Best Shaman Race?

[eisley]

Do be aware that JBB/iksar armor & faction penalty, and slam all become complete non-factors in Velious, which is not too far off.

Soloing hard things early in Kunark undeniably came down to tenacity, as well as having Puppet Strings and other game-changing rechargable clickies, not race. That's not to say some races don't have an advantage (or clear disadvantage, in the case of our kilted brethren circa Velious), but that it is not going to stop someone from being successful.

If you aren't familiar with Velious you may wanna look into it before choosing your race, if it's an important decision for you.

[Clark]

Ya I agree. Not having access to the JBB is huge. Had a 65 Iksar Shaman on live, and suffered bigtime by not having one. Not to mention makes 45-60 much smoother, and mana free solid dps against bosses solo.

[Nikkanu]

1-59 Troll
60 Ogre

You will spend far more time @ 60 then you will 1-59.

JBB allows for quick leveling from 45-60 and also allows you to solo difficult mobs that would be much harder without the mana free damage it provides.

[eisley]

You think JBB is still relevant at 60? I was under the impression that the prevailing opinion was that Torpor makes clicking JBB a poor use of time. Perhaps it's more important than I thought it was. It was never even an option for me so I don't have first hand experience.

[Nikkanu]

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

You think JBB is still relevant at 60? I was under the impression that the prevailing opinion was that Torpor makes clicking JBB a poor use of time. Perhaps it's more important than I thought it was. It was never even an option for me so I don't have first hand experience.

I use it all the time at 60, especially when soloing summoning mobs or mobs with high MR/PR/DR or greens that I don't want to waste mana killing. Soloing/duoing would be much different and less efficient without JBB for sure, especially against certain mobs.

[eisley]

I figured Torpor + Puppet Strings = the end of the road for JBB aside from fringe uses. Interesting to see a contrary opinion. I'm only just learning myself.

As an aside, another thing to consider when picking shaman race is which deity neck quests will be available to you. Everyone knows about troll snare, but Iksars (and trolls) can get the Cazic Thule necks which are extremely not bad.

[Nikkanu]

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

I figured Torpor + Puppet Strings = the end of the road for JBB aside from fringe uses. Interesting to see a contrary opinion. I'm only just learning myself.

As an aside, another thing to consider when picking shaman race is which deity neck quests will be available to you. Everyone knows about troll snare, but Iksars (and trolls) can get the Cazic Thule necks which are extremely not bad.

It's all situational, you're not going to be using charmed mobs very often (typically just for breaking multiple spawn rooms or burning down a named fast). Most of the time when fighting summoning mobs you debuff the mob, dot it, and then don't have much to other than canni to full mana and then spam JBB while your dots tick.

[Nikkanu]

For reference I have a 60 Ogre Shaman with full spell book (Torpor, Bane of Nife, Poxx of Bertoxx, Malo, etc) and Puppet Strings on my shaman and have done extensive soloing/duoing of camps like King Tranix / Warlord Skarlon in SolB, NG/Crypt/Hiero/Disco/Chef/Bar/King in Seb, HS south, etc etc.

[iruinedyourday]

I havent used a JBB really ever except to get me from 45-49, which took like a day.. but at 60 I could see the how it could just free up some cani/heal clicks.. just sit and tank and click and you could get away with less cani's.. making that 19th tranix (clark!) a little bit more ez mode, with it.

250 every 2 ticks is about the same as a dot, even better than POX, so I could see how its nice.

[eisley]

Curious to see how JBB will hold up in Velious with the introduction of some shaman melee oriented weapons, such as Rune Etched Icewurm Fang. Also interested to see how Puppet Strings play out in Velious... there's some nasty stuff people can charm. Even on live with regular charm it was pretty ridiculous, imagining it here with all the strings floating around... lol. Guess the level 51 limit is a bit prohibitive though.