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Shamwowi's Shaman Race Guide

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Contents

Preface

I decided to create this page after seeing the same thread about Shaman race being posted ad nauseam on the forums.
This guide is intended to be a detailed explanation of the Racial Bonuses for each Shaman race. The main focus is Post-Topor, as this requires more explanation than Pre-Torpor.
Post-Torpor means a level 60 Shaman who has the spell Torpor. Pre-Torpor is any point before that, regardless of level.
The goal is to determine which race is best suited for a Shaman from a Min/Max perspective. This will be backed up with facts, opinions, and video examples from P99.
Due to the high power of the Shaman class, no Racial Bonus is required to best any content. The idea is to determine which Racial Bonuses give you the most edge, with the understanding it won't have a huge impact overall.
WARNING: Major Spoilers ahead for the Shaman class!

Fashion

1. If you prefer fashion over function, this guide will not be of any help. Instead, you should check out general information on how armor sets look on the various races:

2. Shamans also get a Bear Form Illusion via Form of the Great Bear, which is different depending on which race you are.

3. Trolls can turn into a halfling for 30 minutes with Skinned Halfling Face Mask.

4. Iksars can wear a few robes (and display the robe graphic), such as Robe of the Azure Sky and Guardian Robe.

Summary

This is the TLDR version of the guide. If you wish to see how I came to these conclusions, continue reading past this section.
NOTE: These lists are ranked ordered from best to worst.

Best Shaman race Post-Torpor

1. Ogre
2. Troll
3. Barbarian
4. Iksar

Best Shaman race Pre-Torpor

1. Troll
2. Ogre
3. Barbarian
4. Iksar

Best Shaman race that exclusively Raids

1. Iksar
2. Barbarian
3. Ogre
4. Troll

General Racial Bonus Comparison Post-Torpor

This section details the general Racial Bonuses each Shaman race gets.
NOTE: I will be rating each Racial Bonus as major or minor. Major means it can have an affect on your gameplay. Minor means it probably will not have an affect on your gameplay.

Base Statistics (Major)

Stamina (STA) and Wisdom (WIS) are the two primary statistics for Shamans. They increase a Shaman's HP (Stamnia) and Mana (Wisdom).

Here are Magelo pages for each Shaman race with BiS (Best in Slot) Velious Gear. These items could be changed a bit based on personal taste:

1. Ogre - Magelo_Blue:Shamwowi_Shaman_Race_Guide_BiS_Ogre
2. Troll - Magelo_Blue:Shamwowi_Shaman_Race_Guide_BiS_Troll
3. Barbarian - Magelo_Blue:Shamwowi_Shaman_Race_Guide_BiS_Barbarian
4. Iksar - Magelo_Blue:Shamwowi_Shaman_Race_Guide_BiS_Iksar

In all four examples, I put starting points into STA and WIS. For Ogres specifically, 5 points went into AGI as well, to avoid the AC penalty. As you can see, STA and WIS are maxed out in all four Magelos.

Shamans also get a number of stat buff spells, which will make up for most stat loss due to gear choices:
1. Primal Essence from Hammer of the Dragonborn
2. Avatar or Primal Avatar
3. Riotous Health
4. Maniacal Strength
5. Deliriously Nimble
6. Mortal Deftness
7. Unfailing Reverence
8. Focus of Spirit
9. Form of the Great Bear

Conclusion: No race has any significant advantage here. STA and WIS can be maxed on any race with BiS gear. Additionally, Shamans get many stat buff spells that can make up for any loss.

Base Resistances (Major)

Ogre Troll Barbarian Iksar
POISON 15 15 15 15
MAGIC 25 25 25 25
DISEASE 15 15 15 15
FIRE 25 5 25 30
COLD 25 25 35 15
TOTAL 105 85 115 100

Conclusion: Barbarians/Ogres win here. They are above average or average on total resistances. Trolls and Iksars are penalized due to their other racial bonuses. Trolls get the worst punishment with -20 to fire resistance.

XP Penalty (Major)

1. Ogres - 15% MORE XP required to reach level 60.
2. Trolls - 20% MORE XP required to reach level 60.
3. Barbarians - 5% MORE XP required to reach level 60.
4. Iksars - 20% MORE XP required to reach level 60.

Conclusion: Barbarians win here.

Special Activated Ability (Major)

1. Ogres - Slam
2. Trolls - Slam
3. Barbarians -Slam
4. Iksars - Forage

Conclusion: Ogres/Trolls/Barbarians win here. Slam can be useful when dealing with casters. You have a chance to interrupt their spells. Forage is useful for crafting, but you can create an alt character and park it in the zone of your choosing if you want to gather foraged items.

Armor Sizes and Types (Major)

NOTE: The PLATE sections refer to which zones the plate armor drops in. Zones, CLASSIC PLATE means the plate armor drops in ANTONICA, ODUS, and FAYDWER. The Classic Planes are an exception. Plane of Sky items are usable by all races, and Iksars get special armor sets for each plate wearing class with the 2.0 revamps of Plane of Fear and Plane of Hate. KUNARK PLATE means the plate armor drops in KUNARK. VELIOUS PLATE means the plate armor drops in VELIOUS, Plane of Growth, or Plane of Mischief. There are always exceptions to the rule, so it is a good idea to double check any gear you are thinking about getting.

Ogre Troll Barbarian Iksar
MEDIUM No No Yes Yes
LARGE Yes Yes Yes No
CLASSIC PLATE Yes Yes Yes No
KUNARK PLATE Yes Yes Yes No
VELIOUS PLATE Yes Yes Yes Yes
ROBES No No No Yes

Conclusion: Ogres/Trolls/Barbarians win here. Not being able to wear Classic/Kunark plate has more of an impact than the inability to wear robes. Technically Barbarians have a slight edge, being able to wear medium armor. However, there are no superb end game items that are medium only. Iksars do have access to Robe of the Azure Sky, but it isn't really superior to Chestplate of Vindication. The Extra HP, HP Regeneration, and AC will help more than the additional max mana gained from the robe in most cases. Raiding is the exception, as Max Mana can play a role in fights where chain healing is required. Chestplate of Vindication is also much more common.

Base Faction (Major)

1. Ogres - Evil, low overall starting faction.
2. Trolls - Evil, low overall starting faction.
3. Barbarians - Good, high overall starting faction.
4. Iksars - Super Evil, lowest overall starting faction.

Conclusion: Barbarians win here. Ogres and Trolls don't have great starting faction, but it is much easier to fix overall than an Iksar.

Base Night Vision (Minor)

1. Ogres - Infravision
2. Trolls - Infravision
3. Barbarians - N/A
4. Iksars - Infravision

Conclusion: Ogres/Trolls/Iksars win here. However, Night Vision is extremely easy to get on Shamans.

Consumption Rate (Minor)

1. Ogres - Increased
2. Trolls - Increased
3. Barbarians - Increased
4. Iksars - Normal

Conclusion: Iksars win here. Not only do they consume food the slowest, but they can forage for more.

Skill Modifier (Minor)

1. Ogres - Slam
2. Trolls - Slam
3. Barbarians -Slam
4. Iksars - Swimming

Conclusion: Iksars win here. They get +100 to swimming, as opposed to +1 to Slam. However, swimming is fairly easy to max, and Slam cannot be acquired by Iksars.

Final Tally

Ogre Troll Barbarian Iksar
Major Benefit Wins 3 2 5 0
Minor Benefit Wins 1 1 0 3

Conclusion: In the general Racial Bonuses comparison, Barbarians win by having the most Major Benefit victories. Ogres come in second, Trolls come in third, and Iksars place last.

Special Racial Bonus Comparison Post-Torpor

This section details the special Racial Bonuses each Shaman race gets, as well as specific items that are usable by certain Shaman races. This section will also be broken down using Major bonuses and Minor bonuses.

Troll/Iksar Regeneration (Major)

Summary: Only standing regeneration will be considered. Torpor Shamans only sit when they are changing spells or regenerating enough HP for their first Torpor after Resurrection, and thus rarely use sitting regeneration. Vermilion Sky Ring (feign death regeneration) is only used in very specific cases, with limited charges. Troll/Iksar standing regeneration is 12 HP per tick at level 60. Every other race is 4 HP per tick at level 60. This means Trolls/Iksars get +8 HP per tick standing compared to other races. Troll/Iksar Regeneration gives you 4800 HP per hour (8 HP X 10 Ticks Per Minute X 60 Minutes), assuming you are under 100% HP the entire hour. This means a Troll/Iksar is saving 3-4 Torpor per hour maximum, depending on when the Torpor lands with the server tick. 1200 HP Per Torpor normally, and 1500 HP Per Torpor when timed to the server tick. This equates to 1.5-2 minutes saved of healing yourself per hour. This includes the 6 second cast time for Torpor, and the 24 seconds of buff duration.

Preface: How often is a Torpor Shaman under 100% HP?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZxMlJSCDc . This video shows how quickly a Torpor Shaman can get from low HP and Mana to 100% HP and Mana. The video is 3 minutes and 48 seconds long. This means Troll/Iksar regeneration would have given you an extra 320 HP, which is 1/4th to 1/5th of a Torpor. At best, Trolls/Iksars would shave 30 second off of this video. Once you are at 100% HP, you stop all regeneration. This is worn, buff, and racial. Unless a Shaman is in combat or casting spells, they should be at 100% HP and Mana, due to the speed at which they can regain their resources.
  • RARE SITUTATION: You could be killing more mobs than you should safely. This means you are never at 100% HP, as you are constantly moving from one battle to the next without stopping to get your resources back. I never do this myself when I am fighting hard mobs. This tactic is a little more common when farming lower level monsters, since they are not a very big threat anyway.

1. When is Troll/Iksar Regeneration useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS3uoIHTu_c . This video shows how to kill the Gravemaster placeholder in Chardok. Please note I killed the wrong mob, as I used to think the Cryptmaster was the placeholder, but the same strategy applies. Doing this requires quickly killing 3 mobs within 20 minutes. This is due to the zone's quick respawn timers. At best, a Troll/Iksar would regenerate 1280 HP. This equates to 1 Torpor worth of health. This means Troll/Iksar regeneration would save 30 seconds of recovery time. This is useless most of the time, due to a Shaman's relatively quick kill times and very quick recovery times.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. If you are extremely close to the next respawn timer, saving 30 seconds could be the difference between a full recovery before the spawn, and a bit of time lost due to having to finish recovery before engaging the newly spawned mob. I have yet to run into this situation myself, due to a Shaman's relatively quick kill times and very quick recovery times.

2. When is Troll/Iksar Regeneration useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLhe3KQXke0 . This video shows a long solo fight a Shaman would encounter. HP regeneration is only helpful during a fight if it is used to save your life, as a way of damage mitigation. As you can see in the video, I was never in a position where a few 100 HP was the difference between life and death. In any situation where the fight is under control, Troll/Iksar regeneration is only useful for recovery in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. Troll/Iksar regeneration can save your life, depending on which point in the fight we are examining. The point in the fight is important, due to regeneration requiring time to build up. If a Shaman barely escapes death within the first 24 seconds of the fight, Troll/Iksar regeneration would not be the savior here, unless you are under 32 HP. If a Shaman barely escapes death within 5 minutes of the fight, that could be attributed to Troll/Iksar regeneration, as you would have gained up to 400 HP over Ogres/Barbarians.

3. When is Troll/Iksar Regeneration useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq39ybDWx-k . This video is a simulated example of buffing 11 people with Riotous Health and Focus of Spirit, with two Primal Avatars thrown in. The total video time is 12 minutes and 48 seconds. This means a Troll/Iksar would save up to 1040 HP over an Ogre/Barbarian. This is less than 1 Torpor, or 30 seconds. In a Raid situation, saving 30 seconds on a buff session is useless 99.9% of the time.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. An engagement could come exactly at the end of a buff session. Trolls/Iksars would be ready 30 seconds sooner.

4. When is Troll/Iksar Regeneration useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. One of a Shaman's primary roles is to Turgur's Insects/Malo mobs (trash and bosses). This means Shamans can get a lot of hate in a short amount of time if they are not careful. Raid mobs tend to hit hard and fast, even when they have Turgur's Insects applied. Shamans typically have one of the lower HP pools in the game, and they do not commonly get Aegolism in raids. If a Shaman gets to the top of a raid mob's hate list for more than a minute, they will die, regardless of AC and HP Regeneration. This means Regeneration is rarely useful in a fight.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. Troll/Iksar regeneration can save your life, or allow you to land one additional spell before death. Troll/Iksar regeneration is mostly useful in some AoE fights. Many AoE fights are either fast, or the AoE can be avoided by Line of Sight. This means Troll/Iksar regeneration isn't useful in those fights. However, there are some long fights where the entire raid needs to be AoE'd the entire time. This is where Troll/Iksar regeneration shines, since every bit of damage mitigation could be the difference between death and getting healed up to take on more AoE's.

Conclusion: Troll/Iksar regeneration is useful in the rare situations where an extra bit of damage mitigation could save your life, or buy you a bit of extra time before death. It could also rarely work in your favor when juggling spawn timers.

Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity or FSI (Major)

Summary: Frontal Stun Immunity is a unique ability only available to Ogres. It ignores the STUN component of certain melee attacks, mostly bash. As the name suggests, this ability only works when the mob is in front of the player. Getting hit from behind ignores this bonus. I will explain how bash works. When a monster successfully bashes a player, there are THREE components to the bash: Damage, a chance to stun, and a chance to interrupt the player's spell. When a player becomes stunned, their spell casting is automatically interrupted, regardless of whether or not the interrupt component would have interrupted the spell. The player cannot auto attack, and the player cannot move for the duration of the stun. Frontal Stun Immunity removes the STUN component from bash, as long as the mob is in front of the player. This means Ogres get their spells interrupted less, their auto attacks interrupted less, and their movement interrupted less than any other race.

1. When is Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. A Shaman is not getting hit by melee attacks in-between fights. The potential time and HP saved in the fight from Frontal Stun Immunity could reduce recovery time, but just like Iksar/Troll regeneration, recovery time reduction is rarely necessary.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. An unexpected pather, spawn, etc. could initiate a fight you weren't anticipating. In this situation, you could save 1 stun's worth of time in reacting to this new situation. If you are extremely close to the next respawn timer, saving a few seconds could be the difference between a full recovery before the spawn, and a bit of time lost due to having to finish recovery before engaging the newly spawned mob. I have yet to run into this situation myself, due to a Shaman's relatively quick kill times and very quick recovery times.

2. When is Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEgFcImQ9XU . In the summary of the video, I show every place in the fight where a bash lands. I save 0-48 seconds during the fight, depending on which bashes had stun components (there is no way to know).
    Ignoring Stuns also allows you to proc weapons such as Journeyman's Walking Stick more often, due to no interruption in auto-attacks. Moving in combat is also easier without being stunned. When you are stunned, dodge is not active either, increasing the chances of getting hit by a melee attack.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. Frontal Stun Immunity can save your life. If you are pulling a hard mob, and you are getting an unlucky chain of Turgur's Insects resists, landing a Turgur's Insects one cast sooner could be the difference between life and death. If you need to Gate, Frontal Stun Immunity increases your chance of Gate going off. If you need to root a monster to prevent death, less spell interrupts means you can get out of the mobs attack radius faster. If you need to start running immediately, not getting stunned means you have a 1 stun's worth of time lead.

3. When is Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. A Shaman is not getting hit by melee attacks in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. An unexpected pather, spawn, etc. could initiate a fight you weren't anticipating. In this situation, you could save 1 stun's worth of time in reacting to this new situation.

4. When is Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useful. One of a Shaman's primary roles in raiding is landing Turgur's Insects on mobs, both bosses and trash. As I said in the Regeneration section, getting focused by a mob means you will die in one minute or less. This means getting off a few Turgur's Insects before you die is critical, even when you are guaranteed to die. Not getting stunned also means you can swing Di`zok Oracle Shillelagh more times in the fight before you die, due to not having to wait for stun to finish to resume auto attacking.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. If you get to the top of a raid bosses' hate list, you will die in less than 6 seconds. If you had auto-attack on with Di`zok Oracle Shillelagh, you could get a swing in before you die, and proc the weapon.

Conclusion: Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity has uses in all four categories.

Ogre/Troll/Barbarian Ability To Wear Classic/Kunark Plate Armor (Major)

Summary: Ogres/Trolls/Barbarians have access to Classic and Kunark Plate Armor. While most of these items are not comparable to BiS Velious gear, there are some clickies that are only available to these 3 races. The most notable clickly is Jaundiced Bone Bracer, which will be the primary point of discussion in this section. The primary benefit of Jaundiced Bone Bracer is it frees up a spell slot that would normally be occupied by your Direct Damage spell, when it is usable. Reducing spell slot usage is critical on a Shaman, due to how many spell slots they need permanently occupied. A Torpor Shaman has Cannibalize IV, Torpor, Turgur's Insects, and Malo on their bar most of the time. Gate and root make common appearances as well. This means Shamans generally have 2-3 spell slots left over for whatever other spells they need.

1. When is Jaundiced Bone Bracer useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast on in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, the cast time on this item is useless for a surprise attack.

2. When is Jaundiced Bone Bracer useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. There are quite a few mobs out there that are immune or highly resistant to cold spells. This item is obviously useless on those mobs.

3. When is Jaundiced Bone Bracer useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast on in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, the cast time on this item is useless for a surprise attack.

4. When is Jaundiced Bone Bracer useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. You shouldn't be spamming this item in raids.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. You shouldn't be spamming this item in raids.

Conclusion: Having some of the extra clickies can be useful for soloing/grouping, but aren't really useful past that.

Iksar AC Bonus (Minor)

Summary: Iksars get an innate AC bonus, designed to make up for their inability to wear plate. This means Iksars have the highest possible AC when compared to any other Shaman race, assuming BiS gear.

1. When is Iksar AC Bonus useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. When you are not in melee combat, AC is not doing anything. The extra damage reduction from the AC can help reduce recovery times a little bit, but just like Iksar/Troll regeneration, recovery time reduction is rarely necessary.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. If you are extremely close to the next respawn timer, saving a few seconds could be the difference between a full recovery before the spawn, and a bit of time lost due to having to finish recovery before engaging the newly spawned mob. I have yet to run into this situation myself, due to a Shaman's relatively quick kill times and very quick recovery times.

2. When Iksar AC Bonus useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. Similar to Troll/Iksar regeneration, this bonus will not help you during any fight that is already under control.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. Similar to Troll/Iksar regeneration, this could save your life on occasion. The extra bit of AC could reduce more melee attacks than any other race, which could be the difference between life and death.

3. When is Iksar AC Bonus useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. When you are not in melee combat, AC is not doing anything.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. There are no situations I can think of. Even a surprise attack would deal full damage if you were sitting down.

4. When is Iksar AC Bonus useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. Similar to Troll/Iksar regeneration, this bonus will not help you when getting focused by a raid mob.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. Similar to Troll/Iksar regeneration, this bonus could save your life, or give you a bit of extra time to finish casting a spell.

Conclusion: Like Troll/Iksar regeneration, the damage mitigation could help you in rare cases. However, AC is useful in less damage mitigation situations than regeneration.

Troll Regent Symbol of Innoruuk (Minor)

Summary: Trolls exclusively get access to Regent Symbol of Innoruuk if they choose Innoruuk as their diety. This necklace has a 6 second cast time, and casts Clinging Darkness, which is objectively the worst snare in the game. Other Shaman races get access to snares, with these items: Ball of Burlap Yarn, Scepter of the Forlorn (clickable from inventory), and Spear of Constriction. This means the ability to snare mobs is not unique to a Troll Shaman. The only thing that is unique is their ability to cast Clinging Darkness without recharging clickies. So the usefulness of Regent Symbol of Innoruuk depends on how often Shamans need to snare mobs.

1. When is Troll Regent Symbol of Innoruuk useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast snare on in-between fights. If you need to snare yourself, Torpor and Fungi Covered Great Staff are superior in all ways.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, the cast time on this item is useless for a surprise attack.

2. When is Troll Regent Symbol of Innoruuk useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. I have yet to run into this situation myself, but in rare situations you may need to root AND snare the mob, to guarantee the mob will not move, even during a root break. Due to the rarity of this situation, charged snare items should work perfectly well. You could also use snares when Blind Kiting, but that is also a rare situation, due to how much runway you need to Blind Kite a mob in the first place, even with Clinging Darkness.

3. When is Troll Regent Symbol of Innoruuk useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast snare on in-between fights. If you need to snare yourself, Torpor and Fungi Covered Great Staff are superior in all ways.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, the cast time on this item is useless for a surprise attack. Also, most raid mobs are immune to snare, or other classes have superior snares to use.

4. When is Troll Regent Symbol of Innoruuk useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. Most raid mobs are either immune to snare, or another class has the snaring responsibility.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. Most raid mobs are either immune to snare, or another class has the snaring responsibility.

Conclusion: There are rare situations where this item can come in handy. However, other Shaman races can get snares for rare situations.

Troll/Iksar Initiate and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule (Minor)

Summary: Trolls and Iksars get Initiate Symbol of Cazic Thule and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule. Getting both means you can get short duration fear spells on a Shaman for Animals and Undead. Shamans can Blind Kite with Blinding Luminance, but that is never as good as a regular fear. When Blind Kiting, you cannot get near the mob, or it will attack you. Also, casting blind on a rooted mob will not interrupt their spell casting. With a regular Fear, you can safely get near a feared mob, and interrupt their spell casting when they are rooted. Unfortunately you do not get a general fear, so Shaman fear is limited to Animals and Undead.

1. When is Troll/Iksar Initiate and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule useful in-between fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast on in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, you probably do not want to fear them away, running into other mobs.

2. When is Troll/Iksar Initiate and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule useful during fights in Solo/Group situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. Like Blind Kiting, there aren't a lot of good areas to do Fear Kiting on a Shaman. Having the limit of Animals and Undead further reduces the viable camps for Fear Kiting.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useful. If you have a caster mob rooted, you could use this to interrupt their spell casting, if you land the fear before they finish casting their spell. This isn't too hard due to both clickies only having a 2 second casting time.

3. When is Troll/Iksar Initiate and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule useful in-between fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. There is no target to cast on in-between fights.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. In the situation where a surprise mob shows up, you probably do not want to fear them away, running into other mobs.

4. When is Troll/Iksar Initiate and Disciple Symbol of Cazic Thule useful during fights in Raid situations?

  • NORMAL SITUATION: Overall Useless. Do not fear mobs in raids. It will be resisted most of the time anyway.
  • RARE SITUTATION: Overall Useless. Do not fear mobs in raids. It will be resisted most of the time anyway.

Conclusion: This item can be useful for spell interruption in rare situations, as well as rare Fear Kiting scenarios. No other item can give Shamans a fear spell.

Final Tally

Ogre Troll (Innoruuk) Troll (Cazic-Thule) Barbarian Iksar
Total Useful Major Situations 7 4 4 1 3
Total Useful Minor Situations 0 1 1 0 4

Conclusion: Overall, Ogres get the most total useful Major Situations. Trolls come in second with both of their religions. Iksars come in third, and Barbarians are last.

Other Special Bonuses that only need mentioning

Summary: For completion sake, I will be mentioning other special bonuses specific races get that do not really matter, but exist in the game.

1. Initiate Symbol of Innoruuk and Disciple Symbol of Innoruuk.

  • If a player so chooses, they could do the Regent Symbol of Innoruuk quest two more times to get all three clickies. Unfortunately, the first two clickies are just minor stat debuff spells. Shamans already get way better variations of these spells, like Cripple. When soloing or grouping, however, this spell line is rarely worth the spell slot, due to the little returns you see on easier monsters for the mana spent. So having a free manaless debuff, even a small one, is better than nothing!

2. Initiate Symbol of Rallos Zek

  • This is the second worst clicky necklace for a Shaman. You already get plenty of Strength buffs as a Shaman, and Yaulp cannot even be used as a junk buff, due to it's short duration, and the clickies long cast time. Could be useful for a brand new player, for a bit of extra strength when a Shaman's buff spells aren't all that great.

3. Tribunal Initiate

  • This is the worst clicky necklace for a Shaman. The summoned hammer has an awesome name, but that is about it. It's not bad for completely new players, since the weapon is magical, but it quickly loses it's usefulness.

Bringing the information together as Final Thoughts

Summary: This section is designed to take the data gathered from the previous sections, and explain the reasoning behind my initial summary. Reading the entire guide is required to fully understand this.

Best Shaman race Post-Torpor

As you can see from the previous sections of the guide, Ogres are second place for having the most General Bonuses, and have the most useful situations for their Special Bonuses. This is why they are generally considered the best overall race for Shaman. Most players who create Shamans Solo, Group, and Raid. This is why the arguments about X Shaman race being better for specific situations tends to fall flat. I rarely see a Shaman who only does one specialized thing. Those exceptions will be handled below. An Iksar's lack of ability to wear Classic/Kunark Plate Armor, their lowest General Bonuses count, and inability to use Slam are the reasons why they are generally considered the worst Shaman race, even though they placed third in terms of useful situations for their Special Bonuses. This means Trolls take second place for having the second highest useful situations for their Special Bonuses. Barbarians rank third for having the most General Bonuses, as well as the ability to wear Classic/Kunark Plate Armor.

Best Shaman race Pre-Torpor

Trolls are the best Shaman race Pre-Torpor. Regeneration surpasses Frontal Stun Immunity in terms of usefulness, due to the severe reduction in regeneration Shamans have Pre-Torpor. A Pre-Torpor Ogre/Barbarian can regenerate at 33-36 HP per tick maximum standing. That is 15 from Fungus Covered Scale Tunic, 15 from Regrowth or Fungi Covered Great Staff, 2 from Form of the Great Bear, and 1-4 natural regeneration depending on level. The additional 1-8 standing regeneration Trolls/Iksars get is up to a 22% increase in total regeneration while standing. That is a considerable boost to the amount of Cannibalizing a Troll/Iksar Shaman can do. This means if you are building a Shaman with the explicit purpose of never getting Torpor, Troll is the best option here. This is due to regeneration, and ability to use Classic/Kunark Plate. Trolls also get Regent Symbol of Innoruuk. In general, the only reason to build a Shaman for this purpose is for level restricted fights, such as Lord Nagafen and Lady Vox. If you want to participate in these fights, you must be level 52 or below. This means a character built for these fights will never get Torpor. Ogres rank second, due Ogres winning in the number of Special Bonuses. Barbarians are third for having the most General Bonuses, and their ability to use Classic/Kunark Plate.

Best Shaman race that exclusively Raids

If you plan on exclusively raiding, many clickies Shamans use become useless while raiding. This includes Jaundiced Bone Bracer and Regent Symbol of Innoruuk. This is why the race order changes dramatically. This category is usually reserved for players who make characters for their guild. If you are building a guild bot specifically, Barbarians are the best race here. This is why they are rated second best overall. Their low experience penalty means barbarians are the best race for guild bots. This is because other players need to level these bots, so Barbarians require the least amount of time. Guild bots tend to be used for buffs and tracking, so any other Racial Bonuses are basically useless. Not to say they can never be used as debuffers and slowers, but Raids tend to be Shaman heavy, as I mentioned previously. There will most likely be enough main Shamans for those purposes. If you are building a raid exclusive character for yourself, Iksar is the best due to their ability to mitigate damage better than any other race. While this is benefit is marginal at best, it gives a slight edge in many raid situations. Ogre Frontal Stun Immunity can still be quite useful in raids, which is why Ogres rank third. Trolls are in last place here, since regeneration is the only benefit they have, and their resistances are worse than an Iksars. Iksars also get access to Stone of Morid which is one of the best resistance items in the game for the ranged slot. Iksars also have the smallest default body size. This can be important when doing Resurrections in a dangerous part of a raid zone. Taller races can trigger Line of Sight on mobs.

Special Thanks

Here I want to thank other people from the community for giving feedback and ideas!

1. Thanks to everyone who has had a discussion with me on the forums. It is a huge help to bounce ideas off of other people!
2. Thanks to Danth for giving me the idea to have a fashion section, bears included.
3. Thanks to Vaarsuvius for reminding me to bring more clarity to the Iksar sections, especially on which Plate Armor is restricted.
4. Thanks to DMN for reminding me about other Clicky Necklace quests besides Regent Symbol of Innoruuk.

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