I see shamans everywhere, should I start one?

[Caridry]

I started leveling my shaman, just recently deleted iksar to roll ogre for looks. In FoB, feerot, and innothule, there are nothing but shamans... I have a feeling I will run into problems later trying to get groups/raid spots (in the far future of course)... I am down to leveling anything, but thought shaman would be a popular choice... unfortunately it looks to be too popular...

[BlkCamel]

I started leveling my shaman, just recently deleted iksar to roll ogre for looks. In FoB, feerot, and innothule, there are nothing but shamans... I have a feeling I will run into problems later trying to get groups/raid spots (in the far future of course)... I am down to leveling anything, but thought shaman would be a popular choice... unfortunately it looks to be too popular...

Evil Shaman Solo Guide 1-56+ (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126844):D

[Ezalor]

shamans are a dime a dozen

it gets even worse at the high end, literally nothing but shamans

[Caridry]

If there was a level 51+ top 3 needed class (and hard to find), which would you guys pick?

[Caridry]

Evil Shaman Solo Guide 1-56+ (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126844):D

thats actually why i went shaman, lol... but they are everywhere! I hate being lost in the crowd.

[Ezalor]

If there was a level 51+ top 3 needed class (and hard to find), which would you guys pick?

nothing really, any class that's needed there's already plenty of

imo just play what you have fun with and stop worrying about being "unique"

are there a lot of shamans? yes for a reason, they rule.

[iruinedyourday]

shamans are a dime a dozen

it gets even worse at the high end, literally nothing but shamans

Everyone has a shaman, but nothing but shamans? idk about that.. If you wanted to be a raid shaman, you'll have as much competition with that class as you would any class, IMO

nothing really, any class that's needed there's already plenty of

ahh yea see? It's loose loose, no matter what class you pick, youll get into a guild and there will be someone that has all the gear you want and there every day and you'll be super jealous of :P

Shaman is a REALLY fun class to play... especially after you're established on the server, able to buy some great gear etc. Personally I think it was the funnest to XP with.

A shaman can be a class that you have little to no fear doing any content anywhere anytime with any number of people, so you will have a blast leveling one.. And thats why there are so many, its a powerful toon, thats also suuuuuuuper fun to level.

That said, if you already have one dedicated shaman in your group of friends, it can be a little frustrating trying to do end game content and one of you always canceling each other out of a group spot.. but dont let that discourage you! If there are 2 shamans in a ixi group or something, thats not that big of a deal.. and even though in my 8 person regular group of friends, we'd fill slots with whoever was online& one of you is bound to not be on at any random moment so it's kind of nice for them to always have a shaman at the ready... and even still, if your shaman friend is online and your buds are doing something fun, you'll just shrug it off and go camp some other awesome mob on your own.

With a shaman you'll have the opportunity to just solo all the way to 60, and it can be REALLLY fun.. So I would at least keep it in your arsenal of toons to play what you want to play when you want to play!

[Rararboker]

Everyone has a shaman, but nothing but shamans? idk about that.. If you wanted to be a raid shaman, you'll have as much competition with that class as you would any class, IMO




Go wizard, get recruited, ??????, profit.

[Swish]

Can't move in KC for shamans rotting 4-5 mobs down with their epics while 40 other people look around for something to pull :(

[Nisse]

Shamans are the bane of Norrath

[Lune]

Play an enchanter. Super strong, super desirable, not really overplayed. Versatile. And unlike shamans, they stack with each other in group content, so you're not quite as affected by the abundance of other enchanters.

Unless you suck at playing an enchanter or are really lazy, in that case don't play one.

[Erydan Ouragan]

Play an enchanter. Super strong, super desirable, not really overplayed. Versatile. And unlike shamans, they stack with each other in group content, so you're not quite as affected by the abundance of other enchanters.

Unless you suck at playing an enchanter or are really lazy, in that case don't play one.

And their best spell doesn't cost 100k!

[BlkCamel]

And their best spell doesn't cost 100k!

Check out Tumamor's Evil Shaman Solo Guide Level 1-56+ (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126844) don't be a Sandy Vagina, play a Shaman.:D

[Rayzor84]

Wait until u try to get a cash camp 50+.

9 out of 10 times there a 60 epic shaman sitting on it no matter what it is.

[brecon]

Shamans have the perfect mix of (1) Solo end game, (2) Fast solo leveling, (3) Group desirability. They are relatively expensive to gear at level 60 (ideally about 150k of spells, a Fungi and some other toys), but the epic is cheap and very easy if you join a guild that raids Fear. It is no surprise that there are so many of them. If you enjoy playing a shaman, just do it. They are rather desired in xp groups for their slows and buffs, and the ability to solo in dungeon zones while you wait is great.

If you want to play anything else, you will sacrifice one of those three points above. The only exception, as noted, is Enchanter, but lots of people get turned off by the squishiness and RNG nature of enchanter charm deaths. Shamans are very survivable, but they are a bit more limited in terms of what they can do, without any real CC or ability to split outside of root.

If you are concerned about end-game desirable classes, you also need to consider group cash camps vs. guild/raid desirability. On the former, shamans are often desired (especially with Torpor) but are not essential. The ideal 6-man group wants a Tank (rarest), Enchanter and Cleric, puller, and 2x melee dps or 1x melee dps and a utility class like shaman or bard. Pick any one of those classes except puller/dps, and you will get tells asking if you are LFG. Puller are the most common (because monks), and melee dps is common since it can also be substituted for Wiz, Mage, Necro. Shadowknight is a good choice actually, since you could tank or pull, and have some ability to fear kite if you cannot find a group.

For Raid, the equation changes. Most raids (ideally) just want warriors, clerics, rogues, bards, and wizards stacked deep. You only need one or two enchanters and shamans, and your role is buff bot, tash or malo, and slow. Maybe take a charm pet. A few monks to pull. And other classes for specific encounters, mostly for specific buffs or resists. Being said, there are many great guilds on the server that are active on raid scene and won't blackball you for playing the 'wrong' raid class.

So, in conclusion: don't worry about it. But Barbarian wins shaman fashionquest.

[webrunner5]

Can't move in KC for shamans rotting 4-5 mobs down with their epics while 40 other people look around for something to pull :(

Heh, he has a point. :D But when Velious comes out, if ever, a Shaman will be about the ONLY class that can really solo in it. So if you sort of want to solo other than a Ranger fear kiting an Animal out the ass and in the ass for 10 minutes till you kill it, and a light Blue one at that, go Shaman. :p

[Orruar]

Shamans are pretty damn fun and versatile. Great soloers, nearly any group loves em, and they can even put out enough dps to justify having two in a group. They aren't quite as needed in depth on raids in Kunark, but they are pretty critical in Velious where there's a lot of hard hitting + slowable trash.

[myke66]

The higher up i go in levels the less I see so im not sure if its a truly overplayed class or if people just like making shammy alts then ditching them. However i am in the same boat and not sure if i want to take my 20+ sham or 20+ cleric to end game

[iruinedyourday]

The higher up i go in levels the less I see so im not sure if its a truly overplayed class or if people just like making shammy alts then ditching them. However i am in the same boat and not sure if i want to take my 20+ sham or 20+ cleric to end game

The sham will be a blast to take end game, after you get your cleric there.

I suggest getting the cleric up to 60 then doing the shaman! You wont regret that order, because a twinked shaman is SO FUN!!!!!

[Ezalor]

here you go.

http://ezserverwiki.com/P99%20Class%20Distribution.png

[mgellan]

The higher up i go in levels the less I see so im not sure if its a truly overplayed class or if people just like making shammy alts then ditching them. However i am in the same boat and not sure if i want to take my 20+ sham or 20+ cleric to end game

I think lots of Shamans level up then go play other classes - my guild has like 20 Torpor Shamans but only one or two show up for raids, cuz they're playing other toons they geared by farming with their Shamans. What hasn't been mentioned is that Torpor shamans can replace clerics in raid groups, at least if they're not trying to heal the MT...

Regards,
Mg

[rotenvok]

You are seeing most shamans in these zones cus troll and ogre only can be 3 classes, sk,war and shm. Tanks are less played, life is harder for them, more gear dependant, no gates, no binds, no sow, etc. As troll sk in innothule only saw shms and some sk, and rarely a warrior.

But later, leveling and leaving low lvl zones, the classes spread around norrath. My troll sk is now in unrest and i still didnt group with a single shaman, bad thing cus i need their shrink spell to move around the mansion, my big trolls ass doesnt let me move and pull fast within these small rooms

[Ezalor]

there's very little incentive for a shaman to suddenly quit their character the higher level they get.

they scale incredibly well, and only get more powerful the higher level.

once you get to level 50s, this is very obvious to see

[iruinedyourday]

there's very little incentive for a shaman to suddenly quit their character the higher level they get.

they scale incredibly well, and only get more powerful the higher level.

once you get to level 50s, this is very obvious to see

49-60 is the most fun leveling Ive ever had on any toon as a shaman.. every night literately was, well, what do you want to do? SolA bugs? Imps? KC? Com? Seb? Hs? Guk? Random spot somewhere nobody goes?

was so fun... you are totally independent.

But u gotta have a fungi and an epic!

I got rid of my fungi at 60 though, With torp a fungi is just kinda overrated IMO

[Raev]

there's very little incentive for a shaman to suddenly quit their character the higher level they get.

Player A tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player B tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player C tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player D tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player E tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player F tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player G tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player H tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player I tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player J tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"
Player K tells you "str/sta/dex/agi/tali/PR/haste/regen/sow/PE please"

Also once you get torpor you should always be casting canni, so basically you end up doing *more* clicks than a bard. Of course, most people suck at playing shaman and don't do this.

That being said, Orruar has the right idea: shamans are tremendously flexible, kind of like the anti-Wizard.

[Ezalor]

casting raid buffs is boring/repetitive but so is raiding on most any other class

[DrKvothe]

Shaman has the worst raid itemization in the game. The gear we get from raids just doesn't make much of a difference compared to pre-raid BiS gear. The only upgrades a 60 sham really should care about is large hp upgrades or resist upgrades, and that's not what we get. I can totally understand why someone with a 60 torpor shaman would rather bring any other class to raid. Raiding on a shaman means a very busy but profitless role.

If there was a level 51+ top 3 needed class (and hard to find), which would you guys pick?

From a raiding perspective there are no needs. Any needs were met long ago, and blue has every raid mob on lockdown. From a 2-6 man grouping point of view, the best answer to this is probably bard. You very rarely see them in exp groups because they can solo level so well, but they're really game changing to group with. They're also possibly the strongest duo for a shaman pre-torpor, and it's a duo that doesn't leave the shaman doing nothing but support (shm/enc for example).

From a velious raiding point of view, it's going to depend on how people perceive the rewards for various classes and therefore which characters they bring raiding. Shamans look like they'll be very well rewarded with hp upgrades in velious, meaning you'll see a lot more activity from them. If there's plenty of healers, you'll need more dps. If there's too many dps, you'll want more healers. You can always use more clerics in your CH chain.

[Verenity]

The sham will be a blast to take end game, after you get your cleric there.

I suggest getting the cleric up to 60 then doing the shaman! You wont regret that order, because a twinked shaman is SO FUN!!!!!

Completely agree with this approach, it's what I did. Shamans are one of the classes that can hugely improve with gear and it is so much fun to twink one. Clerics are a fantastic main as well, always desirable in any setting.