Life for us casual shaman is different than the common raiding shaman and shaman in powerfull guild. The gear dropping of groupable mobs are not as good as raidgear, but more importantly we cannot be sure to get specific items we see on Allakhazam --- it is hard to get pickup groups, that want to do the same specific mob or mission.
To get better gear us casual shaman can either solo mobs, get lucky with groups or sit and wait for rotting nodrop items in highend zones, while LFG or bored. I have used all three with great success.
If you are either in an highend raiding guild, is a rich-as-hell twink or have highend friends that are willing to help you, most of my gear will be a waste of time, since you can get much better geat, much easier. However, if you need to strugle for you gear solo or in pickup groups, I think some of my experieces might be usefull.
I'll try to make this as structured as possible, but like all else, it will only seem structured to me and other madmen
LOWER THAN LEVEL 60:
Sadly I have forgotten much of this, but overall I don't think gear is really important then - just play well, and get upgrades from whereever you XP. One thing I do remember is I got my mount (horse) around level 40, and the manaregen from sitting on that is amazing, when you are not a twink --- well worth 10k imho.
Since I will recomend doing OoW tier 1 armor later, I would also sugest you try and XP from mobs, which also improves Drachanid Loyalist faction - before you can get those gear pieces, you need to kill about 2000 of such mobs, so start early
LOWER THAN LEVEL 65:
An awesome item, that I used for a long time is Tainted Heartstone (). It is a charm, that improves when you master rare languages. To master these laguages you need to get some random kind person i PoK get you to skill 1, in all (11 iirc) rare languages. Once you get skill 1, you need to find someone to group with you, and then spam them with group-messages in the language that needs improvement. (I know oldschool cynics won't believe this is true, but that is how the game works now)
That's a cheap 75hp/mana, and it will be ages before you get any better.
OoW tier 1 armor are good from early 60s, and for quite a while - I still wear 4 of the pieces! In Omens, there are some quests, which returns specialized armor for your class. Tier 1, is the easier one, where the needed drops comes (mostly) from easily groupable mobs. The biggest problem in my experience was getting the Loyalist faction up. The (basic) drops come from NC and WoS f1, and it is not uncommon that people let them rot.
Each piece is around 100hp/mana and often with good stats or focuses (see for yourself here ).
Note that not all spiritkin drops are easy, but the 4 I got are (head, hands, arms and feet). So when you are bored and LFG, go to DS or NC and solo some mobs - you might even get some valueable augments or tradeskill items to drop...
LOWER THAN 70:
After 65, your spells come from muramite or shadowspine runes... and these are hard to get and/or expensive. IMHO many of the spells you get at these levels are far more important than gear - even uber gear. There are several threads on how to get runes, but I'll add a few of my own thougts: group in WoS and MPG if possible - the xp is fairly good, and runes are not that rare. If you make some money, you can also buy up to 68 in bazaar, or in barter if you have the time.
69 runes are nodrop, which is a blessing and a curse - you cannot buy them in bazaar, but you can get them free when rotting in RSS or the like. The first 69 spell is Balance of Discord, which IMHO is the most important spell you will ever get - it is why you will get 90% of your groups, and the reason you slow significant better than any other class... get it as fast as posible - sit in RSS while LFG, and OOC you are looking for rotting 69 runes.
Hmm, more than a few thoughts, but there you have it
In DoD there is a great exploration mission, that results in Slipgear's Gem (), which is an awesome augment, for a really simple mission. Just shroud as a rogue and get some maps with the locations marked on them... and know that this augment is worth a death or two
About gear: some nice pieces will be available if you group in WoS (f2), MPG and also starting in DoD spell missions (if you can get a group).
In MPG you can get a good ring, that is so common, it often rots on the mob. It is called Soul-Imbued Ring(), has 125hp/mana and drops of Taskfiend Caikap in the middle of the zone --- I still wear mine, so go to MPG and see if it rots, when you are bored or LFG... you can get to this camp with no risk, if your invis does not drop
Another good item that rots alot in MPG is Selevar's Shoulder Guard (), which has 115hp 125 mana, it drops of Odi. If you run the right way to the camp there is no risk, but if you take the shortcut you could become very unpopular
At 69 you can get a nice bracer in RSS, which also tends to rot (be realistic, you will not get many RSS groups at level 69!). It is called Bracer of Burning Links (), has 125hp/mana and drops from Balancer Relik. Unlike the ring from MPG it is quite dangerous to get to it, but if people OOC about it rotting, they most likely will also help you get to it - side note: if you get agro on the way to them, do not train; instead try to get close to them and die there, then ask to get pulled to camp and rezzed... well worth it for those bracer, which I also still wear
While in RSS you might also be lucky a get a rotting Chain of the Tormentor (), which has 140hp 130mana 3FT and drops off Elite Aneuk Misery fiend. Think it will take more luck to get than runes and bracer, but it is SO worth it...
LEVEL 70 (but not uber yet):
First a note on the spells - glowing runes are hard to get... VERY hard to get. I've been 70 for a year, and still only have 3 of my level 70 spells. Since they are so rare for casual players, you wont get any OOC messages about them rotting, and when they drop, you will loose the rolls
... yes, I hate them. However, on the bright side, they are not really important, for the casual player - groupversions of spells are nice, but not required. The new HoT is nice if you heal alot, but I find it rare to get invites for that. So, enjoy them when you get them, but don't think you cannot live without them
The best way to get good gear, for the casual player is DoD spell missions. Some are easy some are hard, some gives good gear some gives crappy gear. But do as many as you can, since you need them for the spells (which are not that good) and you will get good gear in time. There is an awesome list of the rewards from each mission here at samanna, but since you are a casual player, you most likely cannot handpick which missions you wish to do.
DoD is not that good for augments, if you like HP. Instead get groups at statue/queen in RSS, and get Gemstone of Fiery Might () from Pyrilen Researcher. It has 70hp and you can get 4 of them (for each ring and earring). So don't put your good augments into rings and earrings, since "soon" these will give you another 280 hp!
In PoR there are 3 missions, that are well worth the trouble. Two of them are given by Borso in Relic and results in Borso's Prized Earring () and Borso's Prized Ring (). Both are around 200hp/mana and are groupable, the one involving supply runners is even soloable, if you are brave, and not turned 70 yesterday.
Last mission is given at camp in Arcstone, and results in an evolving cloak: Cloak of the Spirit Tracker (), which starts with 175hp/mana and ends at a whooping 250hp/mana. This mission is somewhat harder than the first two, but still managable by single groups.
I would wear mine, if not for the fact I need a focus from that slot.
ABOUT FOCUS:
And that takes us to foci, which I have not mentioned here. Mainly because it is bloody hard for casual playes, to look up a good focus item and say "I'll take it, no wrapping needed". Some generic advice I'd give is mana preservation is king - don't leave home without it (cheap manapreservation from bazaar: Rotting Murkglider Drape - ).
Detrim-duration improvement is usefull too, once you get Balance of Discord (often the duration is too short). I get this focus from Tattered Cloak of the Fallen (), which can be bought in bazaar
That is as much as I can remember at the moment, I hope it can prove usefull for some of the younger, casual shamans. Knowing my memory, I'll add more notes from my shaman life, once they pop back up
Feel free to add comments and own gear experiences, that are relevant for people who get their gear solo or in single, pickup groups...
