Making a Barb Shaman - Change my Mind

[Phobius]

Hey all,

So I am an oldschool EQ player (started right before Kunark dropped) and played until shortly after Velious was released. A friend and I played on blue for awhile, but when schedules didn't line up, we stopped playing (major props to the devs as we had a blast).

While my buddies "back in the day" all got to high levels, I always had a major case of rerollitis and never stuck with one char. I recently, however, finally managed to hit the level cap in Classic WoW so maybe at age 36 I can finally get a char to the level cap in EQ. So, here I am.

Realistically, I am likely going to be able to play in the mornings (EST) for a couple of hours and maybe a night or two a week as I have young kids. As I imagine this won't be peak hours, I want to make sure I play something that can solo reasonably well. And, if we are being honest, to prevent rerolling, I would like to pick a class that has a fun 1-60 experience; I would rather play a race/class that has an easier 1-60 experience than one that would be slightly better with BiS gear (as I am never going to get there).

With all that said, I am currently thinking Barb Shaman. My understanding is that Shammy is good solo or group. While I know ogre and troll have racial abilities and stats that might make them better, absent a guise, I think Barb looks cooler. One legit concern is am I going to have to run back to Halas to buy spells every few levels?

So, have at it. Based upon the limited info y'all now know about me, convince me I am making a bad choice and let me know what I should be playing. Or, maybe let me know what stats I should assign if I do roll a barb [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Thanks in advance.