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Shaman

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The Shaman is the undisputed King or buffs and debuffs. While others, notably the Enchanter come close, no one changes the statistics of everything around them as well as a Shaman. The Shaman is also an apt spot healer, with the best mana endurance available; A shaman will be the last person to run out of mana due to his powerful Cannibalize line of spells, which turn their health into mana on a whim. In addition possess a solid Pet, and the second best DoTs in the game, making them a very formidable damage addition to any force. You would be very foolish to underestimate what a good Shaman brings to the table.



Starting Statistics

The Shaman class receives 30 starting points to distribute in the various stats. The stats that the game deems important to the class are Stamina, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Race STR STA AGI DEX WIS INT CHA
Barbarian 103 100 82 70 80 60 60
Froglok 70 85 100 100 85 75 55
Iksar 70 75 90 85 90 75 60
Ogre 130 127 70 70 77 60 42
Troll 108 114 83 75 70 52 45
Vah 90 80 90 70 80 65 70


All Shaman races start a bit low in the Charisma, and Shaman receive a number of spells that simply must land when cast early in the fight. Charisma is highly suggested for receiving the lion's share of your 30 points. Charisma is a moderately hard stat to raise through items.

Many of those spells not only must be cast early in the fight, but have a high aggro component. For this reason, a Shaman is much more likely than most other casters to find themselves the object of the mob's attention in a group. Distribute the remaining points into Stamina to give yourself as many HP as possible. Extra hit points can be converted to mana after level 24 by nature of the Cannibalize spell line. This source of mana regeneration is the second reason to have as much Stamina as possible. Stamina is very difficult to raise through items without making sacrifices elsewhere.

Wisdom is the mana pool stat for Shaman, and most believe this is the most important stat. This is a misconception that plagues many. It is suggested to place none of your starting points in Wisdom. Unlike Druids and Clerics, Shaman have options to refill their mana pool. Therefore, pool size does not have to exceed the requirement for any given set of fights, the Shaman needs only enough get through a single fight with a buffer. Wisdom is also extremely easy to increase through items.

NOTE: The more recent Meditation changes may have negated much of the above paragraph. Meditation seems to now return a percentage of your mana pool each tick rather than a fixed amount. As such, a larger pool size can make meditation more efficient in regards to mana return, especially if you choose to solo. However, the reasons for having more CHA and STA have not changed, and the use of Cannibalize is still often needed when grouping. WIS remains easy to max with items.

Skills

Combat Skills
Level <50 cap 50+ cap
1H Blunt 1 ? ?
2H Blunt 1 ? ?
Piercing 1 ? ?
Hand to Hand 1 ? ?
Throwing 1 ? ?
Offense 1 ? ?
Defense 1 ? ?
Dodge 15 ? ?
Class Skills
Level <50 cap 50+ cap
Abjuration 1 200 ?
Alteration 1 200 250
Conjuration 1 200 ?
Divination 1 200 ?
Evocation 1 200 ?
Channeling 4 200 250
Meditate 8 200 250
Other Skills
Level <50 cap 50+ cap
Sense Heading* 1 200 200
Bind Wound 1 100 ?
Swimming** 1 ? ?
Fishing 1 200 200
Baking* 1 250 250
Tailoring* 1 250 250
Blacksmithing* 1 250 250
Fletching* 1 250 250
Brewing* 1 250 250
Alcohol Tolerance 1 250 250
Begging 1 ? ?
Jewelcrafting* 1 250 250
Pottery* 1 250 250




(*) Does not follow the 5(lvl+1) skill-up formula.
(**) Swimming is set to 100 for all races.
NOTE: Skill Caps may not be exact, please update any discrepencies.


On Soloing


Shaman possess two primary ways of killing mobs without assistance. The first method is "root dotting" or "rotting". This method works on non summoning, non casting mobs in the druid style. First you root the mob, then you cast damage over time spells on it until it dies. This is straightforward, but suffers from a few issues. Namely, Direct Damage spells may break root prematurely. All Shaman DoTs have a small root breaking DD component when the spell is cast. Shaman also have no snare line, and once root is broken, it will be difficult to recast root before the mob reaches you. It is also difficult to use your pets in this method. This method is very buff friendly and does not require much, however, Charisma boosting gear and buffs are reccomended. This method works best on high damage melee with low HP, such as Rogue and Monk mobs.

The second method is "in the face" tanking in the style of a Knight Class. In this method, you let the mob hit you as you cast on it. This method can be used on any mob, regardless of summoning or casting status. Users of this method usually have maxxed defense skills. AC and HP are paramount stats, and melee skills are highly prized. This is the only method in which Dexterity plays a role, and users of this method actively seek the highest damage weapon possible without regard for delay. The concept is that you will be constantly interrupting your melee swings with casting, and only swinging between casting. You might as well make each swing count. Key spells are still your DoTs, with the Slow lines replacing root. Your pets figures highly into this style as a source of damage. This style requires a heavy buff investment, however. It functions best against lower damage melee with any amount of HP, or against any mob not able to be treated with another method.

Shaman also possess two secondary soloing styles of inconsistant success. The first of these is "pet tanking" in the mage fashion. The major area of issue revolves around the Shaman's pet is not as good a tank as the Magician's, and this often leads to both dead pets and dead Shaman. The Shaman's spell line is not developed properly for pet tanking. Shaman are built for the duration, while "pet tanking" practically demands a quick burndown. Additionally, "pet tanking" requires too large investment in mana and casting time in pet healing. Pet focusing gear like Companion Health and Companion Strength are strongly reccomended. This method is best practiced on Light Blue or Green mobs.

The last soloing style of the Shaman is the most famous, "kiting". Shaman possess movement buffing lines like Spirit of the Wolf, but lack the movement reducing snare lines. This makes "kiting" a bit more dangerous than it would be for a Druid. Using high damage poison lines of DoTs makes using the pet possible. The main downside is the required amount of space. It is also ineffective against summoning or casting mobs. This method shares gear and buff requirments with "rotting". For Shaman, "kiting" is usually the "Plan B" for when one of the other styles begin to fail. It is the preferred method in situation when facing a high HP, high damage melee mob outdoors in an area where adds are extremely uncommon.