XP penalty really that nasty?

[bakkily]

heh, on my shaman, lvl 45 took 36 hours, one straight week of lvling for that damn lvl

and lvl 30, is rough on the ranger, still love the class, but hating the lvling.....

[Fourthmeal]

nah

[Swish]

It's the full classic experience! If you came for a challenge, roll a troll/iksar SK - what's to do once you hit 60? Enjoy the ride to get there [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[quellren]

SK/SHM is a pretty nice duo. You can do a fair bit as a duo, and automatically have a tank and healer, just add DPS for a full party.
If you're gonna go that way, I'd suggest both being Troll or Ogre. As trolls, you get the regen perks of Iksar, but much easier to gear up.
If you go Ogre (who have the best SK stats) you still have a 'pocket shrink' from the shaman so size isn't an issue.

One problem with pairing DE and Barb shaman, is it makes several camps off limits unless you're OK with the shaman being KoS nearly everywhere., namely FP/qeynos guards, millers/bards, dwarves and gnomes. Trolls and Ogres start KoS so you lose nothing.

Edit: I totally missed the original question.

The EXP penalty is proportionate to how much you dwell on it. It's gonna feel alot slower if you hit 'I' after every pull to look at the exp bar, 'a watched pot never boils', and all that.

If you just play, you won't even notice it. Even less so if you don't have another character to compare it to. I'm going to wager that the above posters commenting about how SK is insufferable have a main that is famous for quick levels, like a pet-class, bard or rogue, and are comparing unjustly.

[Hoggen]

SK plus shaman levels really fast after SK gets fear and shaman gets pet. Prior to that, I can't say, but I assume they do fine. In outdoor zones with unlimited mobs, it's one of the fastest leveling situations in the game, as long as people aren't afk, lazy, or incompetent. SK pulls, snares, fears, pets go on, dots go on, mob dies, repeat. Med breaks are few and far between with Canni and the SK only casting snare and fear.

I don't understand all this wrangling over race of an SK. Regen is a great ability and I'm partial to it, so I prefer IKS. I prefer IKS to troll because of the AC bonus. Though I hear AC is FUBAR on this server, I have an AC heavy gear setup and I have no trouble tanking. ANY race can have INT. Gear gets INT, so choosing a race for INT is not relevant. Ogre no frontal stun doesn't help much in any fear kite situation, and I have no clue how useful it is overall as agro is easy to gain with an SK, and DPS is awful regardless of gear compared to well equipped dual wielders.

Don't worry about the penalty unless you are gung-ho to get into a top raiding guild immediately. My IKS SK has 11 days (one of which was wasted unsuccessfully trying to spawn an AC and another day which was wasted running around needlessly) played and is 42. Stick to duoing with your shammy friend and you can't go wrong.

[Troy]

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

The EXP penalty is proportionate to how much you dwell on it. It's gonna feel alot slower if you hit 'I' after every pull to look at the exp bar, 'a watched pot never boils', and all that.

If you just play, you won't even notice it. Even less so if you don't have another character to compare it to. I'm going to wager that the above posters commenting about how SK is insufferable have a main that is famous for quick levels, like a pet-class, bard or rogue, and are comparing unjustly.

Try playing a hybrid in the 50's - you WILL notice it.

[quellren]

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

Try playing a hybrid in the 50's - you WILL notice it.

I have. I still think it's relative to what else you play, and how obsessed you are with watching that bar creep along.

[YendorLootmonkey]

I'm editing my xp bar out of my UI. The only purpose it serves is to depress me.

[Troy]

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

I have. I still think it's relative to what else you play, and how obsessed you are with watching that bar creep along.

When you're struggling to hit 54 and your non-hybrid friends are all hitting 57,58,59 and tired of dragging you around as the lowbie in their groups it starts to matter quite a bit. You literally get left behind unless you have the same group constantly and no one plays without you.

[quellren]

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

When you're struggling to hit 54 and your non-hybrid friends are all hitting 57,58,59 and tired of dragging you around as the lowbie in their groups it starts to matter quite a bit. You literally get left behind unless you have the same group constantly and no one plays without you.

Sigh.

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

so me and a friend are starting together, and i finally figured out what i would be doing which was making a SK (for SK/shaman group duo) and leveling with him while he was on, and leveling a necro in my own time or when we are on seperately...