Shamen Vs. Druids as Soloers

[Skope]

There are quite a few downsides to shamans as well. Some to keep note of are:

Lack of ability to split. Root works, sure, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it.

No real DDs. Though you get the 2nd best DoTs in the game (behind necros), sometimes certain mobs require a "kill it with fire!" type of strategy. You're built for efficiency, thus a caster mob can and will tear you in half.

No real stuns. Bash works, but there is no stun that you can cast. It can be supplemented by things like equipping a howling harpoon.

Expensive! you will see a large disparity between a poorly equipped shammies ability to solo and one that's very well equipped. in full rune-etched, black saph and a barb spiritist's hammer i can kill seafuries non-stop for a whole hour until i need to rebuff myself. The mana return on cannibalize and rage/chloro means I don't have to med to rechloro, haste or slow any mobs i encounter. In both hate and fear i can off-tank pretty much any trash mob in the plane. At 230 dex, it's actually more efficient killing furies than killing them with a necro (though not a mage).

come kunark/velious, shamans have great efficiency, but it comes at the cost of speed. Your battles will be drawn-out in order to maintain that great efficiency.

On the plus side:

They have the most efficient mana return in the game. Unlike necros, they can actually cast their mana regen spells with a clarity>KEI.

They have the best regen in the game due to spells/items available to them.

2nd best DoTs, only behind necros. With a pet and decent melee proc items they can do a decent amount of damage while melee'ing.

Best debuffs/buffs in the game, by far. Shamans get the best malise, best slow and great weakens, allowing a shaman to melee a summoning mob down while still maintaining efficiency.


Druids are better at soloing outdoors. They also have the ability to quad, which boosts their efficiency tremendously. Snare is a safer spell than root (in particular shammy root) when dealing with adds, and harmony is second to none.

if it's your first character, i'd suggest going druid.