After close to two weeks of asking questions and going back and forth a thousand times, I've finally made a decision.
For those of you who were taking bets on what I would end up doing, I won't keep you waiting. I'm going with BST/Brd/Mage.
My whole journey to MQ and Redguides was because I wanted to enhance my Beastlord and get more out of the limited time I had to play. It didn't take long for me to get caught up in the idea of needing a full group and of course that meant I needed a tank and a real healer and the whole lineup of characters.
However, that's just not how I like to play. There is a reason I abandoned my SK many years ago and worked up a Beastlord on that same account. The BST allowed me to accomplish things with less gear and less time than I could get done on the SK. Maybe part of that was me not being very good at playing an SK but it is what it is.
I love mashing buttons on my BST and for weeks I've grinded in LS taking down quests, and named mobs with just my BST/BRD combo. Additionally, I almost always grab a couple of guildies who are in desperate need of exp and a group. The only issue I've come across since LS was released was a lack of dps. Not an issue of needing a tank or more heals. So over the weekend, I spent time working up a Mage that was currently level 78. Having the 112SK with MQ2eskay made getting the Mage up in levels very easy and that is still one way I can get use out of the SK when needed.
In my mind, I have tanking covered. Albeit, not having area taunt can be an issue, but I have Bard on Kissassist for CC.
With the addition of the Mage, I'll get the much-needed extra DPS boost and another pet to tank. The cool thing about MQ2mage is that if your MT goes down, then it will toggle on pet taunt as a backup, which is awesome and an investment I intend to make in the future.
Up to this point, the cleric merc has done just fine. Partially do to the fact that if things get too hairy, I can simply patch-heal my own pet. If I end up doing content later on where heals are an issue, then I may at that time consider working up a cleric.
To make a long story short, I went with the combination that gets me excited to log in play, and interact with others. Even if it's not the best for owning the whole world of EQ.
Thanks for all the suggestions and tips. MQ is making my EQ experience a 10000% better and I love the forums and community here at Redguides.
For those of you who were taking bets on what I would end up doing, I won't keep you waiting. I'm going with BST/Brd/Mage.
My whole journey to MQ and Redguides was because I wanted to enhance my Beastlord and get more out of the limited time I had to play. It didn't take long for me to get caught up in the idea of needing a full group and of course that meant I needed a tank and a real healer and the whole lineup of characters.
However, that's just not how I like to play. There is a reason I abandoned my SK many years ago and worked up a Beastlord on that same account. The BST allowed me to accomplish things with less gear and less time than I could get done on the SK. Maybe part of that was me not being very good at playing an SK but it is what it is.
I love mashing buttons on my BST and for weeks I've grinded in LS taking down quests, and named mobs with just my BST/BRD combo. Additionally, I almost always grab a couple of guildies who are in desperate need of exp and a group. The only issue I've come across since LS was released was a lack of dps. Not an issue of needing a tank or more heals. So over the weekend, I spent time working up a Mage that was currently level 78. Having the 112SK with MQ2eskay made getting the Mage up in levels very easy and that is still one way I can get use out of the SK when needed.
In my mind, I have tanking covered. Albeit, not having area taunt can be an issue, but I have Bard on Kissassist for CC.
With the addition of the Mage, I'll get the much-needed extra DPS boost and another pet to tank. The cool thing about MQ2mage is that if your MT goes down, then it will toggle on pet taunt as a backup, which is awesome and an investment I intend to make in the future.
Up to this point, the cleric merc has done just fine. Partially do to the fact that if things get too hairy, I can simply patch-heal my own pet. If I end up doing content later on where heals are an issue, then I may at that time consider working up a cleric.
To make a long story short, I went with the combination that gets me excited to log in play, and interact with others. Even if it's not the best for owning the whole world of EQ.
Thanks for all the suggestions and tips. MQ is making my EQ experience a 10000% better and I love the forums and community here at Redguides.