What AAs next?

[Idracab]

I always seem to behind the curve in EQ. I've never been very hardcore, and for some reason I tend to quit the game and come back when a new expansion is released. Thankfully I decided to stick with my shaman this time around, so I'm making steady progress in getting caught up. But with the new expansion, I don't want to be level 80 with 50 AAs and a detriment to my group, so I'm going to take my time and try to at least get the essential AAs while I level. I figure 50 AA per level, which would give me about 350 by the time I hit level 80.

So ... how should I prioritize? I think I'm comfortable with my soloing power right now, so I'm not going to work on crit dots any more. But anybody have advice on things to work on. Should I get the fundamentals of everything useful - dip my fingers in the pot as it were so I have every nice AA at a low level? Or should I focus on getting 1 line up to max at a time?

I think I'd like to work on survivability first, then start focusing on healing AA. If I do get aggro in a group, I don't want to go smoosh (it's always embarassing to die seconds after getting aggro ... not that that has ever happened to me. *cough* It was ... um ... a friend of mine!).

I guess I'm looking for a general bit of advice on:
1) What AA lines to focus on,
2) What order to focus on them, and
3) If it's better to take each AA to the end of the line before moving on, if it's better to have rank 1 / 2 of each AA goodie we get.

Currently, there are my 168 AAs (8 saved) at level 76.

General: CA3 / CS3 / Metabolism 3 / Run Speed 3 / ND3
Archetype: Crit Aff 5 / HG1 / Clarity 3 / Mem Retention 2 / RC1 / SCM3 / SCRM
Class: AA1 / CoTW / Canni2 / QB2 / SCRM / VP3

Doesn't seem like much for 168 points.

Anyway, any advice on what would serve me best in my situation (that situation being 45% solo, 45% group, 10%ish older raids).

Thanks!

[Samanna]

The thing with most multi-expansion AA lines is that the return per AA goes down very fast after the first round or two. I'd suggest you go wide rather than deep; get all the utility and fun stuff; don't go more than 5 ranks of the melee avoidance or mitigation, but get at least the first bunch of healing improvement and healing crit AAs if you are usually the group healer.

[Veril]

[Idracab]

[Cronikk]

[harlybear]

[Samanna]

[Sasqwatch]

How did you use Silent Presence to split in loping planes?

[Hhrolf]

Union of spirits is awesome for saving a group mates life or your own life when a heal spell would just be too late.
The combination of an instant heal potion with ancestral guard ( rune ), ancestral aid ( heal over time ) and rabid bear ( heal over time ) makes a hotkey that will give you precious time when the brown stuff hits the fan. Its saved my ass too many times to count ( and if it fails to save you then they rez that fat old bear quickly so they can actually see the rest of the bodies underneath it /smile ).
Shield block hasnt been mentioned yet but adds a lot to survivability.
Spiritual channeling was mentioned and that alone can turn you into a healing machine. Its one of those really nice tricks to have up your sleeve, not used that often but when you do use it, its the business.

[harlybear]

I pulled 3 mobs, ran like a little kity princess and was far enough used VP, moved a bit more, used aa invis,outdistanced mobs, cleared aggro, ran back to anxiouslly awaiting orc and killed him, rinsed repeated. So esentially I split the camp where the quest perosn at fangbreakers camp gives and the ambush orcs spawn. Finished quest solo. Had to root rot and kill 2 mobs on occasion.

[Shammy 101]