[xaix1999]

like i said


melee with fists full of cash


with my first character i didnt have 500p for a weapon or 1k for a haste item
so i understand

[DeathsSilkyMist]

with my first character i didnt have 500p for a weapon or 1k for a haste item
so i understand

Yes, I agree you may not be able to do the melee strategy very well under level 25 if this is your first toon, due to money camps being more scarce at low levels.

However, OP is level 27, so he can easily farm 1.5kpp on Halfling Guards, while getting good XP. Once he gets the 1.5kpp, he will be able to level significantly faster with https://wiki.project1999.com/Poison_Wind_Censer and https://wiki.project1999.com/Silver_Chitin_Hand_Wraps .

[xaix1999]

it's not needed

[DeathsSilkyMist]

it's not needed

That has nothing to do with the superiority of the strategy:) I am not forcing people to level efficiently. If you prefer root/rotting, that is fine. However, it sounds like OP wants to get out of the lower Shaman levels sooner rather than later. In that case, the melee strategy is better, and not very expensive.

[xaix1999]

and then he needs to get more ac items
because a weapon and being able to take a hit to the face dont go together

[xaix1999]

$$$

this is kinda why i take Death's opinion with a grain of salt as he thinks everyone has 10k in the bank
plus he thinks his way is better and everyone else opinion is wrong

[DeathsSilkyMist]

and then he needs to get more ac items
because a weapon and being able to take a hit to the face dont go together

Incorrect. Your slow is mitigating most of the damage, not your AC. I agree getting AC items helps, but it is not required, and a person tight on cash may not want to waste the money.

However, you can kill Halfling Guards until 40. So you can certainly make enough platinum between level 27-40 to fill all of your slots with decent gear. You make 100pp-600pp per hour at halflings, depending on how many you can kill per hour.


$$$

this is kinda why i take Death's opinion with a grain of salt as he thinks everyone has 10k in the bank
plus he thinks his way is better and everyone else opinion is wrong


Not sure where you are getting the 10k figure from. I already showed it takes about 1.5k to get a melee Shaman going. I also show how much money you can make per hour at Halfling Guards. In 7-15 hours of Halfling Guard soloing, you will have 1.5kpp, and a good chunk of XP to boot.

I would love to be proven wrong if you can show something other than your opinion I am wrong:)

[suljak]

Would the centaur merchant just SW of treants not sell to Iksar? That was incredibly convenient for my ogre. When you get too weighed down in junk currency, just buy/sell some Great Staffs at a small loss and keep on farming.

Yes, both the centaur merchant and the aviak merchant will sell/buy from an Iksar.

[Maschenny]

Your best bet is probably duoing with a melee class. Shamans are woefully underpowered during leveling, and mana is constantly a problem.

[jolanar]

When you first get pet it starts getting better.

39 is really where it takes off though. That's when I first started feeling powerful.

[xaix1999]

so i just got my shaman to 37 and I've been farming and leveling
upgraded my gear to 201 wisdom, spent about 6k plat
as i was leveling i would stick around the kunark island
i would choose my battles a lot based off the wiki info for 2-3 levels above the bottom of my consider
to keep things blue
also so i could plan out my poison or disease spells to keep my mana from being a problem
plus i got the mystic scaled set for 750
and a 150p spear (https://wiki.project1999.com/Thunder_Runed_War_Spear)
at 24 im sure i was killing giants at the giant fort looking for forest loops
you can do it friend and make money doing it
i was slowing to tank em
disease and poison them for dps
and just poking them with my spear
in groups i was tanking and healing
since debuffs make a lot of threat/hate
a monk or a necro is a good combo
with a sk i was mostly in healing mode

[Asteria]

Some really good discussion in this thread. :) 2 Different shaman play styles as mentioned here are definitely viable.

To answer you OP, I would say shaman soloing is better at 29 for sure if you have a good weapon as Death mentioned because of our 1st haste spell: https://wiki.project1999.com/Quickness. Haste is a really big deal in EQ, both soloing at this level (and up to 50+) and esp in groups.
Greater healing is also a big deal at 29: https://wiki.project1999.com/Greater_Healing. As some others before me mentioned, you can do some fun things and get decent DPS a few places like Permafrost, maybe some snake in Runneye? with a charmed animal pet between level 29 and 34 with: https://wiki.project1999.com/Befriend_Animal.

If it still feels like a slow slog to you after 29, try some grouping in places with a good ZEM/zone experience modifier or even soling in any of these places with the highest bonuses: https://wiki.project1999.com/ZEMs. Click on the column above 30 for the diff continents until it sorts the highest numbers to the top of the table to see the places you will get the most experience per kill. Doing that, we can see Permafrost, Runneye, Splitpaw, Cazic Thule, and the Warrens all have the highest rates. You can do some soling with care in Permafrost and Cazic Thule, probably the Warrens too. Runnyeye or Splitpaw you would want to group and be pretty careful. I suggest considering grouping because people will love your greater healing ability now at 29 -34 and a good group is gonna be safer/possibly better exp in these top exp spots. Upper Guk & SolA can also still be decent for this. Money/vendorquest items are pretty fantastic for the level in Upper Guk and SolA too.

When you get to level 34, you will feel a whole lot more powerful for soloing with a full-time hasted + SoW'd(outdoors) dogdog/spirit wolf pet + you hasted with a good weapon(+ maybe haste) if you still feel up to meleeing for efficiency or fun and have soso or better ac or hp gear. If you prefer dotting and medding or it seems better while soloing, then you can send your wolf pet in to tank a bit once you have the mob slowed. Use your best judgement on which slow to use depending on if you still think the mob is doing too much damage or not with walking sleep. Walking sleep will continue to be good enough for short fights or mobs that don't hit too hard. Use Tagar's if Walking doesn't seem good enough in longer fights.

Do your best to get 5ac/55hp rings or 6ac/65hp rings too if you don't have those. Even if you prefer to root rot, that extra ac/hp if always nice if you get beat on, but more HP gives you more HP to cannibalize into mana at will. Try to get a shrunken goblin skull earring asap if you don't have one to use it after every spell you cast to be able to instantly cast another spell faster than you otherwise could (Global cooldown reset). You can cannibalize twice quickly between a med tick this way or chain cast your buffs or debuffs/dots this way. If you want to chain cast the same spell twice in a row, be sure to put that spell in your top/#1 spell gem.

[Vaarsuvius]

like i said



with my first character i didnt have 500p for a weapon or 1k for a haste item
so i understand



Get you lvl 24 shaman to SteamFont, farm Mino axes, and/ or go to LFay and camp Sisters ad nauseum or until you get enough to get yourself a FBSS & decent ratio 2 hander.

As some said earlier, absolutely no need to be a "filthy" twink to do so.