Shaman...Follow

Shaman is one of the most balanced, powerful, versatile classes in everquest. They are wanted in groups, slowing is essential at higher levels. They can do just about anything and starting at level 44 their pet is even useful. I recommend a Troll, I created a Barb, and even though people told me(people on this board) to create a troll, I shy'd away from being evil.. big mistake. Be evil, be a troll, and be a shaman, you won't regret it. Shaman are IMHO the best all around class in everquest. I still like my ranger better though, but he is not nearly as versatile. But in another 13 levels and 50 AA points, my ranger should become one hell of a specialist. hehehehe

Shaman in a group can do most anything. They are the king of buffing as they can buff all stats but int and wis ( they do get a self only wis at 29 and 54 ). They can debuff a mob very effectivly by lowering its resists, attack speed, atk rating, and ac. They can be an exelcent off tank in groups or depending on the make up of it the cna be the main tank. They may not be the best healers in the game but what they do have combined with slows makes it very possible for them to be the main healer in a group. With my shaman I spend very little time lfg normaly and get a group with in 10 minutes of putting up a lfg tag. As to what race to use it doesnt really matter they all have there ups and downs. Barbians start non kos to most of the starting citys and are my personal faviorte. Ogres are nice since they cant be stunned from the front which is nice when you are tanking some mobs. Trolls have the regen bonus but I dont miss having that with the Q line of spells. Iksar have a nice regen also ( not as nice as trolls though ) and a nice ac bonus but with the down side of not being able to wear some older shaman armor. I havent looked to much at the Val Shir and Froglok races so not quite sure what advantages they might have. In the end most of the advantages of one or another race all even out so just pick the one you like best ( my shaman is KoS in most of the old world citys from killing crap ).

Actually the percentage of slow used isn't the percentage the delay is reduced. For example, it's been parsed that our best slow (at 75%) actually reduces damage taken by 75%. If this is true, for a mob to only be dealing 1/4 of it's normal damage means it must only be hitting you 1/4 of the time, in other words 75% slow must quadruple a mob's delay. For numerical example, say a mob has a delay of 28. 75% slowing of a mob's delay would be a new delay of 49 (1.75 * 28), but it actually is 112 (4 * 28).

But to the question at hand, I am a barb, and like the other poster, I didn't want to be evil at first. I don't really regret it, I like the fact that barbs are the only race that become a polar bear with our higher level bear form. Of course, that has no effect on play, and, if I was to ever start another shaman, I'd go ogre or troll, most likely troll. Ogre's have the nice feature of unstunability from frontal attacks, which is a big help if you plan on soloing. Trolls get a great necklace (at level 1 I believe) with snare effect, unlimited charges. That's why I probably go with troll, as in my opinion, snare is one of the best spells in the game, pulling is much easier, and not as much worry with runners aggroing friends. I've spent enough plat on serrated bone dirks and balls of burlap yarn to make me think twice about NOT choosing troll if I make another shaman hehe.

As far as role in groups, it was pretty much covered. Higher level shamans are there to buff, debuff, slow, and backup heal, sometimes crowd control in the absence of an enchanter. As far as desirability, at the higher levels, specifically in PoP, where the mobs hit fast and hard, a slower is basically required, as I guess you already know. Of course, chanters get 70% slow, and beasts get 65% (with bst slow also landing a hell of a lot easier than shaman slow), but the extra 5% does add up, and combined with our other abilities, I personally rarely sit LFG for too long.