Shaman Advice
 

I am level 9 and I thought with the new spell line that my exp would start to flow, but it seems to be the contrary.

I am killing Aviaks (blue - yellow) in Lake Rath. Most of the time I have to med after each fight. I pull with tainted breath, slap on sicken, and cycle fleeting fury. Is there a better approach at this level? I get 1-2% per kill. At this rate I estimate 5-6 hours for level 9. Unless I gain some super ability, I'm afraid of what things will be like in the 20s.

Am I going about this wrong or is this par for a solo shaman?

get the best weapon you can afford and pretend you're some kind of mdps hybrid until you are in your 20's or 30's. Hell, some shamans keep meleeing until 60.

it'll pick up by 24 when you get canni and regen, just open with slow, then posion, and pretend youre a melee til either 19 or 24, then start getting used to root/rot

So 5-6 hours for shaman lvl 9 is normal. I just need to suck it up and grind. I have an ykeshan war club and some banded. I thought that was pretty good. Is there something better, and affordable, that I should shoot for?

Thanks for the replies!

I'm on a business trip this week. Think I'll grab some take-out tonight and just grind away. Sadly grouping is not an option with this crappy laptop :(

You are in the right spot to level, can go 9-14 there; i recommend investing in a Poison Wind Censer, a very awesome yet cheap 2hb weapon that simply rapes all the way up until it starts to proc (level 50 I think). Forget about using the level 5 disease dot, just use your level 9 poison dot, and throw in a frost rift (the 15 damage DD) to help you kill them.

The key part of this: Grab you a Poison Wind Censer on the cheap...best investment you will ever make to help you level up to 50, trust me.

i was writing up a post recommending the poison wind censor as well, but it might be a bit out of range for a newbie at 1-2k.

i solo'd in blackburrow collecting fangs til level 14 with a fine steel spear someone gave me when i first started, banded/war club should be more than enough to sustain you for a good while.

i wouldnt even bother with your nukes, theyre terribly inefficient, just slow/poison and save mana for heals or rooting unwanted adds.

at 19 you can start root rotting in karanas with your new disease and tainted breath, by 24 you'll be a soloing machine with regen and cani.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll try to fill out the rest of my slots with banded and start looking for a poison wind censer.

Shaman are so awful until 24. Then slightly less awful, but still disgustingly bad, until 34.

To put this in context, this was my solo'ing experience on red99:

I did levels 34+35(hell)+36 faster than 32+33.
I did 35 (hell) as fast as I did most levels 19-23.

I can do a level 34+ significantly faster than I could solo a level 24-33.
I could solo a level 24-33 slightly faster than 16ish-23.

The life of an untwinked shaman.

Make sure you are using Inner Fire as your heal. This will help your mana consumption. It shouldn't be 6 hours for level 9. That is much too long imo.