Project 1999 - A look at a non-raid geared shaman in Velious

I was kind of getting sick of 80% of this forum being raid bickering the past week, so I wanted to post something a bit off-topic.

Around the time that Rogean announced that Velious beta may be in a few months, I started to refresh my memory on what kind of gear to work towards in Velious.

So, today I threw it together into a Magelo to post here. Here is the link. As you can see, your gear can still get pretty good even without all BIS tov loot.

I had to draw some lines here. First of all, no revamped Chardok loot. Loot from that zone provides huge upgrades for at least 4 slots, but it'll probably be a while before we see that stuff so I decided not to consider it so early.

Secondly, all loot had to be relatively affordable or obtainable by about a group of people. Basically, if you're in a guild you can get this stuff regardless of how advanced you are in the raid scene. What this means is no Mithril armor, Cowl of Mortality, White Dragonscale Helm, etc. Even though this stuff is droppable, it's going to take a long time to hit the market and it's going to be outrageously expensive.

The reason for these guidelines is that I invite others to provide similar gear listings for other race/class combinations. I know of several people myself who have never even experienced Velious and would be interested in this kind of thing.

Finally, a breakdown of the gear listed with some alternatives:

Arms

We start off with some Plane of Mischief loot. This stuff can take a lot of time, but the resist clickies are worth spending a few months in here alone. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Arm Guards provide a really great mix of HP, Stamina, Resists, and AC - all of the stats you want to be focusing on.

Until then, Crystal Chitin Armplates are an acceptable upgrade over the Dusty Rusted Vambraces you're probably wearing right now.

Back

There's only one cloak in the game better than the trusty Hierophant's Cloak, and it's a raid drop just before NToV.

Chest

This is the easiest and most significant suggestion I can possibly make to a shaman in Velious: get a Chestplate of Vindication asap. This thing is absolutely nuts, and it's not all that difficult to get. Yeah, Derakor will probably be highly contested at first but with a relatively quick respawn hopefully your guild can get some shots in on him. I can't stress how good this item is. I used one until GoD, in other words I didn't replace this on live until the fifth expansion after Velious.

Until you get your hands on this glorious collection of pixels, use a Fungi.

Ears

Good earrings in this game are firmly within the realm of high end raid loot, so you're stuck with the same black sapphire earrings you're probably using right now. It is worth keeping in mind that the Chardok revamp does bring the Hammered Golden Hoop and Pearly Sarnak Bangle.

Face

Eyepatch of Plunder is a really great item, but it's going to be incredibly contested for a long, long time. Alternatively you can get Crystal Spider Eyes as a slight upgrade over Enshrouded Veil, trading some fire resist for a small AC/HP/mana boost.

Feet

There's something about the feet slot that just attracts amazing shaman gear. The Shamanistic Shenannigan Boots are by far the best piece of shaman Mischief gear, and it doesn't stop there. Boots of the Vindicator are also great, and much more easily obtained if your guild is getting Derakor kills. If you have infinite money, you can even potentially buy the first pair of White Dragonscale Boots that appear for sale, which is one of the best items in all of Velious. Even Withered Leather Boots were quite amazing for Kunark gear. There's even more great options, but they're not worth listing since you should be able to get one of the items I just listed. If only all slots were Feet.

Fingers

Quests like Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV were one of the best things to happen to players who didn't want to be part of the top raid guilds. Not only is this ring extremely good, it's fun to obtain and the final event drops a lot of other great items. Everyone will be doing this.

Chardok revamp brings the [IMG]Regal Band of Bathezid[/IMG], which is also excellent.

Hands

Coldain Skin Gloves are a pretty great droppable shaman item. If you've duped enough platinum, you might be able to afford Mithril Gauntlets.

I'd mention Scaled Hierophant Gauntlets, but for that to be relevant you would have had to have made the mistake of making an Iksar shaman.

I've actually never done the Circlet of Falinkan quest, but know of people who have and it seems pretty easy and straightforward enough to make the stats on this item quite great for something that can be done with a single group. White Dragon Helm is droppable, but if you somehow have enough money for this thing you're most likely going to want to turn it in for the White Dragonscale Boots. If you can somehow afford both, this post is probably not for you anyways.

By the way, this begins the theme of "you want to have good CoV faction." Otherwise you're stuck with Platinum Tiara and using vanilla gear in Velious is really sad.

The Shamanistic Shenannigan Greaves are kinda shitty, so for your legs slot you should just pick a faction and do their armor quest. Wolf Caller's Greaves are definitely the best, and again they require CoV faction.

Neck

Choker of the Wretched is a droppable reward from the final event of the Coldain ring quest, and it's really damn good.

Until you can get one, a 6 stat talisman like Ayillish's Talisman is pretty good. I believe Ayillish is the easiest one to do, but you can also choose from: Derasinel, Draazak, Entariz, Harla Dar, Ionat, Jen Sapara, Kar Sapara, Zil Sapara, or Karkona (these are all dragons in Western Wastes that drop talismans with the same stats). Zlandicar's Talisman is droppable, but don't be deceived by this. It will not be sold for a long, long time, and if it ever is the price will be inflated because this is a Sleeper's Tomb key.

Shoulders

Your tradeskills are ready for Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl, right? While eventually the 8th shawl will most likely never exist on P99, the Runed Coldain Prayer Shawl has acceptable stats as well as Flowing Thought which you should never pass on.

Strength of the Elements is an alternative, although I wouldn't suggested it over the shawl even though I'm about the biggest proponent of +HP gear for a shaman that you can find.

Waist

Bone-Clasped Girdle is almost breaking my "reasonably expensive" rule. However, there are quite a few people in non-raid guilds who have been able to afford them now, and I expect the price to fall further once Velious releases. Ultimately this will be an obtainable item once Plane of Fear is revamped and CT/Dracoliche's loot is moved to the golems.

Belt of Inconsistency is a respectable Plane of Mischief alternative, otherwise you can use something like Runebranded Girdle.

Wrist

Bracer of Hammerfal is quite excellent, considering how easy they are to obtain and how much bracer options suck until Velious. CoV faction is again required.

Spirit Wracked Cord is the big daddy of revamped Chardok items, so it should be considered. Just be aware that some of the final items needed are extremely rare and will be incredibly contested by hundreds of people as soon as the Chardok revamp goes in. Godspeed.

Range

Talisman of Benevolence is yet again another CoV faction quest. This is another one that I've personally never done, but it seems doable by a single group. As an alternative, Eye of Narandi is yet again a reward from the final Coldain ring event.

Conclusion

Even if you're not in TMO/FE/IB, gear gets pretty damn good in Velious and it does take quite a lot of time and teamwork to get it all. Your goal for stamina will be 205 so you can max it at 255 with Riotous Health, and here we overcap at 210 even as a "low stamina" race (Barbarian). 2349 HP, 2665 mana, 987 AC, FT 2, and 80.2 average resists is beyond respectable even for raid gear. And again, this is not including some very good Chardok items.

Praise Velious.