Playing a 4e/PHBII Shaman? Let's hear about it

[Andor]

I see what you did there.

Yeah, I think we need a new acronym. No one should have 3 NADs. And in 4e everyone has 3 NADs. Even evil-hot drow chicks, and that just ain't right.

 

[Psikus]

Ya, that. They don't even have to shift, your spirit can only take an AoO if they move away from it without shifting. This has never happened.

I'm not sure about the ruling here, but this discussion seems to prove that spirits provide cover to your allies. If that is the case, you could position them just in front of archers and have a pseudo-mark effect.

 

[Jack99]

OD&D. Those bards were seriously over-the-top.

They've cranked them back a bit more in each edition since (until now, I guess).

Fair enough. Never really played much OD&D

 

[Nymrohd]

Yeah, I think we need a new acronym. No one should have 3 NADs. And in 4e everyone has 3 NADs. Even evil-hot drow chicks, and that just ain't right.

Evil-hot drow chicks always had more NADs than the average person tbh.

 

[Felon]

How does the AC issue with the Protector Shaman play out?

On paper it look less appealing to me, since the Stalker Shaman gets a high AC because of the Int secondary. Does having a Spirit Companion mean your less often hit in combat?

It's pretty much the same deal as any supposedly AC-impaired character, like the barbarian: spend feats until you have an AC you're happy with.

 

[cdrcjsn]

I saw one in play. Protector Shaman. Dwarf with 18 Con/Wis.

He kept the spirit close to the front ranks and adjacent to allies as much as possible.

He tanked his Shaman's AC, but since he acted like a ranged caster, he kept well out of harm's way. I think he's planning on picking up Chain proficiency later on.

+4 healing whenever an ally spent a surge or received healing meant that he was healing for an insane amount. Surge + 4 to one target and 1d6+4 to a second if both are adjacent to the spirit is pretty good healing imo.

The OA ability of the spirit was triggered a couple of times during the final combat, healing for 8 points each time if the ally was adjacent to the spirit.

The at-will power of granting 4 temps to all allies adjacent was pretty nice as well.

Basically, the trick to making the best use of the spirit is to make sure that the spirit is adjacent to your allies as much as possible.

And yes, sometimes this means you'll lose your move action as you dismiss it and resummon it elsewhere.