Solo Shaman on Green
 

I'm aware of how good Shamans can solo end game with all of their toys. I am as casual as they come with a few hours a day if I'm lucky. I plan on playing a solo shaman and have 0 hopes of ever getting the shaman epic. Can shamans still solo a lot endgame without their epic, or is it pretty much a must have for farming stuff?

You don’t need epic, you need Torpor.

Epic is for XP farming, torpor is for plat farming.

Also solo levelling to late 30s is a real slog without being twinked. So you may need to group before that.

Solo before 34 is pretty pointless and very hard undergeared. Once you have your pet you can actually kill some stuff. Small group are still way more efficient.

TLDR - before 34 you're going to have a bad time

Once you hit 24 its definitely possible, especially with a decent weapon. Staff of the Observers or something like that.

But its fucking miserable and you aren't going to outpace any decent group.

By old world standards Shamans can solo decently--not top tier, but decently--even at their worst levels. It's only bad if you're coming from "Blue" used to using good equipment to mow down everything in your path.

The epic is nice to have if you want to solo at high levels, especially 55 plus. The click speeds things up and saves a great deal of mana. Note that for a time the Shaman epic is relatively easy to obtain, arguably the easiest one overall. The "tear" only becomes a significant bottleneck later on after Velious opens with the planar revamps. Even a solo player will potentially be able to afford the necessary MQ's/etc if he starts saving now with that goal in mind.

At level 60, if you get that far, you really want Torpor. Unless you get lucky with drops it's going to be obscenely expensive. Shaman is a strong class, but it's not a cheap class. If you have none of the expensive Kunark-era spells/items, it's an okay soloist (velketor spiders, some of the easier Sebilis camps, things like that), but it won't be able to do the biggest things the Shaman is known for.

Danth

Having just played a shaman 1-34 with no twinking, I'll agree that 1-33 shaman is quite a grind. Before the pet, you just don't have the efficiency and mana regeneration to feel very strong. But solo isn't pointless or "very hard." 1 yellow an hour once you pass the early rush of levels is about the best you can get, but that is really respectable for not being a chanter, necro, charming druid, or chain-summoning mage.

How much exp per hour are you getting in groups?

Based on a thread I started in the general section, it sounds like people are earning significantly faster exp in groups than the 1 yellow per hour I have generally had as a solo sham. This generally is in dungeons with better-than-outdoor ZEMs though, and as many folks as report great exp in groups also seem to report waiting lists and stuff to get into groups.

So yeah. I'll stand by my claim that soloing a shaman isn't pointless. It's slower in terms of both experience per hour and the gameplay, but steady and relaxed.

Bubble or so an hour is about the same as the wife and I do on an average night where we're not trying too hard. Same as your experience, we could be faster if we wanted to, but there's something to be said for being laid back and taking it easy. We've been on P99 a long time, and we'll still be here long after some of the rushers burn out and quit.

Danth