Willowisps into Qhill bandits will fund that Banded situation. Around 20 try to get a Testament of Vanear. Try to target specific pieces you're looking for as you level and hunt in those zones. Early WIS items to chase after include-

Iksar Berserker Club in Kurn's
Prayer Cloth of Tunare in Crushbone
Testament of Vanear quest (Highpass is the bottleneck)
Paw of Opolla (Guk/Befallen)
Bloodstained Tunic in Unrest
Bloodstone Eyepatch in Mistmoore
etc etc.

If you construct your hunting list based on loot you hope to nab since you're going self-found, you can get upgrades as you level.

Iksar or Barbarian. Troll and Ogre have terrible starting and adjacent zones. Troll at least looks nice and has regen+snare neck, Ogre looks absolutely stupid. Barbarian has a rough time getting started in Everfrost (and now totally blind), but nearby Qeynos area is one of the best starting areas for a fresh player.. probably second to Iksar's Cabilis area, which is a gold mine and gets you 1-30 quick and with plat in the bank.

So scales>bear hat>purple eye face>>>>>>>>>stupid face butt crack fatty

Awesome! Just what i was hoping. If anyone else has any equipment goals / lists for self found as you level please let me know.

Mammoth hide cloak very attainable in the upper 20s in a group.
Will need to drag a group there, but perma is also a good xp spot if a little harder than others.

Rare drop but 20s -30s kunark giants can drop forest loops.

Depending on how "self-found" they're looking to be they wouldn't be able to bring a group. You kinda have to outlevel the gear you're farming pretty hard to do it safely solo.

Although as a shaman it's probably easier. When I did this on my warrior I couldn't go back to get gear from permafrost until my early 40's.

If you are going to stick to the "self found" idea for the entire life of the character, Troll is the best hands down.

They have better starting stats/faction than Iksar, plus Troll Regen, and you can get snare neck if you want. They also still have access to JBB.

It will be a long time before you get a regeneration item/Torpor, so Troll Regen is going to give you the best bang for your buck.

If you are a hardcore player and are good at finding/making groups, then Ogre would be a great choice too for endgame FSI.

Great suggestions. I'm mainly just not taking gifts and not buying gear.. but will gladly group, camp, etc. Also when soloing I'm not allowing outside buffs.

The tribunal necklace quest is halas seems like an early good magic weapon, any other thoughts on obtainable magic weapons?

Thanks again!

I wouldn't worry too much about magic weapons. Since you are going the self found route, meleeing isn't going to be very good. You can just root/rot the mobs.

There are some decent weapons you can get self found, like https://wiki.project1999.com/Gatorsmash_Maul , but without a haste item it isn't going to be amazing. You don't get your first haste spell until 29, so you got some time to find a decent weapon if you want to do some meleeing levels 30-40.

Levels 1-10 you can probably melee fine with a basic weapon since the mobs are really weak in that range, but you aren't going to be fighting anything that requires a magic weapon in that level range anyway.

congrats on your new dps class adventure!

Yea I agree if you're picking based on looks and don't really care pick whatever race you want. Troll and Iksar would be ideal. The regen is nice, but FSI is like starting with an item that gives you a unique ability that no item or other race/class combo will ever have.

If you're trying to squeeze every last drop of power out of the shaman class you pick Ogre