Advice for how to make early shaman levels more fun?
Chronicler
Member Posts: 1,391
It picks up once you get a few level 3 spells but getting there is...
0
Comments
In a party try using the advantages of inexhaustible summons from the dance. If you know where enemies are (through meta-knowledge or scouting) then dance away to get the summons before drawing enemies into them. By running enemies round in periods where summons are being replaced you can hugely reduce the amount of damage the party takes, while greatly reducing the amount of kiting normally needed to achieve that.
Don't forget that it is possible to move around without losing summons - to do that pause the game just after the once-per round dance check, deactivate the dance button and move to a new location before reactivating it prior to the next dance check.
Half-orcs can be shamans. Using daggers or sling with a strength of 19 allows your shaman to do very respectable damage from the back lines even if you don't want to bother with dancing or spells.
If all else fails just send your shaman to the basilisk area and follow Korax round. That area on its own will put you close to getting level 3 spells.
Seriously though, the shaman summons can carry you through a surprising amount of BG1. I basically danced my way to the bandit camp with no worries. The positioning is tricky to get right, where the summons go after the enemies, but you are still at a safe range and untargeted. Its REALLY good practice yo get your positioning down right.
If solo, things get a little more complicated but not at all hopeless. You'd better be half-orc with 19str and 18dex of course.
First of all, don't waste your time dancing for spirits. You don't have enough time to sumon a spirit while enemy engages in melee, but this time is usually enough for bless, doom or entangle.
Lvls 1-3: equip hide armor and ring +1. With 18 dex your AC is 1. Buy several stacks of throwing axes and you will one-shot most enemies you meet. Entangle slow enemies (ogres) before they reach you, doom them once they're caught. Then shoot to death. All of these are ordinary things.
Lvls 4-5: Buy the cheapest +1 weapon in the game - Beruel's Retort from Taerom and use it as melee weapon. By now you have enough hp to engage in close combat and have some fun, because you get Writhing Fog, to which shaman is surprisingly immune. So you start every single battle with it, casting it at your feet. Then you chop enemies being supported with WF. You can run circles inside the fog and kite if an enemy is hard-hitting. Entangle (doubles if needed) combined with WF makes Gnoll Stronghold and Xvart village very easy.
On lvls 6+ you are not likely to have any serious troubles.
Lvl 9 druid or shaman beats LoB Drizzt in a minute.