Class Advice

[t3hWheez]

Hello all,

I am new to P99 and have started a Troll Shaman recently and am wondering if I've made the right choice. I know as a level 9, its hard to imagine what could possibly lie in my future on the server but from my experience so far, I find it a little boring.

I have always gravitated to classes that are in a more support role, playing Shaman in WoW as well as playing a Cleric in Everquest when it originally launched.

What does raiding look like for a Shaman at higher levels? From my grouping in Guk and Crushbone, it appears my job is to just buff/med over and over again. I have so many buffs even at level 9, its pretty intense. Maybe I am just playing the class wrong. Ever since I got Meditate, my mana regeneration has gone way up which is nice so I am able to be more flexible with what I can do but.. I don't really want to play a class that just sits and buffs for their lifetime.

So in all, what is the life of a Shaman in raids/high level groups? If I am right on what they seem to do, what class do you think I could be into instead? I want to support, but don't want to afk the whole time to just buff.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

(ps, posted same thread to reddit to get as many thoughts as possible)

[ScaringChildren]

the Shaman's main role is to buff group members and slow enemies (they usually don't start slowing until the 20's though)

Secondary role is probably healing.

They're one of the best soloers at end game though. Once you have Torpor and Epic, you're an unstoppable machine.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by t3hWheez [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

What does raiding look like for a Shaman at higher levels? From my grouping in Guk and Crushbone, it appears my job is to just buff/med over and over again. I have so many buffs even at level 9, its pretty intense. Maybe I am just playing the class wrong. Ever since I got Meditate, my mana regeneration has gone way up which is nice so I am able to be more flexible with what I can do but.. I don't really want to play a class that just sits and buffs for their lifetime.

So in all, what is the life of a Shaman in raids/high level groups? If I am right on what they seem to do, what class do you think I could be into instead? I want to support, but don't want to afk the whole time to just buff.

In a typical raid I show up and start buffing people. That's mainly just two buffs (Focus of Spirit and Riotous Health, and the latter I can cast from my breastplate) on all melees. Sometimes necros need regen, or someone needs SoW, but mostly that's it for buffing. After that I do two things: keep my group alive with Torpor, and slow mobs (which often requires Maloing them first). I'm a terrible Shaman, so I die often, which then means a whole lot of Torporing myself and Cannabalizing to catch up on mana.

In groups its mostly the same, but less people = less buffing. But again I slow (sometimes with Malo first) and keep people alive with Torpor. If there's no Enchanter I haste, but otherwise it's pretty much just Focus/Stamina. Depending on the camp I may use a pet, but I don't use the pet on any camp where mobs get mezzed a lot, because if I did I'd have to pay attention to keeping my pet from attacking the mezzed mobs (and in a group his DPS is pretty minor so it's not worth the hassle).

FWIW I enjoy playing my shaman on both raids and in groups, even at level 60. Hope that helps.

P.S. The class doesn't really pick up until 24 or so. Before that all you can really do is root/rot, slowly. Once you hit 24 you have most of your class defining stuff, like Cannibalize, that helps make play a lot less boring. But between where you are and 24 is a bit of a test of patience (like a precursor for the one in your epic).

[MamaKan]

I see a lot of leveling shamans that overbuff. They want to put everything on everyone and then say they dont' have enough mana to heal or slow. This is wrong [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

At lower levels just throw strengh on your melees, haste on the top 2 melee dps and regen (when you have it) to people that sustain the most damage. The rest of the time just melee dps if you have a decent weapon or med for nukes/heals/slows. In many group scenarios even slowing is a waste of mana.

But you've made a great choice to start on p99 imo. Shamans are powerhouses in solo, duo, trio, group and raid scenarios. Once you get cannibalize and regen you will start enjoying it a lot more, once you get torpor and epic you'll be a god [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[bluntfang]

lvls 1-15 will be boring for pretty much any class, imo.

[kjs86z]

Originally Posted by MamaKan [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I see a lot of leveling shamans that overbuff. They want to put everything on everyone and then say they dont' have enough mana to heal or slow. This is wrong [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

At lower levels just throw strengh on your melees, haste on the top 2 melee dps and regen (when you have it) to people that sustain the most damage. The rest of the time just melee dps if you have a decent weapon or med for nukes/heals/slows. In many group scenarios even slowing is a waste of mana.

But you've made a great choice to start on p99 imo. Shamans are powerhouses in solo, duo, trio, group and raid scenarios. Once you get cannibalize and regen you will start enjoying it a lot more, once you get torpor and epic you'll be a god [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Basically this.

Stick with shaman, they're the late game kings of solo / small groups and will keep you busy farming for things like Torpor, Epic, etc.

[t3hWheez]

Now that I have meditate I spend much less time sitting down but its still kind of boring. I was thinking about playing some type of Tank or a Bard to be a little more active. I like the idea of Shadow Knight being a Tank and effective against undead.

[kjs86z]

Originally Posted by t3hWheez [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Now that I have meditate I spend much less time sitting down but its still kind of boring. I was thinking about playing some type of Tank or a Bard to be a little more active. I like the idea of Shadow Knight being a Tank and effective against undead.

Bard is the busiest class. If you want self-induced carpal tunnel....go for it.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by t3hWheez [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Now that I have meditate I spend much less time sitting down but its still kind of boring. I was thinking about playing some type of Tank or a Bard to be a little more active. I like the idea of Shadow Knight being a Tank and effective against undead.

Well, Shaman aren't for everyone, so you should totally go with whatever class most appeals to you.

But I will say that a Shaman's life is all about reducing the amount of time you spend meditating. It begins when you get your first Cannibalize spell, and ends when you hit 60, get Torpor and Cannibalize IV, and then you pretty much never need to meditate ever again.

Originally Posted by kjs86z [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bard is the busiest class. If you want self-induced carpal tunnel....go for it.

So true.

[Foxplay]

Shaman the only caster so good it eventually doesn't even need meditate