Necro VS Shaman, Necro VS Bard

[DeGrassi]

Could someone please give some tactics when dueling VS Shaman and dueling VS bard.....Dueled a shaman 1 VS 1 the other night, he has no Ele gear, no VT gear, I have a lot more AAs than him and all VT/Ele gear and the fight was even because I just ran outta arena because we dueled for almost 50 minutes...I got tired but I prolly would have lost anyways, can someone with experience please give some tactics and a spell set, thanks.

[Jebasiz]

Shaman are kinda tough due to the heal over time spells they get. Annull magic is your friend. I'd also stack pyrocuor and splurt on them, if they're resists are low, lace them up with horror, bot and funeral pyre and lifetap. Melee dmg isn't really a factor here except for that pet aa they have. Make a pet and try to keep him alive, it's basically just trying to burn him down quick so he can't heal himself...much like a druid in that sense.

[Demetrii Spiritdrinker]

Hard? No. Time-consuming? Yes.


Necromancers are the anti-shaman, in terms of class-comparison, with the exception of both classes being able to slow, albeit with limitations on the necro.


Shamans have poison DoTs. Necromancers have DMF to counter these.

Shamans have disease DoTs. Necromancers have Counteract Disease and Resist Disease.

Shamans have their epic clickie DoT. Necromancers, and any class that can cast a spell, have access to dispels, and pumice stones.

Shamans have poison DDs -- See DMF.

Shamans have cold DDs. We have Resist Cold.

Shamans have Malo and Mala, which land, to my great annoyance, on TOP of the slot that DMF is in, which means I have to dispel it, and recast DMF. In any event, Malo and Mala are both dispellable.


Finally, shamans have a pathetic pet that doesn't dual-wield unless they give it weapons, and which has much less health than ours. We have our pet, and Invoke Fear, which neutralizes this last form of mainstream Shaman DPS.


This is the same tactic that I use with all classes that have a means of healing themselves, and it works well with wizards and mages, too. The idea is to simply run them out of mana, and it works quite well.


First of all, don't bother with dispels. Chances are, Mr. Shaman stacked so much crap on his buff screen, that he won't be able to dispel the DoTs, and you don't want to do him the favor of clearing his first two buffslots for him. Unless he's an idiot, they'll be useless buffs like Charisma and infravision, anyway, so it'd be doing little more than giving him time to debuff you.


Lead with a Splurt, and see whether he dispels. Assuming not, stack a Pyrocruor, and then throw a Blood of Thule at him -- Assuming all three stick, the combat should be a simple one. Chances are, however, that Blood will bounce too much to make it worthwhile to use on someone that can cure it, anyway. At this point, the idea is to make certain his wolf is busy with our spectre, and to make sure that wolf is close at hand to be Saryrn's Kissed at a moment's notice. The SKiss should kill that wolf when the spectre drops it into Enrage mode, and from then on you'll be doing nothing but refreshing the low-resist DoTs, curing the Slows he lands on the pet, and dispelling the roots.


You can also spend time attempting to dispel the snot out of him ( I.E., 6 to 10 casts of Annul ), and then hitting him with it whenever he manages to punch off a Quiescence ( ideally when he's JUST used Canni5, and the pet is managing to interrupt his Q casts. ) At this point, revert to quick damage, and blast him to pieces with Touch of Mujaki. If he seems able to keep up with mana at this point, keep at it with the DoTs -- It's only a matter of time.


Assuming he does dispel the DoTs ( and you'll see him trying ), drop what you're doing and Annul him, too. And keep annuling him, in between dispelling his Malo, and making certain that your pet isn't rooted or slowed, and that his pet is dying. Use it like you use the Magician pets -- a snack. Shamans can replenish their mana like a necromancer, but the problem is that their super-Cannibalize ( AA ) deals a massive chunk of damage in one shot, which leaves them vulnerable. If you can force them to take that damage without getting off a Torpor or a Quiescence, you'll put them on the defensive, and they'll be forced to quickheal themselves to keep up. Remember, do NOT burn them until you think their mana is at a low point, or else you'll be stuck trying to regenerate mana on your feet, and while SoS does a pretty good job of that, it still sucks.


And if he's dumb enough to use the AA pets, position your pet so that it's facing them, and then Feign. They'll all attack the pet, and when your pet enrages, it kills ALL of them, as well as the Shaman dog. Great fun to see.


Post back if you have any questions.

[Demetrii Spiritdrinker]

Spellset is as follows:

Pyrocruor ( Level 58 )

Splurt ( Level 51 )

Saryrn's Kiss ( Level 62 )

Touch of Mujaki ( Level 61 )

Annul Magic ( Level 58 )

Blood of Thule ( substitute Dark Plague ) ( Level 65 / Level 61 )

Touch of Death ( Heals the pet, and cures Slow. ) ( Level 64 )

Feign Death/Death Peace ( For when you want those swarmpets to leave you be. )
( Level 16 / Level 60 )

As for a bard -- Good luck. I tap them to 50%, and then Lifeburn them.