Returning player, need advice please!

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I use canni all the time and it's great, but doesn't it only give hp to mana at a 60/20 ratio? I read that for sheer mana, wis has a much bigger impact.(

Absolutely, point for point Wisdom gives more mana. But here's the thing: more mana/HP only increases your maximums, not your rate of recovery. Maximums don't help much during the normal course of leveling, it's when things go wrong that they matter. So this begs the question, which will matter more when you get in trouble: mana or HP?

For instance, if you're soloing and get an add, it's your HP reserves that will let you survive long enough to run away, or let you Cannabalize to get the mana you need (but if you have mana and run out of HP you're dead). In a group though you have less risk of dying from lack of HP reserves because you have a healer; however if you get a bad pull you may not have time to Cannabalize and need your mana reserves. But that's a simplification: depending on how you solo, who you regularly group with, etc. it might vary.

So ultimately you should decide which matters more for your play style, and focus on that ... while of course it doesn't hurt to improve *both* Wisdom/Stamina when possible.

[Boarder981]

I totally see you point about maximums. Low Wis only tends to be an issue in groups if I'm the sole healer. Luckily Enchanters aren't rare, so there's often clarity to help mitigate that. For soloing I think it would help for those "oh sh**" moments.

Upon further reading, I'm concerned about gearing at higher levels. I hear it's extremely expensive to gear a Shaman (fungi alone is like 45k? Ouch!). And Torpor is just ridiculous. I doubt I'll ever be able to farm enough plat to afford this stuff (well, all of it anyway). I guess my question is, at level 50+, will I be useless and gimped without all this gear/spells?

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Upon further reading, I'm concerned about gearing at higher levels. I hear it's extremely expensive to gear a Shaman (fungi alone is like 45k? Ouch!). And Torpor is just ridiculous. I doubt I'll ever be able to farm enough plat to afford this stuff (well, all of it anyway). I guess my question is, at level 50+, will I be useless and gimped without all this gear/spells?

First off, Shaman are overpowered, so even without our four key items (well three and a spell) we can still kick plenty of ass. All those items do is lower your down-time, so you're almost as powerful without them, you just need more med breaks (and can't do camps with more mobs than you have mana to kill).

You basically have two options for getting those items. Even at lower levels Shaman can farm plat reasonably well, so if you level in places that also drop good plat items, save your pennies, and accept that you may not get all your items right when they're first usable, you can totally buy a JBB and Epic before 60, and a fungi then Torpor at 60.

Or, you can be smart. JBB and Fungi (and to a lesser extent Torpor, at Juggs camp) are just camps in Sebilis. Do them enough and you get them "for free". Same goes for Epic: join a guild that raids Fear and you can get it "for free" (that same guild will probably also raid level 60 Kunark mobs, meaning "free" Torpor).

Either way works, it's just that one requires some time/patience as you have to help others get their stuff until you get yours, while the other requires a ton more time/patience, but you don't need other people. Whichever choice you make you will still be a badass Shaman even before you get all your items, and either way you will eventually get all of them (source: a Shaman who just turned 60 a few months ago and has a Fungi, JBB, and Epic, and is on the way to buying Torpor).

[Transylvania]

You will see the crud of the server if you hang out in mistmoore even 6 hours i promise you that, you'll end up in a fight

[Boarder981]

Thanks for all the great info, guys!

I headed over to South Karana and 30-34 went (relatively) quickly. I'm nearly 35 now! Ugh, another hell level.

The Tesch Val Scrolls quest gives pretty amazing XP, but I have to admit, I'm jealous of the evil Shamans that can rack in mucho plat on Treants and bridge guards! I think between 30-34 I made a whole 300 plat in total killing gnolls. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Sort of wishing I went Troll at this point, LOL.

Where do you think the next best "hot spot" is for a good 35 Shaman? @loramin, I saw the leveling guide links in your sig, but there are so many choices!

I could always stick around SK/Paw for another level or two. Maybe High Keep? Also Sol A looks promising?

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm nearly 35 now! Ugh, another hell level.
...

Sort of wishing I went Troll at this point, LOL.

Well if it helps you feel better about your decision remember that with the Troll -40% XP penalty you'd be nearly 25 now, not 35 (if my math is correct).

Also in a few more levels you'll be able to do hill giants for better plat, and not too long after that you'll be able to kill Seafuries for gems or all sorts of named mobs for their item drops. Hang in their and you'll be making money more than twice as fast as those treant-killers in no time.

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Where do you think the next best "hot spot" is for a good 35 Shaman? @loramin, I saw the leveling guide links in your sig, but there are so many choices!

I could always stick around SK/Paw for another level or two. Maybe High Keep? Also Sol A looks promising?

Yeah that's the blessing/curse of the guide: lots of places, but a bit of exploration is required [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] At that level I believe I moved on in to Splitpaw itself and did the first 6 or so gnolls. You have to split some and there's less room to maneuver, but you get the extra dungeon XP bonus and can keep doing the Tesch Val scrolls.

If you're sick of gnolls I also think I did a bit of the mountain giant fort in Frontier Mountains. No dungeon XP bonus but plenty of non-caster/easy to root/rot mobs. Alternatively there's also Nurga, which does have an XP bonus and doesn't have the ... quirks of splitpaw (eg. interesting pathing). However it does have casters, so you'll need to learn to root them and then rot them from around the corner.

[kjs86z]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Thanks for all the great info, guys!

I headed over to South Karana and 30-34 went (relatively) quickly. I'm nearly 35 now! Ugh, another hell level.

The Tesch Val Scrolls quest gives pretty amazing XP, but I have to admit, I'm jealous of the evil Shamans that can rack in mucho plat on Treants and bridge guards! I think between 30-34 I made a whole 300 plat in total killing gnolls. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Sort of wishing I went Troll at this point, LOL.

Where do you think the next best "hot spot" is for a good 35 Shaman? @loramin, I saw the leveling guide links in your sig, but there are so many choices!

I could always stick around SK/Paw for another level or two. Maybe High Keep? Also Sol A looks promising?

I liked The Overthere at 35. Lots of buffs near SF ramp, easy to port around, can easily zone if overrun, etc.

[Boarder981]

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

Well if it helps you feel better about your decision remember that with the Troll -40% XP penalty you'd be nearly 25 now, not 35 (if my math is correct).

I thought it was -20%?

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I thought it was -20%?

You are absolutely correct (my memory sucks), so he'd be almost 29, not 25 (again, if my math isn't as bad as my memory).

[Squabbles123]

Originally Posted by Boarder981 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Thanks for all the great info, guys!

I headed over to South Karana and 30-34 went (relatively) quickly. I'm nearly 35 now! Ugh, another hell level.

The Tesch Val Scrolls quest gives pretty amazing XP, but I have to admit, I'm jealous of the evil Shamans that can rack in mucho plat on Treants and bridge guards! I think between 30-34 I made a whole 300 plat in total killing gnolls. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Sort of wishing I went Troll at this point, LOL.

Where do you think the next best "hot spot" is for a good 35 Shaman? @loramin, I saw the leveling guide links in your sig, but there are so many choices!

I could always stick around SK/Paw for another level or two. Maybe High Keep? Also Sol A looks promising?

I soloed 34 to 39 at Splitpaw with my Shaman. You can solo there until 40, then almost all the doorway mobs stop giving XP.