Shaman race debate
 

I know this might be hidden in the forums somewhere, and trust me I tried to find a thread dedicated to it, but failed. So here goes:

What race is the best choice for shammy? Obviously good and evil both have implications to difficulty level in travel, banking, etc. But based on stats alone, which will give me the biggest leg up.

Secondary question ive got: I only have about 500p cash right now. Is it worth spending a week or so farming some plat with my 42 enc, or are shamans not gear dependent at all? If so, where are some good spots I could farm with my ench? I was thinking halfling guards would be relatively easy. Any tips there?

Thanks and sorry if this is reposty

Dev

Probably Iksar because of their natural regen abilities. As a shaman you will canni often. As an iksar you will naturally regain HP faster.

For shaman, Ogre is the undisputed best class. There are many factors to consider, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that Ogres are Ogres. Unlike other races which are nowhere near as Ogre-like as Ogres, with most of them actually being not even remotely Ogre-like, Ogres have the unique ability to be Ogres. Ask yourself, do you really want to be going up against PD or AoW (when velious comes out) while simultaneously not being an Ogre?

there are more questions to ask than simply "what race"

do you want to solo? do you want to pvp? do you want to be able to travel freely and take druid ports without fear of getting attacked at certain rings? do you have cash to afford fungi? torpor?

ogres have frontal stun immunity
trolls and iksar have regen
iksars lack bash

all are KoS to most other races (iksar more so)

barbs have bash, aren't KoS everywhere, but lack the perks of the other races

so get your priorities straight and you'll be able to answer your own question. then pick the race that looks the coolest.

People can make decent arguments for troll and ogre. Play whatever race you like and get good at it. Brief summary of talking points for each race:

Ogre: stun immunity, no regen, can use plate, dat sta/str so gud
Troll: regen, can use plate, good sta/str
Iksar: regen, no plate, meh sta/str
Barb: no regen, can use plate, ok sta/str

edit: as mentioned above, big guys get bash too

Some light reading:
http://wiki.project1999.com/Shaman
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=134483
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=172855
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=168526
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=165980
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=118245
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=147407
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=146409
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=142345
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=134615
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=140802
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=140500

People are going to say Iksar or Troll or Ogre. Barb is easily left behind simply on Racial abilities, but have the least amount of exp penalty.

You need to take into account the racial exp penalties that affect Iksar/Troll/Ogre.

Troll probably most well rounded. Slam/Regen

Ogre if you want to eek out the tiniest sliver of performance upgrade for frontal stun immunity.

Iksar can't use JBB , if you are inclined to want that item.



If you aren't dropping a fungi+Epic on this shaman and plan to go through the ropes and level normally, try Iksar or Troll.

You also need to consider that most of it becomes a wash once you get level 60 and the spell Torpor which will break your bank.

slightly misleading, shaman class gets chain, not plate, but some unclassified armor is only useable by plate races (chitin, jaundiced, etc) because it LOOKS like plate.

shamans don't get plate, but iksar can't wear everything the other guys can

Stats are the worst (from a power-gaming perspective) way to pick a race. Racial abilities are far more relevant ...

• Ogre is the best race if you get to level 60 and get Torpor. Torpor basically negates the benefits of Troll/Iksar regen, so at this (very late) stage of the game Ogre has the only racial that matters (and no one cares about XP penalties at level 60)
• Iksar are the next best at 60, because regeneration is awesome until you get Torpor, and because Iksar have an AC bonus that is still useful at 60. Iksar can't use the Jaundiced Bone Bracer, which is a very useful item from 45-59, but by the time you get 60 it's not so relevant
• Trolls are basically same as Iksar, except with no AC bonus and they can use the Jaundiced Bone Bracer (and they need slightly less faction work). This makes Trolls slightly worse than Iksar at 60 (because of no AC bonus) but better up until then because of the JBB
• Barbarians have the lowest XP penalty and don't need faction work, so they'll level the fastest. But once they get to 60 they have no cool racials.

So basically, IF you want the most powerful race, and if you're in it for the long haul it's hard to argue against Ogre; it is the best race once you have level 60/Torpor. If you don't think you'll ever save up 100k for Torpor, maybe consider Iksar (better at 60) or Troll (almost as good at 60, and will have an easier time getting there). Only pick Barbarian if you really hate fixing faction or are in a hurry to level up (or, like me, you're just a masochist who loves Barbarian Shaman).

ogre racial only slightly matters. you still get interrupted by push when channeling fails. it only prevents you from getting stunned from frontal cone, so a bash from the rear or side will still stun/interrupt.

ogre is only more beneficial when you intend to solo a lot at max level and can take full advantage of the stun immunity.

That's true, the Ogre frontal stun immunity is not a HUGE ability. Certainly other races can be perfectly viable Shaman, and can even solo Velious mobs without it. And yeah, if you're the rare Shaman who plans to never solo at level 60, then it's really not that great.

But the point is, when you compare it to other race's abilities, at level 60/with Torpor no one else has anything better. Iksar/Troll regen just doesn't matter much when you can heal yourself so easily with Torpor. Iksar have a few more points of AC, but the difference those few points make in practice is extremely minimal (and perhaps completely meaningless for a raid Shaman who can get enough AC to hit the cap?). And the Barbarian's faction/low XP penalty is also completely meaningless at 60.

So it's not that the Ogre's racial is anything that great, it's just better than everything else (at 60/with Torpor).