First Character, Starting to struggle a little..

[MechanicalNecro]

Hey all, so after discovering P99 I got that nostalgic itch after not playing EQ when my computer wasn't good enough to run Luclin way back in the day, and I was a poor 12 y/o that didn't know anything about computers or had the money to upgrade. :D

Anyway, so I have rolled a Shaman, as it looked interesting. I've been following the Evil Shaman solo guide and it's been really good, as I'm up to level 40 and currently fighting Spectres in Feerrott. The issue I'm having is that the guide doesn't talk about when to transition to root/rotting, or even what spells and buffs I should be using throughout these levels regardless of slow tanking or root/rotting. I'm not what many would consider being twinked, but I have a few +wis items. I still find myself down to 25-35% mana just getting a round of spells off on these Spectres, not including resists, and trying to canni when I can. though, I still only have canni 1.

I don't have a guild to ask, and the couple RL friends I have that do play have never played a shaman. Any advice?

[long.liam]

Hey all, so after discovering P99 I got that nostalgic itch after not playing EQ when my computer wasn't good enough to run Luclin way back in the day, and I was a poor 12 y/o that didn't know anything about computers or had the money to upgrade. :D

Anyway, so I have rolled a Shaman, as it looked interesting. I've been following the Evil Shaman solo guide and it's been really good, as I'm up to level 40 and currently fighting Spectres in Feerrott. The issue I'm having is that the guide doesn't talk about when to transition to root/rotting, or even what spells and buffs I should be using throughout these levels regardless of slow tanking or root/rotting. I'm not what many would consider being twinked, but I have a few +wis items. I still find myself down to 25-35% mana just getting a round of spells off on these Spectres, not including resists, and trying to canni when I can. though, I still only have canni 1.

I don't have a guild to ask, and the couple RL friends I have that do play have never played a shaman. Any advice?

The Spectres might be a little too close to your level at level 40. I would wait a bit longer to do them. I would try slow tanking/or rooting rotting the guards in North Karana. Those are a lot easier. Also the geonids in crystal caverns are pretty easy too. The spectres are ok at 45+, but Not as good on a shaman because of the lifetaps they do. Spectres are usually a camp for necro, cleric, paladin, because of their undead only nukes, fears and charms etc.

[Toxigen]

Find yourself a monk or warrior to duo with. EZ game EZ life

[Andyman1022]

Are you on blue or green?

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Welcome! Levels 40+ are kind of a weird place for Shamans until they get Torpor. Slow Tanking starts to become less efficient on mobs that are level 40+ due to the big boost in stats all level 40+ mobs get. You will be hit harder, and and will hit less hard with your own melee in turn.

Spectres can't get to level 40, I am simply pointing out you are getting to the transitional phase where you will want to do more root rotting. If you were twinked enough (Fungi Staff + Fungi Tunic + Jaundiced Bone Bracer + Black Dire Boots), then Slow Tanking is still a great strategy up until 60, as you are saving a lot of mana/hp with those items. But that isn't the case for you it sounds like.

Without any of the twink items mentioned above or Epic, you are going to have to settle for killing lower level blues that aren't very resistant if you want to solo efficiently. If the mob is resisting your spells too much or root breaking too much, you should probably find something easier to kill instead of trying to improve the fight with malaise/malaisement. Any time you can avoid using malaise/malaisement in a fight, you are saving mana. Try experimenting on the mobs you are killing by killing them with and without malaise/malaisement. If you don't notice a huge difference, then you can simply avoid casting it.

One general strategy you can try is to summon your pet, haste your pet, root the mob, slow the mob, /pet attack the mob, and DoT as you can. Meditate/Canni dance as much as possible in-between doing those things. Back the pet off when it's HP is low so it can recover. You don't want your pet to die, as it costs a lot of mana to resummon.

It has been a long time since I was a Shaman of that level, so I can only give suggestions as to which DoT combinations you should use. You will need to experiment to find which are most efficient for the specific fights you are going into. This is going to be based on the time it takes to complete the fight.

Envenomed Breath + Venom of the Snake (Shaman Poison and Disease DoTs do stack with each other if they are different spells) will give you the same DPS as Scourge + Venom of the Snake, but for 260 mana instead of 330 mana. For fights that only last a minute, this is probably the better combination, as Scourge takes 2 minutes to deal it's full damage, and you are spending less mana.

If the fight consistently lasts for roughly 2 minutes, then Scourge + 2x Venom of the Snake will be better. Scourge + 2x Venom of the Snake is a total of 1450 damage for 490 mana. 2x Envenomed Breath + 2x Venom of the Snake is 1344 damage for 520 mana. The difference between the two combinations isn't huge, but that 30 mana difference adds up over time if you are playing for a while.

[Xakasle]

Welcome back to Norrath. Just that, no shaman wisdoms but always nice to see returning players. If you ask any of my guys in Homeland online, they should be happy to help though.

[Toxigen]

Untwinked: just find any warrior / monk / paladin / sk / ranger with half a heartbeat and you're good to go.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Untwinked: just find any warrior / monk / paladin / sk / ranger with half a heartbeat and you're good to go.

Agreed, duoing is a great option too. If OP knows both routes (how to solo and group), they will be able to level up in whichever method they prefer.

[Trexller]

Toxigen won

[Snaggles]

Sham’s ramp pretty slow. 44 and especially 49 spells are game changers.
JBB at 45 too.

It’s not as painful as some classes but is plodding. If you like the overall vibe keep the faith.

[Loadsamoney]

Blue or Green? I might have a couple starter items to help you if you're on Blue.

[rhold]

My main character on Live was a Shaman and mobs that I struggled with at level 43 became so easy with level 44 spells that I could kill 2 of them at a time.

It will get better.

[Sizar]

Basically NEVER cast a DoT while soloing, unless you get impatient, or know you need to kill a mob quickly. Shaman DoT's are super mana inneficient. Get a decent weapon, haste item if you can afford it, and slow / face tank. Your pet is your best dot.

It is far more efficient to use your mana to heal yourself than it is using it for dots or nukes

[zelld52]

Basically NEVER cast a DoT while soloing, unless you get impatient, or know you need to kill a mob quickly. Shaman DoT's are super mana inneficient. Get a decent weapon, haste item if you can afford it, and slow / face tank. Your pet is your best dot.

It is far more efficient to use your mana to heal yourself than it is using it for dots or nukes

From 40-49 or so, I slow tanked with pet behind meleeing. 21% haste, Granite Face Grinder and biggest slow you've got. (Although I used Drowsy until Turgurs)

Can go on consistently without needing mana for DoTs. I used Drowsy because its only 20 mana cost and 25% slow, so super efficient.

Spectres were tough for me at 40, because they hit so hard. And they also stun / lifetap proc. At 40, I found great success with rogue / monk / warrior / ranger duos in places like Cazic Thule. City of Mist is also a good spot if you can get there during off-hours, specifically the stables. The mobs hit hard there, but a big slow should work well.