Shaman leveling Woes and Questions

[Curmudgen]

To give some background, I played an iksar necromancer on live starting right after velious opened up to level 70 and then went on to other things. I have never played a shaman at all. I did sometimes envy the fact that groups forming for higher end exp groups sought after them in /lfg channels while I was on playing.

I decided to start a shaman here, first character with no other higher level character. I decided to start with Ogre, and at level 10 was a bit disenchanted with him and re-rolled a Troll. I loved this until I started fighting mobs that bash and hit....and realized how nice it was to be a ogre even if i did not get that nice regeneration. So I am re-rolling as an ogre. For some reason barbarian does not appeal to me to play.

So the question is, later on can I solo on my shaman fairly close to how easy it is to solo on a necromancer? If so, when does that start to happen? I do like groups and I am not a hermit by nature but my playtime is about 2-3 hrs max a night, usually no change on weekends. Thats why I am wondering about solo ability versus necromancer.

The second question involves leveling questions. I have searched for a guide for shamans but have found none. Having never played one i was wanting to peruse one for ideas at level as both Feerot and Swamp were getting tight for exp at the 10+ range. Does anyone have a guide or just general guidelines?

Thanks in advance for the fabulous answers to come!

[Lickum]

Yikes, not sure any class can solo better than necros. But I played a shaman to 50 here and I was able to solo the whole way, group if I wanted, it was nice having the choice! Definitely changes a lot at level 34 when you get your first pet.

[Wizerud]

It would be hard to find a class that solos as easily as a necro, shamans are no exception.

Shamans are just not as efficient as necros and with the absence of a pet early you're forced to either root/rot or melée/dot/nuke (I prefer the latter). Once you get canni and regen you'll get close to necro regen but with a lot more button mashing.

It's amazing how many group invites you get as a shaman if you leave /anon or /role off. Even if you're not in the same zone. Groups actively look for em. It's nice :)

My basic tactic as a 16 shaman is to throw on a slow as opener (if mob is close to my level), disease dot, poison dot and melée. If by the time the poison dot wears off the mob is not close to dead/walking I'll fire off spirit strike, which is a surprisingly good nuke at the level we get it. I try to time it so my nuke sends it to about 15% hp and is on it's deathmarch.

[Curmudgen]

Would the next place to go after feerot and/or swamp be the Ro north or south?

[skorge]

To give some background, I played an iksar necromancer on live starting right after velious opened up to level 70 and then went on to other things. I have never played a shaman at all. I did sometimes envy the fact that groups forming for higher end exp groups sought after them in /lfg channels while I was on playing.

I decided to start a shaman here, first character with no other higher level character. I decided to start with Ogre, and at level 10 was a bit disenchanted with him and re-rolled a Troll. I loved this until I started fighting mobs that bash and hit....and realized how nice it was to be a ogre even if i did not get that nice regeneration. So I am re-rolling as an ogre. For some reason barbarian does not appeal to me to play.

So the question is, later on can I solo on my shaman fairly close to how easy it is to solo on a necromancer? If so, when does that start to happen? I do like groups and I am not a hermit by nature but my playtime is about 2-3 hrs max a night, usually no change on weekends. Thats why I am wondering about solo ability versus necromancer.

The second question involves leveling questions. I have searched for a guide for shamans but have found none. Having never played one i was wanting to peruse one for ideas at level as both Feerot and Swamp were getting tight for exp at the 10+ range. Does anyone have a guide or just general guidelines?

Thanks in advance for the fabulous answers to come!

I'm going to help you man...as an ogre shaman if you want to solo do this:

9-14 aviaks in lake rathe (there are 5 spawn points at the arena zoneline island -- watch out for Prince Krympt (froglok SK)
14-19 oasis (solo whatever you want here...can group if you want but you can solo well with your new level 14 nuke and sow)
19-25 back to lake rathe (aviak guards)
25-30 the named bards in inny or feerott...u pick

if you want to level faster at these levels (1-30) then go with AC and HPs gear as well as wisdom and plus mana gear....get a decent weapon as well...

[Estu]

I soloed an ogre shaman to 27 on P99. Soloing is pretty slow and can get dull as a shaman (at least, for the levels I've soloed; I hear it gets more interesting later when you get your pet at 34), though still faster than grouping, generally. My basic strategy:
1-8: melee-nuke around Innothule and the Feerrott.
9-13: sow-dot kite in South Ro.
14+: root-dot.

Once I left South Ro, I hit up East Karana for gorge hounds and carrion spiders, and am now in South Karana killing aviaks, centaurs, and gnolls outside of Infected Paw.

Pretty straightforward. I've found meleeing to be very inefficient past level 8 or so, as a non-twinked character starting from the ground up.

[Wenai]

Here was my level path on P1999:

1-3: Goblins just outside Halas.
3-5: Gnolls in Everfrost just outside Blackburrow.
5-10: Blackburrow until 9. Fangs to 10 I think?
10-16: Bandits in WK.
16-19: This range sucked really bad. I grouped from 16-19 in Upper Guk.
19-22/24: Can't remember exactly what level but I did gorge hounds.
22/24-34: Aviaks/Centaurs in South Karana.
34-44: Hill Giants in Rathe Mtns.
44-50: Spectres in Feerrott.

Shaman is a rough road until 34. Once you get a pet everything gets easier because you don't feel like a useless druid (sorry druids).

Mana-free damage in EQ is huge in EQ.

[DevGrousis]

Mana-free damage in EQ is huge in EQ.

wheres it huge?

[fugazi]

In that mana comes oh so slowly.

[DevGrousis]

just for the sake of Kunark's release coming out, anyone want to give a short guide on a Kunark iksar shaman leveling guide??

[Kender]

on my server on live, a shaman was the first to solo Lodi (the big turtle in iceclad)

[Messianic]

on my server on live, a shaman was the first to solo Lodi (the big turtle in iceclad)

It's true that Shaman can solo the biggest, baddest mobs alone (for the most part) - it's kind of a testament to the awesome power of slow, torpor, and regen and how many force multipliers shaman have.

However, for grinding through mobs for exp, Necro is still probably the fastest (for the most part).

There are a few choice locations where Druid/Wizard Quad kiting is absolutely the fastest exp. Cobalt Scar in velious was that way for me on live. Unbelievably fast exp, particularly when you could bind elsewhere (EC Tunnel for clarity) because there was a port location within the zone you wanted to grind in.

[Toehammer]

the fabulous answers to come!

see what i did there?

Well, I actually decided I was gonna start a necro on this server (was a warrior on live, all pissed i couldn't solo ever) and then switched to shaman.

I started (as troll) in innothule till about 5-8 and then went into upper guk till around 10 or so, then started grouping at nybright sisters in Lesser fay, at level 12 i had 200pp or so, then i bought some banded, went back to grobb and bought level 14 spells and stayed at nybright sisters till 19, had over 1k then. Bought some equipment (decent weapon) and did uguk till around 24 then started soloing highkeep guards till around 35, made like 4-5k here. Then 34-40... maybe sol a a little bit? cannot remember then at 42 or so i did specs till 49, made another 5k or so. You can do really well for yourself with nybright sisters --> highkeep guards -- > specs, and they are not super overcamped.

Just get some banded early, get a decent weapon/shield combo (gloomwater/chitin shell for 250-300 total) and grind away. There are sort of two checkpoints as a shaman; one is level 24 when you get cannibalize and regen, and the other is 34 when you get your pet. After that the leveling becomes MUCH easier and a lot more action packed. Personally the hardest leveling for me was 19-24... the rest is really fun/exciting.

-Ghwerig, 50 troll shaman

[dredge]

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[DevGrousis]

Yeah i feel you not liking to solo i USED to be like that during live. hated soloing (except for when i solo'd my druid with AOE kiting that was baller fun lol) but now i just love soloing :D of course i love to group also, but its just more thrilling for me to solo and know that im fcked unless i get this shit right :D

[DevGrousis]

just for the sake of Kunark's release coming out, anyone want to give a short guide on a Kunark iksar shaman leveling guide??

anyone??

[Estu]

I'm a lv 35 Troll Shaman, have been 35 for a few weeks. I can't seem to ever find anyone to group with, so I end up camping after about 30 minutes of lfg. I have been really busy with school too...

but

Maybe you guys have a different sense of fun then me, but soloing the same blue mob 100 times over the course of 600 minutes to get 1 level is pure hell and I rather not play at all.

Don't mean to sound negative, I just don't understand you solo guys

I also wish I was a Barb, exp is so painfully slow here.

I agree with this sentiment. I soloed to my mid-30s and I got really bored by the end of it. Soloing's more fun early on where you can wander around a zone and kill roamers, as opposed to later on when you're just sitting killing the same three mobs over and over again. It's also worse as a shaman than as a legit solo class like a nec or mag since you don't have the versatility to hold down dungeon camps for exp.

However, I have to disagree about the grouping situation. I've found it easy to get groups. For my late 30s I grouped in Lower Guk, and now I'm grouping in Solusek B. It's more of a timing thing than anything, and being proactive. You don't wanna be on during peak-peak hours where all the camps are full, but you don't wanna be on during off hours where no one's around. Just slightly off-peak hours are great. Be in the dungeon you wanna group in, say in /ooc that you're looking for a group. If no one answers, do a camp check and send tells to the people at camps you're interested in; oftentimes, you'll get in even if they didn't answer your /ooc. If camps you want are empty, start a group. It also helps to have an alt or two you can go to if your main can't find a group at the moment.

[fischsemmel]

I don't have experience with playing shamans, but I do have to say that if you're really interested in soloing one... troll might be a better choice than ogre.

Soloing, mana is what limits you. And with higher hp regen from a troll, you'll be able to canni more often without killing yourself to pull bigger things and to recover more quickly after a pull.