How do Barbarian Shamans and their toys hold up in Velious?

[Orruar]

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

If you're not using Vindicator BP in Velious you just need to reroll Druid or maybe stop playing the game. I can see wearing Fungi in Kunark because your options suck (JB BP is awful besides the clicky) but Vindi BP is one of the best shaman items in the entire expansion, plus it's so easy to get. I think I replaced my Vindi BP with Bloodlink Chestmail. That Velious BP served me until Gates of Discord.

Stun immunity is not god mode. But it could definitely save your ass. I mained a barbarian shaman for years, do you realize how many times I died because I had a critical spell like torpor or a re-turgurs bashed away? I raged every single time wishing I had rolled an ogre. Yes, most of the time you might get Canni III or IV bashed and it's inconsequential, but Murphy's Law still applies. A bit of regen might make you slightly more efficient. Having a spell stunned can kill you.

The regen and snare neck are tiny bonuses. They're not on par to stun immunity.

Nobody is talking about fungi in Velious except for Azeth who tried to use it (unsuccessfully) as a straw man.

And just because you couldn't time your spells around bashes doesn't mean nobody can. I suppose ogre is the easy choice if you can't figure out how to cast around the bash timer, on fights where it's necessary. Keep in mind that probably 80% of interrupts are due to damage, not to bash interrupt. I'd imagine most of your deaths from interrupts were due to straight damage and not bash, in which case iksar is the only one that helps with that.