Primal Strike shaman Second class choice

[Ratguts]

Hey ther GD people just wanting to know what would be some good second class choices for a two hander primal strike shaman. I am really liking melee and would like to continue on that route. I am leaning between soldier(warder) or arcanist(druid). I like all the bailities I would get from arcanist like nulification orb and elemental exchange and all of the things to help my energy since that is slowly becoming a problem with using the wind devils to reduce resistances.. But I am worried about the survivability and that is why I am also looking at the soldier. Would love some input from others

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

druid for most dmg
warder for most chonk
archon for something in between
vindicator is a ranged option which isn't half bad
conjurer is decent too
Necro if you go vitality
stay away from demolitionist, in most cases all of the above are better

[DirtyMick]

Yeah I would go arcanist or soldier. I feel like arcanist is better for a spellcaster, and soldier is better for a primal striker. But either would work well.

[Zasso]

The crate forums have some pretty ok guides if you weren't aware of them:
https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/1-1-9-3-thunderbolt-the-primal-strike-warder-c-sr/102117
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/aZqdBjMV
This is a build I have saved in my notes for a 2h lightning warder build which I think I took into late 90s while having a decent amount of fun(not my char in the link).

[Avatarlc]

i have a warder lvl 100 and i can say you'll not regret it, prety tanky so u can play in a very confortable way, however when i compare to another char of mine (purifier) i can see the diference in damage

but again, warder is a very good and fun class, i dont have any regrets

[DankDansk]

Originally posted by gNuff!~©~gNom3™:

druid for most dmg
warder for most chonk
archon for something in between
vindicator is a ranged option which isn't half bad
conjurer is decent too
Necro if you go vitality
stay away from demolitionist, in most cases all of the above are better

Elementalist is probably the worst mastery for the shaman because A. it's elemental proficiencies don't really stack up too well with each other and B. it's skills are very different and tend to clash. Shaman is a barbarian style tank class that specializes in dealing as much damage with a two hander as it takes and more, while the demolitionist primarily relies on confusing and debilitating hordes of enemies before riddling them with holes, incinerating them and/or blowing them up. Melee is mostly counterintuitive for the Demolitionist because the demolitionist is a glass cannon: even at higher levels it has some of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ health levels in the game, but it makes up for this with raw killing power at range. With the lower health levels and the lack of skills that benefit from you taking damage, melee as an elementalist is more risk than reward, which defeats the purpose of even being a shaman in the first place.

Shaman is chonk enough on it's own without too much of an issue, especially once you start investing in Oak Skin. Druid excels as arguably the best multiclass for shaman because of how it absorbs energy, boosts elemental damage and provides skills that can keep hordes back while you recharge your most devastating skills. Warder is like reverse overkill in every sense of the word; you sacrifice pure killing power in exchange for even more defense, in a class that already excels at shrugging off hits like they're love taps. I understand why people like Warder, but it feels like wasted potential IMO.

All the other classes on this list are justified due to having their own flavor of invincible without sacrificing damage potential too much.