Iksar shaman

[Feachie]

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

Got a lvl 51 Ikky warrior. Never had to faction anything. Play Iksar. Seek out the Harbingers of Thule for allies.

^
i dunno who keeps saying that a lot of faction is needed for playing ikky here, because that's not the case. iksar faction is not quite right. with zero faction work i was able to walk into neriak at level 15 on my monk, to the bank, even peeked inside third gate.

not complaining, bad faction sucks, but it still shouldn't be like that because it's not classic.

[Nytewind TP]

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

^
i dunno who keeps saying that a lot of faction is needed for playing ikky here, because that's not the case. iksar faction is not quite right. with zero faction work i was able to walk into neriak at level 15 on my monk, to the bank, even peeked inside third gate.

not complaining, bad faction sucks, but it still shouldn't be like that because it's not classic.

Is something wrong with Iksar/DE Faction on P99? I remember playing my Iksar monk back on live and I'd aggro guards and the bridge, the zones near Neriak and the roaming near Lavastorm and never did anything to hurt DE faction. They never liked me.

[Extunarian]

In regards to the JBB - I also thought it wasn't that big of an item until I got one. That item alone allows me to solo safer, faster and with zero downtime.

Maybe at 60 or in Velious the jbb won't be so game-changing, but for now I wouldn't consider playing a race that couldn't use it.

[Messianic]

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

^
i dunno who keeps saying that a lot of faction is needed for playing ikky here, because that's not the case. iksar faction is not quite right. with zero faction work i was able to walk into neriak at level 15 on my monk, to the bank, even peeked inside third gate.

not complaining, bad faction sucks, but it still shouldn't be like that because it's not classic.

I have no evidence regarding whether it's correct or not - I never played iksar on live - but it was odd to me to kill like 5 gnolls outside qeynos and be glower to the regular qeynos guards (yet still glare to the corrupt qeynos guards).

[garyogburn]

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

In regards to the JBB - I also thought it wasn't that big of an item until I got one. That item alone allows me to solo safer, faster and with zero downtime.

Maybe at 60 or in Velious the jbb won't be so game-changing, but for now I wouldn't consider playing a race that couldn't use it.

I second this. I wasnt planning on using it (I bought into the whole "its a crutch bad shamans use" mantra) but when one fell into my lap, I saw just how perfect it compliments my playstyle.

Pretty much any damage a shaman does costs a TON of mana (except for our pet, which does like 20 dps) which means unless you wanna dump 300 mana for a dot, you have your pet and your pet alone to do damage.

The JBB just adds a ton of efficiency. While it does have an 8 sec cast time, it also ignores the 1 sec global timer, so you can throw in a canni in between casts to actually regen mana while doing damage.

In groups, its pretty marginal. But that goes for your nukes and dots anyway, you arent really there to do damage. But when you need to burn something and want to conserve mana for a heal or slow, the JBB gives you a completely secure way to still contribute.

Also, a fully buffed pet + poison dot + JBB adds up to quite a bit of damage.

[deakolt]

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

^
i dunno who keeps saying that a lot of faction is needed for playing ikky here, because that's not the case. iksar faction is not quite right. with zero faction work i was able to walk into neriak at level 15 on my monk, to the bank, even peeked inside third gate.

not complaining, bad faction sucks, but it still shouldn't be like that because it's not classic.

True. My Iksar Warrior was KOS everywhere in old world back on live-

[mwatt]

Also regarding the JBB...

There are many times in the life of a shaman (in fact, more often than not) when you will be low mana - despite the ability to cannibalize. At these times, both solo and grouped, the JBB can be a wonderful thing to have.

Is this the biggest drawback to choosing an Iksar? Hard to say. I think it depends upon the person. It is however a drawback, no matter how much some people would like to downplay it. Is a JBB gonna make or break game play? Absolutely not.

[Anger]

Also should be mentioned that much of the +wis gear in game now is not usable by iksar, including GEB's.

JBB is the big issue. Really alot of your "endgame" gear now comes from drops out of KC (until the planes revamps), which sucks.

[Slave]

I think the question should be, what are you giving up with an Iksar shaman over a Troll shaman? They both look pretty cool...

Advantages for Troll Shaman over Iksar:

1) ALL Jaundiced Bone armor. All those effects, not just the bracer. And other armors.
2) Major physical stat advantage.
3) Slam can be quite significant against casters.

Advantages for Iksar shaman over troll:

1) natural +12 AC (mitigated by their not being allowed to wear some armors)
2) Being smaller in outside zones. (but don't shrink potions work outside?)

For me the choice is fairly clear and I advised my buddy to go Troll Shaman. And he is a complete monster.

[Slave]

Aaaand Troll Shaman gets their choice of undead fear/animal fear or snare click. This fact alone imo puts them waaay over the top of Iksar.