Originally Posted by Danth
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That's the thing Loramin, having to tank is just as inefficient for the regular melee types. They have to absorb those same big hits (and more of them due to no slow), and might not have any heal spells to top up health with afterward. The difference is that the melees have little choice but to suck it up, while the Shaman has the more efficient root-based option staring him in the face. Ie, you're not wrong, you're very much right--just remember to apply it to everyone. Even without level 60 and Torpor, the Shaman still gets slow, regen, and decent heals in due time. Want a direct comparison from when the wife and I were leveling our Shadow Knight and Shaman (circa 2012)?
Because of our life (a newborn in the house) at that time both of us had to solo a lot, sometimes alternating one on here while the other took care of the daughter. We solo'd major portions of every level, sometimes the majority, at least into the 40's.
--Can't compare for the teens, my SK was an older, existing alt of mine that was already level 20 before the wife created her Shaman.
--During the low 20's the Shadow Knight had the advantage, especially during the 22-24 period where it could fear-kite and before the Shaman had canni. For that brief period my SK could level quicker than the wife's Shaman even in spite of the 40% penalty hybrids had at the time. From 24 to 29 the Shaman was roughly even in exp-gain rate, meaning the SK was still killing more due again to the now-removed experience penalty. The SK overwhelmingly fear-kited, and wasn't usually doing it in dungeon zones.
--From 29 onward the Shaman enjoyed a modest advantage, and from 34 onward the advantage became pronounced. By 40 there was no contest.
By 40, however, nobody really wanted to melee solo. The Shaman could do it, but as you said it was always better to play it like a caster. It could fight straight-up if it wanted to, but it never felt like there was much point in doing it that way unless the player simply felt like doing it. The Shadow Knight didn't want to melee straight-up either; the hits are high and the health recovery time--long. Until 50+, on the SK your only lifetap is a miserable 45 points, with high mana consumption. Face-tanking and spamming away with lifetap to keep going meant lengthy downtime.
--At 60 the Shadow Knight can get into camps and break camps much more easily than the Shaman. It's a great class for getting around and seeing parts of the game that few other players get to see. Once camp's broken and settled the Shaman's much stronger, whether it chooses to play as a caster or melee. It doesn't even need the meditate skill, the wife basically never sits unless she's AFK anyway.
That being said, stick those two classes together (or a Monk in place of the SK, they'll do the same stuff) and you have nearly all Norrath at your fingertips. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, and as a duo we can do things that neither of us can solo.
Basically, I was trying to answer the OP's question within its parameters: If he wants to solo and do it in melee, I think the Shaman will give him the best long-term service. It'd probably be dreary at lower levels so if he wants instant gratification, pick something else. In reality I don't think he should necessarily do it at all, but that isn't what he asked. The only time melee-based solo-leveling really shines in this game is when the melee has expensive high-end droppable items (fungi, haste, etc) so as to overpower the content.
Danth
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