IRL - Coming back to EQ and want to start a new 6 Box crew (on test)

[BillyBobJr]

Hello all! I'm thinking of coming back to EQ after an approximately 3 year absence and am looking to start a new 6-box crew, likely on Test. My previous 6 boxes were all on FV (at level 115) and were either:

• SK
• Shaman/Cleric
• Bard/Enchanter
• Beastlord
• Zerk
• Zerk

or

• Pal
• Shaman/Cleric
• Bard/Enchanter
• Mage
• Mage
• Necro

I was doing some preliminary research here on RG and the idea of:

• Pal
• Druid
• Bard
• Beastlord
• Mage
• Necro

really appeals to me. One of my first characters in the Kunark area was a druid and I have never leveled one past 50 or so.. The thought of buffs, ports and evacs sounds really appealing to me and obviously would come in handy for future PL purposes. In reading up on the forums there were conflicting opinions regarding have a druid as a the main healer, but Knightly (who I hugely respect) and others indicated that I should have no problems doing all group content with a druid as a healer, provided it was with a Paladin specifically as MT. I realize it's not the "god-tier" makeup of SK/shaman, but I've done that multiple times and would just like to change things up a bit. I would like to hear other's experience on much of an issue mana will be for the druid. I've read some horror stories, but figured if I just let the Druid concentrate on healing and (mostly) ignored DPS, I should be okay?

I do have some questions regarding leveling, group makeup(s), etc.. I have been researching the forums here regarding the most efficient way to start a new 6 box. In the past, I've always used the SK/DS method with my high level SK and then a bard in the PLee group to AE. I usually do that up to 40 or so and then group my 6 box together (no mercs) and go to XP zones and grind things out from there. However, I someone in post here mentioned that it was actually far more efficient to do 2 teams of 3 boxes, with a J5 tank/cleric/dps mercs to fill out the groups. With that in mind, I was thinking of about the following 2 groups:

Group 1:

• Paladin
• Druid
• Necro
• Cleric - merc
• DPS - merc
• DPS - merc

Group 2:

• Bard
• Mage
• Beastlord
• Cleric - merc
• DPS - merc
• DPS - merc

However, I'm really not sure the most efficient way to level those 2 groups separately and was hoping someone here might have experience with that and give me a quick tutorial on the best leveling paths, zones, methods, etc... I have questions like: at what point do J5 mercs (again on test) stop being able to be a MT for the group, when should I look to merge the 2 groups (what level), where should I go to level these 2 groups separately, etc..? One thing to note, this will be my first time playing on test, but I do have multiple level 115 chars I can /testcopy over to assist, including: SK, Mage, Bard, Chanter, Cleric, Shaman. I would like to find a balance between leveling speed with PL and actually grouping all 6 new characters together. I really love playing in zones like The Hole and Sebilis, so would hate to miss out on those completely. I don't mind taking a bit more time to level up If i need to.

Finally, since this is my first time on test, I'm a bit nervous about the MQ downtime I might experience. I was hoping to get started this week, but based on "MQ Test" thread, it's looking like at least a week (or more) total "downtime" for the MQ test build. I realize that's probably a bit out of the norm, but realistically speaking, how many days per month should I expect the MQ Test build to be down? I have zero interest in playing without the awesome tools available here. I've been so spoiled by CWTN/Sic's CWTN plugins that there is no going back for me at this point I realize Test has a lot of advantages over Live, but if there are going to be multiple days per month of 3-4 days "downtime" for the MQ Test build, that might sway me back to starting the new group on FV. Having said that, access to all of the CTWN plugins for free on Test plus zero monthly subscription cost is pretty damn appealing.

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but am obviously pretty confused at this point and could use all the help I can get Thanks in advance and I look forward to potentially seeing you guys out there!

 

[Sic]

there are a lot of posts on this very thing - so you're probably going to experience "i make a long thought out reply that was probably mostly glazed over and i don't intend on repeating that for the 50th time" sort of replies

cover your bases and you'll be happy. tank (sk for easy, war if you want to also raid, pal if you want something different), priest (clr if scared, shm if you're wanting to min/max, dru if you want to try something diff), bard (or ench if you're scared), then 3 dps - one of them having some utility (bst, necro)

my "primary" is sk, shm, brd, rog, ber, bst

3 of the same class is a waste, and 2 is probably a waste too imo these days

 

[BillyBobJr]

Thanks for the response Sic. I have spent a few hours here researching those topics, but still have the remaining questions from my initial post. I couldn't find anything that really fleshed out how to level 2 groups of 3 boxes at the same time and the question about the Test build downtime is something I would really want more detail on before I commit to either Test or starting on FV.

 

[durango773]

Thanks for the response Sic. I have spent a few hours here researching those topics, but still have the remaining questions from my initial post. I couldn't find anything that really fleshed out how to level 2 groups of 3 boxes at the same time and the question about the Test build downtime is something I would really want more detail on before I commit to either Test or starting on FV.

team them 3 boxes, 3 tank mercs (be 6 groups), let them wander and kill, with test bonus.. 15-20 hours be 70, then form then into real groups and go.

 

[Sic]

Thanks for the response Sic. I have spent a few hours here researching those topics, but still have the remaining questions from my initial post. I couldn't find anything that really fleshed out how to level 2 groups of 3 boxes at the same time and the question about the Test build downtime is something I would really want more detail on before I commit to either Test or starting on FV.

test is down at least more than double live is - just due to how they patch.

i personally like boxing, i don't like merc'ing - so for me, using mercs is a waste of time (everyone has a pocket cleric for rezzing/buffing)

a #real cleric shits all over a merc fullstop - being on test with free all access is an absolute no brainer, unless your pc can't handle it.

you can read this to get some info on patches here:

Spoiler

What to expect on patch days?
When eq patches MQ has to be rebuilt. (you also have to patch EQ --- this way you avoid "Version Mismatch" issues)

once mq is built RG can build - we now have an automated system that rebuilds RG as soon as it is updated - which means our previous method of "let's give it a quick test" is no longer there, and sometimes there ends up being another smaller patch later to correct if something got missed - so re-check on patch days if you are having issues.

eq could change literally anything and it would require the way MQ interacts with that portion of EQ to be completely reworked. It is normally just offsets, sometimes struct changes --- with the large changes eq has been making over the past few months (updates and backend improvements) there are more things than just offset changes that are happening, so it can certainly be a lot of work for the devs.

Curious when Very Vanilla will be updated?
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MacroQuest for Live servers:
MacroQuest for Test server

EQ patches go like this: (in theory)
2nd* tue/wed = test "real" patch
3rd* wed = live patch
4th* tue/wed = test "true up
the tue over the wed is a more recent thing (I suspect klanderso has more to do with that, and having time to ensure working stuff before the weekend and upset people - klanderso is pretty awesome)
* holidays subject to cause shifts in days or even week

test is notorious for being like "oops we forgot the 'dont crash plz' file, gotta patch again", or "woops we added +1 to crashing, we meant -1", so "on paper" it is double the patches, but very frequently ends up being more than double the work (i imagine, I'm not doing the work - I'd love to learn enough at some point to help facilitate doing so, however)

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[BillyBobJr]

Thanks again Sic. So based on your linked thread, I'm looking at least 3-4 Test downtime events per month? Could you say (on average) how long it usually takes to get MQ back up and running post-patch? Also, regarding mercs, hopefully my initial thread wasn't too confusing, but I was only looking at using Mercs to help level my two 3-boxes, with the eventual intent of running those 6 classes together as a single box unit. I recall the J5 mercs being stupidly powerful up to some level (50-60?), with the ability to tank reds with no problem. From what I've read here, I thought that would be a safer and faster leveling path until I could get my Paladin some decent gear and the druid enough levels to be the main healer; then I would merge and go full 6 box from there. Thanks again for the response so far; it's much appreciated.

 

[BobGrabber]

Durango is spot on for leveling on Test. Eventually your Druid will run better as DPS or hybrid with back up heals. They are mana thirsty and need 2 regen sources to be successful. One possible solution is...
Pal sha brd bst dru mage. Set dru to dps and that is a very solid group. You can swap ench in and out for Bard with no ill affects.

 

[Sic]

Thanks again Sic. So based on your linked thread, I'm looking at least 3-4 Test downtime events per month? Could you say (on average) how long it usually takes to get MQ back up and running post-patch?

in my experience - and not saying you do or do not fit this - people who are looking for that answer to be given and written down with specificity, are often the ones who are indignantly upset when the test downtime is longer.

take right now, test build has been down for a week, because the person who does all the work for keeping mq maintained was unavailable this last week - this is an anomaly, but it shouldn't be outside expectations.

*usually* the "true up" is same day because nothing changed --- but sometimes they sneak stuff in, so it is as much work as the first test patch.

there are a lot of variances

I recall the J5 mercs being stupidly powerful up to some level (50-60?), with the ability to tank reds with no problem. From what I've read here, I thought that would be a safer and faster leveling path until I could get my Paladin some decent gear and the druid enough levels to be the main healer; then I would merge and go full 6 box from there. Thanks again for the response so far; it's much appreciated.

sure - but since you're just returning i think you're setting yourself up for a bit of failure doing this. you lose out the slowly increasing risk and danger of not being able to manage your team, i personally think there is a lot of value that comes from running the team how you intent to run them and getting "a good foundation under you" before you bite off more than you can chew and then give up in frustration.

you can totally skip a bunch of levels by merc'ing up - just depends what you want - fwiw i don't think durango is wrong or mistaken --- i just think differently

 

[519helvis]

being a full time test player i am biased as i love it. i guess the best way to decide is how much you wanna play. if you want the ability to login everyday (pretty much) and not worry about downtime, test is not for you. on the other hand if your comfortable with doing other things and still accomplishing a lot during its uptime test is great. the perks on the server itself are the reason i play there. i can still get everything i want done in less time and than i take the build downtime to get extra stuff done in RL. either way welcome back!

 

[BillyBobJr]

in my experience - and not saying you do or do not fit this - people who are looking for that answer to be given and written down with specificity, are often the ones who are indignantly upset when the test downtime is longer.

take right now, test build has been down for a week, because the person who does all the work for keeping mq maintained was unavailable this last week - this is an anomaly, but it shouldn't be outside expectations.

*usually* the "true up" is same day because nothing changed --- but sometimes they sneak stuff in, so it is as much work as the first test patch.

there are a lot of variances


sure - but since you're just returning i think you're setting yourself up for a bit of failure doing this. you lose out the slowly increasing risk and danger of not being able to manage your team, i personally think there is a lot of value that comes from running the team how you intent to run them and getting "a good foundation under you" before you bite off more than you can chew and then give up in frustration.

you can totally skip a bunch of levels by merc'ing up - just depends what you want - fwiw i don't think durango is wrong or mistaken --- i just think differently

Appreciate your feedback. Given your long history here, I'm sure you've seen countless posts with people complaining the Test build isn't coming out fast enough for their liking. That certainly won't be me. Coming from an IT background, with a fair amount of programming experience, I have a special appreciation for all of the hard work you guys do here. The sheer amount of personal time you guys have committed to making this happen for the EQ player base is something to be commended and I would never want to disrespect you guys by making unreasonable "demands". I'm really just trying to make an informed decision here and getting an idea of how often it takes to turn around a Test patch and how much downtime I will be looking at is the #1 factor in determining if I go with Test vs Live for my crew. I do think your observation of getting to know the in's and out's of your final box crew composition as you level up is a good point to consider. I can certainly see a scenario where you invest a lot of time running them in two different groups, only to merge and then discover you aren't that fond of the group synergies after all. That's given me a bit more to think about, so thanks for that.

Durango is spot on for leveling on Test. Eventually your Druid will run better as DPS or hybrid with back up heals. They are mana thirsty and need 2 regen sources to be successful. One possible solution is...
Pal sha brd bst dru mage. Set dru to dps and that is a very solid group. You can swap ench in and out for Bard with no ill affects.

team them 3 boxes, 3 tank mercs (be 6 groups), let them wander and kill, with test bonus.. 15-20 hours be 70, then form then into real groups and go.

I've read this a few times now and still not sure I follow. Are you saying to have my two 3-box crews follow each other and roam the zone to kill? I'm not sure I understand how 3 tank mercs factor into that? What am I missing here?

 

[BillyBobJr]

Durango is spot on for leveling on Test. Eventually your Druid will run better as DPS or hybrid with back up heals. They are mana thirsty and need 2 regen sources to be successful. One possible solution is...
Pal sha brd bst dru mage. Set dru to dps and that is a very solid group. You can swap ench in and out for Bard with no ill affects.

I hadn't actually considered combining a Shaman, druid and beastlord in the same group. Wouldn't that be pretty low dps wise vs having a necro in the group and letting the druid focus mainly on heals? Also, having 3 "healers" (dru, shm, bst) in a group seems a bit overkill? I'm certainly not looking to min-max here, as otherwise I would just stick with my old group of SK,shm,brd,bst,zerk,zerk. Just looking to try something "different" and since I never leveled a druid very far, thought that might be a nice change of pace. If you are saying Druids are much better suited for a DPS role vs healing, maybe I have misunderstood some of the other posts here. From my standpoint, as long as the druid can keep my group up for most group content and I don't have a bunch of downtime due to them being too mana hungry, I will be happy. I'm hoping that the bard and necro can help with some of the mana issues, but really have no experience to draw on here, other than some of the posts I've read here on RG.

 

[durango773]

Appreciate your feedback. Given your long history here, I'm sure you've seen countless posts with people complaining the Test build isn't coming out fast enough for their liking. That certainly won't be me. Coming from an IT background, with a fair amount of programming experience, I have a special appreciation for all of the hard work you guys do here. The sheer amount of personal time you guys have committed to making this happen for the EQ player base is something to be commended and I would never want to disrespect you guys by making unreasonable "demands". I'm really just trying to make an informed decision here and getting an idea of how often it takes to turn around a Test patch and how much downtime I will be looking at is the #1 factor in determining if I go with Test vs Live for my crew. I do think your observation of getting to know the in's and out's of your final box crew composition as you level up is a good point to consider. I can certainly see a scenario where you invest a lot of time running them in two different groups, only to merge and then discover you aren't that fond of the group synergies after all. That's given me a bit more to think about, so thanks for that.



I've read this a few times now and still not sure I follow. Are you saying to have my two 3-box crews follow each other and roam the zone to kill? I'm not sure I understand how 3 tank mercs factor into that? What am I missing here?

Mercs are stupid OP until around 70.. so you make your 6 char.. then make 2 groups (char type doesnt matter), put you group chase, and just let the mercs carry you.. once your around 70, mercs go downhill fast, you just put your char together (suspend mercs, to never be seen again) and go forth.

 

[BillyBobJr]

being a full time test player i am biased as i love it. i guess the best way to decide is how much you wanna play. if you want the ability to login everyday (pretty much) and not worry about downtime, test is not for you. on the other hand if your comfortable with doing other things and still accomplishing a lot during its uptime test is great. the perks on the server itself are the reason i play there. i can still get everything i want done in less time and than i take the build downtime to get extra stuff done in RL. either way welcome back!

That's exactly the type of response I was looking for. Thank you, sir!

 

[BillyBobJr]

Mercs are stupid OP until around 70.. so you make your 6 char.. then make 2 groups (char type doesnt matter), put you group chase, and just let the mercs carry you.. once your around 70, mercs go downhill fast, you just put your char together (suspend mercs, to never be seen again) and go forth.

Ahh, gotcha. Makes sense. Do you have any particular tips for which zones I should target with this kind of setup? If I recall correctly, I usually do Blighfire Moors up to mid 30's or so and not really sure after that. This is with a traditional SK/DS power-leveling setup though.

 

[BobGrabber]

I use the cwtn plug-ins for everything, so bst and dru run damage mainly. As you pointed out though, there is a significant dps reduction for that style group. Druid can heal ok enough for group content, but when a big pull goes sideways they are better off evac and repositioning. I am also on Test and may or may not start a whole 6 man group every month or so. I love experimenting and using non traditional combinations. One of my favs is War Sha brd bst dru pal. Pally just rolls with a 2 hander for battle rezzing and marginal Dps. Druid is always on dps. Eventually I will get a shaman click stick and that will be Bueno

 

[BillyBobJr]

I use the cwtn plug-ins for everything, so bst and dru run damage mainly. As you pointed out though, there is a significant dps reduction for that style group. Druid can heal ok enough for group content, but when a big pull goes sideways they are better off evac and repositioning. I am also on Test l, and may or may not start a whole 6 man group every month or so. I love experimenting and using non traditional combinations.

It's definitely an interesting combo that I hadn't considered, so I appreciate your reply. There's certainly something to be said for having a solid group that you know can handle almost anything, even if it's at the expense of not being top-tier DPS. I do love my shamans, as that was my very first class on Cazic Thule back in the Kunark launch era, although I do have nightmares about the Mammoth Hide Cloak camp. I spent a New Year's Eve camping that guy for over 8 hours, only to fall asleep at my computer and wake up to see he had finally spawned and promptly killed me You definitely have me reconsidering my group comp now (dammit)

 

[Algar]

If you are on test you can afford to treat this all a little more loosely.
The exp bonus in getting another toon running is not to be understated.
I'm glazing over some of this, exactly like Sic said, but if you have some basic stuff to copy over (or just know someone who does, or ask), getting a fresh toon into endgame is a breeze (If you still have access to cash/stuff on FV especially).

 

[Redmonkey]

They changed mercs, maybe while you were gone? Think it was before you were gone. No more J1-J5, no more quest to get the good ones.

There are now just 2 types - Apprentice for free accounts and Apprentice OR Journeyman for paid accounts. And on test you are considered a paid account so make sure to buy the right merc. When you go to the NPC that sells them it only shows the Apprentice so you have to hit that drop down arrow to see the Journeyman. If you do play Free on FV try to at least get 2 accounts subbed for the Journeyman mercs

Mercs would be great to help you get the groups all lined out and leveled etc. Personally I have had great luck with my tank and healer mercs at level 125 but I hate playing any tank or healer type character so of course I like them. I think if you are one of the top players then yes, you would look down on mercs or if all you ever played were the apprentice.

Oh, and WB! Try to get your old accounts, they might have lots of stuff still on them you would find of benefit

 

[BillyBobJr]

They changed mercs, maybe while you were gone? Think it was before you were gone. No more J1-J5, no more quest to get the good ones.

There are now just 2 types - Apprentice for free accounts and Apprentice OR Journeyman for paid accounts. And on test you are considered a paid account so make sure to buy the right merc. When you go to the NPC that sells them it only shows the Apprentice so you have to hit that drop down arrow to see the Journeyman. If you do play Free on FV try to at least get 2 accounts subbed for the Journeyman mercs

Mercs would be great to help you get the groups all lined out and leveled etc. Personally I have had great luck with my tank and healer mercs at level 125 but I hate playing any tank or healer type character so of course I like them. I think if you are one of the top players then yes, you would look down on mercs or if all you ever played were the apprentice.

Oh, and WB! Try to get your old accounts, they might have lots of stuff still on them you would find of benefit

Yes, I should stop calling them J5. I was aware that they had changed, but wasn't sure what they were called now I did get on my old accounts and plan on spending some time doing /testcopy(s) to get things sorted out. Thanks for the advice; it's much appreciated.

 

[nookiecookie]

5 monks & a druid.

 

[durango773]

5 monks & a druid.

 

[brain6464]

To pile onto test love. I love test. When the tools are down, I do other things with my time OR play The Heroes Journey (probably dead soon...). That said, just because the tools are down doesn't mean the server is down. You can always hop on, do your bags/spells/random crap. You're just doing them with less efficiency. Truthfully, the login capabilities of MQ2 are enough to make me patient.

 

[Redmonkey]

Oh and last year they put 2 new hot zones in from Teek. For level 100 and 105. Been getting about 20 AA per each one daily.

 

[TinyBubbles]

Ultimately, its what you want to play. If the druid sounds exciting for you, then druid it up and go with the group make up that sounds exciting or invigorating to you. If you do play on test, /testbuff is pretty sweet.

 

[Lord Sivion]

6 druids or nothing...

 

[GKD1231]

I usually run 5 with a merc, depending on content.
Cleric merc if extra heals are needed, or DPS if I just want faster kills.

Warrior
Cleric
Rogue
Bard
Beastlord

If I were to add a 6th, it would most likely be a druid that concentrates mostly on DPS.

And Welcome Back!

 

[BillyBobJr]

I usually run 5 with a merc, depending on content.
Cleric merc if extra heals are needed, or DPS if I just want faster kills.

Warrior
Cleric
Rogue
Bard
Beastlord

If I were to add a 6th, it would most likely be a druid that concentrates mostly on DPS.

And Welcome Back!

Thank you sir. Can't wait to get started on Test!

 

[Kimia]

Hey Billybob, WB to EQ.

i had a similar setup as your original group just only 1 zerker and a rogue, which i loved. I no longer play them because i don't want to risk those chars. Now i have started creating several group setups on test, with the idea of being able to form a small raid after I upgrade my PC. the downtime of the test-build is annoying at times, but I created a 2 box-team on live servers which I play in that downtime, without any MQ. I'm not certain how I will level that set, but for those on test I started with PL'ing them (first group was PL'd up to lvl 85 with SK/DS). Unfortunately I lost several chars that were part of the PL team, so I'll either have to look for different methods, or create a new PL team from scratch. But I'm fairly certain that I could have used the method until they were high enough to group with lvl 125, at which point I could mix the 2 groups up and run 2 instances of shei vinitras.

Someone mentioned that you don't learn your classes and get a feel for them if you PL them, but I didn't see that as a problem, because the CWTN plugins make it so easy for you (YAY CWTN and Sic). It is true that your chars will suffer from lack of gear, but on test you can buy lots of gear for 1pp. You can even spend the PP on live servers, then testcopy the items over every day, if you put them in tradeable bags you can testcopy a character from every account you have and have several bags of gear per day.

 

[Lord Sivion]

I changed my mind. 6 Shamans or nothing....

 

[BillyBobJr]

Just wanted to give an update on what I think I'm going to go with. I mentioned my last couple of 6 boxes in the initial post and that I was looking to try something a bit different. After looking at a ton of threads here, it made me think: why not try a warrior? I've never leveled one beyond level 20 or so and the thought of a DE warrior really started to appeal to me. As of now, I think I'm going to run: WAR,SHM,BRD,BST,ZERK,ROG.

My main on CT was a rogue, so there is some love there for that class. I plan on running two 3-boxes of: WAR,SHM,ZERK and BRD,BST,ROG and have them level separately with a DPS/Heal/Tank merc in each group as long as I can and then merge the two groups later.

I just need to figure out how to get the shaman merged into my group as the main healer. It sounds like the merc tank(s) will crap out around level 60-70 (Journeyman on Test) and the shaman won't be a great healer until level 100 or so. I do have a 115 cleric that I can testcopy over and use outside group to xtarget heal, so hopefully that will suffice until the shaman can take over.

Thanks again for all of the replies. It gave me a lot to think about. The community here is like no other!

 

[Koko]

Just wanted to give an update on what I think I'm going to go with. I mentioned my last couple of 6 boxes in the initial post and that I was looking to try something a bit different. After looking at a ton of threads here, it made me think: why not try a warrior? I've never leveled one beyond level 20 or so and the thought of a DE warrior really started to appeal to me. As of now, I think I'm going to run: WAR,SHM,BRD,BST,ZERK,ROG.

My main on CT was a rogue, so there is some love there for that class. I plan on running two 3-boxes of: WAR,SHM,ZERK and BRD,BST,ROG and have them level separately with a DPS/Heal/Tank merc in each group as long as I can and then merge the two groups later.

I just need to figure out how to get the shaman merged into my group as the main healer. It sounds like the merc tank(s) will crap out around level 60-70 (Journeyman on Test) and the shaman won't be a great healer until level 100 or so. I do have a 115 cleric that I can testcopy over and use outside group to xtarget heal, so hopefully that will suffice until the shaman can take over.

Thanks again for all of the replies. It gave me a lot to think about. The community here is like no other!

I was on ct from 2001-2013 retired and came back and found redguides and found my way to test as well. Welcome back to the party !

 

[BillyBobJr]

I was on ct from 2001-2013 retired and came back and found redguides and found my way to test as well. Welcome back to the party !

Ahh, nice. I believe I was still playing then. I started in the Kunark era, which I believe was 98 (maybe 99) and then stopped 3-4 years later. I have some very fond memories of my first Vox and Seb raids and then moving into Velious raid content later. Fun times... Hope to see you on Test. I may ping you once MQ is up for some pointers, if that's okay

 

[Algar]

Just wanted to give an update on what I think I'm going to go with. I mentioned my last couple of 6 boxes in the initial post and that I was looking to try something a bit different. After looking at a ton of threads here, it made me think: why not try a warrior? I've never leveled one beyond level 20 or so and the thought of a DE warrior really started to appeal to me. As of now, I think I'm going to run: WAR,SHM,BRD,BST,ZERK,ROG.

My main on CT was a rogue, so there is some love there for that class. I plan on running two 3-boxes of: WAR,SHM,ZERK and BRD,BST,ROG and have them level separately with a DPS/Heal/Tank merc in each group as long as I can and then merge the two groups later.

I just need to figure out how to get the shaman merged into my group as the main healer. It sounds like the merc tank(s) will crap out around level 60-70 (Journeyman on Test) and the shaman won't be a great healer until level 100 or so. I do have a 115 cleric that I can testcopy over and use outside group to xtarget heal, so hopefully that will suffice until the shaman can take over.

Thanks again for all of the replies. It gave me a lot to think about. The community here is like no other!

It will suffice.
If you aren't pushing content the shaman will be sufficient.
How quickly you will move past those levels because of the XP bonus will also help things.

Your bst can help heal in an emergency.

I have leveled 1-120 with a shaman and no other healer on three separate occasions.

 

[BillyBobJr]

It will suffice.
If you aren't pushing content the shaman will be sufficient.
How quickly you will move past those levels because of the XP bonus will also help things.

Your bst can help heal in an emergency.

I have leveled 1-120 with a shaman and no other healer on three separate occasions.

That's good feedback on shammy healing. I never bothered trying to integrate my shaman into the group until at least 100 with my old box. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[jaylils]

You gotta love that double zerk. Just bashing everything right.

 

[Mugly]

I play exclusively on test. Any group that has the basic tank/healer/dps... will be fine. Test is a small community and some people are VERY anti-MacroQuest. Be careful who you associate with and never share the fact that you are using the program with anyone.

 

[BillyBobJr]

I play exclusively on test. Any group that has the basic tank/healer/dps... will be fine. Test is a small community and some people are VERY anti-MacroQuest. Be careful who you associate with and never share the fact that you are using the program with anyone.

That's good to know. I've never disclosed that to anyone before, but will be especially careful in general. Thanks for the heads-up

 

[Tim2051]

I play exclusively on test. Any group that has the basic tank/healer/dps... will be fine. Test is a small community and some people are VERY anti-MacroQuest. Be careful who you associate with and never share the fact that you are using the program with anyone.

This is good guidance for all servers

 

[Grimmllind]

Just wanted to give an update on what I think I'm going to go with. I mentioned my last couple of 6 boxes in the initial post and that I was looking to try something a bit different. After looking at a ton of threads here, it made me think: why not try a warrior? I've never leveled one beyond level 20 or so and the thought of a DE warrior really started to appeal to me. As of now, I think I'm going to run: WAR,SHM,BRD,BST,ZERK,ROG.

My main on CT was a rogue, so there is some love there for that class. I plan on running two 3-boxes of: WAR,SHM,ZERK and BRD,BST,ROG and have them level separately with a DPS/Heal/Tank merc in each group as long as I can and then merge the two groups later.

I just need to figure out how to get the shaman merged into my group as the main healer. It sounds like the merc tank(s) will crap out around level 60-70 (Journeyman on Test) and the shaman won't be a great healer until level 100 or so. I do have a 115 cleric that I can testcopy over and use outside group to xtarget heal, so hopefully that will suffice until the shaman can take over.

Thanks again for all of the replies. It gave me a lot to think about. The community here is like no other!

If you’re worried about shaman healing being weak till 100, you may want to rethink warrior. I know pets can tank really well late game but I don’t know about pre-100. I have a brother who plays warrior, and their biggest advantage is for raiding but for groups, they are the most limited and least wanted in a group. Your bard can already pull, so SK does not need to pull, so I would suggest a pally. The rest of the group is your classic melee synergy group, which I hear has great dps. I just have a hard time justifying a warrior in any group unless you plan to raid with him.

 

[BillyBobJr]

If you’re worried about shaman healing being weak till 100, you may want to rethink warrior. I know pets can tank really well late game but I don’t know about pre-100. I have a brother who plays warrior, and their biggest advantage is for raiding but for groups, they are the most limited and least wanted in a group. Your bard can already pull, so SK does not need to pull, so I would suggest a pally. The rest of the group is your classic melee synergy group, which I hear has great dps. I just have a hard time justifying a warrior in any group unless you plan to raid with him.

I ended up going with a warrior since I had never actually leveled one before and thought it would be a nice change of place. I do love Paladin's, as I have 2 on FV that I leveled to 110 a few years back. I know warrior might not be top-tier optimal, but it was something different to try and I'm having fun so far. I agree that survivability on the Pally would most likely be higher.