Epyx - Shaman Soloing 101

[Gloriana]

This was originally posted on the Crucible back in 2002 by Epyx. Lots of changes since then, but this is one of those classic Crucible posts I want people to find when they search the forums.

My post is not the definitive shammy soloing post but nor is it meant to be...just a post to help those who have maybe never soloed and would like to (ie when you can't find a group) or just want some quick xp. Contrary to what anyone says if soloing is done right it is usually the best xp aside from duoing that you can get ingame (no mention of ae here!)...albeit at the cost of turning you into a social hermit and possible boring you to tears There are times when soloing is viable...you need some quick xp...you don't have time to dedicate to grouping etc

SHAMMY LVL 1-18

Basically you are a wanna be tank from levels 1-13, but that’s okay. You have enough tricks to make soloing very viable. You have sow to run away when the going gets tough. You can root mobs and back off to heal or use one of your lower level dots to do some basic root rotting, but more of that later. Once you hit level 14 things get better. You get Root and Spirit Strike (74dmg DD). These 2 new spells open up what is known as DD kiting.

DD KITING

Simply involves using Sow to outdistance a mob and then cast Spirit Strike to inflict damage in 75 chunk intervals. You can also root blast. Open the fight with Walking Sleep your 23% - 35% slow. Either way once you get the mob down to ~ 25% health you tank it to death.

SHAMMY LVL 19-23 (The Dark Levels)

These are known as the dark levels for good reason...level 19 spells for the most part suck...sure you get a decent heal (80 health) and 1 mostly lame dot (affliction 126dmg over 2mins) but the others are nothing to write home about. This is the level when most people quit playing their Shaman or turn into group shamans exclusively, always unaware that just over the hill they turn into solo machines. So what is a shaman to do at lvl 19-23 if they do want to solo? Basically repeat the DD kiting method but work in more rooting and add the affliction spell to counter any mob regenerative ability.

Some zones for great soloing through the dark levels include the following:

Warslick Woods (Giant Fort)
Lake of Ill Omen
East Karana
Oasis

SHAMMY LVL 24-33

Congratulations...you have attained the level that gives you the spells that at later levels do much to define what you can do spellwise/manawise. Two great spells are given to you at this level.

Regeneration (5hp per tick regeneration)
Canibilize (20-28mana for 50HP)

You have the ability, which nowhere near as powerful as it will one day be, to convert HP into Mana. You also get your first good DOT (Damage over Time) spell:

Evenomed Breath (220dmg over 49 seconds)

These 3 spells give you the ability to Root Rot

ROOT ROTTING
Root rotting allows you to kill most mobs that other classes wouldn't dare tackle. Cast Regenerate on yourself. Pull a mob with Walking Sleep to your fighting spot. Root the mob and then cast Envenomed Breath on it. Unlike Druid Dots our shammy ones all (exception of epic) have a DD component that has a nasty habit of breaking root. However the 1 nice thing to make up for this is that ALL SHAMMY DOTS STACK. Because your mob is slowed you will not take quite as much damage and besides raising defense is needed for later levels. While the mob is rotting you Cannibalize. After level 34 you will Canna Dance (more on that later). You should be able to get most of the mana back from casting Envenomed Breath without losing too much health. NEVER cannibalize below 3 bubs of health when soloing. You can root/rot the mob to death but I suggest you melee it at 25% health to work on your piercing and more importantly Defense skill.

DD Kiting with your new DD spell is also very viable at this level. Either way you are doing more mobs than most fast paced groups with far less downtime.

SHAMMY LVL 34-38
This is the level where you get your first Pet. To most people the first and subsequent shammy pets are wimpy additions to the brawn of tanks mage/necro pets. DO NOT believe this...When used properly shaman pets are your most valuable asset during these critical levels...including the dreaded 35 hell (30 is nothing). Think of your pet as a permanent DOT to pester mobs and NOT as a tank because it isn't a tank not even close...What you are looking for is a way to maximize the life and return of you pet (cruel eh?). How to use the 600-800 hp and 10-25 dmg double attacks of this first pet to your advantage...Enter Pet Kiting...

PET KITING

You wanna fly through hell 35? You wanna get 39 within a few nights? Then pet kiting is the quickest way. Basically aggro management is the key to successful pet kiting...If you do more dmg to a mob than your pet then he gets forgotten and you are enemy #1 in the mobs' eyes. The best zone for Pet Kiting is GD and Kodiaks. You will be killing White and Yellows and getting 1/2 to 1 blue per kill. Blues are for sissys but when whites and yellows aren’t around go for it...

USE 3rd Person View. From default view Hit F9 3 times, 2 more brings you back to default. Learn to use this view by rotating mouse and moving while rotating. FPS shooter players will pick up on this quickly.

Find a nice safe wall (NorthW of the dragon circle is great) and park your pet. ALWAYS have quickness and Sow on your pet as well as your HP buffs. TURN OFF YOUR PETS TAUNT.../pet taunt off. Park your pet in the camp spot and go find a Kodiak Bear (wanderers or cave #1-3). Aggro the Kodiak by getting into its face and pulling away from other kodies...Root the Kodiak in place and walk back. Cast Envenomed Breath and Scourge on the Kodiak and wait for root to break.

You might need to reroot to apply both spells if it breaks after first. This is not much of a problem as any hits you take contribute to your defense skill. As soon as root breaks the Kodiak wants you dead and will stop at nothing to rip your heart from your chest. This is the time to run (particularly if its yellow) back to your camp spot. Once you get into your pets *master* range it will immediately attack the kodiak and nip at its heals...Keep running and once you are in your safe turf begin to Run large circles.

Ya you may feel and look silly but when the mob in question is a white/yellow/red hell dawn the bobo clown face paint and wear it proudly. The Kodiak will continue to follow you while the Dots (at a 33% penalty) and your pet are nibbling away at it. Once your pet does more than 1/2 dmg to the mob he will stop at begin to attack your pet but because your 2 dots are doing around 500dmg this doesn’t happen until the mob is at around 40% health. Use yer lvl 24 DD to get back its attention.

The mob will resume chasing you and dying until it gets to the *flee* stage at which point you attack it. While you are kiting you will notice you often have to stop to let pet and mob get close again...this is just enough time to cannibalize once...when done strategically thoughout the fight you end with only about 1-2 bubs of mana lost at most. Most fights end with you down maybe 1/2 a bub of mana. I suggest every 3 or 4th fight tanking the mob just before *flee* stage to work on your defensive skill.

Another great ability is:

CANNA DANCING

Information is sent to the Everquest servers every 6 seconds from client machines. This includes HP and Mana. If you watch your HP and Mana closely you will notice that they rise in intervals exactly every 6 seconds. It doesn't matter what you do during those 6 seconds...the program only checks on the 6th second to see wether you are sitting/medding or standing. If you are sitting you get mana if you are standing you don't. It is that simple. To canna dance you sit wait for a tick to occur and then stand up and cast cannibilize before quickly sitting to catch the next tick. This should become a ritual between mobs and greatly decreases your downtime.

SHAMMY LVL 39-48

In terms of spells these levels suck...you get some nice ones like:

Chloroplast
Venom of the Snake
Blizzard Blast
"Tuna"

And the spell that will define your role from now on as "slower first" "Buff person of ill repute 2nd"
.... Togor's Insects...Your first real good slow spell...

Soloing..nothing new, Pet Kiting still works great...as does Root/Rotting with the addition of your new DOT Venom of the Snake. A new option opens up to you at these levels:

PET TANKING

Now that you have your first real slow spell you and your pet can choose to "Tank Mobs". I would use this method split evenly with any of the above as it is the main method of raising your now critical defense skill. Pull a mob with slow. Root the mob. Cast 1-2 Dots. Send in your Pet. Join your pet. You did cast quicken on your pet and you right? Well you will be amazed at how quickly you and your pet can dispatch a slowed mob albeit with the help of a dot or 2...

SHAMMY LVL 49

Why only level 49 for this section? Because your ability to Root/Rot mobs has just increased 10 fold...2 spells:

Envenomed Bolt (~1200dmg over 49seconds)
Plague (~1200dmg over 1min 49seconds)

You also get your first "acceptable" pet...he has over 1400hp and can double for 51dmg with a 3rd and 4th attack being bash/kick for 10-30 per tick. That is respectable dmg when coupled with your dots on a slowed mob. Again your pet IS NOT a tank...he is a mobile dot that can last a long long time for only your initial mana cast if you handle him properly.

In my opinion root rotting is quicker but as a shaman you need to have defense maxed...I cannot emphasize this enough…DO NOT ROOT/ROT EXCLUSIVELY UNTIL YOUR DEFENSE IS AT 200!!!!

SHAMMY LVL 51

1 spell

Turgur's Insects. The *best* slow in the game and THE spell that will define your primary role if you are the only shaman on raids. You now have the ability to turn most mobs into @#%$ cats for the slaughter. Once you hit 60 that slow will max out at 75%. Or put simply the mob will be attacking at 25% of its normal speed.

In zones like the Great Divide you become a killing entity (warning extremely biased personal viewpoint!) unmatched by any other class. You might not be able to quadkite but double root/rotting becomes viable. Also your downtime is much less than that of a druid/wizzy who has to wait till all their mana is back before resuming quad #2. Becuase of spells like Canna 2/3 you will be up and ready for mob #s 2,3 and 4 before their next hopefully successful quad

SHAMMY LEVEL 60 WITH

This is the level where Shaman have no equal when it comes to soloing. No druid, necro or mage can ever hope to solo the mobs that a fully equipped and battle hardened level 60 shaman can. Several items and aaxp make soloing at 60 a blast. General rule even without much aaxp is:

VISIT YOUR LOCAL MAGE FOR FOCUS ITEMS!

Right off the bat you can cut your Torpor cast time down by a second (doesn’t seem like much but trust me it helps) and up your DDs dmg by several percent.

Several higher end zones lend themselves to some fun soloing. IMO lvl 60 isn’t just about the aaxp or raids it is about pushing yourself as a class..as far as you can.

One thing I love about level 60 is setting up little mini solo goals. IE how far down the Hole can I get? Or soloing in areas where people look at you funny like Umbral Plains.

POTIONS/ALCHEMY

I have long given up on alchemy as a means to make money. Alchemy Rule #1…

Forget about making money!

Alchemy imo is all about extending your own personal abilities. Yes you can make DS potions for raids or if you really feel like it sell your sow potions. However, the person these potions benefit most is yourself. Once you learn to think of alchemy as an extension of your spell book (albeit a costly one!) Think of it..how many of you have paid 30K or more for your spells!? Exactly…so what’s a few kk for some potions?

It all depends on what you are planning. For solo trips deep into the Hole I recommend the following arsenal:

-Stinging wort potions (Hot-keyable instant click 300hp loving)
-Undead’s Recourse (Like stinging wort but 150hp insta click)
-Rejuvenation potions (only 2mins or so…but amazing regen that stack with all. Some classes (wink) can get over 100hp per tick with these…more than enough to handle most pesky mobs
-Soluans Vigor (Like lesser rejuvenation)
-Kilva’s Potions (DS potions again very useful for certain scenarios…be prepared!)


SUMMARY

Since Nixx on the Test Server first soloed melee only summoning dragon in WW many other shaman have gone on to do this same feat. Other classes have claimed this but I have yet to see screenshots (other than exploiting bards!)

The basic rule...if we can root and/or slow it...its dead.

Nuff said

That is it for now...updates pending as I think of things I have forgotten...of which I am sure there is lots. Have any solo tips or adventures of your own? Please post them as I look forward to reading them!