How is the life of a shaman?

[Byrjun]

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

Where do level 60 Shamans even find the time to use a jaundiced bone bracer? The wife doesn't have one (our characters are poor), but I don't see how she'd be able to effectively use it even if she did. She spends virtually every moment casting something as it is. It's probably the spammiest class in the game, even more so than a Bard.

I'm not sure how to even answer this. It should be obvious the value of being able to do 31 dps without spending mana, so that it can be focused on healing/debuffing. This is especially useful when soloing.

Shamans are almost unique in not having an actual bad choice for race--all four give good service. I wouldn't count the lack of Slam as a major disadvantage for Iksar. Slam is handy to have, sure, but ultimately it's not reliable enough to be counted as vital. The wolf pet probably interrupts monsters more often than Slam does. Most of the significant items an Iksar can't wear are expensive and therefore only relevant to the wealthier players.

Sure, but what advantages do Iksars get? Regen, which Trolls also get. Trolls can also slam and use JBB/JBBP. Their starting stats are also much better. Slam is more reliable than you're giving it credit for, and it's controllable unlike pet bash.

Iksar is a bad choice, sorry.

[pharmakos]

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

I'm not sure how to even answer this. It should be obvious the value of being able to do 31 dps without spending mana, so that it can be focused on healing/debuffing. This is especially useful when soloing.

this.

my level 55 warrior averages only about 25dps and monk in my guild using a TStaff averages about 28dps on my parses (doesn't count his weapon procs)

[Danth]

My opinion of slam is based on its effect in the content the wife and I do. She uses it a lot, but it misses more often than it hits and we certainly can't count on it as an interrupt. I agree that Iksar doesn't offer anything over Troll and could therefore be considered the worst Shaman race. However, dismissing it as a bad choice depends on your perspective. It's still a strong race in its own right-- it's not bad in the same sense that an Erudite Paladin is bad.

You call the jaundiced bone bracer more of a solo tool. Perhaps it is; I know little of high-end Shaman solo'ing. My perspective is from duo'ing with the wife, so perhaps the bracer shines in some situations but not in others. The wife is so busy most the time that I see no practical way she could sit there and spam an 8-second click item.

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Light blue mobs shouldn't hurt you too bad. High level root holds a very long time. Breaking camps of 3-4 light blues is therefore trivial. 6-7 such mobs is doable in some areas. Dark blues can become more problematic when resists and early root breaks come into play; you're not going to be solo'ing 4 sebilite juggernauts at a time.

On a different note, if you parse a level 55+ monk with a T-staff at 28 DPS, either you're counting time he isn't dealing damage (pulling, etc) or there's something wrong with your monk.

Danth

[trinkets]

If you decide to go troll I highly recommend going with cazic as god choice for clickie undead fear, as it will be super easy to solo slow moving undead like spectres, especially if you are like me and can't yet afford fungi/ epic mq/jbb.

No, this is short sighted if you plan to level a troll shaman. Innoruuk and snare neck, it comes in handy WAY more often.

[bhatz01]

Great insight guys.

Next question - as a shaman, particularly when soloing 50+, is it challenging to break camps?

Assuming you have something where there are 3-4 LB mobs. Do you root? A big part of soloing, especially the "Big Game" such as Frenzy, disco, efreeti etc (Which some of these may or may not be soloable by a shaman) is being able to break the camp alone.

Is this something a shaman can do well? Or are you looking at gating out half the time to retry?

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by bhatz01 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Great insight guys.

Next question - as a shaman, particularly when soloing 50+, is it challenging to break camps?

Assuming you have something where there are 3-4 LB mobs. Do you root? A big part of soloing, especially the "Big Game" such as Frenzy, disco, efreeti etc (Which some of these may or may not be soloable by a shaman) is being able to break the camp alone.

Is this something a shaman can do well? Or are you looking at gating out half the time to retry?

Easiest way to break a camp like that is to send in a pet, have him get aggro, and start rooting mobs/pulling mobs off him one by one. The pet will die, but you can then take out the mobs individually, keeping them rooted and killing one at a time.

[LiQuid]

The only thing that sucks about being a shaman is having to deal with the dozens of shaman twinks pushing up demand/price for shaman items and spells. Started Plush last year before this recent gold rush of people rolling one and I'm regretting not rushing to 60 and buying all my 55+ spells when I could have done it for half the price of what Torpor alone is going to eventually cost me now.

[bluejam]

How is the life of a shaman?

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[bhatz01]

So I'm torn between iksar and ogre.

If I roll ogre, I'm going to insist on being shrunken at all times.

As I understand, shrink the spell is indoors only, but ant potion can be used anywhere correct?

Also, shrink lasts until you zone right?

[Elrood]

Something to consider regarding Trolls vs. Iksar: other than strength and stamina, the Iksar starts with better stats, including wisdom.

And you don't have to be a Troll.