Starting a Shaman!! =)

[Aeaian]

Ok, so ive decided on starting a shaman. I am trying to decide between troll(clicky snare) or froglok(no xo penalty looks cool)
Any tips? Also a leveling guide would be nice. Server suggestion too! =) Thankys

[Tordail]

A lot of people say Ogre is the best choice because of the frontal stun immunity. I personally think Frogloks are annoying. As for leveling guides, you can probably dig around in the Soloing/Duoing/Multiboxing forum or the Grouping forum and find some good advice.

[Aeaian]

So go with ogre(stun immune) or troll(clicky)???

[Tordail]

I don't know. I honestly never cared about either. I'm sure you can search the forums and come up with more than one thread where that very topic has been discussed.

[Tharkis]

Go with whatever you like, frogs are cute, well animated, and quite tasty.

Sneak that vah shir get is really nice too

Barbarians are sexy and have kilts

snare neck really isnt a big deal at all.

[Aeaian]

Thanks Tharkis, going with vahshir or froglok. btw do you know if its possible to change my forum name?

[Macnair]

Ogre frontal stun immunity is the biggest racial advantage. It scales forever. It makes a big difference for the solo shaman; a minor difference for the grouping shaman; and will rarely matter on raids.

Troll clicky snare is a significant advantage for the solo shaman. It doesn't last long, so you'll need to be refreshing it unless the mob is going to die in the next 20 seconds. Also, it doesn't scale well, since it tends to get resisted by higher-level mobs. It will be occasionally useful for the grouping shaman, fighting in a dungeon with no genuine snaring-class in group; and is not relevant for raids.

Vah Shir sneak is occasionally useful.

Troll and iksar regen are useful, but minor.

Froglok and iksar swimming are insignificant.

Barbarian night blindness is a major pain.

Ogres, trolls, cats, and barbs all get to slam, hoping to interrupt spells; this works for a while (maybe mobs in the mid-40s?), and then does not succeed thereafter.

Tharkis is right, though. Go with what looks good to you. Don't forget that barbarians have sexy legs, and people can look up your skirt.

[Grammaw]

I can tell you from personal experience that the Troll clicky snare is situationally useful at best, and generally just at lower levels. I hardly ever use it anymore. At this point, it is more time/mana efficient to nuke/Dot the running mob. Its nice to have for some rare situations, but not by any means something you should build a character around.

Now Troll looks on the other hand are definately something to treasure.

[Kianor]

[Macnair]

Good to know (I guess) that slam still works (irregularly and occasionally). I remember slamming several different mobs eight or ten times each, trying to interrupt their healing spell, and never succeeding in interrupting. Not once. So yeah, I gave up on it.

It's true as well that night blindness isn't as bad as it used to be, and that you can overcome it with spells or equipment. I use my clicky wood elf illusion if I'm on horseback, or Pact if I am not. But that's the point: it's necessary to do something to make up for the fact that barbarians can't see well in the dark.

[Kianor]

[Unmei]

Yeah. As someone who has played human characters since release, human nightblindness used to be a BIG DEAL. Now it's something you -might- care a -little- about in certain poorly lit zones.

Vah Shir sneak also scales infinitely with level. My shaman -still- uses it to shop at various SoF merchants that don't like her. Can't buy the exciting stuff, but can at least empty her pockets of her cash loot.

[Cromagnon]

Just a quick note on slam:

As a shaman, using slam from the front, I'd say you aren't going to see much utility, but using it from behind a mob, it should interrupt and connect more often since you aren't going to be getting so many defensive checks behind a mob. Try it out, definitely should see better use.

As for what race, I'd have to say Ogre, love my ogre Warrior, and even with the AA at 70 for warriors, that gives full melee stun immunity, still worth the 70 levels of not having to worry about it. I did buy the Dauntless Perserverance line for my warrior, but mainly for pulling since running backwards sucks when bringing mobs to camp lol.

Goodluck whichever you pick, all are good choices nowadays, depends on your play style, but do have to say if I rolled a shammy, he'd be an Ogre, hard to get used to losing that stun resist from the front