Thats cause they're so dependent on their pets, and their pets don't tank like they should (also don't cast like they should, but the hate generation is the bigger issue).

Necros just cast fear and then their pet holding aggro doesn't matter as much (while xp'ing, super annoying when trying to farm greens with a pet and they won't hold hate).

The pet nerf just totally screwed Mages. No way you can do 51% or more damage than the pet. And chain casting them is NOT an option. On here you get weak pets and strong pets. Might take 10 casts to get a good one. Then you buff it and equip it. Not really going to just delete it for the hell of it. Playing a Mage on here sucks now compared to what it did. Not counting Pet agro issues like has been said.

Mine had been parked for a LONG time.

Yeah that 51% crap really turned me away and mage is my favorite class. I have half a dozen level 100 mages on Live lmao.

Most / least gear dependent (imo) in order ...

War > Monk > Rogue > Ranger > Paladin / SK > Shaman > Cleric > Druid > Cloth Casters

A Rogue with an epic will move behind a Ranger or even a Paladin / SK in terms of gear dependency as a majority of Rogue DPS comes from backstab (Ragebringer).

Shamans are successful geared or ungeared. With that being said, like a previous poster, a geared Shaman is extremely powerful.

Shaman / Enchanter / Magician / Wizard / Monk / Cleric

I say warrior at lvl 28 i am the most useless mother fekker in da game!!!! I rven got a sash of dragonborn and. 70K wirth of gear. He is worthless char , but god awful fun

play a necro. they need no gear ans are OP and easy to level

nope

Well... that guide is most likely written from the perspective of level 60. Let's be honest here, until the very highest levels, shamans are pretty shit. They can mitigate this better than most classes with twink gear, since their gear options are pretty good (fungi, poison wind censor, JBB, etc).

At 60 with full spells a shaman can solo better naked than other classes can with full BIS gear. And since gear generally makes a bigger difference for shamans than other casters, once you gear out your level 60 shaman in BIS... yeah, that's when the overpowered label comes in.

Honestly I think enchanter is the closest answer to your question, but you said other than an enchanter. Charisma and int gear is cheap, they bring a ridiculous amount of power to groups when played correctly, and can solo with the best of them.

Shamans are similar but are slightly more dependent on more expensive gear, and their power curve is more like a cliff while enchanters ramp fairly evenly.

Past that we're starting to consider things like necromancers, which are much less wanted in groups even though a well played necromancer can bring quite a bit.

I guess bard could also be an answer. Some groups try to avoid them because of the hybrid penalty and the fact that some bards are pretty awful. But if an enchanter can't be found, most groups will invite a bard. Ignoring the epic, playing a bard is a lot more about personal skill than gear.

I felt like druid was a good first choice- until probably 39ish when clrs get ch you can ge away with playing mh np, solo ability is good, money is great and of course sow is always a plus before you can afford jboots.

I wouldnt recommend making a druid exclusively for the money, but its certainly a class that can make plat outta thin air+2 mins (porting), giving you the money to get a good start as another class