Origins of the Shaman

Seer Beginnings

If you wish to heal your fallen comrades, and augment their fighting skills with your magic, this is the class for you. This class provides a haven for the more sensitive trolls with less interest in battle than their simpler brethren.

Shaman Profession

Patron god: Ymir, the fallen giant whose body makes up the land of Midgard. Shamans are the tribal mages from the wild tribes of Kobolds and Trolls who draw their power from the earth itself. They get a combination of healing and combat magic that makes them quite useful to their realm mates.

Shamans in Dark Age of Camelot

Shamans of Midgard are a strange lot. When in small groups or during solo play, we tend to shine and participate more. In large groups and RvR, we begin to feel small despite the Troll size the majority of players carry. With the exception of matters discussed later in this document, Shamans are a fun crew. We can fill any open slot in a group are willing to help in any way we can to uphold the members. We love to adventure on our own through the wilderness, as the earth is our friend. It is in small groups that a Shaman will shine and have the most fun. By performing multiple roles with a diversity of spells, a Shaman can be kept quite busy.

Links for Shaman Help

Dark Age of Camelot: This is the home page for the game - http://www.darkageofcamelot.com

Camelot Herald: The portal leading to updates to the game that affect the world we play in and possibly even Shamans themselves - http://www.camelotherald.com

DAoC Shaman: Everything Shaman and nothing but - http://www.daoc-shaman.com

Allakhazam's Magical Realm: DAoC fan site loaded with all sorts of goodies (like items!) - http://camelot.allakhazam.com

Character Builder: This helps you plan your spec paths - http://daoc.catacombs.com/cbuilder.cfm

Quests: To learn what quests are available to you and their details - http://daoc.warcry.com

Tradeskills: For any information about what trades a Shaman can participate in and how - http://www.daoctradeskills.com

Strengths of the Shaman

The Shaman has an odd assortment of abilities for a class in Midgard. Their strengths lie in the ability to heal and enhance realm mates.

1. The ability to augment a players stats and resistances is a large bonus to groups and solo play.
2. They can heal with a variety of different level healing and health regeneration spells, can cure disease and poison, and resurrect people.
3. The Shaman is adequate during solo play provided all buffs are applied and the target is at the low end of the targeted hunting spectrum. (Low yellows and blues.)

Weaknesses of the Shaman

Though the Shaman has strong healing and augmentation abilities, our lack of combat skills/scaling is a hinderance.

1. A Shaman must avoid getting jumped during solo, group, or RvR play. Without being buffed and getting at least one spell off before melee, a Shaman is left to fate - more often then not, having the decision based on who can get that last blow in.
2. A Shaman's weapon skill starts off high at low levels and then does not gain in levels at the rate of tanks. By the time you reach the 20's, it is relatively low as you cannot specialize in a weapon and thus receive no styles. You may wear a shield yet have no shield skills to enhance this ability.
3. The damage dealing spells in the Cave line do not scale at higher levels leaving you sorely underpowered by the time you reach your 40's.
4. Agro from spells. The amount you heal for acts the same as damage done to a mob. This means that if you heal someone in your party for more points than the damage they have done to a mob, you will wind up with agro and sometimes it is not easy for the warrior types to pull the monster off you. Root and poison also attribute to increased agro.
5. Interrupt. All spells can be interrupted by combat. So, if a monster hits you while you are trying to cast, your spell will not be cast.

Character Creation

Before starting in game, you need to assign stat points and choose your class. Your primary attribute is Piety, with Dexterity being your secondary. Piety determines how much power you have and Dexterity determines the +/- to your casting speed, how many times your weapon procs, and helps to lower your chances of being interrupted. Two other important stats are strength and constitution. The damage output from both the hammer and staff is determined by your strength and constitution determines the number of hit points you have.

Raising a stat by 1 costs 1 point for the first 10 raises, 2 points for the next 5 raises, and 3 points after that. Because of this, most players spend 10 points each in PIE, DEX, and either STR or CON regardless of race.

The Race of Kobolds

Kobolds start with a low strength and constitution that is offset with a high dexterity. As a future Shaman, one would choose to be a Kobold for this. DEX will help you cast faster and enable your weapon to proc more often. With the lack of STR and CON however, you will not be able to dish out or take as much melee damage.

Through buffs located in the Augmentation line of spells, you can supplement your STR and CON with the base STR and CON and spec STR/CON enhance spells.

When creating a Kobold, it is not unheard of to raise STR or CON by 15 and PIE by 10. This will use up all 30 points given to you to spend.

The Race of Trolls

Trolls are just the opposite. They start with a low DEX and a high STR/CON. This strength will grant you the ability to do more damage when push comes to shove. The low DEX, on the other hand, will not activate an item's ability and casting times will remain as advertised.

Through buffs located in the Augmentation line of spells, you can supplement your DEX with the base DEX and spec DEX/QUI enhance spells.

To compensate for the low DEX you can raise DEX by 15 and PIE by 10. Again, all 30 points are used.

Starting As a Seer

A Shaman begins life as a Seer. You share the Seer class with aspiring Healers until level 5. During these first levels, Seers have two base spell lines, Mending and Augmentation. The specialization spells in each and the third specialization line being added after you choose your profession. Every time you level you may visit your Seer trainer and further specialize in these two spell lines or you may save your points to distribute until after you 'guild' at level 5 when all of your specialization paths are available to you. A Shaman receives 1 point for every level (for example, when you become level 5 you receive 5 points to use for specializations).

If you choose to be a Kobold, you will start in the Dwarven city Haggerfel and as a Troll, you will start in the Troll town of Galplen. You will have no armor, no money, a training hammer, a small training shield, a level 1 healing spell, and a level 1 strength spell. From this point you go out and explore the area around your starting town, where you can easily hunt, and begin accumulating experience and money to equip yourself with better armor and weapons.

Various people in the towns will give you quests (when right-clicked) and tasks (/say task) which you can complete for items, experience, and/or money. The trainer quests may be done at these early levels. If you choose not to you will still gain experience when you guild, though it will not be as much if you had completed each training quest and you will not receive the monetary/tangible rewards that were associated with them.

You should be hunting monsters whose names appear (con) blue to you in the combat status window. This is considered your target range for hunting. Your armor and weapon should be kept at a minimum of blue with yellow and orange being the target. You can also safely hunt monsters that con green to you, however a yellow con mob represents a 50/50 chance that you may be killed.

Becoming a Shaman

When you reach 5th level, it is time to choose which god/goddess you will follow for your profession. In the case of the Shaman, this god is Ymir. Only Trolls and Kobolds may become Shaman. You must seek out a Shaman Trainer and will be asked if you want to devote yourself to Ymir. After this, you receive your third specialization line and any spec spells that were previously missing as the game did not know which spec path to give you.

There are a couple of Shaman trainers throughout Midgard. In Jordheim, Dane and Grimma are located in the large houses near the forge and in Myrkwood you will find Bec near the eastern Galplen gate. Each time you advance to a new level, find one of these trainers to further enhance your skills through your specialization paths. This does not have to be done at each level, however speccing brings you more spells and/or upgrades to spells and it also increases your existing spells' performance. Remember to return to your original Shaman trainer in Jordheim every so often as she is the one who will give you class and epic quests. If you forget or do not know at which levels to visit her, the other trainers will gently remind you to seek them out when you train with them.

Spec Paths

The Shaman has three specialization paths to choose from. The base spell abilities for two of our lines, Mending and Augmentation are shared with the Healer, however the difference between the two class' spell lines lies in the specialization paths.

Speccing in a path affects the outcome of the spells in that path. Each spell has a range that it heals or does damage for or it has a range of whether it will affect a player or mob at all. The closer you keep the spec level to 2/3 of your Shaman level, the more consistent and dependable the output of the spells. Keep this in mind when choosing the type of Shaman you wish to be.

Some common 50 level templates showing primary and secondary line concentration follow. Detailed reasoning behind them is described in the respective spec lines.

Primary: Augmentation/Secondary: Mending

38 Aug/34 Mend/19 Cave - This gives the player all save the top buffs and heals in the spec spells, the first group Friggs, keeps both lines at the 2/3 spec level, and grants access to all spells in Cave. Mend and Cave can be maneuvered around to grant the next group Friggs upgrade.

47 Aug/26 Mend/5 Cave - The player now has access to all levels of the Aug spells except the last upgrade to Rock Unity, the first level of group Friggs and places the remaining points in Cave. The last spell in the Rock Unity line can be achieved at spec 48 however that leaves Mend with a max of 24, which can be lowered to 21 - the last spell upgrade received.

Primary: Augmentation/Secondary: Cave

37 Aug/36 Cave/15 Mend - Again, the player has access to all Aug and Cave spells, and gains the Shaman access to the second rez line in Mend. Again, the lines can be maneuvered to raise Aug to 38 leaving it with all save the topmost upgrades to all spells.

48 Aug/23 Cave/9 Mend - Now the player has all levels of Aug and most levels of Cave and the first level of single target Friggs in Mend.

Primary: Mending/Secondary: Augmentation

35 Mend/37 Aug/17 Cave - All save the highest level heals, and access to each spell line in Aug and Cave.

46 Mend/27 Aug/8 Cave - This gives the player access to all Mend spell levels with most of the buffs and the remainder in Cave.

Primary: Mending/Secondary: Cave

35 Mend/36 Cave/19 Aug - The allows for all save the top spells in both Mend and Cave leaving the remainder in Aug. Mend and Cave are also at 2/3 spec.

46 Mend/25 Cave/13 Aug - This spec path leaves no points left over. Mending is at its max with all spells obtained, most achieved in Cave, and the rest in Aug.

Primary: Cave/Secondary: Augmentation

36 Cave/37 Aug/15 Mend - All save the top levels in the primary and secondary lines are achieved and left at 2/3 spec.

46 Cave/27 Aug/8 Mend - Again, all spells in Cave are at your fingertips and most of Aug is available.

Primary: Cave/Secondary: Mending

46 Cave/37 Mend/8 Aug - This is just a reverse of the above.

33 Cave/33 Mend/26 Aug - This is a well-rounded template. Two lines are near 2/3 spec with all spell lines touched and at least the first level in the third spec line.

Remember: These are only examples and may be modified to achieve the type of Shaman you want to play with the spells and spell levels you want to have in your arsenal.

Mending

The Minor Mending, Refinement, and Arrival from Valhalla spells are shared and have the same effects for both Shamans and Healers. The lines that you will receive when speccing are Major Reconstitution, Cure Disease, Cure Poison (these three also shared with the Healer), Friggs Antidote, Reception from Valhalla, and Fungal Rejuvenation. This line is all about healing and keeping your group alive and healthy.

Speccing in Mending

This line makes an OK primary spec path. The reason for this is the scalability at higher levels. Friggs does not last long enough and/or does not do enough per tic which causes it to not always work to grant extra health before a final blow brings a realm mate down. The heals also do not scale and heal enough at those levels to keep up with the damage dealt to our realm mates. On the other hand, Mending makes a great secondary spec line. Since it is not being used as a primary ability, and thus expected to not perform as well as a primary line, the lack of scaling fits right in as an appropriate outcome.

Mending and PvE

In most PvE situations, Mending does a bang up job. The environment can be more controlled to reduce the amount of enemies being fought, which may reduce downtime and damage taken by your group. Naturally, even the best groups can be overwhelmed by mobs in which case the best heals will not make much of a difference anyway and you will find yourself rezzing your group or getting a rez yourself.

Mending and RvR

Whether this is a primary or secondary spec for your Shaman, healing and curing and rezzing are not prominent actions in this arena. Curing is done when there is a lull for the player that is diseased or poisoned and not always in the heat of battle. Healing is difficult as the caster's power and heal amounts do not keep up with the damage taken in RvR. And both healing and rezzing is difficult with the current line of sight restrictions. While not entirely left alone, a Shaman desiring to use this line will find themselves rezzing players and casting Friggs on the recently rezzed so their hit points regen faster. Even group Friggs while fighting is only somewhat used as a group becomes separated quite easily during combat, which leaves them out of range for the effects to reach them.

Mending Bugs/Issues in the Game

Currently, there are no bugs associated directly with this spec line.

Augmentation

The base spells, Guardian's Lesser Ward, Lesser Strength of the Viking, Augment Health, and Minor Evasion are shared with the Healers and again have the same affects on players for each class. The spells that are unique to you in this line are Minor Force of the Deep, Strength of the Deep, Gloom's Guide, Sight of the Deep, Wrap of the Deep, Warmth from Below, and Rock Unity. This line is intended to enhance friendly player's abilities and compensate for weakness that a class may have to make them more effective at what they do, including yourself.

To cancel any buff, it is recommended to open the mini conc window (the button for this is found at the bottom of the spells page), highlight the buff you want to cancel, and then right click. You may need to right click twice, however give pause in between clicks. (See Augmentation Bugs/Issues in the Game section below.)

Speccing in Augmentation

This line functions very well as a primary or secondary spec line. The base buffs (single stat increasing only) stack with the spec buffs (combo stat increasing) and all are desired by various classes. The stacking is a boon to any player since the cap to stats was raised. Currently, any player will receive 1x level or ten, whichever is higher, for all base buffs; 1.5x level or ten, whichever is higher, for spec buffs; and 1.5x level or ten, whichever is higher, for stat increasing items. This makes for some very happy buffed players.

Augmentation and PvE

In both PvE and RvR, Augmentation is a cast and forget it line until someone dies, you or someone in your group zones, another joins your group, or the timer on a buff runs out. The damage add buff is on a ten minute timer so if this buff is used in your group, you will need to reapply it when it wears off. It is possible to reapply it while it is blinking, it will refresh if done at that time. It is not possible to refresh the spell when it is not blinking.

Augmentation and RvR

The same holds true for RvR however, with a lot of deaths being dealt by both sides, classes with buffs can be kept busy applying them when players are rezzed or return from a /release.

Augmentation Bugs/Issues in the Game

This first one is not so much a bug as it is an annoyance to the players. There is a designed limit to the number of buffs a player can 'concentrate' on which is 20. Many players have concentration points left over after casting 20 of their most costly buffs. The ability to use the concentration points up is a desire of all buffing classes. What this means is, there are some buffs that never get used or some players that do not get anything. Which buffs are used and where are up to the caster.

There is also a bug in the amount added to stats. It should be no less then ten as described above when in fact the outcome is no less then five.

There is a bug with canceling buffs. First, if you right-click too quickly in the conc window, more then you wanted may be cancelled. The second is if you or another attempts to right-click the buff icon located at the top of the screen, buffs on other players may be cancelled as well.

Another bug with concentration points and buffs is at time during game play (mostly associated with your character dieing) in which buffs will cost twice their normal amount. At this time the only fix is to log out and back in.

Because of recent changes, the only spell not really liked is the damage add. It is the weakest in the entire realm, including the self only buffs that Healers and Thanes receive in their spec lines. When combined with the Skald damage add song it creates a bonus that is less then the Skald song by itself.

Cave

This line is by far our weakest one. At early levels, this line functions OK as a primary or secondary line. With the scalability issues it has, the higher in levels you go, the less of an impact it has. With ongoing development, this line may change to become more viable.

Speccing in Cave

Some players have chosen to make this their primary line and have specced heavily in it. To get the most out of the current compliment of spells, this is the only way it will be somewhat effective. It is a weak primary line and an even weaker secondary line.

Cave and PvE

In PvE, the roles you can play in a group are varied, though none of them can be attributed to just your class. Most things a Shaman can do can be done by another class. Example, you will most likely use your bolt to pull with. That is all this spell is really good for because of the timer and combat issues. (See Cave Bugs/Issues in the Game section below) The Runemaster and Thane also have spells with which to use for pulling. Most of the time, you are wanted in a group for your buffs and healing/Friggs.

You can perform limited crowd control with the Grasping Creepers line and debuff using the Sickening Spores single target disease or the AE disease, Infectious Spores line. There are also two DOTs in your arsenal with which to wear away at your opponent's hit points.

Cave and RvR

There is not much for a Shaman to do in RvR that involves this line. Let me rephrase that, there are several things to do, however none are either wanted or have the desired affect. The AE poison spell can be great for getting RP's, however most Shamans hear from their realm mates, "Don't! You'll break mez!" The disease only has a -15 to STR and SPD component so the noticeable affects in that regards are lacking. Disease does have the ability to halt all health regen and halve any heals cast on the affected enemy so that is good.

Most Shamans in RvR find themselves healing, rezzing, casting Friggs, and buffing. During keep defense or outright brawls in the middle of no where, the AE Poison spell does come in handy provided you can see a target close enough to cast it on.

Cave Bugs/Issues in the Game

Again, this isn't so much of a bug as it is an issue because it is working as intended. The bolt spells across the classes and across the realms are all on 20-second timers. This isn't so bad. The main issue is the number of times it does not reach the target while in combat. As with most everything, it has a chance to be resisted, blocked, and missed. What usually happens with it though is you will receive the message "Your spell is blocked by an attacker!" This can be received for the sole reason that another player, whether in your group or not, is in combat mode and has your target targeted.

There is a bug with root. When the mob changes targets, the root breaks. The most common ways for it to break are:

-          After it is rooted, someone casts heal and the mob will charge at that caster

-          When a mob is rooted near a player or a player gets too close to the mob without doing any damage to it (player does not hit it nor is the player wearing a damage shield), the mob will perform their drive by hit and then run and the player who holds the most agro gets charged.

General scaling issues with individual spells.

Equipment

A Shaman may use the hammer or staff as a weapon, though most choose hammer. You will not be able to train in your weapon, leaving you with base skills and you will only be able to use a hammer or staff throughout your career. The same is true of the shield. You will have the ability to equip a small shield with none of the styles associated with it.

Weapon Choices

Staff - The staff is not widely used mainly because there are so few made for or usable by Shamans. There are no focus staves for us as there are for cloth casters. The staff damage table is also much lower then a hammer's and since it must be wielded with two hands, a shield is not an option.

Hammer - There are a wide variety of one- and two-handed hammers. The plus to these are greater damage output and greater availability of these in game with bonuses that can help you through your Shaman's life. The negative is you cannot carry a shield with a two-handed hammer.

Armor Choices

A Shaman wears leather until 10 at which time studded leather can be worn and then chain is gained at 20. Your equipment does wear out and becomes less effective as you use it. Remember to check it regularly and have it repaired. The closer to 100% condition you keep it, the slower the durability will decrease which is a good thing. It is recommended that you repair each time you return to a town to sell while hunting.

Helpful Hints

When & How to Spec

A good practice is to put points into your primary spec until it reaches 5 before placing points into the other two lines. Once this is reached, then a rotation of primary line and secondary line; primary and third; primary and secondary; primary and third, etc. By alternating this way, your primary line will stay close to your character level and remain as close to 2/3 as possible for maximum affect. This would be carried out until you reach the maximum in any given line. Generally, the max would be reached in the third line first, then the other two later on in your Shamans life.

Obtaining the next spell level in one line before moving to the next is another practice held by some. This could be achieved by getting the next spell in your primary, then working on the next spell in your secondary, then primary again, then in your third line and so on.

The key with all of this is to keep your primary line (and even secondary when possible) as close to 2/3 spec throughout the life of your Shaman. The maximum affect for your spells will be achieved enabling you to be more effective in groups and even soloing.

There will be transition points during your career in which it does not matter how you are specced, even at lower levels - all classes go through these. There may be times in which you will feel as if you do not have enough power or you can heal or hit as effectively or some such. Some levels are just speed bumps that need to be crossed.

While in a Group/RvR

When healing for your group, remember to stand a fair distance away from close combat. This helps lessen your chance for the monster to agro on you because of your healing. It also gives you a head start should a pull go sour and you need to run. When this happens someone, usually the group leader will holler "RUN!" If this happens in any situation, as a rezzer of the group, it is your job to run to a safe location and return when the coast is clear. With the new agro code, this becomes even more important. Before, rezzing a player did not generate agro with a mob, now it does. The mob must be out of combat before you rez or you will find yourself under attack.

When a Shaman melees and drops out of melee to cast a spell, there is a delay before you can cast. This delay is determined by the speed of your weapon as you must finish your 'swing timer' before you can cast. This can be a bit frustrating when you are trying to heal or root someone in a jam, so try to plan accordingly.

If you are the primary healer for your group, it is best to designate one warrior type to be your 'savior' so to speak. When someone pulls and the mob comes after you, it is at this point that your protector should smack the mob and bring the agro instantly to him/her. In some cases, this is done by the melee typing /protect soandso.  Make sure to move away from the group again, so more healing or casting does not draw agro back to you too quickly. If you do manage to get agro, remember to stand still!! (This can apply to any support class, caster, healer - even melee classes that do not have the hit points to be the mob's primary target.) This is a tough job, yet if you run (as might be your natural inclination) the warrior types in your group will not be able to hit the mob to get it off you. They will instead spend their time chasing you and the mob down and you will be dead before they can catch them. A common practice is a macro that says something like "ON ME!!!"

Some suggested buff priorities for your group. Tanks generally need STR and CON and STR/CON buffs at least. This allows them to do more damage with their weapons and increase their hit points to keep them alive longer. Hunters have their own DEX/QUI buff and shield. Giving you're your base line DEX buff will help them reach their max for bow skill. Casters will want your ACUITY and DEX buffs. DEX helps them cast faster and ACUITY increases the power pool by increasing PIE. There are also some resistance buffs. These help everyone and work nicely. You can see why only being able to cast 20 buffs, even with concentration points left over, makes such decisions difficult.

Partial crowd control. If another is pulling, you can root the extra mobs. Because of casting times, you generally only have time to root one mob before the others reach your party. If you are far enough away, you might be able to root another however this needs to be coordinated with your group so they know not to hit it or get too close. (See Cave Bugs/Issues in the Game section above)

Disease. Single target and AE disease keep mobs/players from regening their health. Though the decrease in STR and SPD are not noticeable, the effects it has on health are.

Poison. This can be good as well to help kill the mob. This may or may not be part of your tactics as depending on the size of the group you are with the mob may be dead before it gets to its second or third tic.

Another common practice regardless of what role you play in a group is to create a macro that says 'OOM' or 'OOP.' These mean 'out of mana' or 'out of power.' Because we do not get a power regeneration spell as the Healers do and the limit to the number of buffs that can be cast, we run out of power quickly. Some feel that Healers have more power then we do yet this is always attributed to them wearing their Purity of Mind spell. Watch your power amount and sit while out of combat to regain it at a faster rate. Once the amount of power reaches less then half of the total amount, it regens at a slower pace. Try not to let your pool drop below half whenever possible.

While Soloing

It is imperative that you buff yourself before venturing out on your own. These can mean the difference between life and death for you. Getting your spells off is critical to your taking down a yellow. If your Cave spec is high enough and you have the appropriate bonuses to hit/resist, this is possible. When you are jumped, this can be detrimental to your survival so keep an ever watchful eye on where you are and your surroundings. Knowing the pathing of mobs is helpful, although not something you need to study and memorize.

Once you find a safe spot, you have the bolt to pull with - it has a very long range. This is a suggested method for pulling and fighting. It can be modified to suit your needs and play style and even modified using kiting techniques to squeeze in a couple more casts. This is just a base to start with:

-          Get at max range with your bolt and cast it.

-          While that is casting, hold down the root spell until it casts.

-          When the mob is rooted, cast disease on it.

-          Then cast Friggs on yourself.

-          Then poison on the mob.

-          Then one last bolt on the mob if there is time.

-          Melee until it is dead.

Some players may make one or more of the following modifications:

-          Switch the poison with Friggs.

-          Add another bolt and root after disease.

-          Getting to max root range rather then bolt range when starting so root can be cast immediately upon bolt finishing.

Other Tidbits

An especially important factor to note is that while you or anyone else in your group is in combat, no one can utilize any of the sitting cycle timers for health, endurance, or power.

The regen rate for health is every 3 seconds while sitting, every 6 seconds while standing, and every 14 seconds while in combat. This is important to know because of the Friggs spells. Friggs does not draw agro because it only increases the amount of health regained during the normal regen process. Sort of like a heal over time, yet not really as it does not have its own timer, rather it piggybacks itself to another. Each cycle must complete itself before the next can begin. This means that if you were in combat (the 14 second timer), and then sit when combat it is over, you must wait for the remainder of the 14 second cycle to finish before the 3 second cycle one starts.

Proccing. DEX affects whether or not your weapon procs and how often. There are also more and more items being introduced into the game that will not proc until the bearer reaches a certain level. If your weapon does not react in the manner that it should, remember these two things. If you are at the required level or beyond and you have a high DEX, allow another player at the right level with a high DEX use it to see if it will proc. If they are successful and you are not, either your DEX is not high enough or you are bugged.

If you ever find a bug, the /appeal function in game has been expanded and improved to allow better tracking of issues reported.