Beil's Barb Shaman Tips

The first thing every new barbarian needs to know: double-check that decaying skeleton before you attack it because it is 100% not a decaying skeleton, it's the vengeful composer or soloist and it will murder you without remorse.

• Everfrost is a somewhat unforgiving starter zone. Take advantage of the few quests you'll find, most should be on the wiki: http://wiki.project1999.com/Halas

• The initiate symbol of the tribunal quest is nice for obtaining a magic weapon at low levels: http://wiki.project1999.com/Initiate_Symbol_of_the_Tribunal

• Save polar bear skins for this quest: http://wiki.project1999.com/Polar_Bear_Cloak_Quest

• Kill Granin O'Gill every chance you get. It's nothing personal, but you can turn his head in to your guildmaster for xp, facation, and a level 9 spell you can eventually use, then sell extras back for 1pp: http://wiki.project1999.com/Head_of_Granin_O%27Gill . I usually find him just below #3 on the map.

• You'll quickly want to make your way to blackburrow to begin farming gnoll fangs for the collection quest in Qeynos: http://wiki.project1999.com/Gnoll_Fang. Save the moonstones you get from this quest as you can turn them in for more xp and some booze. After outgrowing gnoll fangs you can kill bandits in West Karana for the bandit sash quest which is great exp and money: http://wiki.project1999.com/Bandit_Sash. Also, kill every rabid grizzly and wolf you see in WK, there's a collection quest in the cleric guild in Qeynos that can be very lucrative: http://wiki.project1999.com/Putrid_Bear_Hide. Save any HQ bear skins, they should sell for 30 pp ea. Also kill every willowisp you see, greater lightstones can be turned into an NPC in North Karana for experience and a book that sells back for 10 pp: http://wiki.project1999.com/Research_Aid

• The areas surrounding Qeynos are great for newbies so there's no need to leave until you've outgrown bandits and bears. You can eventually go do spire gnolls in South Karana (maybe around level 25?) - the tanned hides that they drop are for a collection quest in South Qeynos and can net you a nice chunk of experience each.

Let's see, what else...

• Never underestimate slam to interrupt casting, it's extremely useful.

• You will find yourself making many pilgrimages back to Halas to buy spells and train. I had trouble becoming friendly with Ogres and Trolls and was never able to buy/train in their cities. Stock up on spells when you're in town if you can afford it.

• Start alchemy as soon as possible and start crafting 10 dose SoW potions. You can bind in the tunnel, buy supplies in North Ro, and sell potions for about 30 pp profit each and they sell very easily. You can make a life here.

• Look into the paw of opolla and testament of vanear quests. Those will net you some great +Wis primary/secondary items when you're in your 20s or so.

• Never underestimate drowsy as you acquire newer, better slows. If you're in a fast paced group you won't have enough mana to use your best slow on every mob.

• Until you get Healing (the literal spell "Healing"), use inner fire for healing as it's more mana efficient.

• Group whenever possible. Shamans can solo well enough especially when you get your pet at 34 but they shine in groups.

• Speaking of pets, you'll eventually want to get yourself a mage focus item that has the reclaim energy clickie effect. This is really useful for chain summoning pets until you get the strongest one available.

• When you get cannibalize at 24 you should learn how to canni dance: http://wiki.project1999.com/Guide_to_Canni_Dancing. This is the most efficient way for a shaman to regen mana. You should also learn about using an instant clickie for resetting the global spell cooldown reset which allows you to fast canni: http://wiki.project1999.com/Advanced_Techniques_Guide#Resetting_Spell_Refresh_Timers_With_Instant-Click_Items. This is great for getting mana back quickly (although not quite as efficiently) and scaring the other members of your group as they watch your HP drop. I also like to sneak in a "nom nom nom" comment every now and then.

• You will get asked for Spirit of Wolf a lot. When someone runs past you, then backs up and stares at you blankly, go ahead and SoW them because I guarantee they're typing up a message asking you to do so. You'll learn to recognize "the look" shortly after level 9.

• Buffing your group is an art. Find and download nparse to help you keep track of buff timers. Download gina and set up some voice triggers for when your buffs drop, specifically SoW and regen.

• When you get a pet at 34 you can use pet tracking: https://wiki.project1999.com/Pet_Guide#Pet_tracking This can be invaluable for seeing if a mob is up.

• If you like quests, do the totemic armor quests. They're a lot of fun, they'll take you to some exciting places, and the armor looks really sweet on barbarians. If you go for the helm, watch out for the Lich of Miragul in Everfrost peaks. If you see him, you're already dead. Use pet tracking before entering the caves. If he's up, do not proceed unless you can get a high level to kill him first.

• Good choice on rolling a barbarian. The other races would argue their merits (regen, frontal stun immunity, blah blah) but at the end of the day, we're better looking and we have beautiful nipple tattoo art which are really the only things that matter once you reach 60.

Beil

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