Shaman will never match a necro as a soloer. If you want to solo like a necro play a necro. The advantage we have is that we are tough, we can wear decent armor, and we can heal ourselves pretty well. We don't need no stinking pile of bones to take a beating for us.

The early levels are mostly DoT and Tank scenarios. Cast your best DoT and then wade in with your spear. That's about all we have as far as tools to work with in the begining. Get some good armor and have a blast. Once you get a pet then just add him into this and think of him as another DoT.

Once you get root at level 12 then Root/Rotting becomes possible. Cast your best DoT or two then cast root and back out of melee range and recover mana. It's slower than DoT and Tank but generally allows you to kill tougher creatures. If you plan to root/rot then don't summon a pet, they just get in the way until you have the pet hold AA.

You can also DoT and Run. Make sure you have a fresh SoW and then Cast a DoT on the enemy and run until it wears off then cast it again. Generally slower than either of the other methods but it can help if the enemy is immune to root or breaks root often.

Those are pretty much it until you get a pet. Once you get a pet then you can add the pet to the DoT and Tank method for extra damage or you can Pet Kite.

To Pet Kite you turn off pet taunt and then use your highest aggro DoTs on the enemy and then run while the pet attacks him from behind. As soon as the pet gets aggro turn and DoT the enemy again until you have aggro back then start running again.

You can also have your pet tank for you while you DoT like a necro but our pet is very weak and pet tanking anything that will give you XP is probably not a good idea.

Once you get into the 50s and start using the new proc buffs then melee and pet becomes more viable again. You need to be geared in good AC/HP gear to make this possible so think like a warrior when making gear choices.

At 68 I have spent a lot of time and gained most of my XP from DoT/Tank soloing although Root/Rot is prefered by most past 60. Both have their advantages and it will be up to you to choose which method you are more comfortable with.

Altho Cattywumpus covered a lot I like to add to this topic. Shammans also have the best melee stat buffs in the game. The best Slow in the game and one huge HoT (healing over time). The HoT you get at 65 dont hinder movement unlike the eariler versions. Most mobs becomes very manageable once they are slowed. By the time you get up in levels, the Necro, Mage, Druid, Wizzies, Rangers all will have a difficult time soloing experience giving Named mobs. The reason is that those mobs Summon, and most are immune to snare or change in run speed. But for the fully buffed shammy and shammy pet with a good slow, heals and HoT's, Melee damage output with DoT's The summoning mobs presents less difficult a challange then to other classes.

Edited, Tue Oct 4 20:56:17 2005 by Goldenquak