Druid or ShamanFollow

Necro, Druid, War, Ranger, Rogue, Bard, and Enchanter...

The Necro is my main and by far my favorite, the Ranger I've really been getting into lately, the warrior was my first character and I'd like to keep him, and I also enjoy playing the bard and plan on keeping him...

The Druid (lvl24) I started early on and played almost non-stop to the lvl he is currently at, but I haven't played him for quite some time, I'm not sure why, I didn't find soloing to be very efficient compared to my self-sufficient Necro...

I've got it in my head that I want to start a Barbarian Shaman and I'd have to delete a character to do it (8th is a mule), and its either the Rogue, Enchanter, or Druid that goes...Obviously I'm leaning toward the Druid, but I'd like to get some opinions from folks who've played these classes into their upper levels...I like my Rogue (16), but haven't played him since I got into my Ranger...The chanter is only lvl8, I like to play CC with my Nec, so I figure I'll like this class, but I'm not real partial to the character...

So I guess it's either the Druid or the Enchanter that goes...I've got a few items on the druid that the new Shammy could use, so that's another point against the little fella...

I'll probably make my mind up and do whatever it is I'll do right after I finish this, then I'll regret it after I come back and read the feedback, oh well...

Kill the chanter, raise a Shaman. Make him a troll though. To get a Chanter to level 8 is one days work, not much to throw away.

I agree, ditch the chanter. I levelled my bazaar mule chanter to 12 in a couple of hours farming Crushbone Belts for her. Would go even faster if you didn't mind buying them from newbies.

Very easy to replace a level 8 chanter if you change your mind.

Edited, Mon Apr 26 05:41:21 2004 by Cattywumpus

Ouch. I remember when the ideal group was War/Cl/Enc and whatever else. Why have Shamans become so much more desirable than a chanter? And what makes you think a chanter dies alot? Only way a chanter will die alot, any character for that matter, is because they 1> don't know how to play it or 2> get caught in the path of a large train.

Anyway, Yes you can start on another server as well. Be prepared if you hit a PvP server. Most people I know don't like running through a zone only to get nuked by a passing wizard.

Since your chanter is the lowest level, it would make sense to delete him/her over the others.

Thx for the info, I went ahead and deleted the chanter and made a barbarian shammy...

It wasn't so concerned with the "time-put-in factor" as I was the fact that I now won't have a chanter on this server (unless I delete another character, which is unlikely)

Backup heals and consistant DPS before chanters get dire charm via dots and wolf. Wolf DPS isn't OMG high, but a shaman buffed wolf isn't too shabby. CC helps, but clerics, paladins and bards (And necros for undead) all get lull, so pulling massive piles of mobs isn't a common occurance.

Also haste helps alot, but slow is king. Shamans get better slow, plus a disease based slow+unresistable disease resist debuff for very high magic resist mobs. It's only 25%, but its better than 0%. Clarity rocks, but haste+buffs+slow+regen+Backup heals mean the cleric won't need to heal as often so won't use up as much mana.

Plus buffs up the yin-yang.

I'm not saying either one is better, just why shamans are considered as good or sometimes even better for a group. Both have situations where one will be more desirable than the other, but chanters are no longer "required". Charm allows chanters to put in high DPS, but before dire charm it can get iffy. I charm all the time, but sometimes when it breaks you just get a string of bad luck on stun/mez resists trying to recontrol it. If the rest of the group has their hands full it can mean a dirt nap, especially if you buffed the pet.

Both are fun, but chanters are one of those easy to ***** up classes. Even the best have off days, but the difference is if the shaman screws up something it's usually his death (Slowed or healed too early or something), ***** up with the chanter (mez yourself.... not that I've EVER done that) and you can get a party wipe since usually if the group is relying on mez they aren't lulling. Not to mention you have to rely on the rest of the group to also not ***** up and wake up the mezzed mobs. I've had off days where I messed up, but I've probably had twice as many days where nobody could find their assist key and I blew half a mana bar every pull re-mezzing stuff. Yeah it's nice to say "You broke mez, you get to fight it", but remedding half a bar of mana is better than waiting for res effects to wear off and rebuffing the gung-ho ranger/rogue/wizard.

Having played both, all things being equal I'll take a shaman over a chanter. I'll take both if there's room, and not like I don't want a chanter in the group doesn't have one already.

In my opinion, shamans are only "better" than enchanters when your group has a good puller and the chanter isn't bothering to use charm. Or when the shaman is taking care of both main healing and main slowing, freeing up a group slot for a DPS class.

Otherwise, I'd say chanters are probably better. Their buffs are more useful (mana regen, much better haste with +atk, agro buffs, procs, etc). Their DPS is MUCH higher if they bother to use their best tool (charm). They are vastly better at crowd control if you don't have a good puller.

Honestly, when grouped with a good cleric and a good chanter, I would much prefer to be playing my druid to my shaman. My shaman shines in content where he can replace BOTH the chanter and the cleric.