Shamwowi's Shaman Race Guide

[DMN]

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

Hey, thanks for mentioning the CT symbol! I did forget about that. I can include it in my guide for sure. Shamans can already fear kite with blind if they really wanted to. The problem is there just aren't a lot of situations where this is needed. I did use blind kiting once on enchanter mobs so they wouldn't Charm me, but that was before I was level 60 with decent resistance gear.

Well, blinds don't stun. And fear enables people/pets to stay in melee range of the feared enemy the entire duration. Blinds cast a tiny bit faster but have a relatively long cooldown time if the mob resists while the symbol can be spammed. You also can't be summoned through fear.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

Well, blinds don't stun. And fear enables people/pets to stay in melee range of the feared enemy the entire duration. Blinds cast a tiny bit faster but have a relatively long cooldown time of the mob resists while the symbol can be spammed.

Yes, those are two great points. For undead mobs, you could interrupt spell casting with it, and have a pet chase them while they are feared. As far as I am aware, Fears do not actually "stun" a mob, it just ends the current spell they are casting if they start running. I haven't tested this in a long time, but I do not believe fear has any affect on mobs that are rooted. Do rooted mobs stop casting their current spell when they are feared? I don't think I have ever tried that specifically. That would be cool if you could use fears as a spell interrupt on rooted mobs, even though they will still melee attack you due to the root.

However, this goes back to the point I make in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kYEDUOoKU4 . For most spell caster mobs, you can just tank spells with high resistances. You can also use line of sight to avoid spell casting. In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS3uoIHTu_c I can show an example of how to prevent mobs from gating by fighting them near their spawn point. The first mob I fight in this video is a pather. You cannot fight him at the end of his path, because he just gates. Instead, you can fight him near his spawn point, to prevent gating.

So I completely agree that the CT necklace could have some limited uses in very specific scenarios, but it is pretty common to use the two tactics above to take out spell casting mobs.

For CH mobs, if you have the runway to fear them, you can start blind kiting them before 40%, so fear is not really required there either.

[DMN]

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

Yes, those are two great points. For undead mobs, you could interrupt spell casting with it, and have a pet chase them while they are feared. As far as I am aware, Fears do not actually "stun" a mob, it just ends the current spell they are casting. I haven't tested this in a long time, but I do not believe fear has any affect on mobs that are rooted. Do rooted mobs stop casting their current spell when they are feared? I don't think I have ever tried that specifically. That would be cool if you could use fears as a spell interrupt on rooted mobs, even though they will still melee attack you due to the root.

Ya, feared mobs will have their spell interrupted if rooted. And you are right it's not truly a "stun". that can be beneficial sometimes actually, as some mobs are immune to stuns but not fear.

If all you wanted to do is solo farm seb crypt/howling stones, a CT following troll/iksar is most likely beat out FSI or snare.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

Ya, feared mobs will have their spell interrupted if rooted. And you are right it's not truly a "stun". that can be beneficial sometimes actually, as some mobs are immune to stuns but not fear.

If all you wanted to do is solo farm seb crypt/howling stones, a CT following troll/iksar is most likely beat out FSI or snare.

That is really cool, I never knew that! I need to try that out.

[Maschenny]

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

Ya, feared mobs will have their spell interrupted if rooted. And you are right it's not truly a "stun". that can be beneficial sometimes actually, as some mobs are immune to stuns but not fear.

If all you wanted to do is solo farm seb crypt/howling stones, a CT following troll/iksar is most likely beat out FSI or snare.

Interesting. I didn't know that about fear. Do shamans have any other options at spell interrupt?

[DMN]

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

Interesting. I didn't know that about fear. Do shamans have any other options at spell interrupt?

Not really. A small chance to land their own slam and be lucky enough to roll an interrupt or stun (non-iksars only). theoretically the pet could also have a small chance to land an opportune stun/interrupt as well if the stars align just right. The inability to interrupt mobs is one of the major weaknesses of shaman.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

Interesting. I didn't know that about fear. Do shamans have any other options at spell interrupt?

They do not have a lot of options, unfortunately.

Only Cazic Thule Shamans (Trolls/Iksars) can get the fear clickies for Animals and Undead.

Most Shaman races (except Iksars) get Slam, which can do the trick if you are lucky.

Shamans do get https://wiki.project1999.com/Charm_Animals , but that isn't very useful since it is for animals only, and you can only charm animals up to level 33 with this spell. I am not sure if there are even that many animals that do spell casting.

Usually Shamans need to deal with spell casters directly. Using Line of Sight in dungeons and high resistances to tank spells are generally the best options.

Your pet bashes, but that is extremely random, and not reliable at all to try and interrupt a specific spell.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Blinding_Luminance you can use blind to do what is called Blind Kiting. Landing the blind won't interrupt a spell already being cast, but if the mob is not next to anything on it's hate list, it will run around just like a fear. This means they will not cast any more spells until the bind wears off, or something on their hate list becomes close to them. This strategy doesn't have a lot of areas where it is usable, since you need a decent runway for the mob to run, and for you to stay out of it's way. I did use this tactic in Cobalt Scar on the Sirens there, to prevent them from charming me. This was when I was around level 52.

[isoka]

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

Even with an experienced tank, it can be tough to keep up agro on multiple mobs when a Shaman needs to slow and heal. Doing 6+ Dragons is a great example here. I am usually on Rampage, even in a group of 6, due to slowing and healing. Torpor's range requires me to be in Rampage distance, so I am taking hits in the fight. I don't believe Bashes happen on rampage (I am usually not paying attention to that), so FSI probably doesn't apply to rampage hits. Also, I sometimes pull as a Shaman if there is no need to do crazy pulling shenanigans, because I am already going to be high on the hate list initially, when trying to land a slow.

Actually, that was the worst possible example chosen since rampage list isn't a matter of how much hate you have but of being highest on agro list while not being MT.
No matter how experienced the main tank is, those are not related.

If you don t want to eat rampage, don t pull and/or wait for others to engage before slowing/maloing.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

Actually, that was the worst possible example chosen since rampage list isn't a matter of how much hate you have but of being highest on agro list while not being MT.
No matter how experienced the main tank is, those are not related.

If you don t want to eat rampage, don t pull and/or wait for others to engage before slowing/maloing.

I think you missed the point I was trying to make. Being on Rampage means you have the second highest agro on the mobs hate list. For Shamans, this is common, because Shamans are usually healing and Slowing. Both generate a good amount of agro. When you are second on the hate list, you are the closest player to surpassing the tank on the agro list. A string of slow resists could do that, because slow generates a lot of agro.

For 6+ Dragons in a small group, you don't have the luxury to wait for the tank and dps to build agro before slowing and healing. The tank will die if you do that. Slows need to land ASAP to maximize the mana you save on future healing. Maybe a Warrior using discs could do it, but you don't always have a Warrior tanking.

[Danth]

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

Being on Rampage means you have the second highest agro on the mobs hate list.

Negative, it means you attacked the target sooner than anyone else except possibly the person who's acting as tank. Rampage works based on order-of-engage. Other players can overtake the rampage target's aggro but he'll still have rampage; that's how healers get stuck with rampage damage sometimes. Once you have rampage the only way you get rid of it is either clearing off the hatelist entirely (feign/etc) or moving outside its range limit. You're not necessarily second on aggro so much as you're a good shaman who likes to aggressively slow stuff--as it should be.

I agree that Shamans in solo/duo/smallman situations generally want to slow stuff ASAP. I like telling the wife to cast as soon as she's in spell range and as quickly as cooldown permits. If your tank is a Paladin or Shadow Knight or similar high-hate class then that's no issue, but if you're running around with a Warrior or Monk or similar melee who generates less frontloaded threat then the Shaman's probably going to be getting hit.

Danth