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wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 04:25 AM
Im not new to EQ and Have leveled both a shammy and chater to level 10 so far. I know a shammy's real power doesnt start to appear till sometime after velious. In your alls opinion what should i continue with?

gnomishfirework
06-09-2010, 04:32 AM
Shaman rock pre-velious and velious and post velious.

Sure, with can V and Quintessence they were pretty much their own mana batteries and all, but they are still capable currently and in kunark they kind of take off even more.

IMO, enchanters are more fun. Group and Raid roles for both are kind of similiar. Buff and Debuff, but shamans slow and enchanters do CC (obviously, in group roles without a shaman enchantesr taek over slowing.) I find doing CC far more rewarding and fun than slowing/healing.

Enchanters own with charm, so solo ability they are just as good/superior in a lot of situations.

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 04:34 AM
I enjoy playing either one, just kinda wanna feel out the server, just started a few days ago.

Tetrian
06-09-2010, 04:43 AM
From my experiences, charm is quite unreliable at lower levels - Soloing with pet at that point quite viable though. But chanters definately arent the fastest soloers out there sub 30.

As for chanter VS shaman. It's entirely up to preferences. However i will say this. Healing while leveling up, is always required - and always needed. Chanter abilities are not. This especially due to the overpopulation of enchanters currently.(we dont stack very well at any level.)

This naturally also increases as you level up, but i'd wager that you would have alot more ease at groups with the shaman, atleast up till 30 or so where the focus on dungeons starts introducing a certain need for crowd control.

Pick what you would enjoy the most :)

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 04:46 AM
thx for the Info, Just having sow makes a shammy worth leveling but at lower levels shammy is a horrible horrible soloer

gnomishfirework
06-09-2010, 04:59 AM
Sounds like an enchanter who doesn't want competition for groups =P

Shamans are decent but slow soloers. You just root, dot, and med. Get a good piercer and melee.

Tetrian
06-09-2010, 05:02 AM
Me, gnomish? :)

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 05:04 AM
You pretty much nailed it on the head with that comment. I want to make a character the server is in need of. Being ive only been on the server 3 days ill have to wait on a good weapon, I'm still sporting a kilt. =D

Phil
06-09-2010, 06:17 AM
Ever since 30+ if my group doesn't have an enchanter in it I'm hoping we get one soon. Then again, if my group can't have an enchanter I sure as hell hope it has at least a shaman. Both these classes seem similar in that they are capable solo'ers and offer amazing utility to groups. I guess it comes down to what interests you more - healing or crowd control.

There does seem to be fewer enchanters around my level than shaman (39). I'm not sure which direction the server is trending.

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 06:38 AM
Thanks for all the replys guys, I think im gonna go ahead and stick with the shammy. Everyone is always looking for some kinda healer and not many like doing it, I just gotta stick it out till i get a pet and embrace the suck of soloing with a shammy when i cant find groups. Look me up if you guys need a lowbie healer, name is (Priapism).

Omnimorph
06-09-2010, 07:44 AM
Who would call their character priapism :| interesting choice of name...

Cogwell
06-09-2010, 09:25 AM
Shaman start kicking major ass when they get Torpor (Kunark), and if you're raiding you can get a reagent free Avatar in Velious.

Unless you're charming giants or something, enchanters kinda suck for raiding in Velious - you can't mez anything and lots of stuff was originally extremely magic resistant, so you can't even nuke that well. Playing an enchanter in sebilis may make up for it though - now that's some fun sh*!.

nicemace
06-09-2010, 09:30 AM
40 - 50 i was knocking off levels 4 - 5 hours at a time on my ench.

shit was so coin. ended up doing it in like 4 days heh.

Omnimorph
06-09-2010, 09:36 AM
shit was so coin.

The english language weeps :o

But yeah, if you know the right places 40-50 can be a breeze for an ench.

Extunarian
06-09-2010, 09:38 AM
Who would call their character priapism :| interesting choice of name...

The same person who would make 'post-tits' be their forum image.

Names aside - if you are a barb shaman and want a good low level piercer, look up the 'patch of gnoll fur' quest. It was my first magic weapon and I owned many a wisp with it!

pickled_heretic
06-09-2010, 09:50 AM
I think there's an abundance of healers on this server; I've been in several pickup groups with multiples of shamans, druids, and clerics and I've been in many groups that have been starved of their bard/enchanter mana regen love and CC.

Omnimorph
06-09-2010, 10:15 AM
I think there's an abundance of healers on this server; I've been in several pickup groups with multiples of shamans, druids, and clerics and I've been in many groups that have been starved of their bard/enchanter mana regen love and CC.

If you're hunting in a fairly populated dungeon then there's usually a chanter there who will C you (usually for free) i used to have randoms from other groups running up to me in my group in solb and me C'ing them.

Zordana
06-09-2010, 11:51 AM
name is (Priapism).

as soon as a GM sees you, you gonna get renamed!

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 11:25 PM
So much hate on the name and avatar, Cmon you know the Post-tits is kinda funny especially for a forum =D. I made it through 5 years on wow with a toon named Priapism, its a great name.

Reiker
06-09-2010, 11:42 PM
Others have pretty much nailed it but what it basically comes down to is that Enchanters are much better in classic. Not only are they more fun to play, they're just a better class over all, and basically the most OP class in classic EverQuest. Enchanters and Shaman essentially have the same slow in classic, except Enchanters do it much better with their superior ability to debuff MR. On raids it's going to be a huge pain in the ass keeping up multiple single-target buffs on everyone, depending on how heavily your raid is Shaman stacked. Your healing caps out at Greater Healing which is fairly pathetic. In short, Shaman are a bit underpowered and boring in classic, while Enchanters are very powerful.

This changes a bit in Kunark when Shaman really come into their own with Superior Healing and Turgur's, and later Canni 3 + Torpor. Enchanters stay powerful but don't nearly get the huge power increase that Shaman do, so the classes even out a bit in that expansion.

From Velious on I'd much rather be playing a Shaman. If you can envision a "power chart" in your head, this is where the Enchanter curve starts to drop and the Shaman curve is still increasing from Kunark. Since the server apparently isn't going past Velious, no point in really mentioning past that... but Luclin+ especially into PoP Shaman stay extremely powerful while Enchanters definitely fall into buff bot status.

Obviously play whichever class you want, but if you want the hard facts, you're better off rolling an Enchanter first in classic, and if Kunark is ever released perhaps consider switching over to a Shaman.

Gorgetrapper
06-09-2010, 11:43 PM
as soon as a GM sees you, you gonna get renamed!

There are way more, blatant names that are worse off, than Priapism.

Reiker
06-09-2010, 11:44 PM
Just remember to name your enchanter Priapus.

wangerinlee
06-09-2010, 11:50 PM
I dont' think im being selfish or needy by naming a character priapism, Probably 95% of people dont know what it is without looking it up. Being in the medical field i couldnt think of an obscure name that might get a lil giggle out of the few that actually know what it is offhand. And as far as a WOW guy goes, i played EQ up until 2005 then went to Iraq for 2 years out of the 5 i actually played WOW. Anyway if people actually get offended by it i Wont be upset when it gets changed =)

Reiker
06-09-2010, 11:55 PM
If you sustain an erection lasting longer than 4 hours please contact Priapism, Barbarian Shaman of the 10th Season.

wangerinlee
06-10-2010, 12:07 AM
You should look up some of the procedures and/or effects that are possible if you have one. Although the name and idea of the condition is kinda funny its actually a very horrible condition. Or if you just wanna leave the name as an uncontrolled painful Boner thats cool too. =D

krakur
06-10-2010, 12:13 AM
Shaman soloing is some of the most efficient out there.

I solo'd 1-50 except for 2 levels in Oasis (16ish iirc) as a Troll in just under 8 days /played. This included 5 no rez deaths and no ports to get to and from my exp camps.

This was untwinked as well - I had no wis gear until 34 when I decided to do the Inny necklace quest and camp Testament of Vanear.

The thing to realize about shaman leveling is that it's all about being efficient. Gear matters so very little. The only thing that would really improve leveling speed for a solo shaman is a Rubicite BP.

wangerinlee
06-10-2010, 12:24 AM
Ive had a pretty rough time so far, Takes forever with a splintered club. But then again im only 10 atm, the chater pet is pretty OP and can pretty much solo without any help. If you have any newbie shammy leveling tips plz feel free to share. As of now im levelin the chanter much faster than i can level the shammy just based on the chanter pet,

krakur
06-10-2010, 02:33 AM
I recommend staying away from caster npc's as much as possible. They nuke very hard (they aren't in classic mode atm) and aren't worth the risk of having to CR.

KYM (Know Your Mob):
The #1 thing you need to figure out for each mob you're facing is: "What is the most efficient way for me to kill this?"

In most cases, this means NOT casting slow. It's not worth the mana cost.

Experience in an area will tell you what you need to spend mana wise to kill a mob. Different mobs of the same type will vary as well. When hunting orcs in South Ro, I determined there were 4 "types" of the same mob depending on it's level.

-Ones only requiring a disease dot + melee (lowest level)
-Ones requiring a disease and poison dot + melee (next level)
-Ones requiring a disease and 2 poison dots + melee (highest level)
-Ones requiring 1 poison dot, nukes + melee (casters)

This list will change depending on what area you're fighting in. That's really what you need to figure out.

Avoid using nukes unless you're risking death. Dots are more efficient. The exception to this is multiple mob camps where you have to break a spawn or if you need to kill a caster in short order (see risking death).

If you're going to stack dots on a mob, always pull with the longer cast time one first. After the cast finishes, during the "recast" period where your spell gems are greyed out, strafe away from the mob until your spell gems are available again, then stop and cast the second one. This gives you breathing room so the second dot won't get interrupted.

KYB (Know Your Buffs):
Keep up necessary buffs only. Refreshing buffs obviously takes mana, which could be better spent on killing stuff. Early on I went with AC & SoW because the lack of having a Root caused me to fight in melee a lot. Other stats don't really do much at that point.

Once you get regen you will want to keep this up 100% of the time. This leads to the next topic...

KYD (Know Your Dance):
The CanniDance is an important part of a shaman's arsenal. Everything runs on 6 second ticks. As mentioned in other threads, as long as you're sitting when the "tick" registers, you'll get the full benefit of sitting regen (both hp and mana).

You can use the following macro to help you dance, or you can do it manually with spell gem/sit keys or however you like.

/stand
/pause 2, /cast 1
/pause 15, /cast 1
/sit

1 = # of spell gem where you have Cannibalize

The reason for 2 casts in the same sequence and the pauses is because of fizzles. The syntax for the macro is kind of weird because the pause actually happens AFTER the cast, even though it's listed before it. Pause 15 is 1.5 seconds, pause 2 is .2 seconds, etc.

Anyway more to the point on the dance, what you're setting out to do here is CanniDance in between regen ticks; this adds to your leveling efficiency.

KYP (Know Your Pet):
It'll be a lilttle while before you get him at 34 but a few things to keep in mind:

Always /con your pet after summoning. They can vary in level depending on the summon, and it's worth it to /dismiss a low level pet and continue summoning until you get one that cons dark blue.

Your pet needs buffs too! SoW, AC, HP, Str, Regen, Haste.
Your pet needs weapons! Rusty works just fine, make sure you have two.

I think that covers most everything for solo play that I can think of right now.

wangerinlee
06-10-2010, 03:18 AM
awsome advice thx so much.

Omnimorph
06-10-2010, 05:49 AM
Krakur, very informative post. I don't have a shaman but i imagine people who do will appreciate it.

Plaxiglass
06-10-2010, 06:54 AM
shaman/monk duo > solo > full group.
Nothing beats a shaman monk duo and its the fastest way to level. So just do / all lfg monk and ur set :)