Shaman Guide For New Players

[Estu]

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

First-time SHM here just hit lvl 19. I've been doing croc groups but starting to look for new grounds.

I've been slowing with drowsy even though I have the lvl 14 slow - is this a mistake? It's much more mana efficient and seems to land easier. Groups aren't dying. I pull w/ Drowsy and then beat it with a stick. Maybe a dot if it's an even con.

Also, I just got Malaise and am wondering where it is best used. Pulls are so fast in groups I just can't seem to justify using many of the spells I have atm. Besides, when not pulling with drowsy I'm constantly being asked for buffs inside and out of group. Should I save these debuff lines for larger encounters, or am I being a slacken shaman?

Using a fine-steel 2hb and 1hb (trading to keep skill). Is the springwood club the cheapest/easiest weapon upgrade to look for? I'm pretty busted after spells and banded armor, although sowing at the docks has helped a bit.

1) Don't melee stuff in a group when you could be medding. If you want to DPS, you can do it better by nuking than by meleeing (especially if your best weapon is fine steel). Any time a caster who can meditate (i.e. is level 4+ for INT casters or 8+ for WIS casters) is meleeing in a group, they're doing it wrong.

2) Don't slow stuff until you're at least 30ish+. Low level slows don't do very much (drowsy is only about a 15% slow at your level) but they still take a noticeable amount of your mana and have high aggro. If you want to prevent someone from taking damage, heal them instead. If you want to pull, use something low-aggro like your level 1 nuke so that the tank can grab the monster off of you easily.

As a shaman, your role in a group at low levels is primarily that of a healer and secondarily that of a buffer. You can also root for crowd control, and you can nuke if you have extra mana. As you get higher level, slows will come into play more.

[Macdeth]

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

1) Don't melee stuff in a group when you could be medding. If you want to DPS, you can do it better by nuking than by meleeing (especially if your best weapon is fine steel). Any time a caster who can meditate (i.e. is level 4+ for INT casters or 8+ for WIS casters) is meleeing in a group, they're doing it wrong.

2) Don't slow stuff until you're at least 30ish+. Low level slows don't do very much (drowsy is only about a 15% slow at your level) but they still take a noticeable amount of your mana and have high aggro. If you want to prevent someone from taking damage, heal them instead. If you want to pull, use something low-aggro like your level 1 nuke so that the tank can grab the monster off of you easily.

As a shaman, your role in a group at low levels is primarily that of a healer and secondarily that of a buffer. You can also root for crowd control, and you can nuke if you have extra mana. As you get higher level, slows will come into play more.

I see both of your points, thanks. The only counter-point I would raise is that I've often been the tank in my groups. There have been a ton of clerics and druids around to group with it seems. The few tanks I have grouped with have been really bad at keeping the pace going. I was grouping with an excellent monk for awhile but the few times we had a tank class they weren't cutting it so we decided I'd just tank. As she pulled them in I could instantly get aggro with drowsy so she could be off to grab another, and healers were fine keeping me up.

If I get a group with a proper tank class I'll try your suggestions. Nukes seem so mana-intensive, though. Again, thanks for that advice I will surely try it! I like a properly structured group with a fast puller and everyone doing there job, but sometimes you work with what you have.

[Estu]

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

I see both of your points, thanks. The only counter-point I would raise is that I've often been the tank in my groups. There have been a ton of clerics and druids around to group with it seems. The few tanks I have grouped with have been really bad at keeping the pace going. I was grouping with an excellent monk for awhile but the few times we had a tank class they weren't cutting it so we decided I'd just tank. As she pulled them in I could instantly get aggro with drowsy so she could be off to grab another, and healers were fine keeping me up.

If I get a group with a proper tank class I'll try your suggestions. Nukes seem so mana-intensive, though. Again, thanks for that advice I will surely try it! I like a properly structured group with a fast puller and everyone doing there job, but sometimes you work with what you have.

Sure, if you don't have a tank then all bets are off. If you do have a tank but they can't hold aggro, root is a good way to guarantee that they hold aggro (a rooted monster will always attack whoever is closest). I think as you get higher level you'll see more tanks and more competent tanks.

[Rupertox]

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

. If you want to pull, use something low-aggro like your level 1 nuke so that the tank can grab the monster off of you easily.
.

Initial agro cap is 50, so that is not very accurate :P

[Estu]

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

Initial agro cap is 50, so that is not very accurate :P

Hmm, wasn't aware of this.

[Rupertox]

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

Hmm, wasn't aware of this.

Yea initial agro is capped at 50 so if you PULL with slow, tank will be able to PULL agro off you very fast.