[DrKvothe]

The shaman epic is pretty OP as well. I'm at 59 without torpor funds yet, but I've always been welcome in groups just for buffs + slow. I can solo HS ent with ease for fast exp to 60, despite otherwise poor gear. Maybe torpor shaman is completely OP, but if torpor didn't exist shaman would still be considered a strong class for someone who wants to group and solo.

You play the class, not the race. Do you want to play a monk, or do you want to play a shaman? They're both great classes, but they have hardly anything in common.

IMO shaman should be troll or ogre. Both are great. Troll gets better regen, which matters at least until you get torpor, at which point you're a god, while ogres get frontal stun immunity which is good but not as OP as it sounds (you still get interrupted by push or attacks from outside your 90 degree frontal cone). I'd go troll, since I much prefer the look of them in armor, and fashionquest > FSI.

Trolls get my absolute favorite noobie zone: Innothule Swamp. This place doesn't have any of the awkward levels where all the mobs are either two levels below or a level above you; there's a pretty full continuum to maximize your exp rate. Frogs drop woven and mesh armor, which sells well and includes magic gloves you can give or sell to any noobie monks you meet so that they can punch willowisps. You can play around in the entrance of Guk, and at around lvl 10 you can level very quickly in SRO if you can find a partner to help you break the camps (most are 3 spawns, but pretty easily duo'd). I also like oasis a lot for grouping in the teens. Finally, you're very close to EC tunnel, unlike iksars and (to a lesser extent) barbarians, who will need to risk life and limb or get a port.

By comparison, field of bone is a huge pain in the ass. It's difficult to single pull, then you get to the pit and you've got to hand pick your mobs from a sea of roaming red cons. If you're lucky you'll find a friendly druid for a chloro and DS buff to help you through a level or two, or there will be a group you can join in a non-puller role. Kurns is ok, but those bone chips in your bags and bank aren't helping you buy your current spells, and you're in a land of endless supply and little demand. The game is so much easier if you can buy a decent 50 pp weapon and some 5/55 rings, but that's difficult to do if you're an iksar because you're so far from EC.