Shaman leveling Woes and Questions

[Curmudgen]

To give some background, I played an iksar necromancer on live starting right after velious opened up to level 70 and then went on to other things. I have never played a shaman at all. I did sometimes envy the fact that groups forming for higher end exp groups sought after them in /lfg channels while I was on playing.

I decided to start a shaman here, first character with no other higher level character. I decided to start with Ogre, and at level 10 was a bit disenchanted with him and re-rolled a Troll. I loved this until I started fighting mobs that bash and hit....and realized how nice it was to be a ogre even if i did not get that nice regeneration. So I am re-rolling as an ogre. For some reason barbarian does not appeal to me to play.

So the question is, later on can I solo on my shaman fairly close to how easy it is to solo on a necromancer? If so, when does that start to happen? I do like groups and I am not a hermit by nature but my playtime is about 2-3 hrs max a night, usually no change on weekends. Thats why I am wondering about solo ability versus necromancer.

The second question involves leveling questions. I have searched for a guide for shamans but have found none. Having never played one i was wanting to peruse one for ideas at level as both Feerot and Swamp were getting tight for exp at the 10+ range. Does anyone have a guide or just general guidelines?

Thanks in advance for the fabulous answers to come!

[Lickum]

Yikes, not sure any class can solo better than necros. But I played a shaman to 50 here and I was able to solo the whole way, group if I wanted, it was nice having the choice! Definitely changes a lot at level 34 when you get your first pet.

[Wizerud]

It would be hard to find a class that solos as easily as a necro, shamans are no exception.

Shamans are just not as efficient as necros and with the absence of a pet early you're forced to either root/rot or melée/dot/nuke (I prefer the latter). Once you get canni and regen you'll get close to necro regen but with a lot more button mashing.

It's amazing how many group invites you get as a shaman if you leave /anon or /role off. Even if you're not in the same zone. Groups actively look for em. It's nice [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

My basic tactic as a 16 shaman is to throw on a slow as opener (if mob is close to my level), disease dot, poison dot and melée. If by the time the poison dot wears off the mob is not close to dead/walking I'll fire off spirit strike, which is a surprisingly good nuke at the level we get it. I try to time it so my nuke sends it to about 15% hp and is on it's deathmarch.

[Curmudgen]

Would the next place to go after feerot and/or swamp be the Ro north or south?

[skorge]

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

To give some background, I played an iksar necromancer on live starting right after velious opened up to level 70 and then went on to other things. I have never played a shaman at all. I did sometimes envy the fact that groups forming for higher end exp groups sought after them in /lfg channels while I was on playing.

I decided to start a shaman here, first character with no other higher level character. I decided to start with Ogre, and at level 10 was a bit disenchanted with him and re-rolled a Troll. I loved this until I started fighting mobs that bash and hit....and realized how nice it was to be a ogre even if i did not get that nice regeneration. So I am re-rolling as an ogre. For some reason barbarian does not appeal to me to play.

So the question is, later on can I solo on my shaman fairly close to how easy it is to solo on a necromancer? If so, when does that start to happen? I do like groups and I am not a hermit by nature but my playtime is about 2-3 hrs max a night, usually no change on weekends. Thats why I am wondering about solo ability versus necromancer.

The second question involves leveling questions. I have searched for a guide for shamans but have found none. Having never played one i was wanting to peruse one for ideas at level as both Feerot and Swamp were getting tight for exp at the 10+ range. Does anyone have a guide or just general guidelines?

Thanks in advance for the fabulous answers to come!

I'm going to help you man...as an ogre shaman if you want to solo do this:

9-14 aviaks in lake rathe (there are 5 spawn points at the arena zoneline island -- watch out for Prince Krympt (froglok SK)
14-19 oasis (solo whatever you want here...can group if you want but you can solo well with your new level 14 nuke and sow)
19-25 back to lake rathe (aviak guards)
25-30 the named bards in inny or feerott...u pick

if you want to level faster at these levels (1-30) then go with AC and HPs gear as well as wisdom and plus mana gear....get a decent weapon as well...

[Estu]

I soloed an ogre shaman to 27 on P99. Soloing is pretty slow and can get dull as a shaman (at least, for the levels I've soloed; I hear it gets more interesting later when you get your pet at 34), though still faster than grouping, generally. My basic strategy:
1-8: melee-nuke around Innothule and the Feerrott.
9-13: sow-dot kite in South Ro.
14+: root-dot.

Once I left South Ro, I hit up East Karana for gorge hounds and carrion spiders, and am now in South Karana killing aviaks, centaurs, and gnolls outside of Infected Paw.

Pretty straightforward. I've found meleeing to be very inefficient past level 8 or so, as a non-twinked character starting from the ground up.

[Wenai]

Here was my level path on P1999:

1-3: Goblins just outside Halas.
3-5: Gnolls in Everfrost just outside Blackburrow.
5-10: Blackburrow until 9. Fangs to 10 I think?
10-16: Bandits in WK.
16-19: This range sucked really bad. I grouped from 16-19 in Upper Guk.
19-22/24: Can't remember exactly what level but I did gorge hounds.
22/24-34: Aviaks/Centaurs in South Karana.
34-44: Hill Giants in Rathe Mtns.
44-50: Spectres in Feerrott.

Shaman is a rough road until 34. Once you get a pet everything gets easier because you don't feel like a useless druid (sorry druids).

Mana-free damage in EQ is huge in EQ.

[DevGrousis]

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

Mana-free damage in EQ is huge in EQ.

wheres it huge?

[fugazi]

In that mana comes oh so slowly.

[DevGrousis]

just for the sake of Kunark's release coming out, anyone want to give a short guide on a Kunark iksar shaman leveling guide??