Troll or Barb - shaman race?

[Sslaesha]

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

In WoW, I would have simply stepped onto the boat. Convenient? Yes. Fun? Memorable? Immersive? No.

This is why EQ reigns over all.

[Kevlar]

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

In WoW, I would have simply stepped onto the boat. Convenient? Yes. Fun? Memorable? Immersive? No.

I take it you never tried taking a zeppelin as alliance. Wow had the same exact mechanic, a transport for good races and a transport for bad.

[Ephirith]

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

I take it you never tried taking a zeppelin as alliance. Wow had the same exact mechanic, a transport for good races and a transport for bad.

Last I checked there's no Iksar boat. And there is a lot more at stake here if you get knocked out by the guards trying to sneak onto a boat, like exp loss and a long, dangerous corpse run. I'm not saying WoW was a bad game, I had a hell of a good time playing it, just highlighting the things I like about EQ

[mokfarg]

Originally Posted by vageta31 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

AC doesn't work correctly on this server, your best bet is to load up on cheap hp/mana gear and get ac in any spots that you cant get something better. Things like glowing bone collar, plat fire rings/plat skull rings, embroidered sleeves/cloak, sebilite belt, golden jaded bracelets, gatorscale leggings, etc.. Most of that is very affordable and together add up to a large amount of hit points that make the earlier levels much easier.

I thought they got the AC issues worked out or am I incorrect? I imagine this would be a priority if AC was broken.

[mokfarg]

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

I can't stand looking like an ogre or troll, and the lore behind ogre/troll/barb is completely boring to me and in fact largely non-existent.

So I rolled an iksar, and it's always going to suck balls not being able to use the JBB, but EQ was never a game where I felt like I wanted to min/max, in which case ogre would be the obvious choice.

Probably because one of the things that sucked me into EQ was the difficulty and inconvenience inherent in the design, and then the sense of accomplishment when you succeed. The other day in Firionia Vie I had to sneak my level 14 Iksar across hordes of spider elves with no invis, only to climb onto a dock infested with hostile guards and hope there was a friendly invis-er nearby who could help me onto the boat.

In WoW, I would have simply stepped onto the boat. Convenient? Yes. Fun? Memorable? Immersive? No.

I liked the way my ogre looked untill he is now forced to wear the most ugly helm on the world ... I know it isn't classic to be able to hide it but ... [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[beentheredonethat]

what is this jbb acronym everyone talks about?

[quenyar]

http://http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Jaundiced_Bone_Bracer

Mana free 263dd spell as effect...

[isoka]

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

From your experience which one works out better, especially for leveling?
Trolls have really nice regen, but it seems like there are better stats for Barbs and no exp penalty... do these benefits outweight Troll regen in any way?

Leveling. As a shaman, you can either solo or group.

Grouping : In such a case, your main role will be to keep your group buffed and to slow incoming mobs. You might be used as a healer, but you would burn all your mana into healings making it difficult to keep up with buffs and slow unless you have torpor.
Anyway, in such a situation, mana pool isn't that important since you most likely never face situations where you have to chain cast healing spells or direct damage spells to get out of a shitty situation. Remember. Your role is to keep the group buffed, to keep the mobs slowed, and to patch heal. This is done through a nice mana regen, not through a huge mana pool.
The troll/iksar regen (especially while sitting) makes a huge difference when combined with cannibalize regarding mana regen. Stun immune ability and barbarian spirit hammer are of no use there.

Soloing : Two schools (both involve a slowed mob).
You will see many people saying that if you aren't tanking your mob, you are doing it wrong.
Pros : You kill your mob faster since you dps while tanking and you don't have to wait for your pet to be full life to engage another mob.
Cons : You take the hits (so you lose mana since those hp lost aren't converted through canni), you don't meditate (so you lose even more mana through time), you don't use your pet regen ability since you tank.

The other school is to root, dot and have pet on mob while either medding, either JBBing.
Pros : You take less hits so you have an overall higher mana regen (remember, root is only 30 mana and often saves more than 60dmg of melee hits, especially at high levels where mobs hit for 150 and double attack).
Cons : Your pet will need to regen inbetween fights but you will also need to canni inbetween fights to rebuild the mana used for slow and dots. So it's not really an issue.

So, in the soloing field, I would say that all three races can find their happyness. Barbs and ogres will most likely go the first way while trolls and iksars will most likely use their regen ability by rooting their mobs. The only situation where you might want the stun immune ability is against a mob you can't root.

Regarding torpor, the moment you get it, you will basically turn into an endless mana machine. However, you could wonder why all shamans want a fungi, even with torpor. It's because it makes it more convenient. The more hp regen you have, the less you have to torpor. Regen ability is really strong for a shaman.
So at the end of the day, Ogre, Barb, Troll or Iksar, the moment you get torpor, you can do whatever you want, it's just that some races will need to torpor more than some others.

isoka, troll forever

[boozehammer]

Thanks for that post, Isoka. Confirming my experience as a caster-based troll shaman, instead of hearing I'm 'doing it wrong' from all these meleeing shammys. I've solo'd 1-50 (90% of the time, but never grouping out of need) as a root/rot'er in safety and with surprising (to me) speed.

That's what is nice about the shaman class, they can be very versatile.

[quido]

Shamans suck