So, are Shamans still crappy?

RedWizard

Last time I played back when SoD had just been released I recall the summons being rather disappointing, especially when compared to the Totemic Druid or plain skellies from animate dead.

ThacoBell

Shamans rock and always have. Their summons were never meant to be powerhouses, they are free infinite blockers.

Humanoid_Taifun

They are not free because they paralyze your protagonist.

ThacoBell

Humanoid_Taifun said:

They are not free because they paralyze your protagonist.

You're not paralyzed, you move and switch to another action whenever you want. It more like a free monster summoning spell that you can use when idle, and it improves with levels.

Humanoid_Taifun

Why is your protagonist idle in a battle? Is it because shamans have too few spells to be useful in a fight?

Dev6

Shamans were never crappy or useless.

StefanO

Play a half-orc shaman. Don't dance. A very powerful druid remains.

Raduziel

Two solutions for you:

Use the Dreadful Witch from I Hate Undead Kitpack

Use @argent77 's Improved Shamanic Dance

Humanoid_Taifun

StefanO said:

Play a half-orc shaman. Don't dance. A very powerful druid remains.

The problem with that this is only true at low levels (BG1, SoD). But since the shaman never goes beyond 6 spells per spell level, the druid quickly leaves the shaman in the dust. Even with wisdom as your druid's dump stat, she'll catch up to the shaman at 3M XP.

Neverused

I'd argue that very heavily. Shamans, in exchange for a couple spells per day, get access to shortbows (and thus arrows of dispelling, detonation, biting), axes, 6 new spells of which at least levels 2, 3, 4, 5 are incredibly useful, the ability to summon cannon fodder for some of the nastier on-hit effects or simply massive damage, and Detect Illusions, AKA "I don't need to burn True Seeing for every single low level mage and thief in the game."

Shamans might not have more raw power than a Druid, but they definitely have a ton more versatility.

StefanO

Last but not least: Beginning at level 11 a shaman needs 375,000 XP for every next level. With 1,875,000 XP a shaman reaches level 15.