Question - Box team comp question

[draaco2]

I presently run druid/bard/rogue/mage with J1 (soon to be J5) tank/cleric mercs. The J1 mercs are garbage, I don't know if J5 will make too much difference, so I'm considering grinding up 2 toons to fill their slots. My question is should I replace them or does J5 become much more viable, and if so what classes?

I was thinking tentatively SK/BL, but I'm not sure... I've never actually played a BL in EQ ever, and I was thinking with the bard, a melee toon would be more beneficial than a wizard or some such.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kknights]

J5 mercs are 100X better than J1. In case you didn't know- anyone can do the new heroic task in Dream Feerrott for the J5 mercs (no longer stuck doing the Warrens arc). The Feerrott task takes probably 15 minutes or less.

My normal group is Ench/Dru/Mage with a Cleric Merc and Tank Merc. The last spot rotates between Caster DPS merc/Nec/Shm/Bard/Alt XYZ. I've been able to do almost all content (up to and including TDS) with a tank merc and cleric merc. Basically, everything save a few missions that are near impossible to box without epic boxing skills and determination (Fall of Bayle for example). That said... it's really going to come to personal preference. You can do it with mercs but you'll have some advantages of using boxes. Just depends if you want to level up two more classes. If so... get on it... 3 days of bonus XP left!

Your group makeup is kindof completely split between favoring melee or caster DPS as it is. You have caster ADPS (Druid/Bard) and melee ADPS (Bard) with a current roster of Mage and Rogue. If you add any class, make sure they have spell DPS (both SK/BL do obviously). I'd be concerned about your Druid being the primary healer though if you drop out your Cleric merc. A Druid played by an actual person fulltime... yeah, they can probably pull off being the main healer but botting/boxing maybe not so much. However, if you go with the SK, since they have lots of self-heal abilities etc. you may come out okay. And worst case, you have some patch heals from a BST if you go with the non-merc setup you suggested.

Both cases (mercs or adding 2 boxes) are viable - just decide if the burden is worth it. If you want a happy medium I say go with the SK and keep the cleric merc.

Just my 2 cp.

 

[draaco2]

Thanks for the info! I'm almost 85 now, so I'll definitely be doing that shorter quest line for J5 unlock. Plugging through 75-85 with J1 has been brutal. There's some issues with Bard mezzing in KA which has forced me to camp low level guys, so it's taking a bit.

Regarding the group comp dru/mag/rog/bard, I just have my mage dropping rampage pets, not nuking. The druid has basically replaced my J1 cleric on heals because he goes oom every 2 pulls. I like having a porter in the group for mobility, but I can forgo that. With the bard, I can pretty much PL someone super quick/easy. I'm open to replacing some of the toons, my main will be the rogue once he gets 105. I hope to raid with him eventually on Bristlebane server.

 

[kknights]

I have to ask... why aren't you nuking with the Mage (esp. if you're using KA)?! KA and MQ2melee handles Mages beautifully. I've also posted some downshits to utilize Mage Rains to accommodate having a crowd control class in group that you may want to check out. What kindof issues are you having with the Bard and mezzing though? There may be some INI tweaks that would help so you could step up to a higher difficulty area.

If you're planning on a Rogue as the main then you may want to consider adding a Shaman (or replacing the Druid). So you could do Druid + Shaman or Shaman + Cleric merc. Shaman ADPS for melee would be a huge boost esp. when adding in the Bard for your Rogue. Eventually you may want to even consider dropping the Mage for another melee DPS because at some point the Mage will lag behind without an Enchanter (and completely if you drop the Druid). For now though, with the Druid, make sure you keep up Group Black Wolf and your Spark aura once they are available to keep the Mage competitive. I don't remember what level you get those though- maybe mid-90s.

Just note that all of my suggestions are based on maxing DPS. If you have other priorities/considerations there may be some more ideal setups.

 

[draaco2]

Ok, not going to lie...I had to google ADPS. I've done a bit of time on emulated servers (mostly THF), not very in tune with EQ Live. So if I were to focus my group around the rogue, what would you recommend? Thanks again!

 

[kknights]

Well, you're one up on me with emuEQ as I know nothing about those servers ;P I strictly play live boxing & raiding.

Guessing you found it but ADPS = (Attributed/Added) DPS. The major ADPS classes are Enchanter (caster only), Druid (caster only), Shaman (melee only), Bard (melee and caster). Minor ADPS classes would include Rogue (melee), Zerker (melee), BST (melee), Monk (melee), and Ranger (caster/melee). Those classes have limited ADPS contributions compared to the major classes. That is not to say they are worthless though as most ADPS has synergy. There are some stacking issues but that's a whole post in itself.

Again, going with a Rogue main I'd keep your Bard, get a Shaman as your primary healer only (pop a J5 cleric merc if you hit a rough spot; just keep the druid around for ports and utilize campfires for mobilizing), load in two melee DPS, and a tank of your choice. For melee DPS a BST will bring Fero, a backup pet tank, mid-tier attack buffs, and utility such as slow and heals etc,. A Ranger will bring the best attack buffs, a decent backup tank, a short duration emergency mega tank (/wave weaponshield), as well as some patch heals. With a Monk, you get a top notch puller and solid DPS. A zerker... that's an iffy one and unless you having a burning desire to play the class I'd avoid it. This is based solely on the fact that without a high-end weapon and massive support (which this group *is* based around so you'd likely have that part), the class is rather weak. With those components though, zerkers can be a DPS machine*. For a tank... well, I'm going to guess you know enough about each class to make a decision on your preference as they are all viable and the rest of your group composition won't matter as much. IME, the general consensus though is that SK is king of group tanking at this current time; you have a puller, AE aggro, self heals via tap, and more. While the pally is great if you're not using a Cleric, the severe lack of AE abilities really can be frustrating (esp. when boxing if the tank isn't your focus; if you're maining the tank, then it's less of an issue). Warrior will always wear the crown for best defense but none of it is necessary in the group game and you bring no real utililty.

So, my personal choice would be Rogue, Bard, Shaman, BST, whatever DPS not a BST, and SK. If you don't add a Shaman then a BST is gonna be 10X as valuable because of Slow. If you go with Shaman, then BST isn't as important (although they still bring heaps to the group and a little redundancy isn't a big deal). Your other DPS is a toss up; I just wouldn't double up on any class. You could even use a merc in that slot or one of the characters you already have if you don't feel like making something else. The Mage for example is still good DPS but you're not gonna see awesome numbers like those parsing with an Enchanter or Druid; it will still be much more than a DPS merc though.

*You said you have plans to join a raid guild. If this is the case then it's almost guaranteed you'd be able to score your Zerker alt a raid weapon pretty fast (of course depends on the guild's loot rules but weapons are like water in the ocean in recent xpacs). So, it will likely be easy to have a good DPS Zerker if you're willing to hold out for a bit.

Sorry to hog up the thread ;P Hopefully someone else has some opinions!

 

[draaco2]

Thank you; this is awesome info!!