Question - Returning Group makeup

[Fueil]

Hello All,

It's been a little while, and I am returning too the game. I am curious if anyone is still using a Necro as their main play toon, with the Necro pet being the tank? I was using this before I took a hiatus from the game, my group makeup is a little weird, but for me its more of just playing stuff I like. However, I know that pets were getting nerfed left and right, just curious if they landed heads or tails. At this point, I am willing to remake my group setup all together, but if this is still working i'd much rather use it.

Necro, Shm, Druid, Enchanter, Mage, and Bard

Thanks all! Glad to be back and home!

 

[Sic]

Hello All,

It's been a little while, and I am returning too the game. I am curious if anyone is still using a Necro as their main play toon, with the Necro pet being the tank? I was using this before I took a hiatus from the game, my group makeup is a little weird, but for me its more of just playing stuff I like. However, I know that pets were getting nerfed left and right, just curious if they landed heads or tails. At this point, I am willing to remake my group setup all together, but if this is still working i'd much rather use it.

Necro, Shm, Druid, Enchanter, Mage, and Bard

Thanks all! Glad to be back and home!

Welcome back!

Group makeup really depends on your goals and expectations. Pet tanking is fine for many things - but you will have a hard time if you want to do group progression and big named hunting in TBL+

Having said that enjoying your group imo, is always more important than min/maxing

for me - the holy trinity is a alive and well - Tank, Pure healer (clr or shm), and a CC (ench or bard) - then i fill in the dps based on what CC i choose --- castery type group with enchanter and bard with melee type group --- there is plenty of flexibility with this type of setup, but you get the idea. --- some people would rather take the slight dps loss and run an enchanter with melee, because enchanters are so strong in the mez dept, for example.

TBL was a large jump up in difficulty over previous expansion growth - mobs hurt, a lot - having a "real" group (real tank, real heal, real cc, and strong supported dps) was very important. I remember back in the day my game-friends would be monk tanking, druid healing, and me necro with random people and my 2box cleric - and we could do anything --- a little different these days, unfortunately (unless hella-geared) ime.

Imo your group might have a hard time with stuff. I retired my ~20 year old necro for another berzerker just because killing mobs quickly was so important, and my other zerker was doing so much dps *quickly* (without ramp-up time).

SK/Pal/War would suite your group real well with a lot of flexibitliy. Paladins are looking like they could be real strong in this next xpac, Shadowknights are always fun and a strong choice with good utility and great group aggro, and a warrior can always take a good hit to the face.

Since you have a shm, i would stick your druid either on the bench or on backup heals while primarily doing dps

I'd suggest - Tank, Shm, Druid, Ench, Mage, Nec/Wiz/2ndMage and drop the bard since you have a mage and nec/dru

You're going to hear a ton of suggestions, and some strong opinions - just about all of them will be right, but lots of folks have different goals and expectations in mind, so take everything we're gonna tell you with a grain of salt.

Enjoying your group and having fun > min/maxing

 

[Fueil]

Thanks for the warm welcome back Sic, and I appreciate your input. I know putting out one of my group makeups is definitely opening up a lot of suggestions/tips, which I am looking for. I've always loved the necro class, before that it was a mage, and back that mage was a paladin. So, I am not opposed to much at all. I was considering even scrapping my group just to use my current setup as something I can mess around with, I haven't played seriously since VoA, so I've got tons of stuff to catch up on, which I am in no real rush. I am; however, looking at the TBL + content in my future, which makes me consider my group makeup even more so.

On a side story, I remember healing a monk tank as my shaman back in Lake of omen back in the day, so things have really changed since then! haha!

I use my SK as a power leveler, and leave him locked, so that is something that I am not interested leveling up, plus as OP as they are, I still enjoy my necro more than anything.

Basically I used the druid as backup heals for O-Shiet moment, but he does dps/ports pretty much. So, no love lost there.

My other option of group makeup I have no issues using my Paladin, I really enjoy it, so..

Paladin/Shm/Bard or Enchanter, I do enjoy me some charm, but mezzes are ideally the best option, but (run speed hello, right?), Ranger/rogue/zerker, Mage, Cleric. I can use the shaman as more dps? I may need to level more characters. Basing this off of what characters I have on what accounts of course.

Or I can just scrap them all, and start a new, and come back to my original setup? I am a bit all over the place, but why I am asking for some help.

Thanks all!

 

[Sic]

unless you want to sit down and decide RIGHT NOW what your goals are - I would just hop back in the game with your current team and start playing

mq2/VV makes it so easy to lvl up a new toon, or swap around your crew and whatnot if you change your mind.

having said that - I strongly recommend getting a "real" tank and tossing it in any makeup you want

 

[wymranar]

I'm trying to level up a group with a mage as MT right now and it has its challenges.

From what I've read on here and other places, it's possible to complete TBL with a pet class as MT. But, I've only heard of MAG and BST being able to do it. I believe the NEC pet is, unfortunately, not stout enough of a pet for TBL content.

If you are in love with the pet tank idea, I would level a BST or MAG, otherwise, use a real tank in your group.

 

[Fueil]

Thanks Sic, I am in game right now, getting things set back up again. I will heed your advice about a real tank, and I think that's probably the way I will end up going. A real tank setup is probably going to be the easy way out, but I will see how far I can make it with what I got at the moment. I just need to play and see, regardless I am rusty! Lol!


Thanks Wymranar, for the information. I have a mage in my group setup, so I can always have my mages pet MT the mobs, I just got some leveling to do on him.

 

[Fueil]

Hey All,

Just wanted to give a little update, and possibly get some feedback. After talking with Kaen a little more of my direction, I decided to swap my bard for a ranger, and it was a major improvement overall. Plus, my bard isn't dying almost every pull because of me not stopping the twist lol. My current makeup is Necro (main), enchanter, druid backup heals, sham heals, mage (almost ready to have mage pet tank still up and coming) and ranger she's almost 94.

So, i'm looking for some advice on directions here. I know the new expansion just dropped, but there' so much for me to do before that point, i'm in no rush for ToV. However, I am wondering my progression direction.

Do, I start with RoF up, doing the all the quests/hunters, but i'm wondering if that's something I should go back and do later? Just head to Gribbles and gear up? TBM? I just want to make sure I get best use of my time. Granted its only a few hours here and there. Also, with the cost of Rank 1 spells, should I just stick to farming Rk2's like I have been doing? Lots of questions and thoughts, and I appreciate any feedback all.

Happy Hunting!

 

[da Man]

I would highly suggest a tank. it will be the best choice you ever made

 

[achilise]

I would highly suggest a tank. it will be the best choice you ever made

For me the Paly tank complimented my caster group really well. you have a chanter so pulling class is really not needed although Paly can root pull incredibly well when needed. Being a fighting cleric they bring buffs you all lacking and when maxed out do decent dps on normal mobs but excel on undead.
As far as progression that's entirely on what your plans are for the future. Only you know how you enjoy playing the game and that's what the key to your group is "enjoying your game time". I tried the pet tanking group and had to put in a paly as I progressed cause pets are hard to keep on point where the pure tank is far more easy to control. Although I rarely play that group it is fun to watch them blow stuff up from time to time.
Finally settled on Paly, Chanter, Druid, Wiz X's 2 and Mage.....

 

[Fueil]

Thanks for your feedback, eventually I will probably hit a wall and put my Paladin in that I have. I just am enjoying the makeup a lot atm. But, I will adapt as needed of course.

My questions relating to my progression is where I need the most guidance. Of where I should be? Cruise through the long way? Or jump expansions? Just too much to do lol.

Thanks all

 

[ChatWithThisName]

Ello Fueil. I noticed you have two healers. I've managed to survive up to this point without a secondary healer. But that is also because I'm using a tank character so if you're hung up on the pet two healers is probably the way to go. I feel some of the group is redundant in regards to available classes, and redundancy can be a plus.

Some thoughts,

There is a "perfect" group makeup.

Tank class, Healer class, Crowd Control class, and the remaining classes are your DPS.

Necro - DPS
Enchanter - Crowd Control
Druid - Healer/Backup (Does this double as DPS?)
Shaman - Healer
Mage - DPS
Ranger - DPS

Your enchanter can do mez, slow, debuffs, memblur, haste, etc. This is definitely a primary crowd control class and a valuable resource to any group.
Necro - They can do some DPS and having the pet able to partially tank, but you'll find later on in the levels the pet will be eaten with the new content and getting a proper tank is a necessity.
Druid - Valuable for ports. I tried a druid but didn't enjoy the class overall as I found that they weren't useful in the overall makeup of my group, and lacked some features that I felt were needed to be successful in general. This to me is an underdog and a candidate for replacement.
Shaman - Engaged as a healer, but cannot battle rez, this has the potential to cause you havok through your grouping days. Chilling waiting for the rest routine, mob swoops in and mows down the ranger/mage, now you're engaged in combat and can't rez because the necro engaged the mob and you needed to heal the necro/pet. Now you're out one of your primary DPS characters. This alone made me replace the shaman for a cleric. The overall result of having a cleric in the group instead of the shaman has been overwhelmingly positive for both survival and enjoy-ability in my group.
Mage - I had a mage, CoH is nice, but I find that most times there wasn't much need for it with the ability to navigate using plugins like mq2easyfind in conjunction with mq2nav to traverse zones, find npcs, even call your entire group to your location. Sure, it's not instant, but with the campfire, portal stones, innate run-speed 7, etc I just found that traveling wasn't an issue enough to justify a CoH in most situations. It is however a good mix with the necro, as it allows for pets and gear summoning. They can do okay DPS but their mana was always a limitation for me as I tend to plow through it pretty quickly. Mod Rods 100% are nice for other group members, coupled with the necro's ability to sap mana from creatures, it's not a bad choice overall.
Ranger - Honestly haven't ever really cared for the class, but I haven't tried one in a really long time and cannot provide any feedback on the class that wouldn't be based on old information.

My ideal group makeup when I'm not working on maintaining my plugins.

Warrior, Cleric, Bard, Zerk, Zerk, Rog

Why,

Warrior's are damage sponges. What they lack in early levels they make up for in later level and are truely masters of their class type (tank). My warrior is barely over autogrant at 111 (was one kill from ding on expansion release) and am killing in ToV. It's not great with autogranted AA's. but it gets the job done.

Cleric - Heals, Heals, and more heals. This is a pretty one sided class, but healers don't need to be DPS when they can replace both your shaman and the druid with the power of their heals. Mana is pretty much a non-issue for me, especially in outdoor zones where a mount is available. Include the fact that they get Divine Rez which can instantly return the tank to the fight mid battle if you don't squeeze out a heal in time before the Crowd Control locks down the area, it's truely the difference in a wipe or a win. Add that they also have an additional Rez AA that can be used in combat for other situations such as a DPS taking a bad round before your tank can react, and you got yourself a solid won't die, can't die group makeup going.

Bard - This is primarily due to the choice of my DPS more than it was for crowd control. Enchanters can lock down a camp faster, and more efficiently. Bards can do AoE mezes, but then are stuck in and out of combat a lot due to the necessity to mezmerize adds. However, their aura's and songs bring a lot to the table in the way of cresendo's that generate mana and endurance for group members. Haste with added ADPS modifiers, SELO!!! If you got a bard, it'll seem like a waste of time to have even considered using CoH on a mage.

Zerk - Zerk, Berserkers are some INSANE damage, and with the reprieve line in higher levels their sustained DPS over multiple fights, and throughout the day in general allow for an uninteruppted killing grounds of your choosing. Mobs melt away in their presence (assuming you're hitting the right buttons). I cannot overstate the value of even ONE of them in your group would make the DPS worthy of bulldozing content. Add Synergy and their other unique ability to frenzy, with late game Discs designed purely with the intent to deal as much damage to the NPC as possible in the shortest amount of time will have you wondering why you didn't just make an army of them. You could say I was biased, but the numbers don't lie.

Rog - sometimes your puller gets their face kicked in and it's always good to have someone that can go retrieve their corpse and shuttle it back to the cleric with the unique ability to hide from see invis mobs. They have the added bonus of being able to get past locked doors, and gear close in comparison to berserkers DPS wise. Can even outparse them on some fights when they have similar gear tiers as a berserker.


clearly my group is Primarily Melee damage based for all enounters, which would be quite the opposite of your existing setup that is caster based. But if you ever consider a Melee group, I feel this is the group to have.

Ofcourse as Sic said. It's about enjoying the game. So Min/Maxing isn't always the goal, but this group makeup has the potential to remove the woes of your day to day encounters with creatures across norrath.

Hopefully you find some of the information useful, and don't feel that i"m bashing your group or your choices so much as sharing my group and my choices with some insight to why I've selected my group.

CWTN.

 

[Fueil]

Hey CWTN,

Thanks for your information, and trust me I never feel with our community here that anyone is bashing anyone here at all. Plus I did ask for feedback! I plan to also make a melee group that is something I know eventually I will need to do no doubt or at least a real tank, which I do have a pally, and I will be rotating him in once the rest of my group is 100, which is close. Between all of your posts, I hear each and everyone of you about a tank, and I had do adapt when I played on Ragefire also about adding a tank, so I knew eventually that day will come.

I do need some feedback though on progression. I am wondering is it worth sticking to RoF farming up the Rk2 spells then moving forward? Or should I just try and jump into Gribbs or TMB progression? I'm kinda lost, I read the armor guide progression post here, which was helpful, but I want to be sure i'm not shooting myself in the foot. Keep in mind, i'm in no real hurry, my days of rushing are kinda of over, but on the other hand I don't want to be 10 years away from actual current tier lol

Thanks!