Shaman questions

[Fearghus]

I love playing a barb shammy. Fearghus is only level13 (maybe 14?) but I've had a blast. I plan on leveling him all the way up. I'm not a min-maxer, though I do want to be as bad ass as I can be.

I like helping people. I like buffing noobs, PLing guildies, assisting folks in transfers and that kinda thing. I also like the crafting and trading game and making plat. So for me playing a barb makes doing the things I like doing a bit easier. Having access to the good cities for their banks, merchants and crafting stations is really nice. I know I could do all of this as an evil character, but it is so much easier to run to Freeport for items or cash in the bank then it is to run to Neriak.

Come POK, shared banking and the bazaar, this point is pretty much moot, but as it is now playing a barb is much more enjoyable for me then any other race.

[mgellan]

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

Come POK, shared banking and the bazaar, this point is pretty much moot, but as it is now playing a barb is much more enjoyable for me then any other race.

Since there will never be a POK, shared banking and the bazaar in this server your enjoyment will just go on and on [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Regards,
Mg

PS Agree 100% on your philosophy BTW [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Barbs FTW!

[Noselacri]

It is, I had three different race shaman up to level 50+ on Live classic (1999-2000). The Iksar had equivalent level armor (most from kunark (seb armor, cant really remember but it had high AC and iksar could wear) and plane of hate iksar only armor). By the time I was level 53 or so my iksar had over 100 extra total AC...for example my troll had 950 AC and my Iksar had 1050 AC. This isn't raw AC it's total. If played right, that 100 extra AC becomes important. It essentially creates more mana for the iksar as he takes less damage and therefore needs to be healed less often than an ogre, troll, or barb.

No, it isn't. It's a widely known fact that iksar AC bonus maxes at 42 points of AC. To this very day on Live, iksar is the best tank races because of that tiny amount, but it's more because noone else gets much of anything now that stats are easily maxed and everything can be compensated for with AAs. The iksar AC bonus was never 100, and you must have been comparing two characters with different gear. You need to compare two naked characters with maxed defense and the exact same agility in order to see it, not just "two chars with similar sort of gear".

I would like to add in that it would be a good debate to see who is the second best shaman: iksar or ogre. It's extremely close, and although I did say iksar earlier I can understand how some will say ogre being the second best shaman (the JBB = free damage).

Come Kunark, ogre is the best. The innate regeneration becomes almost pointless once you have Torpor. Up until you get your high-level spells, it's pretty much a toss-up between ogre and troll, with iksar always coming in third because of their much lower stamina and the plate limitation which will restrict you from using a number of items that you otherwise would have upgraded to throughout your life. It matters less in the end game, but on the way there, a lot of shaman-specific gear counts as plate. Ogre is the only race whose innate abilities never become obsolete or decrease in value.