Soloing on a Shaman

[Zyn]

I've been reading through a lot of these Shaman threads and people often say that Shamans are fantastic soloers.

I'm currently a level 21 Barb Shaman, and I swear, my mana costs obliterate my ability to solo efficiently. Root+Rot just kills my mana bar.

Do I need to wait until 24 when I have Canni? Should I consider picking up a poison wind censor and doing a lot more melee?

I have mediocre starting gear, nothing too fancy.

Any advice would be great appreciated?

[Estu]

Shamans aren't very good soloers until much later. They start out awful and slowly ramp up as they level. Here are the big events that make you a better soloer:

9) SoW - lets you kite, lets you avoid dying easily.
14) Root - lets you root-dot.
24) Canni + regen - extra mana.
34) Pet - A little extra free DPS if you're root-dotting, a little more if you're meleeing (though you probably shouldn't be meleeing at this point), lets you kite again, though this isn't necessarily worth it, can provide a bit of CC while you're getting stuff rooted in a multiple pull.
45) JBB - if you have platinum coming out of your ass, you get a free nuke.
50) Spear of Fate - Free DoT, and you don't need to be rich to get it.
60) Torpor - you are a god.

So, at 21, don't be surprised that it's slow-going. Do some grouping if you can, it might be faster. Meleeing wouldn't hurt, I guess, though once you have canni+regen, I think it's less efficient.

[Lojik]

At your level tank+ slow is probably the way to go, and yes on the poison wind censor. Shaman is great at soloing, but that's at higher levels. This is because is they have a lot of different types of spells in their arsenal that gradually get more powerful... particularly their slow line... along with excellent itemization.

[phobus]

I've been reading through a lot of these Shaman threads and people often say that Shamans are fantastic soloers.

I'm currently a level 21 Barb Shaman, and I swear, my mana costs obliterate my ability to solo efficiently. Root+Rot just kills my mana bar.

Do I need to wait until 24 when I have Canni? Should I consider picking up a poison wind censor and doing a lot more melee?

I have mediocre starting gear, nothing too fancy.

Any advice would be great appreciated?

Shaman is one of those classes that is relatively terrible at low levels, but is way overpowered once you get near the top.

Root/rot is really tough at low levels since root uses comparatively more of your mana pool than at later levels, and doesn't last very long on those occasions where it doesn't break early.

Investing in melee gear gets you through those rough early levels a lot faster. The Poison Wind Censer is a great value. I used that, a Ceremonial Iksar Chestplate, and cheap HP/AC gear for a long time. Even with good gear, though, meleeing as a low-level Shaman kind of feels like playing a crappy Paladin with SoW.

It's worth it, though! 24, 29, and 34 are all important milestones for the Shaman: canni and regen, a slow that's actually worth casting, and then your first pet.

[Zyn]

Thank you guys for all the feedback! I'll keep pushing along the early levels and hopefully get my Shaman to shine!

[Potus]

19-23 was the absolute worst for me, and after reading some other classic guides it appears that was the worst level range for a Shaman. Once I got regeneration and cannibalize Root/Dot became much much better. Find generally low level Dark Blues, root/dot, sit down, never keep your hit points above 70% or so, you can basically solo indefinitely doing this.

[Zyn]

Got to 24!!

YAY, Canni dancing!