Question - Advice wanted: Boxing setup for returning player

[Kimia]

Hello Norrathians,

After being gone from EQ for over 6 years, I decided to play again and enjoyed the past week. 2 things keep bothering me though: lack of time to properly grind xp and aa's, and finding groups for the appropriate level (100-105). I wanted to solve both issues with MQ2 by making boxing easier and quicker. I've read a lot of good reviews about CWTN's class plugins, but before forking out the money to buy them, I would like to check if it's advisable to make changes to my old setup. I am having doubts about the setup because I feel like warrior isn't the best choice of tank for group content. Don't get me wrong, I love the war and raided top end content with him for many years, but I feel like they are more suitable for tanking big raid mobs, rather than multiple mobs in group-settings.
This is my current setup, the berserker is non-negotiable, since it's my main and I intend to raid with him. The other chars can be swapped for others on the same account, or even replaced with new characters. Level 100 Heroic chars are a good combo with the current lvl of other chars. I'm going to assume they have a more complete set of abilities and gear than some of my current chars.
Please share your thought, preferably motived so I can make an informed decision.



Kind regards,
Thuril

 

[Joakhan]

Sk, brd, clr (shm post 110), rng/rog, ber, bst is nice.

 

[postleaf]

Sk are very good. I have times where a bunch of my group dies and the sk just kills everything by itself

 

[oldtimer]

 

[durango773]

If your zerker is gonna be your main, build a melee group. sk, shm, brd, bst, rog/ranger, Mr. Zerker.

Zerkers take support to be top notch. The good news is, if your raiding on your zerker, it can do a lot of the heavy lifting in regular group stuff (emergancy tank, and the dps).

SK +2.0 and AA's are monsters. Pal would also work (battle rez), i find mine slightly squishier then my sk's or war, but well within acomplishing all group stuff.

Shaman 101+ can heal, dps, and provide excellent adps for melee/pets. people talk about rez stick being needed, its not unless your raiding on your shaman. you get call for in combat summon, then can rez after the fight. not optimal but it works.

Bard your adding 15-20% to everyones dps, plus have CC, double invis, and fast movement. Enchanter doesnt provided the same level of ADPS to a melee group, however they are the CC masters, so if you like to pull 18 at a time, enchanter is better (they also get XP aura (reg xp, not AA's), and they have a debuff aura, or a rune aura you can run (rune aura is good for WAR/melee).

Bst are sleepers. they provided ADPS (para, roar, fero), pet provides a emergency off tank, emergency heals, good general DPS, and HUGE burn #.

Rog is a tanker, but in a great spot DPS wise, and if you give your guys poisons can proc alliance on them, pretty easy for bonus dps. Rangers are also good dps atm, provide DPS, heals, buffs.. but there best game is ranged, and that doesnt always work in small areas.

 

[Darkwynd3]

If you don’t want to roll an SK tank (easy mode AE aggro) I’d go war bard shaman zerker Druid and mage for 6th. If you’re willing to reroll it’s hard to beat sk shm brd rog bst (insert 6th melee based dps).

 

[ArcaneProphet]

What ever you have the most fun with really. You might just have to wait a few more levels or gear upgrades before you move on to other content if you find your group isn't "optimal"

But if this was my setup, I would go:
Zerk, PL SK on account 2, swap in Shaman, Bard, PL Rog on account 5, PL a mage on new account.

But I love shamans over Druids, and since you are going to be PLing someone, might as well do 3 at once. Otherwise, if you don't want to PL (really doesn't take that long until they can group with your lvl 105) and would rather buy 1 or 2 heroic characters you could go:
Zerk, Heroic SK, Rog, Bard, Druid, Heroic BST

Honestly, I've tried to make a new account for each of my toons, but I think there's been some preventative measures by daybreak on mass account creation since I last created new accounts, so you'd have to look into that. If time is a constraint, definitely look into the CWTN plugins or RGMercs. You can even try the CWTN plugins on test for free, and all your characters can use prestige gear there. However the economy aspect of the game on Test is null. So you don't have that "I earned this" aspect of the game. But if you just want to "experience" EQ on your own with least amount of friction/expense that's the best way. But if you want to raid with others, then a live server would be a better fit.

 

[Beastmann]

Welcome Back!

 

[Koko]

I main a sk but if you have a bard for cc so I imagine your warrior will do fine.

I’d go zerker, warrior, bard, shaman, then I’d put two melee on the end…rogue rnger beast…

But if you really love your Druid could keep him and put a beast as last spot .

So zerker , warrior , bard, shm, Druid, beast

 

[Gnome-eater]

If you start with SK, bard, shm...you can't go wrong. Bers, rog, rog imo, would be best.

 

[ArcaneProphet]

But if you really love your Druid could keep him and put a beast as last spot .

So zerker , warrior , bard, shm, Druid, beast

Good option as well if you only want to heroic 1 character.

 

[Psy]

Welcome back and welcome to RG Thuril!!!

For my redcents, I run 3 crews, each with a diff tank. WAR/PAL/SK. That said, SK is by far my favorite for group content and raid as I prefer OT as opposed to MT. The WAR definitely does better in raids for tanking, but certainly needs/benefits more from a CLR than a SHM. If you plan to go group content mostly, I would recommend spinning up an SK as tank/main and then use some of the others on your accounts already to minimize costs and time.

SK (new heroic acct or on 2 if you don't want to play war/sk at the same time) / ZER (1) / SHM (3) / BRD (4) / DRU(5) / Rog (new heroic acct). All cwtn sans one that way and you can grab a KA for the BRD that does quite well both ADPS/Mez/DPS wise.

I'm sure there are several exchanges you can make but it all comes down to playing what you like in the end. Don't discount that DRU though as with the release of the cwtn/sic plugin, it surprised me how well mine does now and I can see a difference in the dps in most groups I place him in. Plus you get ports/evac, etc.

 

[Lord Sivion]

/testcopy toons to test server, then try whatever you want with the Plugins. It is free to try on test.

 

[menlaten]

Warriors are the BEST

 

[Tim2051]

Welcome back!

 

[Kimia]

For those of you wondering what my final choice is, I kept the zerker, rogue, druid, bard and created an SK and a BST. This setup seems to work fairly well, although they are only lvl 107 so far. But using the CWTN plugins has left me amazed about the SK's ability so far. I hope with more gear and lvl's it should be a sturdy setup for end game group content.

Thx all for your feedback