Agreed, Shamans need little in the ways of gear for most slots. Just fill the slots with cheap items. You may even find some upgrades as you level up.
You cannot use JBB sadly, this is the far cheaper method for gaining free damage. This means you must save up for Epic, as the previous posters stated.
Here are the items that will actually make a difference in your Shaman career, and ability to level:
1.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Fungi_Covered_Great_Staff
2.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Black_Fur_Boots
This combo alone is a game changer leveling from 35-60. Fungi staff saves you 1200 mana per hour because you do not have to cast Regrowth every 15 minutes for 300 mana. This means it is effectively a Flowing Thought 2 item for Shamans. On top of that, it is instant cast, which means it has a secondary purpose of acting as your Global Cooldown Refresh item. I used this staff in my main hand from roughly 50-60. I didn't get Torpor or Epic until 60. With Black Fur Boots, you can instantly click them to swap regeneration for run speed, if you need to run away.
3a.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Ceremon...sar_Chestplate
or
3b.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Fungus_Covered_Scale_Tunic
Either item, depending on your budget, will significantly increase your HP regeneration. This means less downtime, and more cannibalizing.
The nice thing about these items is their value has very slow depreciation, so you can always sell them when you are ready to buy your Epic, or Torpor. This also goes for Fungi Staff.
4.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Torch_Of_Alna_Quest
This torch allows you to reclaim energy on your pet. This allows your pet to be used as a mana battery. If you need a bit of extra mana to overcome a mob, you can quickly kill your pet and get some mana back. It is also nice when you are leaving an area. You get some mana back before you zone, reducing how much mana you need to regain.
5.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Coldain...r_Shawl_Quests
Shawl is optional. I personally did it at 52, and the Flowing Thought I did help with leveling. It is a long quest, however, so the time spent getting it is probably more than the time you save from the extra mana regen.
6.
https://wiki.project1999.com/Rune_Cr...7s_Breastplate
This is also optional, but it saves 150 mana per hour or so. 1/4 of a Flowing Thought item basically.
Obviously Torpor and Epic are your end goals, but the items I mentioned above will be the biggest game changers you can get until then.