Shamen Vs. Druids as Soloers

[guineapig]

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

I know a few druids who quit in the high 30s on p99. Why? Theyre terrible groupers. They dont have anything another class doesnt already have covered.

So, if you go druid, its good to know you can quad, because its all you will be doing post 34.

I wouldn't go that far.
Sure other classes have the same thing druids have but druids get it all in one.

Damage shield, spot heals, snare, root, stun (outdoors only), AoE lull (outdoor only) pretty decent nukes, a couple buffs, teleports and evacs. Would you rather wait around to find a class that can do one of those things or just grab the class that can do all of the above (if they are already LFG anyway)?

So while a druid isn't the best at these things, it's never a bad idea to have one in the group if there is a spot open. Who doesn't want to carry around a swiss army class with them?

[garyogburn]

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

I wouldn't go that far.
Sure other classes have the same thing druids have but druids get it all in one.

Damage shield, spot heals, snare, root, stun (outdoors only), AoE lull (outdoor only) pretty decent nukes, a couple buffs, teleports and evacs. Would you rather wait around to find a class that can do one of those things or just grab the class that can do all of the above (if they are already LFG anyway)?

So while a druid isn't the best at these things, it's never a bad idea to have one in the group if there is a spot open. Who doesn't want to carry around a swiss army class with them?

While its true they are a jack of all trades, they arent even the best at that. Shamans are.

Im not saying theyre worthless, its just theres many better choices. And would you really want to play a druid, just sitting in a group redoing thorns, throwing the occasional nuke with a finger over the evac button?

Druids really only shine in outdoors solo environments.

[guineapig]

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

While its true they are a jack of all trades, they arent even the best at that. Shamans are.

I would not consider Shaman to be the best Jack of all trades. Just my personal opinion but I think bards come in on top in terms of versatility. Necros and Enchanters would most definitely top shaman in terms of versatility as well due to their ability to help mana regen, crowd control, lull, charm, FD, rune, stun, syphon mana, etc.

Shaman can offtank, they have great damage potential, amazing buffs and root.

Druids can't offtank but they can do all of the rest and much more. So despite shaman being better buffers it doesn't make up for their lack of post, evac, snare, harmony, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree that shaman are much better at certain things like I stated before, but their pure versatility factor is not as high (once again, in my opinion) as some would make them out to be.

Also, as I have stated before, there are better choices for each job a druid can handle. A druid just happens to be able to a bit of everything.

[garyogburn]

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

I would not consider Shaman to be the best Jack of all trades. Just my personal opinion but I think bards come in on top in terms of versatility. Necros and Enchanters would most definitely top shaman in terms of versatility as well due to their ability to help mana regen, crowd control, lull, charm, FD, rune, stun, syphon mana, etc.

Shaman can offtank, they have great damage potential, amazing buffs and root.

Druids can't offtank but they can do all of the rest and much more. So despite shaman being better buffers it doesn't make up for their lack of post, evac, snare, harmony, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree that shaman are much better at certain things like I stated before, but their pure versatility factor is not as high (once again, in my opinion) as some would make them out to be.

Also, as I have stated before, there are better choices for each job a druid can handle. A druid just happens to be able to a bit of everything.

Fair enough. Shamans still beat out those classes in versatility you mentioned due to being able to heal better than any class than a cleric, imo though.

[guineapig]

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

Fair enough. Shamans .... able to heal better than any class than a cleric, imo though.

I completely agree with this part.

[Hindace]

I played a shaman all the way through the Dragons of Norrath expansion in EQLive. I know I am completely biased but I feel they are the best class in both soloing and grouping, when compared to druids. The one thing I will about shaman in the negative is that getting through the low to mid 20's is a bear. It gets a little easier at about 25+. Once you hit level 34 and get your pet and HP buffs, you are a GOD. I remember when Velious came out and I was the only person on our server that was soloing certain DRAGONS in the Western Wastes (just had to find the ones that did not summon and I was golden).

[Tetrian]

Estu, Druids get their first real quadding spell at 34.

[Estu]

Can't you start quad kiting at 14 by just snaring four mobs separately and then AOEing them, since you have SoW and can easily keep your distance from them?

[Skope]

Yes, actually. You just need to stack +mana gear instead of +wis and you'd be golden.

As i stated in this thread before, I've played a shaman on live and am playing one here, but when it comes to a first character you're almost certainly better off with a druid.

Shamans are incredibly versatile in group/solo situations, and even more so on raids, but they're also hard to master and play correctly. It's not a class for the lazy, and the player should be mashing more keys than a bard twisting 4 to truly use a shammy to its full potential.

I made the choice of going necro for my first char because they level incredibly quick and aren't very gear dependent (or at all, really). This allowed me to spend about 50k on the shaman before it even dinged level 2, which helped immensely. If you don't have that sort of funding you should expect somewhat of a struggle to level 34.

EDIT: if you're going for a solo shammy, i think ogre is absolutely the way to go. Stun immunity is critical when trying to land that timely torpor/root.

[Tetrian]

Well, i assume you are referring to cascade of hail, which is a rain type spell and as such not really effecient for AE kiting.

Its the AE lightning spell line that really enables AE kiting for druids - and it starts out at 34 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]