Magician or Shaman

[Midoo]

High effort, micromanaging dots and multiple buffs/debuffs = Shaman

Send pet, sit down and watch it kill stuff = Magician

Also consider that all Shaman races are either evil or terribly isolated so unless you want to go on a tedious pilgrimage home every 4 levels I advise off Shaman. Shammy is best in groups but when it comes to solo you'll want to crush your own skull with a bat less often while playing Magician than a ghetto cleric/necromancer hybrid.

[loramin]

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

High effort, micromanaging dots and multiple buffs/debuffs = Shaman

Send pet, sit down and watch it kill stuff = Magician

It's more like send pet, then spam nukes ... unless you're killing very low blues or high greens.

As a Shaman player who now plays a Mage, I've been very disappointed with how the class isn't half as lazy as everyone else makes it out to be. I'm still enjoying it, and I can't say it's as hard as playing Shaman ... but it's definitely not as lazy as I'd hoped.

[Pozzey]

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

the class isn't half as lazy as everyone else makes it out to be...

Sounds like you are not a total shitbag and can play a mage properly. Thumbs up.

[Gatorsmash]

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

High effort, micromanaging dots and multiple buffs/debuffs = Shaman

Send pet, sit down and watch it kill stuff = Magician

Also consider that all Shaman races are either evil or terribly isolated so unless you want to go on a tedious pilgrimage home every 4 levels I advise off Shaman. Shammy is best in groups but when it comes to solo you'll want to crush your own skull with a bat less often while playing Magician than a ghetto cleric/necromancer hybrid.

Yaaa ah mages have ZERO crowd control. ZERO. So unless your 10 levels higher post 30 your getting smashed at those classic lvl 50 camps with just a single extra caster mob

[Life617]

Play necro in classic, chanter in Kunark and shaman in Velious. This will result in the best solo experience for each expansion.

[Xruptor]

I'd say go Mage if it's your first toon. Will be a bit easier and you can solo quite well. Can even farm stuff for other alts. Nukes can be kinda strong and combined with pet should keep things interesting. You won't be able to root so some camps will be challenging but not impossible. Keeps you on your toes at least. If you can grab some nets those will help.

[Kron]

Mage:

- Best summoned pet
- Better to do 1v1 adds just waste your mana
- Lack CC but can use earth pet for root just no control over it.
- Utility is summoning food/water/weps/bags
- Straight forward class and not a bad choice for new players
- General solo strategy is toss pets at the enemy till it dies

Shaman:

- SOW, Haste, Slow, Regen, HP buffs, Heal
- Get to do the canni dance to help with mana regen
- Generally play a Troll so natural regen
- Get a weak pet that is more like a DoT
- Can solo or group with no issues
- General solo strategy is to root/rot but can tank with good gear early on

Adding this since it's also a pet class option

Necromancer :

- Faint Death is great for when things do go wrong also for safe AFK
- Lich for mana and Lifetap for Health
- Great solo class and plat farming class
- Little to no gear required
- Strategy Root/rot..fear kitting.. and Lifetap tanking at earlier levels.

[Snaggles]

I'd go shaman. Played well (or even decent) you have tons of backup plans.

Mages are great but have the versatility of a casting rogue. A bag of root nets, mallet and jboots would make it less stressful but the shaman comes with all those tools in it's spell book.

[IriBlair]

I was interested in starting a Mage to compliment my Necro (two sides of the same coin), but I'm kind of turned off by the gameplay if its what ya'll are saying it is. The wiki implies you'd nuke alongside your pet, not sit down and let it go ham.

[Asteria]

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

I was interested in starting a Mage to compliment my Necro (two sides of the same coin), but I'm kind of turned off by the gameplay if its what ya'll are saying it is. The wiki implies you'd nuke alongside your pet, not sit down and let it go ham.

It might not be super efficient into late 20s or early 30s, you can briefly tank for your pet with a DS on while nuking down an add if you get 2 mobs. AE them if you have 2 or 3 for extra fun. This works better with 55hp rings and high level hp buffs. You can can regen back your hp with the phantom armor hp regen line or pay someone for regen/buffs etc.

Level 44+, you can do wonders 1vs1 with chain summoning fire pet w focus torch(once SolRo is released). With torch, you can probably chain summon fire pet at 39 too. Make sure you specialize in conjuration and keep backing off the new pet or don't get aggro/attacked until the new fire pet casts it's self DS. You'll have to have a dead pet and nuke to get full exp if you're soloing. Duo as much as possible to not have to worry about nuking and get the best results. Group with a ranged dps class preferably or anybody who won't take aggro from your fire pet.