Most solid duo for Kunark and Velious

[Phallax]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Please tell me what you consider "worthwhile" ... and please don't say Yeldema.

Lodizal, any of the nest dragons and 2 or 3 of the dragons outfront ToV, which ever ones didnt silence. Any named camp in sebilis once broken was easy to hold.

[Skope]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Explain to me why it's beneficial to do minimal damage for no mana as opposed to much better damage for a small amount of mana that can easily be made up over a few seconds of torpor + canni spamming? I agree, a mana free nuke would be amazing to any other class but doesn't really benefit a class with virtually unlimited mana, with the fastest mana regen in the game by far.

chain cannibalizing while soloing something difficult isn't a great idea. That in itself wastes time. The way a shaman soloed things that were high HP and an extreme level of difficulty usually resulted in them healing themselves with torpor, having a proc wep equipped and using the JBB while timing when it is that the mob has the next swing as to not be interrupted. DoT's, with perhaps exception of the plague line, weren't usually used. It was essentially a 15minute fight that's very safe, as opposed to making it a 5minute endeavor where you're not sure whether or not you'll have enough mana to finish it off.

JBB was mostly used when root rotting. if you didn't want to get hit by it's melee you can simply slow, DoT, root and click jbb - reapply root.

It was never necessary, and there were far better choices in equipment for a shaman, but it did allow a certain degree of freedom in a shammy's style of play. But keep in mind that shammies solo capabilities are heavily influenced by their gear. You're not a mage, where you can essentially do the same things with or without gear. It's a class that requires a LOT of plat to support and can be time-consuming and often very frustrating to level.

The reason shammies make great duo partners is because they're so dang versatile. Even in classic I can quad-root specs at lvl 44 (gotta have quite a bit of mana though -- around 190 wis not counting +mana gear). Just running around I've seen many different shammy playstyles, though I may not agree with some, it doesn't mean that it's flat-out wrong. With the various spells and roles you can pair them with almost any class and do quite well.

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around. By far the main reason they were so valuable was because they weren't overplayed. A single shaman in a group can fulfill many roles, but as soon as you have two it's a serious hindrance. On raid situations it was usually 2-3 shamans, with one taking care of buffs and the other(s) on slow/malise/debuffs, and that was with 40-50 people per raid.

[Weekapaug]

Originally Posted by Skope [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around.

I agree with everything else you posted but, at the risk of jacking my own thread, I would worry more about other class twinks running around, honestly. LOL

There are loads of shaman on p99, but there are shitloads of enchanters and bards. "Bad" shaman are usually just lazy and a waste of a group slot. Bad bards and enchanters are a detriment to themselves and others, in and out of groups. I've encountered maybe two or three of each so far that weren't. I don't know how it is past 30, but if I see more than a piece or two of lambent on a bard when I get in a group with my warrior main, I literally cringe.

There are notable exceptions, of course, but in my 8-9 years of EQ since release on blue servers, red servers, new servers, old servers, etc, I've never seen a collection of so many shit bard twinks in one place as on this server, with enchanters right behind them.

[Kluren]

+1 to monk and mage (earth chain pet) duo. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Reiker]

Originally Posted by Skope [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

chain cannibalizing while soloing something difficult isn't a great idea. That in itself wastes time. The way a shaman soloed things that were high HP and an extreme level of difficulty usually resulted in them healing themselves with torpor, having a proc wep equipped and using the JBB while timing when it is that the mob has the next swing as to not be interrupted. DoT's, with perhaps exception of the plague line, weren't usually used. It was essentially a 15minute fight that's very safe, as opposed to making it a 5minute endeavor where you're not sure whether or not you'll have enough mana to finish it off.

JBB was mostly used when root rotting. if you didn't want to get hit by it's melee you can simply slow, DoT, root and click jbb - reapply root.

It was never necessary, and there were far better choices in equipment for a shaman, but it did allow a certain degree of freedom in a shammy's style of play. But keep in mind that shammies solo capabilities are heavily influenced by their gear. You're not a mage, where you can essentially do the same things with or without gear. It's a class that requires a LOT of plat to support and can be time-consuming and often very frustrating to level.

The reason shammies make great duo partners is because they're so dang versatile. Even in classic I can quad-root specs at lvl 44 (gotta have quite a bit of mana though -- around 190 wis not counting +mana gear). Just running around I've seen many different shammy playstyles, though I may not agree with some, it doesn't mean that it's flat-out wrong. With the various spells and roles you can pair them with almost any class and do quite well.

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around. By far the main reason they were so valuable was because they weren't overplayed. A single shaman in a group can fulfill many roles, but as soon as you have two it's a serious hindrance. On raid situations it was usually 2-3 shamans, with one taking care of buffs and the other(s) on slow/malise/debuffs, and that was with 40-50 people per raid.

The reason you weren't canning while tanking was probably something to do with prioritizing wisdom and not hp. "Slow, root, JBB, reapply root" is probably one of the worst shaman strategies I've heard. And to Phallax, no point in really listing mobs you soloed without mentioning which expansion you did it in. Yes, I've soloed Lodizal, within the Velious expansion, but on The Sleeper where there was obvious advantages. Still, I've only heard of one other person doing this and that was another shaman in RoI. But I also had no problem holding all 4 spawns at Seb crypt during Kunark/Velious back in 2000. As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Thac0]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I do recall Shammys soloing some pretty hard content in Velious simply due to to the fact that slow + topor + click-able damage is pretty darn nice. Likewise I do understand your point about the shaman having many options so they don't have to waste time clicking something and just use mana to burn down a mob.

Really that the great thing about shammys. Many styles of gameplay and no 1 way is the right way. Anyone who says there is only 1 way in reguards to shammys is probably hardheaded and daft to boot.

In retrospec, anyone looking at the thread should seriously consider a shammy just due to the back and forth between you guys. You all bring up pretty great points.

The down side is that now there will be more shammys [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Phallax]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The reason you weren't canning while tanking was probably something to do with prioritizing wisdom and not hp. "Slow, root, JBB, reapply root" is probably one of the worst shaman strategies I've heard. And to Phallax, no point in really listing mobs you soloed without mentioning which expansion you did it in. Yes, I've soloed Lodizal, within the Velious expansion, but on The Sleeper where there was obvious advantages. Still, I've only heard of one other person doing this and that was another shaman in RoI. But I also had no problem holding all 4 spawns at Seb crypt during Kunark/Velious back in 2000. As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I did this when Velious was the latest expansion. And held down many sebilis camps solo/duo when RoK was. I soloed Lodizal many times. Hes not all that hard if you take your time and arent retarded.

[Cogwell]

Not that I'm calling you a liar, but how the hell did you solo crypt at 60? How long did it take to kill the guards since you couldnt interrupt CH reliably (slam isn't *that* nice)? I think that would be much more of an accomplishment than soloing lodizal.

[Reiker]

You avoid the guards.

[guineapig]

I've seen this question before..

Enchanter / Druid

Reason: (I'm repeating myself)

Clarity, pet, charm, haste, slow, sow, teleports, evac, snare, dots, nukes, healing, mez, stuns, root, invis, invis versus undead, damage shields, regen, indoor and outdoor lull, alliance, enchant metals, see invis etc, etc, etc...

The only in game ability (besides locate/summon corpse) this combo does not have access to is resurection. Add a paladin as the third member when a tank is needed and you can do anything in the game...

There is no other combo in the game that can do what an enchanter / druid can do.