Gold’s Guide to Shaman

Created by Gold Zephzellian

Summary

Master of weapon-empowered combat, the Shaman imbues weapons with elemental energy to bring about an age of brilliant utility.

The Shaman is the Weapon Buff Series specialist; providing that series of Buffs enhanced utility and purpose. From increased defenses, to healing, to status infliction, there is much good to be had here in terms of the options you have, and flexible options at that, thanks to being able to switch up your choices each cast.

The only real downside is that… well, you only have so many Buffs to throw around, even with Path of Buff, and doing that Path actually sacrifices your OWN potential. Also, you can’t have every option at once, no matter WHAT you do.

So long as you accept that though, listen to the elemental whispers and accept the path of the Shaman!

Sub-Archetype Statistics

Ease of Use – ★★★★☆

Offensive Ability – ★★★★☆

  • Single Target – ★★★★☆
  • AOE – ★★★★☆
  • Disabling – ★★★☆☆

Defense – ★★★☆☆

  • Passive Defense – ★★★☆☆
  • Active Defense – ★★★☆☆
  • Healing – ★★★☆☆

Support – ★★★★★

  • Offensive Support – ★★★★★
  • Defensive Support – ★★★★★
  • Miscellaneous Support – ★★★☆☆

Skills – ★★★☆☆

  • Mental – ★★☆☆☆
  • Social – ★★★☆☆
  • Physical – ★★★☆☆
Use this Sub-Archetype if you want to…
– Effectively have a super buff that can do many things.
– Want to use Weapon Buff Abilities regularly for any purpose.
– You’re a Weapon User looking for elementally themed weapon imbuement.
Consider avoiding this Sub-Archetype if…
– You don’t want to pay the WP tax each combat.
– You want a bit more of active play from your Sub-Archetype. Shaman mainly just sets up their buff and that’s it.
– You get choice paralysis from these options. That’s… not unfair.

Features

Tier 1 – Imbued Weapons

You learn two of the following Abilities: Elemental -, Mystic -, Physical -, Psychic -, or Reality Weapon. You learn other Abilities if you already know all of them. When you use one of those Buffs, you can choose one element that grants your target an additional bonus. Air: The Basic Movement of the ally increases by an amount equal to your Primary Stat Bonus. Earth: The ally gains Armor equal to your Tier plus 1. Fire: The first time the ally hits a target on a turn with a weapon, it gains the corresponding Elemental Status Effect for five rounds or is knocked Prone if the damage is not elemental and the target is one size category larger than the ally or smaller. Water: The ally gains a number of d6 equal to your Tier as Vitality at the start of their turn.

Learn 2 Weapon Buff Abilities (or other Abilities if you’ve got them all).

When you use a Weapon Buff Ability, choose one of the following additional benefits to grant:

  • Air: +Primary Stat Bonus Basic Movement.
  • Earth: +Tier+1 Armor.
  • Fire: Apply the associated Elemental Status Effect of the Damage Type on hit for five rounds (or Prone if it isn’t Elemental and the target isn’t more than one size larger than you). 1/turn.
  • Water: Recover [Tier]d6 Vitality at the start of your turn.

Imbued Weapons looks pretty intimidating, but it’s a pretty tame feature when you break it all down. Firstly, you get a couple Weapon Buff Abilities to work with for free. That’s already nice, but the star of the show is the second part.

Whenever you cast a Weapon Buff Ability from this point forward, you get an additional benefit on top of the usual benefits. These options represent the four core elements. Don’t worry; you can choose freely between each cast, even if you’re likely to have a favourite.

Air is pretty straightforward; extra movement speed that scales makes the recipient very, very fast. By itself, this is nice, but truly comes into its own with certain Synergies.

Earth is likewise pretty straightforward; more Armor is great, and while it scales more slowly than Air, it’s still a pretty decent chunk of Armor, and when built with in mind… it can be monstrous.

Fire seems like a lot, but in truth, it’s easily the most aggressive option. In short, hitting an enemy applies the appropriate Elemental Status Effect of your Weapon Buff’s Damage Type, or failing that, Prone with the usual size restrictions. While it’s only once per turn, reliable infliction of Elemental Statuses is brutal, with Freeze, Shock, and Dissolving all being major highlights. Prone is honestly not too shabby either; especially if you pick up Attack of Opportunity.

Water is the sustaining pick; providing what is effectively a free, scaling Rejuvenate on top of your Weapon Buff. This scales pretty well throughout the whole game, and can actually be a quite affordable form of healing if invested into.

Overall, Imbued Weapons is a great, simple feature that makes your Weapon Buff Abilities a fair amount more versatile, and this is only the start!

Tier 2 – Guided By Mother Earth

Weapon attack rolls of allies affected by an Ability you can choose for your Imbued Weapons feature increase by 1d6.

Your Weapon Buff Abilities now provide a 1d6 bonus to Weapon Attack Rolls.

Guided By Mother Earth is basically what would happen if you took Ranger’s Blessed Attack and stuffed it in an Buff. It’s… yea, pretty good. No big surprises here; being able to hit more accurately is a wonderful thing, While it only applies to Weapon Attacks, that isn’t a big deal, because the Weapon Buffs only really work with Weapon Attacks anyways, so you’re not really losing anything anyways. Good feature, ‘nuff said!

Tier 3 – Elemental Armament

The Abilities you can choose for your Imbued Weapons feature gain additional effects depending on the element you choose. Air: The Evasion of the ally increases by an amount equal to your Tier plus 1. Earth: The DRs of the ally increase by an amount equal to your Tier. Fire: The Ability grants an additional 1d6 damage. Water: The ally becomes immune to Status Effects other than Exhaustion and Madness.

Each Element choice gains additional effects:

  • Air: +Tier+1 Evasion.
  • Earth: +Tier DRs.
  • Fire: Additional 1d6 damage.
  • Water: Immunity to all Status Effects other than Madness and Exhaustion.

So, each Element now gets MOAR effects! They’re all pretty straightforward this time, so not much more to say other than let’s get into it!

Air gets a pretty good one, adding Evasion to the mix! Not getting hit is generally great, and this makes you both SLIPPERY and FAST. Fits the theming to a T!

Earth gains DRs. This is a very powerful benefit; DRs can be real bad news if you fail them, so being more resistant to them is generally one of the best defensive measures you can invest in. Combined with Armor, you’re generally just more resistant to everything.

Fire adds an extra d6 to the damage buff! Straightforward, but very effective. Combined with the increase to WP Limit this level (assuming you haven’t taken something in Synergies), this provides a whopping 3d6 extra damage to a single ally in this Tier! GNARLY. Combined with the status infliction, you’ll be an offensive force that cannot be ignored. 

Water provides more defensive utility with an effective free Full Status Protection! Yea, what is basically Full Status Immunity is a super relevant benefit, and might be the best overall pick here. It’s really, really good.

All in all, each of these make their elements better. Enjoy!

Tier 4 – All Aspects of Creation

You can choose two elements with your Imbued Weapons feature instead of just one.

When using Imbued Weapons, you can select two Elements instead of one.

Hooo boy, this is the BIG ONE. Being able to select TWO Elements instead of one is a game changer, with many possible amazing combinations. Here’s just a few of my favourites:

  • Air+Earth – Become the best tank through a bonus to all three core defensive stats whilst also becoming REALLY, REALLY fast. Evil.
  • Air+Fire – For speed demon DPS builds, providing status affliction and Evasion as well.
  • Earth+Water – A generally great survival selection, rendering you immune to most Status Effects whilst allowing you to heal, have armor, and get a bit of extra DR for other purposes as well.
  • Air+Water – Similar to above, but trades the Armor and DRs for Evasion and Speed.

And those are just a FEW. Thanks to being able to flexibly choose elements for each situation, you now boast a powerful, defensively offensive toolbox. I’d consider this the true capstone of Shaman in many ways. Enjoy.

Tier 5 – Primal Infusion

The additional damage granted by the Abilities, which you can choose for your Imbued Weapons feature, now uses d12s instead of d6s.

Weapon Buff Abilities now use d12s instead of d6s.

…but the actual capstone is no laughing matter. D12s on these Abilities is a potentially massive damage buff if you roll well. Uncertain whether this affects the Fire Element, but I think it probably does; helps that guy out a bit. Regardless… this is really good. Can’t really go wrong with extra damage; enjoy!

Synergies & Tips

Synergies

  • Path of Attack: A straightforward pick, but a good one! Remember that Weapon Buffs are affected by damage multipliers, so Path of Attack amplifies their firepower. Pretty dang good!
  • Path of Buff: A bit of an unorthodox choice, but it works! This is best used for Shamans who want to apply powerful Weapon Buffs to the entire team, mainly for Martial based comps.
  • WP and WP Cost Reduction: The Weapon Buffs don’t last long; if you want to keep using them throughout a day, you’re gonna need a lot of WP and WP cost reduction, especially if you’re going a more support oriented  Shaman.
  • Hermit T2: For you buff focused Shamans, this’ll save you a lot of WP if you don’t deal any damage. Combine with Enhancer T1 below for some cheap SAUUUCE.
  • Enhancer T1: If you’re going a more team buff oriented route, this is a great way to lower the WP cost of Weapon Buffs on the cheap! Just keep in mind the increased AP cost. The rest of Enhancer is pretty good too; but the T1 is definitely a highlight.
  • Artillerist T1: Generally a great way to supplement your WP economy, especially if your an offensive Weapon Buff user. It should last you the day with sufficient upgrades; especially later on, and the additional Tiers are icing on the cake if you want ‘em.
  • Multi-Action: Thanks to the Weapon Buff Abilities costing 1AP by default, Multi-Action gets a lot of mileage here at the start of fights. It does fall off once you’ve got it on everyone you want, though; keep that in mind. That MIGHT change based on the choices you make!
  • Self-Centered and Selfless: Two different Lesser Talents for two different styles of Shaman; sacrificing the ability to put your Weapon Buffs either on yourself or your buddies in exchange for always costing 1AP and 1WP less. These can be good; just keep in mind you lose a bit of versatility.
  • Inspirer: Pretty good additional support for Support Shamans; Inspiration is awesome, and Encouraging Words adds a bit of extra survivability to 
  • Any Weapon Boosting Features or Talents: In an aggressive Shaman build, these’ll be your bread and butter. Just a few of my favourites below:
  • Swashbuckler: A SUPERB way to get extra attacks, and thus extra Weapon Buff value! Keep in mind that because it’s affected by multipliers, the extra damage won’t be as potent, but it’s still good! Also just a general favourite of mine, so I’ll never pass up an opportunity to use it.
  • Elementalist: Surprisingly good, especially with Fire! The extra DoT it can provide is nice, though it requires sufficient investment in other sources of DoT application to be good long term.
  • AoE Weapon Sub-Archetypes: Weapon Buffs apply to AoE Weapons too; and are exceptionally efficient within that role. Anything that enhances said AoE Weapons is very strong as a result! 
  • Aura Burster: You’re using Buffs. This grants you a way to take those Buffs and turn them to your advantage through 1AP Shockwaves. It’s pretty good, just keep in mind the VERY high WP cost you’re gonna pay without Discounts.
  • Underdog: Oh my DOG, this is ridiculous. Provides significant additional firepower to your Weapon Buff, but this’ll slowly bleed you out. THOUUUGH… Water can help offset this. Pretty good stuff.
  • Berserker: For you hybrid support-offensive boys out there, this is prettttty good! It’s a bit more expensive than Self-Centered or Selfless, but it can reduce the AP cost to 0, still comes with the discount for yourself, and still allows you to target your buddies! Pretty good, and the later Tiers provide some nice utility if you want to keep it simple.
  • Buff Talents: There are many Talents that trigger when you become buffed or make yourself buffed when meeting certain conditions; and it’s really worthwhile to look into these to help keep up your Weapon Buff.
  • Overcharge: Surprisingly good with Weapon Buffs! It allows you to boost to an extra 1d6 a Tier earlier, which can be significant, thanks to being multiplied by other damage multipliers. Not bad!

Tips

  • Not much! Shaman’s a straightforward boy; Weapon Buff then get on it!

Sub-Archetype Build Showcase

Simple Build

This straightforward Shaman takes advantage of a self-buffing into BLASTING build that tears into enemy WP with huge brutality. This is done with a set of dual Mind Chasers and their signature Talent, Will Chaser. And they’re Natural to boot up to a full d8 with Bigger Demolition and a single Greater Potential! With access to Elemental Weapon, all five Elemental Weapon Buffs, and Attack Momentum (Swashbuckler T1), you are an utterly unrelenting force of offense.

You’ll probably mostly want to use Fire to deal massive damage, and put up an appropriate Elemental Weapon to deal just a frankly silly amount of consistent damage and WP loss. And in AOE. MAN. Got some survivability in Resist and Shield too. This build is just… good all around. It might be slightly squishy? But hey, you’re stealing their WP, which should shut down the worst of their nonsense. Have at ’em!

Experimental Build

This Shaman decides to be a team buffer that can’t really do any offense itself. With a mix of Selfless and Hermit T2, alongside Caster Affinity, Will to Act, and 2 stacks of Willpower Boost, you excel at supporting your team with the power of the Weapon Buffs, Armor Boost, and Speed Up! This is further exacerbated by switching Nature’s Archetype Feature for Bigger Demolition and picking up T1 and T2 of Bombardier, allowing for mass AOE Buff Application. The cornerstone of this buffing style is Path of Buff, allowing you to have up to 5 Buffs active at once.

You got some good additional team support too; with Rejuvenate, Ranged Heal, Heal and Shield, Shield, and Barrier, alongside some cute out of combat utility as well. Keep in mind you are AWFUL in traditional combat; you need friends because you don’t have any means to attack yourself… at least, not effectively. With friends, though… HOO boy. You’ll make the enemies WISH they never crossed you.

Conclusion

Overall, whether you go support, offense, or somewhere inbetween, the Shaman will support you with its versatile toolkit! Thanks for reading! If you have any fun builds that could help show off Shaman more, feel free to send them to me on Discord at goldzephzellian!