Apostate or Shaman?

Atychia

Hello, forums! Sorry that my first correspondence with you is in the form of "another one of those class threads," but I'd like to settle on one before I reach the point of no return and switching over comes with lesson penalties. You could call me a returning player as I've dipped my toes into Achaean waters before, but it's been a while and I never managed to progress very far. As such, I kind of know what it is I'm after while at the same time having absolutely no idea. Paradoxes, yo.

Both the apostate and shaman classes look appealing to me and would fit the "witchy" sort of vibe I am going for. There are many other classes that sound fun (particularly jester, and serpent... even bard and magi to a lesser extent), but probably wouldn't mesh quite as well with what I hope to eventually accomplish with the character. My concerns therefore have more to do with utility/hunting/etc. rather than flavor.

I want to not absolutely suck hardcore at hunting, but I don't care if I'm just mediocre at it. More importantly, I want to be of at least some use in group combat and have enough "fun" (read: utility) skills to keep things interesting. I do NOT plan on participating in 1v1 combat and don't care about how viable I am in that area.

That said - apostate? Shaman? Throw it all to the wind and be a bard? Any opinion is appreciated! Thanks.

Mishgul

If you want witchy you should try shaman

Zii

Shaman for witchy, but with an upkeep cost of inks, rope, and cloth.

Apostate for I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN

Dragnar

Shaman and Spirit Walkers for ultimate Witch power. Not a tonne of utility though, but excellent bashing and you get the mini trade skill/buff/group combat win of Runelore.

I've never done Apostate but they do seem to have more utility than Shamans.

Mannimar

Shamans can make or break group combat. If you go that route, be prepared to be the reason a large raiding group is killed while never getting any of the kills yourself. You'll also be the first to be targeted, Ultimately Shamans provide a few buffs to their allies while being the ultimate hinderer to their enemies. Making you the first target for a capable raid group.

Apostates... There's just something glorious about V-bombs. @Mishgul is a true master of that art.

Mishgul

apostate is the best small group combat class. So many different ways to get kills. Not enough time.

But shaman is more witchy which I believe was the point of this thread.

Atychia

The "witchy" vibe was actually just a side note. I'd already determined that either apostate or shaman would work for me as far as the "feel" goes. I'm much more concerned with group combat effectiveness and utility. It sounds like apostate would win out against shaman in that case?

As an aside, I plan on staying in Mhaldor.

Achimrst

Atychia said:

The "witchy" vibe was actually just a side note. I'd already determined that either apostate or shaman would work for me as far as the "feel" goes. I'm much more concerned with group combat effectiveness and utility. It sounds like apostate would win out against shaman in that case?

As an aside, I plan on staying in Mhaldor.

Yes.

Jyson

To be fair... almost anything can beat a Shaman...

Cooper

You meant to say that a shaman can beat almost anything.

Jyson

Not from what I've seen. Mind you, I have yet to see a good shaman do anything other than point their finger, run drop runes in the next room, and die shortly there after.

Eld

Jyson said:

Not from what I've seen. Mind you, I have yet to see a good shaman do anything other than point their finger, run drop runes in the next room, and die shortly there after.

Jyson

Yeah, that. The rest was meant to be its own sentence starting with something other than do. I just woke up leave me alone >_>

Sena

Shaman is one of the best classes in the game for hunting, but at the cost of high willpower drain, so you might not be able to hunt heavily for very long before stopping to regen.

Apostate, on the other hand, is generally considered poor for hunting (though I don't have much actual data about them). I don't think any class will "absolutely suck hardcore" though.

Bluef

Shaman for hunting, definitely.. I have to disagree with shamans never getting any kills in raid combat though. It all depends on what your utility is - or what you're letting people convince you your utility is. Enflame has good potential now for kills in raids. Runes, totems, and dor BLIGHT <target> PARALYSIS are their own fun, but not all a shaman can do in a group. 

For 1v1 though, definitely apostate. Because fashions.  

That said, I shaman for 1v1 and group, but that's probably due to the fact that I've been playing it consistently for 10 years. Anyone else would probably suggest apostate and I can't blame them. Evileye and somewhat easier instakills are pretty yummy.

Zii

If you can't kill someone with Vodun and and like six of the Curses, you're doing it wrong.

Xer

Shaman is bloody amazing in 1v1. I can't say it's the best 1v1 class right now, but it's definitely up there. I think it would have a potentially lot of trouble with artefacted Occultist, Sentinel and Priest (i.e. insane axes), but otherwise Shaman is really strong - its ability to survive in most kill situations is superior to that of Jesters in my opinion, (except maybe if they have a Shackle) so you can gather fashions more safely, and with the new prone changes to Vodun Cripple, I can't really see most people surviving a proper assault from a Shaman with 60 ~ 70 fashions.

Atychia

I've decided to go with shaman (at least for now) because dolls - and hunting + flavor - but mostly dolls. Thank you all for your input.