Battle Shaman

[Velerin]

Just thought I'd share my findings on my shammy melee style, particularly for that awkward lvl 29-34 range. I know eventually melee isn't worth it but I wonder if some people give it up too fast.
A lot of guides say root rot all the way and melee isn't worth it but I've found meleeing is still the way to go, especially if you pick your battles well. The biggest issue is targeting low blues compared to high blues. (I've got pretty good gear but far from super twink GFG, fbss, iksar bp, banded/totemic mix, focus on AC and hp, very little wisdom.)
I pull with walking sleep 25% slow (lvl 29 spell is double mana for just a little more slow?) and just melee them down and if its a low db they usually don't even outdamage my regen (sometimes I canni during fight) There is a huge difference though if I target a high db (say centaur courser/charger rather than centaur archer) and then I have to root-rot to be efficient.
I also found a great use for the lvl 29 charm. The level range is quite low so it's not very good for traditional charming like with druids but I'll charm a green and it'll last usually full duration (an elephant in SK or a kodiak in Rathe). They won't tank well but if I'm meleeing they add some nice damage over time. 70 mana for possibly 10 minutes of fighting (Kodiaks hit for 32) compared to casting a poison dot for 100 mana per mob that does 27/tick.

[skipdog]

Your method sounds absurdly inefficient. You can pretend you are doing great, but our melee DPS output is pathetic even vs. green mobs with a haste item, GFG, etc. I would strongly encourage you to do some comparative tests between the two methods. I know I tried both while leveling at multiple points when I was 24+, and the melee option was never anywhere close to the efficiency of root rotting. No other class gets the regen+canni combo that we do and our dots are decently mana effecient. We are at our best, when we are sitting on our butts, regenning mana/health, letting our dots kill the mob, and not spending mana on slows.

[iruinedyourday]

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

Your method sounds absurdly inefficient. You can pretend you are doing great, but our melee DPS output is pathetic even vs. green mobs with a haste item, GFG, etc. I would strongly encourage you to do some comparative tests between the two methods. I know I tried both while leveling at multiple points when I was 24+, and the melee option was never anywhere close to the efficiency of root rotting. No other class gets the regen+canni combo that we do and our dots are decently mana effecient. We are at our best, when we are sitting on our butts, regenning mana/health, letting our dots kill the mob, and not spending mana on slows.

I agree for the most part with the OP. I melee'd up to 33.. at 32 the sisters (for example) in oot are still dark blue (this is the last level however I was meleeing for xp). On this isle you can slow, and kill a merb without needing to cast any other spell, using a pioson wind censor. Its quite relaxing... Slow melee, kill, next, in full rotation og mob spawns as you kill the last one. Its a steady stream of constant XP [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

At 32 I imagine a gfg could get you to 35 at the right camp too using hte same strat.

but that's about as good as I could figure out how to do it, I would love to have tried the CT Winters War procing hammer fro 32+ but I couldnt find any for sale [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The Yeti's were next, but it wasn't as efficient as the sisters (who are all singles).

Get it, guys? There is an island with a bunch of single ladies looking for love [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

(ps i was wearing blackened iron full visible and was fine)

oh yea pps if you need a PWS to do this on the cheep, send me a PM! ill sell you mine at cost [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Velerin]

That's what you'd think, that's what I thought based on everything I read but now actually doing it I have found it not so much.
I'm currently level 31. Yes it wouldn't be efficient if I was fighting lvl 28-30s but fighting ~lvl25 giant skellies in Rathe here's how it goes:
Befriend animal: 70 mana (usually lasts 4-5 fights so ~15 mana/fight)
I pull with walking sleep: 60 mana
Melee mob + pet dps = it dies just before slow wears off 1.2 minutes?
The mob doesn't even outdamage my regen (most fights I canni 1 or 2 times during fight)
I pull the next one right away (casual killing with short afk breaks I get ~1 yellow/hr)

Root/rot (remember shammy dots kinda suck pre-34)
No charmed pet since he'll die too fast
I pull with affliction (70 mana, 6 dam/tick)
I root (30 mana)
I cast envemoned breath (100 mana 27/tick)
Sit and med/canni dance/whatever
Mob takes about 3 cycles of EB to kill, 1-2 more roots (260 mana)
Run off and grab another

Whole lot more mana, whole lot longer to kill. You could root rot multiples but with that crappy root its more trouble than its worth.

How is root rotting better at this level if you got decent weapon/good AC?

[Velerin]

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

I agree for the most part with the OP. I melee'd up to 33.. at 32 the sisters (for example) in oot are still dark blue (this is the last level however I was meleeing for xp). On this isle you can slow, and kill a merb without needing to cast any other spell, using a pioson wind censor. Its quite relaxing... Slow melee, kill, next, in full rotation og mob spawns as you kill the last one. Its a steady stream of constant XP [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

At 32 I imagine a gfg could get you to 35 at the right camp too using hte same strat.

but that's about as good as I could figure out how to do it, I would love to have tried the CT Winters War procing hammer fro 32+ but I couldnt find any for sale [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The Yeti's were next, but it wasn't as efficient as the sisters (who are all singles).

Get it, guys? There is an island with a bunch of single ladies looking for love [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

(ps i was wearing blackened iron full visible and was fine)

oh yea pps if you need a PWS to do this on the cheep, send me a PM! ill sell you mine at cost [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah the key is the right mobs. Its amazing how much the mitigation changes for a higher blue versus a lower blue. That charmed pet dps really helps speed it up and pretty much free. Even if it breaks mid fight I can recast easy with both beating on me. But yeah I figure things will be changing in a few more levels.

[skipdog]

You both make good points. It is likely that I didn't try enough different mobs and gave up the melee option too soon.

I may have also not tried at certain 'sweet spot' levels where it would have been most optimal.

[Tann]

Currently Lv.26 and have switched to slow+affliction+melee, I was root rotting at first once I hit 24 but the mana cost is stupid high. Also consider you'll need to re-root at least twice.

With just racial regen and the lv24 regen I usually only lose 10-20% hp doing the above. Using a poison wind censer for reference, 20 less max damage hits then the GFG and no haste/iksar bp.

[Byrjun]

Meleeing is great up until the lower-mid 50s where root rotting stuff in CoM/HS/SolB becomes more efficient (basically try to get your epic, and then switch to root rot). Picking the right targets is important (obviously, this goes for anyone soloing up to 60). Monk/Melee solo guides are useful, bard NPCs are great, so are the nobles in Highkeep.

At first a Runewood Great Staff is pretty great from 20+. Get it anywhere from free to about 100 plat. It's essentially vendor trash level CoM loot. 22/40, 1.818 ratio.

Then save up for a Poison Wind Censer which is 1000-1500 nowadays. You can get that plat easily from Highkeep guards, or even earlier if you do wisps/Nybright sisters/gargoyles while leveling up. 20/28, 1.4 ratio.

Get a Granite Face Grinder if you're a twink. They're dropping to about 7500, maybe even 7000. They're amazing leveling up. 29/36, 1.241 ratio.

Runewood Great Staff and Poison Wind Censer are huge bang for the buck dps purchases that I'd recommend to any soloing shaman under 50 or so.

[iruinedyourday]

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

Meleeing is great up until the lower-mid 50s where root rotting stuff in CoM/HS/SolB becomes more efficient (basically try to get your epic, and then switch to root rot). Picking the right targets is important (obviously, this goes for anyone soloing up to 60). Monk/Melee solo guides are useful, bard NPCs are great, so are the nobles in Highkeep.

At first a Runewood Great Staff is pretty great from 20+. Get it anywhere from free to about 100 plat. It's essentially vendor trash level CoM loot. 22/40, 1.818 ratio.

Then save up for a Poison Wind Censer which is 1000-1500 nowadays. You can get that plat easily from Highkeep guards, or even earlier if you do wisps/Nybright sisters/gargoyles while leveling up. 20/28, 1.4 ratio.

Get a Granite Face Grinder if you're a twink. They're dropping to about 7500, maybe even 7000. They're amazing leveling up. 29/36, 1.241 ratio.

Runewood Great Staff and Poison Wind Censer are huge bang for the buck dps purchases that I'd recommend to any soloing shaman under 50 or so.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] cool blog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[harnold]

use the proc weapon for shamans that proc the lvl 34 shaman dot at lvl 30 for the best shaman meleeing in this lvl range