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Just out of curiosity, what schools are the most popular for what small amount of us bi-peds out there? I ask because I constantly hear a lot about druid being the most popular, but hardly see anyone running it :P
I also HATE being run-of-the-mill and doing something that everyone does, so I figured I try Shaman. Is Shaman something everyone does too?
Bottom line, what are the most popular classes that people main while leveling and at max level?
Thanks!
- Quiiliitiila
I enjoyed Shaman myself. I think you will find that it is an amazingly fun class to play in groups if you group up often. Has a few weaknesses as a stand alone I think but isn't impossible.
There are so many variables that come into play with this question. Playstyle, amount of teched gear and what techs you use, how many classes do you plan on doing on the toon, where you place your training points. To name a few.
There are strong classes overall. Schools all perform differently depending on mobs you are fighting. My preferred of my classes to use when I am hunting maxed are Beserker, Shaman(if in group), Crossbowman or Bloodmage.
I play with my brother, and we group up with anyone who's in the area who's our level if they are willing to do some RP and questing. Personally, I enjoy being a support/team player more than a front of the lines/solo if I need to player. In fact, I find that it's more fun to be in a group where everyone has a separate(ish) role.
I've seen mostly druids, healers, and rangers, as well as a couple bloodmages. Insofar as I know, shaman is one ofthe useful but not widely played schools.
Well then like I said, I think you will like shaman then. I also think your brother will be happy to have you along as a Shaman.
I'll give the same advice i give to all bipeds;
Try them out, see which you like, do that one. :D
I used to think "everyone likes being a ranger, lets be one of them"...until i tried spiritist and figured; hey, i really like this school. lets do this instead. someday i'll join shaman too, maybe be one of those bloodmages.
There's a wide range of schools you can use;
Zerker, elemental archer, ranger, druid, healer, shaman, bloodmage, gardene- guardian, battle mage, sorcerer...too many to name, lots to try. Don't think "there's a useuful school i'll do that" because druid is a useful school, yet i don't have much fun with it, and i'lls till train it of course but not really use it extensively...i prefer the schools i'll have fun with!
I agree with Azath.
Druid used to be popular due to its ablility 'Cloak of Thorns' but now that we have shield scrolls any school is good to pick.
Try them and find out which you have the most fun with.
There is no 'uber powerfull I own all' school, they are all very well balanced since you need 100 in every school to be that uber char ;)
The only rule is, Have fun ;)
Oh, I have to clarify. I didn't want to pick a school based on it's power, but I didn't want to land in a school that everyone and their mother plays :P
I've been playing Druid and love it, but I read about Shaman and figured I'd give it a go (leveling spiritist now). However, I was just curious if I'd be one of the legions of Shamans out there. Not a big issue, but one that creeps up with me every once in a while. However, I do ultimately play what's fun for me, regardless.
Thanks everyone!
-Q
Spiritist + Druid + Healer + Shaman (+ mage to 36 at least) = awesome. You can play in any of those four schools, and use almost all of the remaining three schools spells. So the fun spiritist stuff like ethereal paroxysm, spirit bolt, you can use while in shaman, healer, or even Druid. Plus, you get all the nature spells and stuns. There's a portion of the blight spells that you can only use in Shaman, but most of them you can use in all the above schools.
Once you get all these classes under your belt, you will have a fun versatile character.
Picking the main school to play in will still shape your group role somewhat. Shaman will be able to use the spirit and nature spells, plus all the blight debuffs. Some abilities from other classes are mastered, meaning you can use at least some lower version while in shaman. Spiritist masters Syphon, Area Syphon, Spirit Walk, Soul link (small lifetap), Stinger (melee ability with a small lifetap dot), plus a mastered passive +Ethereal armor, Focus Boost. Healer masters Illustrius stand, which lowers incoming attack skill from undead, plus a instant heal and a group instant heal, Employ Shield (block bonus), Evasive Style (evasion boost), Defend Other (chance to intercept attacks on a group member). Druid masters Natures Fury (group buff to all melee damage for 2 minutes ish), Forest Mist (group evasion boost for 2 minutes) might be something else too... Shaman, masters Expulse, a very useful debuff to cleanse off abilities and buffs from mobs, a bunch of blight dots/debuffs such as Ruin, Decay, Corrosive Rain, Curse of Enfeeblement, plus steal strength, steal dexterity, which lower the strength and dex of the target and at the same time, buff your entire groups' strength and dex. Shaman also gets Detox Self, Detox Other, 2 very very useful abilities you will use a lot to cleanse off debuffs, stuns, dots.
When playing in a school as the main (active class), you get of course additional abilities that do not master, and stronger versions of the above listed mastered abilities.
Mastered abilities you only get when playing in the active class:
Healer - a superior res (no death point on the player) on 5 minute recycle, a Full Heal ability (10 or 15 min recycle), superior instant heal, thats on a few minutes, maybe 5. Focus Boost, Aura of Health ( a group 5% heal every 15 seconds I think, doesn't stack with illustrius stand). Passive boosts to healing abilities.
Druid - Cloak of thorns (deals damage back to anything that hits you) which you can cast on yourself and all the group members, Growth and Field of Growth that heal over time. One of them is aoe, so it heals the group. Passive Resists forget exact stats (Skin like Yew, Skin like Thornwood). Aura of the Bear (group strength boost), Aura of the Mongoose (group dex boost?), Vigor/Rigidity/Toughness/Fortitude (passive health/armor iirc), Focus Boost, Hillside Bastion (forget stats).
Spiritist - Dissipate (forget what this does), Soul Shock (stun I think), Base Soul (lowers spirit resist)
Shaman - Shaman's Chant (forget stats), passive boosts to both blight skill and nature skill.
If I remember right, Shaman's Chant is nasty debuff.
Shamans alone can be also called an annoying pest to enemies. primary nature and blight no cloak of thorns. curse of enfeeblement a aoe strength and dex debuff shaman chant reduces damage by 15% steal dex and strength are a debuff to the target and a buff to shaman and nearby group members. healer or at least cleric would make shaman a even better support class. There are many choices you have, some take schools only to a specific level for a masterable to improve their skills. As a general idea a healer type class is always welcome in a group. Mage is one of the base classes part of nearly all bipeds even if you only take it to lv 36. dissipate is crush/slash/Pierce Ward passive abilityas spiritist an I think bloodmage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quiiliitiila
I'll just stick to the basics and hopefully not repeat too much of what anyone else has said... but first, what ever you do, just remember to have fun :)
It's not soooo much about what school you run around as, but what other schools you have to compliment your chosen 'main' and how you play it.
For example, a multi-classed Healer, Cleric, Spiritist, Druid etc... ('mystic' schools) can all be played quite similar. Since they can use all healing spells (if you have the required Life skill), you can safely play a support/healer role. But it's the class abilities that will make you distinct from other 'support' roles. For example, Cloak of Thorns is a wonderful damage shield which is a very attractive ability to have (Druid/Ranger). If (when) you multiclass, you may start to think, "Well, the classes really aren't that different from one another, but they do each offer something unique..."
For what classes people play while leveling? Which ever class they want to level :p
As for when you're 'max level', that might depend on what you consider max level. For example, if you really like Shaman and want it was your main school, there's not a whole lot of purpose to level EVERY school, but it would be advantageous to level most of the 'mystic' schools (especially Spiritist). Maybe even spearman if you're interested in increasing your one-hand piece weapon skill. Monk, Warrior, Mage and Cleric/Healer are 4 schools which will pretty much give boosts to all stats and most of the skills as well as some masterable abilities.
Ranger is the most common school if you plan on getting every school to 100, but that's due to a combination of things, not excluding having a rather rare epic loot item, the Demon Flurry which is capable of doing obscene amounts of damage.
Personally, I've played as Druid since Day 1, mainly because I like being able to do a little of everything. Now, 10 years on I have many other schools to 100 (not all) and I always play Druid as my main.
Don't know if I've added any extra info, but I hope you enjoy your time in Istaria :)