Question - Odd 3 man groups that work well?

[EQbackagain]

Just thought about making something like a 2 necro, 1 mage group to go with mercs. Anyone had success with an oddball group like this?

Heck, I might even expand it to 3 necros, 2 mages and a druid (mainly for coth and port purposes).

 

[playj]

For oddball group to work there has to be some mechanic that would make it work well.

So the question is how well do multiple necros stack?

I am partial to multiple mages+enc+druid but that is pretty standard. Single ENC makes pretty much any group work.

 

[eqtrader74]

You can make it work. I've tried various small three man set ups with side-lined alts that didn't fit into my main group. The issue with DoT damage vs time it takes your group to kill trash was discussed a little while back.

I've tried pet-tank groups and had problems on bigger pulls. The pets didn't hold the extra mobs well while mezzes were going on. I never got around to leveling the toons, but was wanting to try a Mage-Mage-Mage-SHM-BST-Ench group to use the mage alliance + Storm of Many spells with a custom pet counter condition.

I ran a three healer-type group for a long time, SK-CLR-SHM-DRU-MG-BRD, and it worked fine. But high HP named became an issue. If they stay alive too long you run into an unlucky spike of damage on the tank. I switched to tank-healer-mez + 3 DPS. That solved the issue and doubled my hourly kill rate. (Thanks Killtracker plugin.)

 

[kaen01]

bard wiz mage, bards little handy swarms and wiz swords and what count towards the mages many nuke.

bard works fairly well in kissassist to ge tthigns locked down on bigger pulls. and wizard markes t hings die fast.

zerker zerker zerker with 2 healer merc adn a tank merc could be fun to try.

 

[tecteacher]

There is a nec/nec group on FV that I have watched take down named in Chardok (when it was relevant) like a boss. I think the guy was using two healer mercs as well but am not positive, definitely at least one.

 

[Warl0ck45]

Necros has yet to receive the extra DoT damage from condensing their DoT lines down. Despite this, they can still be some mean damage dealers, though obviously not as fast as others. I tend to use a nec/sha combo with the third being what ever. The shaman can slow/buff/DoT, both have push-root for CCing, and the necro pet can tank when the third isn't one. But then I don't AFK play, and the macro I use has pause functions so I can pause to unf*ck the situation, then return to normal killing. This sort of set up lets me (admittedly slower) steadily XP any other toon while farming items.

But then I look at meeting the trifecta for groups. Need something to tank, need something that heals, need damage. Everything else is just icing. (Slowing helps but can be compensated by an extra form of healing, if needed) most folks go with extra DPS to hammer things down, but really anything works. Some work better then others, some you got to put a little extra work into so they are "pulling their weight" then others, but really, unless you are "big game hunting" anything works for XPing, especially while you collect gear for the latest up-and-comer toon.

If you are looking for a main group set up, I would personally go with a solid tank (I am partial to pal/sk, but that is mostly because they are better at assisting with self healing) some sort of back up healer to help the cleric merc (I prefer shaman, complimentary buffs plus slow/haste) and a solid DPS (I prefer my necro, but that i mostly cause I love necros =P Else I recommend a mage for secondary tankage) Then, even if you lose all your mercs for some reason, you can still soldier on if needed.

I have finished a number of hard fights with just my necro, or of course come back cause the shaman totemed or VPed something into a corner then brought everyone back up.

Some folks are also very partial to bards. I have not spent a lot of time, though I do have a few. I am sure someone can speak up to their capabilities in a 3 man group =)

 

[rhb]

Bard Sk Mage can pretty much do any group content in EQ, along with any quests. Coh + Bard speed + FD creates a quick way to run a SK around and do those annoying hails or item collects in dungeons. Add a zerk/wiz and you're gtg for anything. That's not really an odd group, so to stay relevant my favorite odd group is mage bard dru, its higher dps than you'd think and can travel easy.

 

[EQbackagain]

I actually have a 6 man group that includes SK, Mage and Bard so I totally understand you on that rhb

 

[Kyle]

I would do a mage, wizard, bard. The SK is good and all but the bard can pull/cc, and the wizard is much better DPS than an SK. You shouldn't need two tanks, the Mage pet should suffice unless they've nerfed them in the past few months.

 

[eqgeek]

If you have a melee group, go with a bard. If you have a caster group, go with a Chanter. If you want, you can do both since their requiem slow stacks with the enchanter's dreary deeds slow. I would chose an enchanter over a bard personally since they have so many enhancements and procs to other classes including their runes which keep them alive when pulling, twincast, chromatic haze, auras, etc. And if you wanted to avoid something like a spin stun while pulling, you could pet pull. If I had a 3 box caster heavy, I'd probably do chanter (puller with wiz merc) and mage (pettank with healer merc), and consider these with another wiz merc:

Beastlord - mana, buffs, and extra pets in case your mage pet falls, and run speed and FD if the group is gonna wipe (non-caster gear)
Necro - pets, undead slows, FD, and the odd evac (cons - really need epic and robe to be good)
Wiz - straight nukes and portability, great burns, plus the evac when things go wrong (cons - need gear for mana)
Shaman - still... pets, with heals, big ol' slow, buffs, cheetah speed, rez/CoW etc. (cons - need tons of gear and AA to be amazing)
Druid - eh... they have a ton of great buffs, ports, nuke-heals, rez/CoW, etc but their dps won't really compare to what you get with one of the above (in my opinion)

- - - Updated - - -

My original box was Enc, mage, Wiz but as the content got harder I had to swap the mage for an SK. Too many named who spawn adds which killed a group member or healer before they got locked down. I did Enc, SK, Wiz for a long time but struggled with some of the RoS named. I just added a shaman which really helped. I'm swapping out the Wiz for Mage or BL now and again just for fun.

 

[Sum1]

I used to main a bard and loved it, but it got tedious being the chump always pushing to chain pull in groups. That's a side note...

I tried a pet group, which was super fun. Honestly, I'd definitely have a ENC (cc, slows, puller, and rune tank (if necessary)), mage (dd, coth), and either a second mage or a beastlord. My beast was stupid high dps, and that have some great utility.

 

[Hambam]

Bst bard dru~ awesome combo

 

[Sum1]

Bst bard dru~ awesome combo

How well does kiss run the druid? I ask because it wasn't always the best at running the shaman to maximize dps while also paying attention to debuffs and spot heals. You really had to customize the .ini to focus on one thing (dps, or heals, or debuffs). Anything else and it sucked at everything.

 

[Minuteman]

Necro - pets, undead slows, FD, and the odd evac (cons - really need epic and robe to be good)

What robe, geek? I know nothing about necros.

 

[blackmarble]

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=36207

old CoA robe - Blightbringer's Tunic of the Grave

Epic and robe are trivial to get these days, but as others pointed out, wizard or mage would probably be a better choice for a group.

 

[eqgeek]

Yes, what the said ^^^

It doesn't take long to get them but still time consuming.

 

[Sum1]

Yes, what the said ^^^

It doesn't take long to get them but still time consuming.

And also really assinine that almost a decade later they're necessary for a class to top perform.