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Question - Best Caster 6 Box (1 Viewer)

whytdrumer

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Jan 25, 2020
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I love playing casters and was wondering what the “best” caster friendly group would be. I know I need a tank so I have a SK. I also have a mag, wiz, ench and several other characters. But I’m curious what everyone’s ideal caster DPS group would be and why.
 
Mine is my main group with Cleric enchanter and 3 wizards. Got port and their dps isn’t too far behind my zerker group. On a few occasions, theyve even managed to beat the zerkers on burn If all their burn abilities are up and their burn sequence finishes off before they engage the mobs. Best of all, they have no issues in tight corridors like ToFS since they just sits there and pew pew.
 
My main group a while back was Warrior, Cleric, Shaman, Druid, Wiz, Mage. I liked it because I could go anywhere and do anything, if someone dies, I can rez myself. If I need to get somewhere tricky I can invis there with the mage and then summon everyone to me. I can port anywhere with wiz/dru, if I am doing epic quests and some mobs are immune to magic, the mage pet can step up. Shammy/Dru can help with healing in tough situations, and can help with damage using DoTs and some nukes when things are settled. The only thing I lacked was a Necro for the corpse summon, but I could live without that. It also lacked mana regen spells but I didn't care because they made medding so fast anyway. It was good but it was not a high DPS group. In modern EQ there is a huge boost from 3 of the same caster in the same group, so I would do that. But I play on emulators so a mix is still good.
 
Tank - SK works. You get the group tap and Soul Flay procs to feed mana back to your casters. Warrior has Imperator's Command AA (1 min buff/3 min cd) for 40% cast speed increase and 500 mana/tick. Pally's don't get any mana regen that I know of, but they do get a 15% aggro reduc buff they can put on party members.

Healer - Druid is the best caster healer, but it's nearly impossible to main heal top content with just a druid. They don't get HoTs except an AA and their fast cast heals/group heals are all on longer timers that are locked between levels (ie you can't load like the 101/106/111 versions as they share the same timer.) Druid's bring crit bonuses, group mana savings & regen (great wolf/skin), aura for +dd to nukes, mob debuffs/+% dmg for fire/cold.

Druid is also a pretty strong nuker and very strong dotter. In a backup healer role, they can put out good DPS. Kind of like mage, they tend to take the longest to regen if they run super low on mana though.

Shammy is good for pet classes (melee buffs) but doesn't bring much for casters themselves. Shammy never run out of mana and can do strong DPS output themseves on longer fights where they can get their dots rolling. Idol of Malos is a nice instant debuff trap for caster group.

I'd actually just go cleric as main healer. Gives you the best heals in one package. If you want a backup healer, add a druid.

CC - Ench is better for casters. More aa/buffs that add straight nuke crit %. Bards can bring the +45% to nuke dmg to the group, but their other nuke songs just add minor +dd's (post-crit calculated) to certain types of nuke. Bard actually can be a better mana regen system, though you'd have to customize your macro to swap song sets for downtime.

Casters - So you get some nice "Synergy" buffs at EoK+. Mage/Wiz/Ench can proc group buffs that adds 40-65K to each toons next nuke of a certain type. If you run 3 of a certain class, you can also use the Alliance/Covenent big procs on named. 3 Wizards is popular for that though it's not as useful for just grinding. Mobs tend to be dead before its worth setting it up.

I've run War-Dru-Ench-Mag-Wiz-Wiz for awhile and it's a nice group. The druid really holds it back though as he eventually winds up having to spam his slower cast heals and can get behind. Between the ench nuke buffs and wiz AA, they can melt a named with no issues though.

If I was remaking it, I'd probably go Tank-Clr-Ench-Mag-Wiz-Dru or skip the backup healer for another wiz/mage.

I personally love mages and used to run a pettank group with mage tank. That works really well until you have an event/area with un-mezzable adds. Like giants.

My dream caster group is Mage(EarthTank)-Sham-Ench-Mage(Water)-Mage(Water)-Dru. Put all 5 pets on taunt, three mages for synergy, plus a ton of pets/swarms for mage's raid nuke, shammy runs their HoTs to heal up whichever pets have taken dmg from taunt, druid back up heals group only to focus on dps, everybody nukes including the shammy (to produce more free doggie pets!) Maybe a Bst in place of Dru might be better, but I haven't got around to leveling more mages to try this out.
 
3 mage 1 bst 1enc 1 shm is what i currently run not maxed AAs but works fine at handling names in all T1 ToV zones/tasks. Was running 3 necro 1 bst enc shm could tank actually better then mage pets (Health spiking wise.) not sure if it the healing procs from necro dots or what but the dps was just to low even with solid alliance rotation vs mage group trio.

The shaman with the roar proc has been a huge boost to pet adps and just the constant stream of heals/proc heals. Ran a druid instead of the beastlord for awhile but the mana issues was just to insane for my taste. Only issues ive ever ran into was adjusting pet melee distance in the beginning but after a little tinkering everything worked great.

Rotate your Adps of Shaman and Bst tho. Will have to make sure to set conditions to maximize your potential. Can replace this with a wizard also should push your dps even more. Bst Dps synergies well with Enc, Shm Adps and is very easy to spam and helps on the mana if needed of course. (You should not need any more help though)

Enc is a must have even tho for a Caster group with a pet tanking since pets can not hold aggro on multi mobs very well. Your shaman will take some spanking without one.

Tanking wise ive found setting all 3 pets to taunt even tho using aggro weps on earth pet seems to tank everything out alittle smoother also. Not sure why or how this is but with Shaman being a AoE healer when aggro switchs on alittle squisher pet you really dont notice it to much.

These are just my opinions and are from what i have personally experienced myself. (I personally prefer removing melee tanks when running a caster group it just makes it simpler and doesnt have to rely on your sk moving back into melee range on pushback and aoe knock back abilities of certain mobs/nameds.)

Quick edit avoid giants while running a enc or pet tank group... They nullify your Enc. Hard core counter.
 
SK, CLR, ENC, WIZ, MAG, NEC. Works great! I get all they synergies for the casters and that adds up to a ton of ADPS.......
Plus I have ports, pet toys, multi res (CLR, NEC). And I main the enchanter.

So I haven’t played a necro in forever, and I just solo’d one then. Does your necro contribute a lot of dps to that group? My current group kills namers in less than 30secs and trash mobs closer to 10. Necro can still contribute in that situation?
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Right now these are the characters I have to work with:
SK, Bard, Cleric, Mage, Sham, Wiz, Ench and Rang. Is it okay DPS wise to have a mix group of melee and casters? I’ve heard the Bard would help the casters similar to an Ench. Many people have suggested a Zerker, should start PLing one? I’m trying to create a group that is easy to box and fun to play. I’ve mained my Mage for years so I’m terrible with my SK.
 
So I haven’t played a necro in forever, and I just solo’d one then. Does your necro contribute a lot of dps to that group? My current group kills namers in less than 30secs and trash mobs closer to 10. Necro can still contribute in that situation?
I have my necro do pet, swarm pets, debuff, and quick dots, A couple misc things. But the big stuff is for they synergy as well. Necro pets are not tio be trifled with.) But you figure the ENC, MAG, and NEC pets in there with of many spells. It's pretty nice. Plus they all get the group buff, recourse bonus as well. I'm pretty sure I as the ENC, out dps the necro. Except maybe on boss fights. But it does plenty to round things out.
 
Whytdrumer. My opinion on the characters you have available is: Sk, sham, ench, mage, wiz and ranger.

I found using caster or ranged groups are easier for me. Not every zone in EQ is a wide open space for melee classes. Don’t get me wrong, I love my melee group #1 (War, Sham, bard, zerk X 3) but in certain zones, with tight corners/spaces it is a hassle to ensure everyone is in the right position. Hence why I have 3 different variations of melee groups and 3 caster groups. For example, Caster group # 1 is Pal, Shm, Ench, Mage, Wiz x 2.

I try and focus on my groups synergy and maximize it to the fullest. However, I freely admit my first 2 characters were a Shaman and Enchanter, in 2000. So every group I make will center around one or both of them. Lastly, find what works for you. The “best” 6 man group is the one that you enjoy the most. 😁
 
Currently I'm running necro, mage, enchanter, druid, sham, and ranger. I can tell you having added the ranger my dos went way up, especially now that she's 105 with my group.

The pros of my group setup, I truly feel because are right up there with the best on pullers and splitting mobs, and since I drive the necro, it works the best. As I'm getting more EoK AA's and gear, his overall dps just continues to increase! I was a little disappointed at first having played a necro main for many years till my break, that the dps was lacking.

Cons, my necro pet can't even hold a candle too my mage earth pet. Its definitely night and day there. I find my shaman spam healing to keep the necro up, and the druid is set to heal at lower percentages, even he will spam from time to time.

Overall though, my group works really well together. I am having troubles with some multi mob encounters like the TBM mission for Grummus whatever his name is, when there's like 6 named at once. I won't give up on it though. Otherwise the group does move quickly through mobs.

My druid is a power hungry guy, eventually I'm considering replacing him, but I just like having the druid.

I am always working on a melee group just to see what I'm missing. But, I enjoy my paladin so much, it would he kicking myself if the sk shines more too me lol.

And the best 6 box group for casters is what you make of it. If you want a tank put a real tank in, or pet tank whatever you want. Just remember each group setup regardless of what it is, will and does have its struggles.

Best of luck!
 
Best caster 6 box:
SK or PAL, ENC, CLR, MAG, WIZ, WIZ

Wizzies proc alliance when you get your ini right - ENC helps with it - MAG great offtank when shit goes down, nice utility too, Ports+COH is a boxers dream, SK has +mana group procs, PAL has good group heals, CLR best healer in game, ENC best mezzer (by miles).

Great in spots with tight camps, and also it's way less obvious you're using MQ2 than melee groups.
 
dps.png

Thought i'd share this for anyone still trying to decide between groups.

Couple of notes. I can't merge the pet to their respective owner so you'll just have to do simple math between water pet and one of the mages.

I had a larger sample data that spanned over several days. I scrapped that data because there were numerous wipes and the mages ended up summoning bunch of different pets. I averaged the number of pets and their dps and adding it to one of the mages, their dps got closer to the zerker's dps with the larger sample size. Another big factor to mage's dps is the way kissassist work. Sometime the tank make a really large pull and when they come back, they switch target. The mages assisting the tank will be stuck on the previous target which is now mezed so they sit there for the duration combat doing 0 dps until the mob is brought under the assist threshold.

Mages are FTP, zerkers are subbed with TOV group gear, augments and encrusted weapons.
 
Mine is my main group with Cleric enchanter and 3 wizards. Got port and their dps isn’t too far behind my zerker group. On a few occasions, theyve even managed to beat the zerkers on burn If all their burn abilities are up and their burn sequence finishes off before they engage the mobs. Best of all, they have no issues in tight corridors like ToFS since they just sits there and pew pew.
Who do you pull with? Since all the caster are kinda squish?
 
SK, DRU, SHM, ENC, MAG, MAG is fun. Timing RS pets gives a lot of adps, a lot of misc fire synergies, a lot of tanking spread out to swarm pets, a lot of alliance/synergy benefits, and a lot of mana, a lots of swarm pets for mage many spell. It is not top tier dps, but having 20+ pets on a mob is fun, and dps and survivability is pretty good. Group hot and healing synergies combined with tanking spreading and lifetaps makes healing a breeze. Adps is good, for casters, pets, and melee - all melee for shaman procs. Not max level yet, but having fun in ros. Have all the utility I need.
 
I love playing casters and was wondering what the “best” caster friendly group would be. I know I need a tank so I have a SK. I also have a mag, wiz, ench and several other characters. But I’m curious what everyone’s ideal caster DPS group would be and why.
Everyone goes for sk they are nice chatwiththisname has excellent out of box program with mq eskay... i myself love the paladin tank any single mob just as well as any sk.. and gives hell Lotta healing support.. group caster.. pally.shaman.mage.mage.enchanter.wizard
 
Sorry for rezzing this post, I run WAR MAG ENC WIZ CLR BST. The bst just doesn't seem to fit in. The chanter cleric buffs are better, she just seems kind of lost. Maybe I should get mq2bst and ignore the ini. I admit I don't know the class too well... would love MAG MAG WIZ WIZ ENC CLR.. should of made that
 
BST is great for mana regen buff? But yeah maybe a better adps for a melee group. It's hard to get the prefect synergy and maintain utility for all situations. BST for me is a great class to play.

I usually run a sk, clr, enc, bard, wiz, necro as my 6 box. I will sometimes run a mage and bst outside of group too for added oomph. I don't think it's the most optimal group but it's what I do. It comes from building a group around my wizard main originally. Melee heavy groups probably have a bit more of an edge.

I'm a bit meh about the necro, his FD has come in handy though for saving the group from a total wipe plenty of times, so at least there is quicker recovery when needed with him around. I have thought about swapping him out for a mage at times.

I love pulling with bard but don't really use him for CC with the enchanter around. Great for mana regen but in modern game it is overkill as I can barely get low on mana with my group. Enchanter plus kissassist is so OP though I couldn't do without and on TLP/early era stuff I will charm with Enc which is totally overpowered.

Actually maybe I should charm with the necro too on TLP stuff sub level 55 to get more from the necro. Hmm, that would be challenging.
 
Sorry for rezzing this post, I run WAR MAG ENC WIZ CLR BST. The bst just doesn't seem to fit in. The chanter cleric buffs are better, she just seems kind of lost. Maybe I should get mq2bst and ignore the ini. I admit I don't know the class too well... would love MAG MAG WIZ WIZ ENC CLR.. should of made that
I box the same as you, and my bst really helps with the mana regen. Cant really keep the mana up without him.
 
This is a combined parse of 203 mobs in Kael (6th slot was a leech...) - I'd be tempted to stack up Mages for a caster group, Bard and Shaman aura's are a huge boon for Mage pets (the mages Servants accounted for 150k of her parse alone) - blows Wizard out of the park.

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Question - Best Caster 6 Box

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