Shaman or Shadowknight?! Input Appreciated!

[Oakengroves]

Hello,

I am considering rolling a Troll Shaman or Shadowknight as a new character. I have about 1K to spend on either for equipment. Unfortunately, my play time is limited, and I spend most of my time soloing content [although grouping on occasion is very fun].

The SK appeals to me slightly more because it is a melee class, and I generally prefer melee, as opposed to casters. However, I am concerned that an untwinked SK will not solo very well, and will have trouble finding groups. I am not concerned about the SK's heavy XP penalty.

The shaman, however, seems like it will be much easier to solo with and probably easier to find groups.

Any input is greatly appreciated, especially from anyone with experience soloing or playing an untwinked SK.

[Faerie]

Erudite SK.

[Ugrask]

I'll leave this here.

http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138686&highlight=twink+guide

A decent enough weapon should help you solo as an SK. And most people will tell you to play what you want, and if you prefer melee you really should stick to the SK.

[Swish]

Shammies get groups a lot easier, but if you're a melee junkie go SK and don't look back ;)

Also consider an iksar SK... racial epic in Velious ("Greenmist"), worth a thought :)

[BahamutDF]

SK's are really awesome on P99.

That said, Auroris is my Shaman and also first character here and I'm loving the ability to play solo or group effortlessly.

[thieros]

main 60 SK - a blast. can fear kite, farm, solo exp grind the way up between groups. the ultimate group tank and a sufficient raid tank at higher levels for all but the most dastardly of mobs

alt - 52 shammy - i have a had an awesome time leveling this character. really a fun class in both group and solo situations. great farmer, root rot (can be a tad boring sometimes), slow tanking. really a jack of all trades (cc, healer, dps, tank, buffbot)

i always encourage people to go SK life cause its a really fun class, but shamans not a bad choice either.

[vageta31]

Just so you're aware, the Shaman is the most melee friendly of the priest classes. I've always played mine as "Battle Shamen" and it was always fun and mana efficient leveling. Long before Kunark came out I had an Ogre shaman that was meleeing Spectre's in Feerrot with a FBSS, a nice 2h, rubi BP, etc.. Since you can slow mobs and haste yourself, it's not difficult to jump into melee all the way to 50 and once you're used to it it's generally more mana efficient than root rotting, not to mention far more exciting. Now with Kunark out it's become even easier with all the improved weapons and items.

A shaman with a Granite face grinder and some sort of a haste would be a force to be reckoned with and keep up with melee damage until the SK starts to get double attack. Even then since you can haste yourself, have better dots and can slow the mob you can solo melee without even having to fear.

Not saying don't play an SK, just saying don't dismiss a Shaman's ability to stand toe to toe against most regular mobs.

[Danth]

More to the point, a solo Shaman is more of a melee than a solo Shadow Knight in that the Shaman *can* reliably go toe-to-toe with stuff if he wants to. Solo Shadow Knights mostly fear-kite.

Shamans and Shadow Knights both find groups well enough. On my SK I receive random group invites from folks I don't even know with some regularity. Do not under-estimate the hybrid experience penalty, especially as a large race. The majority of hybrids peter out by the early/mid 50's and don't make 60.

Danth

[Clark]

Both excellent choices. Shaman though if you're looking for more versatility farming wise, and reaching 60 sooner.

[NextGenesis88]

Maybe I'm playing "wrong", but I mostly go toe to toe pretty efficiently on my Troll SK. I do fear kite though, but if I can survive something at 50% HP I will because bind wound is pretty quick. (can also use the HP siphons) I have been using a Mithril 2-Hander, then a Green Jade Halberd and now a Axe of Lost Souls which I got for 1k which I couldn't pass up. Sold my Halberd and gave the Sword back to it's owner. ^

[Whoop]

How much buffing is involved for a shaman when soloing? One of the reason I like soloing with my nec is I can go afk without having to worry about using up to much mana rebuffing my self when coming back. Guess its about the same for a SK?

[Yumyums Inmahtumtums]

How much buffing is involved for a shaman when soloing? One of the reason I like soloing with my nec is I can go afk without having to worry about using up to much mana rebuffing my self when coming back. Guess its about the same for a SK?

Past 34 it's basically talisman, regen, stamina, sow - for yourself that is.

[BattleToad]

Good choice on Troll. In my opinion an SK will take you a lot longer than a Shaman.

[NextGenesis88]

Good choice on Troll. In my opinion an SK will take you a lot longer than a Shaman.

You get used to the penalty and it starts to feel normal. If you enjoy playing the game this shouldn't be a problem. The first time I have noticed XP coming in to slowly was as soon as I got to my first hell level. (30) I was wondering why it was taking a few mobs to get 1% solo and quickly put two and two together. So apart from the hell levels I'm not sure when I would finally feel that it's just too slow. My character, it's theme and role are satisfying so it's to a point where it's like what can I really complain about? More time leveling and having fun with groups and soloing. A longer ride to 60 is welcome in my book. I want to see the world especially since I only experienced a small fraction of it when I started. Choose character by looks/theme, and playstyle/role. It must feel satisfying and enjoyable for the XP penalty to not bother you. Up to 30 I have LOVED the troll SK and you can find tons of amazing gear and weapons at all prices. 300-500 you can get a DECENT weapon with a good ratio. But even then it's your role to tank, so get you some 5ac 55hp rings and stack it up.

Go for HP, AC and STR. Dex is always cool to help with spell interrupts since you are casting while tanking a lot, but I can't say when it's a noticeable gain or how it scales. Generally you should end up with +dex as you go anyways. Int I have not focused on whatsoever and generally I can regen fast enough between kills or standing if I pace my spells. With a simple Breeze I can med perfectly standing the whole time with general spell castings per fight. I am no pro for a SK, but I can give tips from my learning and experience so far. I can come back with some gear and weapon suggestions maybe. You could PM me for someones name that would likely lend you weapons/gear/wrbags like they have done for me. I have returned a couple and still have some others. He's a cool guy, but I wasn't going to just throw his name out there out of respect.

[Danth]

Maybe I'm playing "wrong", but I mostly go toe to toe pretty efficiently on my Troll SK.

You're not wrong, you just haven't reached the level where your ability to consistently fight desired targets toe to toe when solo peters out. To keep things in perspective, remember that level 50 is probably only about half way to level 60 in terms of time.

I mostly duo'd my Shadow Knight to 60 with the wife (she has a Shaman), with some solo and some grouping mixed in. In general the Shaman is the far more powerful solo class and also levels more quickly. The two classes have wildly different group and raid roles so I'd say enjoying the Shadow Knight's multi-player roles would be the primary reason to pick it over a Shaman. In my opinion the Shadow Knight has a higher learning curve to get the most out of it, which can be an advantage or a drawback depending on your mindset.

Danth

[August]

I leveled sk/shm combo with my wife til about 40. I played the SK, she played the shaman.

At about level 30, we had 1 fungi between us, and she started wearing it due to the potential mana efficiency. She also did quite a bit of damage compared to me.

She quit at 40 (dissertation time) and I started playing her character and mine at different times. After about 2 levels I stripped the SK and beefed up the SHM as I had a much better time - I was considerably more powerful as a shaman (think killing 3-4 mobs at a time compared to being able to slowly kill 1 and have to med) - and this is WITH a fungi tunic. The SK w/o a fungi would be painful compared to the shm.

Just my 2 cents. I played a SK on Fippy to 60 and found it a lot of fun. This was my first shaman (And I only played it from 40+) so my views are a bit skewed i imagine

[Faerie]

does it really even matter tho? think about it

Okay Nietzsche :P

[Numbers_]

Past 34 it's basically talisman, regen, stamina, sow - for yourself that is.

Yup, that's probably what I'll use at 34. Right now at 32 I only use protect, regen, stamina and sow when soloing. The regen is kind of a pain to keep going because you have to recast it about every 10 minutes and it's a decent amount of mana. Other than that tho, not too annoying.

[NextGenesis88]

I did not really know that 50-60 is roughly the same as 1-50. hmph.

[Yumyums Inmahtumtums]

Yup, that's probably what I'll use at 34. Right now at 32 I only use protect, regen, stamina and sow when soloing. The regen is kind of a pain to keep going because you have to recast it about every 10 minutes and it's a decent amount of mana. Other than that tho, not too annoying.

Regen is the only thing you really "need" up. It is your lifeblood and is how you keep up your mana at later levels.

[Took]

Erudite SK.

Hey thats me :D

[Faerie]

Hey thats me :D

It's a lot better than a boring barbarian rogue, to be sure :)