When to stop melee (Shaman)

[Brutal_X]

On my level 40 shaman I've currently got a GFG (Granite Face Grinder) and the Velketor haste gloves. The rest of my gear costs below 1k a piece but overall there are some pretty decent pieces in there.

My question is: At what level does melee become less effective and it's better to root rot? I've heard answers ranging from use melee until I get my epic to I should've been root rotting since 34. I'm looking for the most effective way to level so if I have to sell my GFG for an SBS and a good mainhand I'm willing to do that.

Thanks P99 community!

[Baler]

I'd say 50+ when the only mobs that give exp, hit points go way up.
It's just not as efficient to melee as a shaman in the 50s. Doable though.

I've never gotten the shaman epic but I read that it is a game changer. I advise you to save up for that if you want to main the shaman.
You can even melee very well with it if you want to. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Spectres in Feerott Till 44 Then Blood Gills in LoIO till 49-50. ez-pz, I leveled a shaman (twinked) to 50 in less then 3 weeks solo.
I did level 45 in 10 hours flat at bloodgills.

[fahlen]

Depends entirely upon the situation. If the kills are minutes apart (like a camp you've split) I'll just facetank it to maximize pet's DPS even with epic. Generally canni'ing between JBB clicks. Used GFG with a haste item til epic at 56ish. Just found it more efficient meleeing than root rotting for single targets. I had fungi+jbb though so your results wont be the same. It's a versatile class, epic + jbb and lvl 52 slow are game changers for sure. Do whatever it takes to get your epic and find/make crypt groups for jbb. May get lucky with spells off emp while you're at it.

[Webeporting]

The answer to this question depends on if you have a jbb or not at 45. And not to be rude, but anyone who told you to rot at 34 is just wrong, very wrong.

the only reason shamans rot is said mob produces so much dps that it outweighs our combined regen effects, or the mana converted from cannidancing while rotting allows for more dpm. it's just not the case pre 49. period. especially for someone using the best 2h twink weap in the game with a decent haste.


34 is your last disease spell upgrade until 49
39 is your last poison spell upgrade until 49.
ebolt and plague are efficient enough at 49 to rot if you want.

go farm plat to make 12k(you can do this quite easily before you hit 45, while grinding exp)
get a jbb and win the game at 45 until you get your epic at 50.

[Brutal_X]

So it sounds like root rotting is the way to go until 45 then? At 45 I assume it's best to just sit back and spam JBB?

[Zaejii]

I've been rotting since 20 (I'm 25 now), but I'm extremely not twinked. Most mobs I fight and try to melee easily take me to sub 50% faster than I get them to the same point.

I've basically been doing it a means to keep the exp bar flowing in the correct direction when I don't have the option to group.

[Baler]

45 to 50/51, I used 1 root + 1 dot (poison) + JBB spam. re-root as needed.
Mana was no issue after I got the spawns split to my liking. 4 to 6 mobs in rotation. Towards the High 40's I was even doing 8 mob rotations effectively.

[Zaejii]

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

...JBB spam...

Are these really such a huge difference from being an Iksar to non? Maybe that's why I seem to have so much trouble (because I'm a lizard).

PS Your sig always cracks me up [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Baler]

It's a long cast at 8 seconds but it's mana free ~250 direct damage.(unresisted)
So a non iksar will be able to blast down more targets with the same mana pool as a iksar shaman. (in the level range talked about) After 51+ JBB becomes less useful,. not worthless but it doesn't have the same pizazz that it has at level 45.

So a Bloodgill has ~1300 life,. that's ~5 JBB blasts. so with my method,. root + posion dot + ~4JBB shots,. that's a bloodgill dead in under 1 minute with no threat.
http://wiki.project1999.com/A_bloodgill_goblin
Don't be shocked if these are more camped after this post. har har

Ps. People will tell you to go to 52 off these mobs,. I had a hard time because most of them were full green on spawn at level 50/51.
At that point you'll probably want to move to a dungeon in a group. KC, Seb, HS, Char, velks.... all where JBB really won't be the focus of your group based play.

---off topic---
The only reason I see to play an iksar shaman is if you plan on doing end game velious.
http://wiki.project1999.com/Robe_of_the_Azure_Sky
---

[fahlen]

Even epic, fungi, torpor, etc I still use JBB regularly. Whether facetanking for pet or root rotting (use lowest lvl root for jbb spamming a single target, PE on the ones you're not focusing. Even camping in velks jbb spam with canni between. Best leveling tool you could get for the price at your level.