Shaman - Choosing gear

[Indecisive]

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

Solo is for WoW people, grouping is for EQ people.

The most played classes, by far, are solo-heavy classes. That's not a coincidence. EQ is for anyone who wants to play it, in any way they deem fun.

[magnetaress]

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

The most played classes, by far, are solo-heavy classes. That's not a coincidence. EQ is for anyone who wants to play it, in any way they deem fun.

ya i agree, ps u can solo a rogue but it requires creativeness beyond the 'snare root kite'

people who play necros, druids, shams, and mages are all gr8 nothing wrong with that, its a great place to start

there's no wrong way to adventure in eq

[Attos]

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

Really, pre-50 on Green I'd say the only item worthy of a Shaman's time is (ironically) a mage focus item.

Wat?

Also, I would say you're mostly right. For the most part I think casters don't really need gear. That being said, the better the gear you have the easier it will be to break camps when soloing. Sometimes being able to get one extra nuke/root/heal out can make the difference when breaking a camp.

[magnetaress]

get a good shield that extra ac really helps in that slot and only that slot really its like a permanent armor of faith buffins, unless u r uh, root jousting with a big hitter like gatorsmash

[dragoonJ]

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

get a good shield that extra ac really helps in that slot and only that slot really its like a permanent armor of faith buffins, unless u r uh, root jousting with a big hitter like gatorsmash

Is shield AC different than armor AC then? Or provides some other kind of non-AC benefit?

I've looked into that question before but haven't found a substantial answer.

[magnetaress]

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

Is shield AC different than armor AC then? Or provides some other kind of non-AC benefit?

I've looked into that question before but haven't found a substantial answer.

its been confirmed, and if you dig around in the very old bug/game mechanics section talking about ac that:

Shield AC is seperate from the armor cap. So it is not softcapped by class, so a wizard gets the same benifit from 15 ac on a shield that a warrior does.

This is really helpful pre-50 for 90% of classes in 70% of cases where you are going to get hit (casting slow, then root, on incoming)

I would argue on the whole, for most of the easy content, like under 40 dungeons, shields are really powerful and viable utility for most if you dont mind losing a little melee dps

good pullers in hate & fear 1.0 will put a shield on during the pull... there are MNK equipable shields )

my wizard has max int so she is using that shield from scryer that is 15ac and 20HP [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] REALLY gud item for casters not shm usable, there's that poison shield off the spider, the resists on mistimoore shield are fantastic. and +9 wis shield from gnomes in sola

[Jimjam]

Stack AC. Maybe dabble in some MR if you’re having problems getting rooted or blinded.

The more AC you got the less damage spikes you take. The less damage taken the more spare regen you have to convert into mana. The more spare mana the more you can win at eq.

[loramin]

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

Wat?

Also, I would say you're mostly right. For the most part I think casters don't really need gear. That being said, the better the gear you have the easier it will be to break camps when soloing. Sometimes being able to get one extra nuke/root/heal out can make the difference when breaking a camp.

I'm not trying to say stat gear is worthless outside of raiding, just that it's more efficient to go for levels instead of gear while you're leveling.

If you're wearing twink gear, even just stat gear (no fungi/JBB), you absolutely will notice some differences vs. wearing looted armor from Blackburrow or wherever. I agree that you'll be better at breaking camps, and safer in general because you have more "buffer".

But when you're leveling you never need to break a super hard camp: there's always alternatives. If you take them you might not get quite as good loot, but you level just as fast, because "buffer" doesn't help you kill any quicker and thus doesn't increase XP gained.

But the mage focus item does. It adds a spell to your spell list, Reclaim Energy, which not only can save your life by converting your pet into a shot of mana in a pinch ... it also can give you a max level pet, which will do significantly more damage, and thus help you kill significantly faster.

Your pet is your best DoT, but its damage varies by level. With Reclaim Energy you can summon a pet, reclaim if it's not max level, and repeat until you get a max level pet. Then you can use that same pet for the next however many hours you want, killing faster that entire time because of it.

If you don't sit and grind for long periods of time it's less valuable, so I'm not even saying every Shaman should get it right away, but the differences in pet levels will absolutely affect your killing speed, and again, you'll keep using it even at 60, so unlike a +5 to stamina that you replace in 15 levels, this is an "investment" that lasts.

[utenan]

Get banded armor. Quest totemic when you can. Wear totemic for next 10 years. This is how I play anyways : )

[Vizax_Xaziv]

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

ya i agree, ps u can solo a rogue but it requires creativeness beyond the 'snare root kite'

people who play necros, druids, shams, and mages are all gr8 nothing wrong with that, its a great place to start

there's no wrong way to adventure in eq

Shaman is perfect for anyone who wants a class that's great for soloing and highly desirable for groups as well

1-24 is a bit of a slot. Soon as u get Canni everything changes and then again when u get your pet @ 34.

And again especially in Classic - those stat buffs are huge due to the lack of +stats gear