Question - Does this look viable?

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

As I've alluded to on several occasions, I'm really only taking advantage of the minimum awesomeness of this site and all of the macros/plugins. Although I've been happily unemployed since retiring from the Marine Corps (lots of great experiences and time with my wife!), I really haven't been putting much effort into "playing". By that I mean that I've done a lot of tradeskilling, Epic-running, etc, but no real group work.

Now I'd like to actually give some content a run. I had a few toons at Max XP (far from max AAXP) and so once TOL launched, they quickly became level 116. Thanks mostly to Overseer, they are all about half-way to 117, but no new AA or anything.

Here is what my overall line-up availability looks like:

• 116 Necro 32K AA and Epic 2.0 (was my main up until recently when I started focusing on my SK)
• 116 SK 27.5K AA and Epic 2.0 - CWTN Plugin
• 116 Ranger 27K AA and Epic 2.0 (my first character ever and so I've kept him going in some ways, but never a real focus)
• 116 Mage 25K AA - CWTN Plugin
• 116 Enchanter 23.5K AA - CWTN Plugin
• 116 Wizzie 22K AA
• 116 Druid 22K AA
• 110 Shammy 9K AA - CWTN Plugin
• 110 Pally 9.5K AA
• And a bunch of other stuff between 95 and 108

So, I'm thinking of something like this: SK (Tank/Puller), Necro, Ranger, Mage, Enchanter, Shammy.

Does that sound like anything that might work? I see a ton of example setups that are heavy tank (SK, Warrior, Zerker, Pally), but mine is a real mix up of what I wanted to be "flexible" before I started even looking at RedGuides.

Any pointers would be appreciated!

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

If your tank is strong enough you can do nearly anything you want for the rest of the group! I think your group would work well in most situations. I'd concentrate on the SK and Shammy first and get them as powerful as possible. Then probably the Enchanter and then the Mage. The final 2 slots you can swap whatever DPS feels right. I know nothing about the Necro class but would lean toward adding the Druid for additional healing with good DPS.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

Great and thanks!

My SK really needs some work. He's decked out in Snowbound stuff and all of the Bazaar stuff you can purchase of the other gear from CoV, but his AAs are basically what you get for free just for having All Access.

I'm going to give it a whirl and hope for the best, LOL.

Thanks again!

 

[Sic]

Great and thanks!

My SK really needs some work. He's decked out in Snowbound stuff and all of the Bazaar stuff you can purchase of the other gear from CoV, but his AAs are basically what you get for free just for having All Access.

I'm going to give it a whirl and hope for the best, LOL.

Thanks again!

i tell folks this all the time and it is really really important. Content is designed around "relatively even" to content gear/aa/augs - you can't have autogrant AAs and bump to 120 with empty type 7 aug slots and heroic gear and be as successful as you want to be.

can you kludge through some overland mobs? sure, but the moment things go sideways you're in for a world of hurt.

They're pretty generous with this - for example with a tov t1'd group of 110s using tbm 32 type 5s, and 60-70% of the RoS AAs, i could 1 drop griklor - but those AAs were all placed fairly well so i more or less had most of the stuff you would expect going into this new content

Focus AAs, in particular, are weird because they're not just linear in effectiveness, they have tabled thresholds that you get 0 benefits unless you have xyz rank of it.

your box toons you don't need to be as "on the ball" with, but your tank you definitely want something like 60-70% of the AAs relative to your level before moving on in many cases.

once you are caught up on AAs it is SO much easier to stay caught up, as these modern expansions (depending on what class) are only doing 5-10ish k aas per xpac. but needing to get 40k+ of them is rough.

for 120 SKs need over 67k AAs to be max'd out

if i were in your shoes, I would take whatever group comp that i find the most enjoyable, and i would spend some time farming the snot out of AAs at 100% aaxp, flipping restless assault maybe?

I wouldn't speed to 120 and then try and grind 40k AAs

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

i tell folks this all the time and it is really really important. Content is designed around "relatively even" to content gear/aa/augs - you can't have autogrant AAs and bump to 120 with empty type 7 aug slots and heroic gear and be as successful as you want to be.

can you kludge through some overland mobs? sure, but the moment things go sideways you're in for a world of hurt.

They're pretty generous with this - for example with a tov t1'd group of 110s using tbm 32 type 5s, and 60-70% of the RoS AAs, i could 1 drop griklor - but those AAs were all placed fairly well so i more or less had most of the stuff you would expect going into this new content

Focus AAs, in particular, are weird because they're not just linear in effectiveness, they have tabled thresholds that you get 0 benefits unless you have xyz rank of it.

your box toons you don't need to be as "on the ball" with, but your tank you definitely want something like 60-70% of the AAs relative to your level before moving on in many cases.

once you are caught up on AAs it is SO much easier to stay caught up, as these modern expansions (depending on what class) are only doing 5-10ish k aas per xpac. but needing to get 40k+ of them is rough.

for 120 SKs need over 67k AAs to be max'd out

if i were in your shoes, I would take whatever group comp that i find the most enjoyable, and i would spend some time farming the snot out of AAs at 100% aaxp, flipping restless assault maybe?

I wouldn't speed to 120 and then try and grind 40k AAs

Thanks, Sic. I think that is what I was looking for. I have my SK Type 7'd out, even if they aren't the top Type 7's available. Restless Assault as a plan was probably what I was fishing for.

As always, thanks for your sage advice!

 

[Deleted member 241925]

I've run a combination of that group before(Minus the Ranger) works really well. Just make sure you gear the tank with all the best stuff first. I would recommend getting more AA. I had max AA + COV t3 crafted gear in all slots and some fights in TOL own me pretty hard still obviously everything is tuned for 120 most likely but whenever I hit a progression blocker adding AA seemed to solve most problems. I run the mqgrind in the restless assault instance for AA and it works really well at 117, 10-20 second kills vs the 60s+ kills in the shei instance. This is with SK/SHM/BRD/BST/NEC/ROG and WAR/CLR/ENC/DRU/MAG/ZERK. I moved the NEC to my SK group for the AA dispel for the mobs in Umbral plains I couldn't find any other way to handle dispels with the CWTN plugins. I also swap in the CLR to the main group for instances, not sure why but my shaman cannot seem to keep everyone alive in Shei with what was max aa and full t3 cov. Adding the cleric makes the group unkillable. One of the advantages of being flexible and having everything on diff accounts. At the end of the day anything will work as long as you have a tank/healer/cc,

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

So I ran this crew thru the MQ2Grind for Restless Assault a couple of times and its a ton of fun! My Shammy is still too low to really be an effective healer if the SK runs into the middle of 3+ worms and dies, but otherwise it's been great!

AAs are adding up fairly quickly. I think that once I get the right balance going, it should run a lot smoother!

 

[Deleted member 241925]

You should be able to get decent exp in GMM, I think grind supports that one also. I remember stopping there to max out my tanks tanking AA before trying TOV.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

Aaaaah. I jumped straight from the Gobby's to Restless Assault. (and for clarity, I only did that one twice...)

I'll give that a try. Thanks!

 

[Ssoulle]

SKs don't necessarily need a healer. But I notice you chose a caster heavy group. I would probably recommend a druid over shaman, to assist with caster dps.

For Caster DPS, the best supports are: Enc > Dru > Brd (Swap brd and dru if necro)
For Melee DPS, the best supports are: Brd > Bst/Shm > Ber

You have a slower in the enchanter, so should be fine.

 

[burdsjm]

Druids really aren't a class I would trust to solo heal. They can dps but there heals are limited.

 

[Dobber123]

@Colonel - USMC Retired. Before i changed any thing i would start a conversion on equipment and another on class tacktics. (burn, ohshit and crowd control).Spare no expense getting him the right augs, trophies and clicky ( this may have be a nerf

Blood Drinker's Coating). Also When you say no real group work. It makes me think you may be missing group progression/achievements that grant permanent increases to stats, trophies, and other strong/useful items. You have a great group make up. Going back and completing group content should be no problem as long as you look before you leap. The exp will suck but the aa exp rewards should make it hurt less. Note. you many have to start the the progression hachements before you can see them under the special tab. Completing Trials of Mata Murum increases your resistance to magic, cold, fire, disease and poison by 50 points. Below is an aa achievement ranked up while doing dragons of norrath keepers/dark reign progression. The second table tells ya where to find the Hero's AAs. The last table has some personal trophies. {i could not get the tables like i wanted them.}

Power of the Keepers (4)

-

1: Increase Base Stats by 10 2: Increase Base Stats Cap by 10 3: Increase Max HP by 3% 4: Increase Max Mana by 200 5: Increase Max Endurance by 200 6: Increase Buff Slots by 1 7: Increase Chance to Critical DoT by 1% 8: Increase Chance to Critical Heal by 1% 9: Increase Chance to Critical Nuke by 1% 10: Increase Chance to Critical Hit by 40% Your devotion to Norrath's Keepers increases your total and maximum strength, stamina, agility, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence, and charisma by 10 points, your maximum base health (derived from your stamina) by 3%, your maximum mana and endurance by 200 points, the number of mystical effects that can affect you by 1, your chance of performing a critical melee hit with all skills by 40%, and the chance your spells will apply critically by 1%.

Hero's Fortitude: Increases your armor class, attack power and the maximum amount of attack you can gain from items by 10 points per rank.
Hero's Resolution: Increases your base statistics and the maximum that your base statistics can be increased by items and spells by 5 points per rank. Additionally this ability increases your natural hit point, mana and endurance regeneration and the maximum that your hit point and mana regeneration can be increased by items by 2 points per rank.
Hero's Vitality: Increases your maximum hit points, mana, endurance as well as how far below zero your hit points can fall before you die by 25 points per rank.
As of The Burning Lands, there are 60 ranks of Hero's Fortitude, 30 ranks of Hero's Resolution, and 60 ranks of Hero's Vitality

Achievement	Hero's Fortitude	Hero's Resolution	Hero's Vitality
Savior of West Karana	F		V
Savior of West Karana II	F
Savior of West Karana III	F	R
Savior of Bixie Warfront	F		V
Savior of Bixie Warfront II			V
Savior of Dead Hills	F		V
Savior of Dead Hills II			V
Savior of Neriak	F		V
Savior of Neriak II	F
Savior of Argin Hiz		R	V
Savior of Tower of Rot	F		V
Lesser Challenger of the Call	F	R	V
Accomplished Challenger of the Call		R
Greater Challenger of the Call		R
Legendary Challenger of the Call	F		V
Total COTF	10	5	10
Savior of Arx Mentis	F		V
Savior of Combine Dredge	F		V
Savior of Thuliasaur	F		V
Savior of Degmar	F		V
Savior of Caverns	F		V
Savior of Brother Island	F		V
Savior of Katta (Deluge)	F		V
Savior of Tempest Temple	F		V
Challenger of the Dark Seas	F		V
Seafarer	F	R	V
Lesser Hero of the Darkened Sea		R
Accomplished Hero of the Darkened Sea		R
Greater Hero of the Darkened Sea		R
Legendary Hero of the Darkened Sea		R
Total TDS	10	5	10
Mirror Master	F		V
Champion of The Broken Mirror	F		V
Paragon of The Broken Mirror	F		V
Challenger of The Broken Mirror	F		V
Lesser Spirit Armor (progression)	F		V
Savior of the Plane of Health	F	R	V
Savior of the Sul Vius, Demiplane of Life	F	R	V
Savior of the Sul Vius, Demiplane of Decay	F	R	V
Savior of the Crypt of Decay	F	R	V
Savior of the Crypt of Sul	F	R	V
Total TBM	10	5	10
Tsaph's Champion		R
Hero of Lceanium		R
Hero of The Temple of Droga		R
Hero of Chardok		R
Hero of Kor-Sha Laboratory		R
Savior of Lceanium	F		V
Savior of The Scorched Woods	F		V
Savior of Frontier Mountains	F		V
Savior of The Temple of Droga	F		V
Savior of Chardok	F		V
Savior of Gates of Kor-Sha	F		V
Savior of Kor-Sha Laboratory	F		V
Novice Hunter of the Empires of Kunark	F		V
Adept Hunter of the Empires of Kunark	F		V
Veteran Hunter of the Empires of Kunark	F		V
Total EOK	10	5	10
Scalebreaker		R
The Ring of Scale Slayer	F		V
Hero of the Overthere		R
Hero of the Skyfire Mountains		R
Hero of the Gorowyn		R
Hero of the Veeshan's Peak		R
Savior of The Overthere	F		V
Savior of The Skyfire Mountains	F		V
Savior of The Howling Stones	F		V
Savior of Sathir's Tomb	F		V
Savior of Gorowyn	F		V
Savior of Veeshan's Peak	F		V
Novice Hunter of The Ring of Scale	F		V
Adept Hunter of The Ring of Scale	F		V
Veteran Hunter of The Ring of Scale	F		V
Total ROS	10	5	10
Savior of Stratos: Zephyr’s Flight	F		V
Savior of the Plane of Smoke	F		V
Savior of Empyre: Realm of Ash	F		V
Savior of Esianti: Palace of the Winds	F		V
Savior of Aalishai: Palace of Embers	F		V
Savior of Mearatas: The Stone Demesne	F		V
Savior of The Chamber of Tears	F		V
Savior of Doomfire: The Burning Lands	F		V
Hero of Stratos: Zephyr’s Flight	F		V
Hero of the Plane of Smoke	F		V
Hero of Empyre: Realm of Ash		R
Hero of Esianti: Palace of the Winds		R
Hero of Aalishai: Palace of Embers		R
Hero of Mearatas: The Stone Demesne		R
Hero of Doomfire: The Burning Lands		R
Total TBL	10	5	10

TROPHY	SOURCE NOTES	BENEFITS
NAME	&	&
(Tribute Name)	MISCELLANOUS INFORMATION	TIERS
Idol of Severilous	This is converted from Prize: Idol of Severilous, a possible (tradable) reward from one of the LoN (Legends of Norrath) Marketplace items.	+10 to + 300 Mana, Endurance & Hit Points
(Listed as "Essence of Severilous" in the Tribute Window)	Level 10 to 90 required (increases by Tier).	9 Tiers
Idol of Talendor	This is converted from Prize: Idol of Talendor, a possible (tradable) reward from one of the LoN (Legends of Norrath) Marketplace items.	+5 to +45 Armor Class & +5 to +140 Hit Points
(Listed as "Essence of Talendor" in the Tribute Window)	Level 10 to 70 required (increases). For some reason, currently, Tier 9 drops the Level requirement back down to 70, from Level 80 at Tier 8).	9 Tiers
Idol of the Fallen	This is converted from Prize: Idol of the Fallen, a possible (tradable) reward from one of the LoN (Legends of Norrath) Marketplace items.	+30 to +45 Armor Class; +75 to +75 to +150 Hit Points; +15 to +60 Disease Resist; +5 to +20 Corruption Resist; and +15 to +60 Poison Resist.
(Listed as "Essence of the Fallen" in the Tribute Window)	Level 80 required. For some reason, currently, Tier 2 drops the Level Requirement to Level 50 and then Tier 2 & 3 move it back upwards to Level 60 & Level 70.	4 Tiers
Idol of the Prismatic	This is converted from Prize: Idol of the Prismatic, a possible (tradable) reward from one of the LoN (Legends of Norrath) Marketplace items.	+1 to +4 all Heroic Stats
(Listed as "Essence of Kerafyrm" in the Tribute Window)	Level 60 to 90 required (increases by Tier).	4 Tiers
Lost Wayfarer's Tent	This one is crafted by acquiring and combining the (6) different parts (Tailoring, no fail) that can drop in the 19th Anniversary "Lost but Not Forgotten" (when active) mission, from Dismas Kaneriti in the Plane of Knowledge.	+200 Armor Class; +12 to all Heroics; +3,000 Hit Points, Mana & Endurance; +5 Hit Point & Mana Regeneration; +50 Heal Amount & Spell Damage; and +90 Clairvoyance.
This item is also required for the Achievement: 19th Anniversary Tasks (Bonus).	1 Tier
Level 110 required.
Mortal's Ethereal Wonder	This is one of the awards from the Achievement: Burning Lands Master Scavenger.	+50 to all Heroics; +75 Heal Amount; and +75 Spell Damage.
Level 110 required.	1 Tier
Rallos Zek's Axe Replica	This is one of the awards from the Achievement: Torment of Velious Master Scavenger.	+55 to all Heroics; +100 Heal Amount; and +100 Spell Damage.
Level 115 required.	1 Tier
Replica of the Qeynos Claymore	This is the award from the Achievement: Greater Hero of the Call.	+100 Armor Class; +5 to all Heroics; +500 Hit Points; +500 Mana; +500 Endurance; +20 Heal Amount; and +20 Spell Damage.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Scavenger's Prize	This is one of the awards from the Achievement: Ring of Scale Master Scavenger.	+200 Armor Class; +15 Heroic Strength; +15 to all Heroics; +2,000 Hit Points; +2,000 Mana; +2,000 Endurance; +50 Heal Amount; and +50 Spell Damage.
Level 110 required.	1 Tier
Golden Helm of Rallos Zek	This is acquired in the 16th Anniversary mission, "Liquid Courage" (when active), which is initiated by picking up the Flaming Sword of War lying by the Plane of War Portal in the Plane of Tranquility. This item is randomly awarded to (1) Player (who does not all ready possess it) after killing about 74 skeletons, ogres, giants and / or orcs.	+75 Armor Class; +500 Hit Points, Mana & Endurance.
(Listed as "Spirit of Rallos Zek" in the Tribute Window.)	Level 100 required.	1 Tier
Shadow Torchiere	This is acquired from the Achievement: Shadow Seeker.	+150 Spell Damage; +150 Heal Amount; +75 Heroic Stats.
Temple Torchery	This is one of the awards from the Achievement: Ring of Scale Master Scavenger.	+65 to all Heroics; +125 Spell Damage & Heal Amount.
Level 115 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of Burning Towers	Achievement: Savior of Erudin Burning	+6 to 14 Heroic Intelligence & +50 to 150 Mana.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of Dank Waters	Achievement: Savior of The Well	+25 to 45 Cold Resist & +25 to 45 Magic Resist.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of Dreams	Achievement: Savior of Morell's Castle	+10 to 18 Agility; +10 to 18 Agility Cap; & +12 to 30 Armor Class.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of Duality	Achievement: Paragon of The Broken Mirror	+150 Armor Class; +10 to all Heroics; +750 Hit Points, Mana & Endurance; and +20 Heal Amount & Spell Damage.
Level 105 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of Fearful Dreams	Achievement: Savior of Fear Itself	+2 to 9 Damage Shield
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of Phylacteries	Achievement: Savior of Miragul's Nightmare	+10 to +18 Intelligence & +10 to +18 Intelligence Cap.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of Sleep	Achievement: Savior of Sanctum Somnium	+50 to 150 Hit Points, Mana & Endurance; and 12 to 30 Armor Class.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Bookkeeper	Achievement: Savior of The Library	+6 to +14 Heroic Wisdom & 6 to +50 to +150 Endurance.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Breeding Grounds	Trophy of the Breeding Grounds	+20 Heroic Dexterity & +5 Riposte.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the Caverns	Achievement: Savior of the Crystal Caverns: Fragment of Fear	+5 Worn Mana Regeneration & +40 Heal Amount.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the Fearful Forest	Achievement: Savior of The Feerrott	+50 to +150 Hit Points & +25 to +45 Poison Resist.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Garden Path	Achievement: Savior of The Grounds	+35% to 55% Travel Speed
Level 95 required.	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Giant	Achievement: Savior of Kael Drakkel: The King's Madness	+400 Hit Points, Mana & Endurance.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the House	Achievement: Savior of the House of Thule	+10 to +18 Strength & +10 to +18 Strength overcap.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Ice Spiral	Achievement: Savior of Al'Kabor's Nightmare	+10 to +18 Wisdom & +10 to +18 Wisdom Overcap.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Landing	Achievement: Savior of Shard's Landing	+20 Heroic Stamina & +45 Armor Class.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the Rooms	Achievement: Savior of the House of Thule, Upper Floors	+10 to +18 Stamina & +10 to +18 Stamina Overcap.
Level 70 to 90 required (it progresses with each Tier).	5 Tiers
Trophy of the Seafarer	Achievement: Paragon of The Darkened Sea	+75 Armor Class; +25 Swimming; +5 to all Heroic Stats; +10 Heal Amount & Spell Damage.
Level 100 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the Tree	Achievement: Savior of Evantil, the Vile Oak	+20 Heroic Strength & +20 Attack Cap.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier
Trophy of the Waste	Achievement: Savior of East Wastes: Zeixshi-Kar's Awakening	+5 Worn Mana Regeneration & +40 Spell Damage.
Level 95 required.	1 Tier

 

[Saffron]

Collections are a great way to snag some AA as well as trophies for a couple xpacs. I hope you are working in some some dispenser quests in your overseer.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

SKs don't necessarily need a healer. But I notice you chose a caster heavy group. I would probably recommend a druid over shaman, to assist with caster dps.

For Caster DPS, the best supports are: Enc > Dru > Brd (Swap brd and dru if necro)
For Melee DPS, the best supports are: Brd > Bst/Shm > Ber

You have a slower in the enchanter, so should be fine.

To be honest, my group is made up more from past sentimentality than anything else. The Ranger was my first toon ever, the Necro has been my Main since 2000, the Enchanter was created on a new account when EQ went FTP back in 2012, the SK was created at the same time for my son, and I created an account for every class in 2012, just because we could. The Mage and Shammy weren't really played at all and were levelled up using Overseer, for the most part.

Druids really aren't a class I would trust to solo heal. They can dps but there heals are limited.

I have a 115 Druid, but she just sits in the Guild Hall soaking up Overseer, ha ha.

@Colonel - USMC Retired. Before i changed any thing i would start a conversion on equipment and another on class tacktics. (burn, ohshit and crowd control).Spare no expense getting him the right augs, trophies and clicky ( this may have be a nerf

Blood Drinker's Coating). Also When you say no real group work. It makes me think you may be missing group progression/achievements that grant permanent increases to stats, trophies, and other strong/useful items. You have a great group make up. Going back and completing group content should be no problem as long as you look before you leap. The exp will suck but the aa exp rewards should make it hurt less. Note. you many have to start the the progression hachements before you can see them under the special tab. Completing Trials of Mata Murum increases your resistance to magic, cold, fire, disease and poison by 50 points. Below is an aa achievement ranked up while doing dragons of norrath keepers/dark reign progression. The second table tells ya where to find the Hero's AAs. The last table has some personal trophies. {i could not get the tables like i wanted them.}

Thanks, Dobber - that's a ton of great info. My Necro has a lot of progression done (meaning - Missions, Quests and Conquests; never did any raiding) on all of the expansions from Veil of Alaris and before. The majority of the reason that I got into trying RedGuides was that my Necro had reached a point where he couldn't really progress without at least a group of 6, so I needed to "power up" a few toons to help him out. Over the last couple of months, my focus is now more on my SK to get him to where he needs to be for some actual boxing in the coming months.

Collections are a great way to snag some AA as well as trophies for a couple xpacs. I hope you are working in some some dispenser quests in your overseer.

My Necro is complete on Collections (minus ToL) and my Ranger is about 50% complete. Up until recently, I'd been using Overseer to level up a crap ton of Heroic toons and to max out the Merc AAs. I'm now using Overseer to exclusively get the dispensers on all of my 110+ toons to finish them up.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

I've been running the Darkness Howls task with MQ2Grind for the past few days and it has been awesome. I've racked up around 800+ AAs on my 116 toons and just over 900 AAs on my 110 Shammy (plus gotten him about halfway to 111, set at 70% to AA). @Ssoulle - You're right, my SK probably doesn't need a healer, but the Shammy is kinda my #6 focus toon at the moment. I have a 98 Bard that I could probably swap into the group, but I'm really liking this group at the current time.

Thanks again to everyone for the insights and nudges!

 

[Dobber123]

@Colonel - USMC Retired Equiping 6 toons is hard to begin with, but keeping up with it is the pits. Camping mobs should be right up your field. Go here> raidloot.com< to serch for types of items you need. Use filters to narrow down the options, and set a Oder/scrore. to find best possible match. You will see mob drops along with rewards from acheiments and quests. Now let me rattle off some knowledge. Make sure your focus matches the level of spell or skill you are using. I have royally goofed spell haste and focus on my casters. My heals casted slow enough to break my socials. I noticed you necro and mage are 116 so i will point out Summoner's trinket drops in darkness. That Lose 100% is not always listed. I use to avoid going after hard to reach pet focuse. If you don't have the fouse don't cast the pet. Also it may be better to wait to use new pet spells. It seems if you level before casting they come out stronger, but i can't prove it. Lastly you might want to take a look at your luck. I don't think you can easily by luck items from bazar, so give your self a look. Min and max luck of an itme is determent by expansion. TBL luck 1-5, Tov l6-10, COV 11-15 in general. No one has mentioned it but a little luck in every slot makes a differences. The idea i have is try to pick the easy ones in tov. My bard, mage and cleric are close to each having full luck set from Darkness. I spank trash, but boss give me hell..
tov Luck items
cov Luck items

Enhanced Minion XXI.
Slot 1: Increase Pet Power (155)
Slot 2: Limit Max Level: 115 (Lose 100% per Level)
Slot 3: Limit Min Level: 96

 

[Ssoulle]

At the end of the day, Everquest is not a very difficult game and you can do content with basically anything that has any tank and any healer. The rest is just efficiency/fun choices. If playing your nostalgic toons is your jam, then go for it man.

 

[Dobber123]

@Ssoulle I should have started with. "Does this look viable?" Yes, yes it does. How every my thoughts had already spiraled atp.
He has a lot of options in that group. I know a fair amount, but at a glance not enough to see how they fit together. SK (Tank/Puller), Necro, Ranger, Mage, Enchanter, Shammy. 4 pullers, 3 tanks, start every fight with 5 pets(does ranger get pet?), slows/debuffs, roots, snares, fd, pet fd, calm/aoe, mez, Memory wipe, extra. The dps is a puzzle i would really have to dig into. The group looks like it could do a fare amount of aoe and dot damage, but i have little exp using them. It minded me of the holy trinity. Tank, healer, and CC.

I wish i had know the holy trinity. Real tank, healer, and CC is the key to success.

If i known how important a Tank was going to be i would have put a lot of effort in to learning the war class. I have tried but have never been able to pull off playing a tank in any game. I am reminded that i'm not that great with enc or ranger as well.

 

[Fueil]

I say this a lot cause it's true. I've been told NY numerous people over the years (Sic included), play what you enjoy! It's your game, make it just that. If you want to roll a steamroller group, go for it. If you want that nostalgic group, hell yeah! We are all for it whatever you decide.

I've ran some odd groups just because of sitting in Lower Guk for weeks gearing out my warrior or mage back in the day. All the different type of class mixing, and not to mention the friends I had made. Example would be, for years I always had a mage in my group, or now necro.

It's fun to experiment, but overall you are on the right track. Like others have said, you got a tank and heals covered. Personally I love the enchanter for cc over the bard. However, if I'm melee heavy, you bet your bottom dollar I work harder to get my cc tweaked for bard.

Just have fun, if you need help or suggestions, we are here for ya!

Also, thank you for your service! My cousin (21 years served) and his wife (23 years served) retired about 4 years ago. Big adjustment for them, but they hate video games. So, they'll never know the deep dive of EQ lol.

 

[swarmhost9922]

I used to be concerned about my group compositions and efficiency and all that nonsense but tbh like @Ssoulle has stated, the game is not difficult and anything with a tank and healer will be fine.

Don't drive yourself crazy and over complicate your group.

1) Pick a tank
2) Pick a healer (legit any of them work, including a druid)
3) Pick any 4 classes to add to the group

The idea that you need a fully synergized group to play EverQuest, at a group level, is insane. I know a handful of people who attempted to hit that "ultimate composition" and they end up bored or unhappy with their choices. The game, including group progression, is extremely easy and requires hardly any critical thinking or mechanical skill. I'd be willing to bet an extremely small number of people actually achieve max efficiency with their team of six. If they did, they would be spending a ton of time writing configs for every situation under the sun. I just don't see that happening, lol.

Play what you want. Grind those AAs, get those augs, get those items, and just be happy and enjoy the great game of EverQuest.

 

[phillsphan]

I used to be concerned about my group compositions and efficiency and all that nonsense but tbh like @Ssoulle has stated, the game is not difficult and anything with a tank and healer will be fine.

Don't drive yourself crazy and over complicate your group.

1) Pick a tank
2) Pick a healer (legit any of them work, including a druid)
3) Pick any 4 classes to add to the group

The idea that you need a fully synergized group to play EverQuest, at a group level, is insane. I know a handful of people who attempted to hit that "ultimate composition" and they end up bored or unhappy with their choices. The game, including group progression, is extremely easy and requires hardly any critical thinking or mechanical skill. I'd be willing to bet an extremely small number of people actually achieve max efficiency with their team of six. If they did, they would be spending a ton of time writing configs for every situation under the sun. I just don't see that happening, lol.

Play what you want. Grind those AAs, get those augs, get those items, and just be happy and enjoy the great game of EverQuest.

Well said

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

Also, thank you for your service! My cousin (21 years served) and his wife (23 years served) retired about 4 years ago. Big adjustment for them, but they hate video games. So, they'll never know the deep dive of EQ lol.

Ha ha. Be sure to thank THEM for THEIR service for me! I know how rough it can be in a single military family; dual can be extremely challenging at times (especially when it comes time for Orders!).

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

Thanks to everyone for the insights and ideas. I'm going to stick with this group for now (at least while I get the AA "thing" under control, ha ha!). Sincerely appreciate everything!

 

[Inictus]

I used to be concerned about my group compositions and efficiency and all that nonsense but tbh like @Ssoulle has stated, the game is not difficult and anything with a tank and healer will be fine.

Don't drive yourself crazy and over complicate your group.

1) Pick a tank
2) Pick a healer (legit any of them work, including a druid)
3) Pick any 4 classes to add to the group

The idea that you need a fully synergized group to play EverQuest, at a group level, is insane. I know a handful of people who attempted to hit that "ultimate composition" and they end up bored or unhappy with their choices. The game, including group progression, is extremely easy and requires hardly any critical thinking or mechanical skill. I'd be willing to bet an extremely small number of people actually achieve max efficiency with their team of six. If they did, they would be spending a ton of time writing configs for every situation under the sun. I just don't see that happening, lol.

Play what you want. Grind those AAs, get those augs, get those items, and just be happy and enjoy the great game of EverQuest.

I needed to hear this. I've been torturing myself over which of the many groups of mine to focus on - instead of going back and forth getting nothing accomplished. I typically gravitate towards conservative groups with more utility than DPS which makes life easier but then that voice on the other shoulder tries to convince me to get the best group possible with the best DPS. There is no best group I've come to discover. The best advice is play what you have most fun with - which is sort of common sense for a game.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

The best advice is play what you have most fun with - which is sort of common sense for a game.

I definitely concur.

 

[swarmhost9922]

I needed to hear this. I've been torturing myself over which of the many groups of mine to focus on - instead of going back and forth getting nothing accomplished. I typically gravitate towards conservative groups with more utility than DPS which makes life easier but then that voice on the other shoulder tries to convince me to get the best group possible with the best DPS. There is no best group I've come to discover. The best advice is play what you have most fun with - which is sort of common sense for a game.

Np man. Straight up, it won't matter what you play. Everyone I play with gave me crap about running Pal, Dru, Enc, Brd, Nec, Mag and it was way more fun and just as "good" as anything else. Sure, I wasn't killing mobs in 10-20 seconds like some folks want/expect but once you're max AA's what the hell does grinding mobs matter? You do you. That is all that matters. Don't let others tread on your fun.

 

[Sic]

Np man. Straight up, it won't matter what you play. Everyone I play with gave me crap about running Pal, Dru, Enc, Brd, Nec, Mag and it was way more fun and just as "good" as anything else. Sure, I wasn't killing mobs in 10-20 seconds like some folks want/expect but once you're max AA's what the hell does grinding mobs matter? You do you. That is all that matters. Don't let others tread on your fun.

100%

Having fun and enjoying your > anything else

for some people "having fun and enjoying your team" means something different, and that is cool.

if you enjoy your team makeup because it reminds you of playing with old friends from `02 and you're meeting all your needs and having a good time, then absolutely keep doing that. people enjoying the game is what keeps the game going so lean into the fun

 

[wymranar]

@Colonel - USMC Retired

Are your toons going to be all gold or will you have some F2P? If you have some F2P, then I’ve found that you want to maximize efficiencies if you want to accomplish all group content that is perfect.

For example, I started with a set up I chose for fun/survivability, then found out that I was running up against DPS checks. So, I switched to BER, BER, BST, BRD, CLR, WAR.

Your mileage may vary and you can overcome dps inefficiencies with an all gold group.

 

[Sum1]

I’m all about keeping it fun and not worrying about min/max’ing your groups.

With that said, the game long ago shifted from favoring well-rounded, utility-driven content to STRONGLY rewarding dps. These days in both the raid game and group game, teams that come with a shitload of dps can circumvent many mechanics. Grik and Zlandi are examples of that. In ToL, Shei can be one-shot without messing with the healer mobs if your dps is really high. Dps matters. But should it reign supreme? Meh. Not if you don’t want or need it to.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

100%

Having fun and enjoying your > anything else

for some people "having fun and enjoying your team" means something different, and that is cool.

if you enjoy your team makeup because it reminds you of playing with old friends from `02 and you're meeting all your needs and having a good time, then absolutely keep doing that. people enjoying the game is what keeps the game going so lean into the fun

​

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

@Colonel - USMC Retired

Are your toons going to be all gold or will you have some F2P? If you have some F2P, then I’ve found that you want to maximize efficiencies if you want to accomplish all group content that is perfect.

For example, I started with a set up I chose for fun/survivability, then found out that I was running up against DPS checks. So, I switched to BER, BER, BST, BRD, CLR, WAR.

Your mileage may vary and you can overcome dps inefficiencies with an all gold group.

​

My 6-Box right now is all Gold - three are on one-year contracts and the other three are Krono'd (may go with the one-year thing in another month or two, we'll see). All six are wearing all Faded Snowbound visibles and have some form of "Ice Encrusted" or similar jewelry and other gear. I think that once I've gotten their AAs to where they need to be, 6-Boxing the progression content up as far as I can will be a lot of fun. I had previously done it all solo on my Necro, up until around Veil of Alaris, anyway. This time it will be less painful and more fun, I think.

 

[Colonel - USMC Retired]

Np man. Straight up, it won't matter what you play. Everyone I play with gave me crap about running Pal, Dru, Enc, Brd, Nec, Mag and it was way more fun and just as "good" as anything else. Sure, I wasn't killing mobs in 10-20 seconds like some folks want/expect but once you're max AA's what the hell does grinding mobs matter? You do you. That is all that matters. Don't let others tread on your fun.

​

I don't really play with anyone, so I'm not worried what they would think, ha ha! I've been pretty much solo since 2003, right after I became an officer in the Corps. From that point on, I played when I could with a lot of the reasons not to play that I had. I was a full-time Marine officer constantly deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, I teach online college courses in the evenings when I was deployed, I am married to the most beautiful chick on earth (true statement, she's a former South American beauty queen and former figure competition champ, and she hates video games, ha ha) and I have the two most awesome kids you could ask for - so, I got into the habit of waking up super early on weekdays and playing for 45-60 minutes before going to work. That resulted in slow movement to the newest level caps, never getting close to max AA, and settling for the best gear I could make (max on all tradeskills since 200 was a thing) or that I could solo, then molo.

These past few months that I've really started getting into the Macros and Plugins here on RedGuides has given me new possibilities, as far as characters and content are concerned. I again appreciate all of the insights from everyone here!