Question - TLP 4 box, slightly different question.

[frenchysonline]

Playing on mischief, with BST as my main. Raid geared, max aa, etc... So my question is what is the best 4 box (including bst) to support my BST?
Currently running PAL/DRU/BRD/BST with rogue and cleric merc as needed.
Would a shaman be significant enough dps increase to replace the druid?
Is paladin close enough for a tank, or would shadowknight or warrior be better?
I think bard is best over enchanter, but it feels like sometimes my bard spends all combat mezzing and doesn't actually do much for adps. Does bard aura contribute enough over enchanter? Or not worth the hassle.
Open to feedback and suggestions.

 

[eqsubi15]

Playing on mischief, with BST as my main. Raid geared, max aa, etc... So my question is what is the best 4 box (including bst) to support my BST?
Currently running PAL/DRU/BRD/BST with rogue and cleric merc as needed.
Would a shaman be significant enough dps increase to replace the druid?
Is paladin close enough for a tank, or would shadowknight or warrior be better?
I think bard is best over enchanter, but it feels like sometimes my bard spends all combat mezzing and doesn't actually do much for adps. Does bard aura contribute enough over enchanter? Or not worth the hassle.
Open to feedback and suggestions.

I have a Paly in full ToB group gear, max AA, and he struggles on some of the content there compared to my SK or War, which are ToL/NoS raid geared.

 

[Algar]

I have a Paly in full ToB group gear, max AA, and he struggles on some of the content there compared to my SK or War, which are ToL/NoS raid geared.

Is that automated? If so, the automation used is relevant to the statement, IMO.
It is very easy to project our automation onto the class, but it is not always fair to do so. (Edit: actually curious, not trying to invalidate your opinion necessarily).

Playing on mischief, with BST as my main. Raid geared, max aa, etc... So my question is what is the best 4 box (including bst) to support my BST?
Currently running PAL/DRU/BRD/BST with rogue and cleric merc as needed.
Would a shaman be significant enough dps increase to replace the druid?
Is paladin close enough for a tank, or would shadowknight or warrior be better?
I think bard is best over enchanter, but it feels like sometimes my bard spends all combat mezzing and doesn't actually do much for adps. Does bard aura contribute enough over enchanter? Or not worth the hassle.
Open to feedback and suggestions.

To be honest, I've used pallies and I've used SKs and I've used SHM and I've used DRU...
They all have their tradeoffs.

Shaman vs druid: I do think you are better off with a shaman in that spot, but is it different enough to make it worth your while? Only you can answer. Stuff like how much effort/time/money it would take to replace makes me think I can't answer that question. Do you have a guild hall setup so you won't miss the ports much? Willing to go without evac? Etc. Some little considerations that factor in along with battle capabilities.

Bard vs chanter: I also feel the same way as you sometimes, but as long as the bard is getting the big songs out, you are likely okay. Perhaps your mez settings could be tuned to your automation and tanking capabilities?

SK vs PAL: PAL catches a lot of hate that I kinda don't agree with (it is easy to joke and piss on classes), and I can't speak to their value in your current level range so I'll not opine. By the time you hit live endgame, they are both doable, but I am loathe to generalize outside of that. If I had to choose only one it would likely be SK. If you aren't manually driving them, it may depend on your automation.

So maybe a lot of words for nothing, but I can say, for your overarching question, I think the options you listed are pretty much ideal IMO if you can decide between them.

 

[Smartiez]

Playing on mischief, with BST as my main. Raid geared, max aa, etc... So my question is what is the best 4 box (including bst) to support my BST?
Currently running PAL/DRU/BRD/BST with rogue and cleric merc as needed.
Would a shaman be significant enough dps increase to replace the druid?
Is paladin close enough for a tank, or would shadowknight or warrior be better?
I think bard is best over enchanter, but it feels like sometimes my bard spends all combat mezzing and doesn't actually do much for adps. Does bard aura contribute enough over enchanter? Or not worth the hassle.
Open to feedback and suggestions.

Pallys are meh right now on Mischief - SK is better for group content but a Warrior is also great just a lot less AOE threat but all 3 tanks cost the same to gear out on Mischief. Druids are starting to become DPS and would work great with your comp, the reptile line is great. Sha does add more healing and the sloth line to get whole packs slowed, but it would (imo) a dps loss in the era the server is on. Also, if your bard is busy mezzing to keep the group alive then I would switch the druid to a shaman for better slows and more heals.

 

[winnower]

Only use AE mez on bards.

Pallies are great, but a lot of automation isn't that great for them as they are the hardest tank to automate.

In that era it's a lot about getting the AC augs for group geared tanks to shine.

 

[eqsubi15]

Is that automated? If so, the automation used is relevant to the statement, IMO.
It is very easy to project our automation onto the class, but it is not always fair to do so. (Edit: actually curious, not trying to invalidate your opinion necessarily).


To be honest, I've used pallies and I've used SKs and I've used SHM and I've used DRU...
They all have their tradeoffs.

Shaman vs druid: I do think you are better off with a shaman in that spot, but is it different enough to make it worth your while? Only you can answer. Stuff like how much effort/time/money it would take to replace makes me think I can't answer that question. Do you have a guild hall setup so you won't miss the ports much? Willing to go without evac? Etc. Some little considerations that factor in along with battle capabilities.

Bard vs chanter: I also feel the same way as you sometimes, but as long as the bard is getting the big songs out, you are likely okay. Perhaps your mez settings could be tuned to your automation and tanking capabilities?

SK vs PAL: PAL catches a lot of hate that I kinda don't agree with (it is easy to joke and piss on classes), and I can't speak to their value in your current level range so I'll not opine. By the time you hit live endgame, they are both doable, but I am loathe to generalize outside of that. If I had to choose only one it would likely be SK. If you aren't manually driving them, it may depend on your automation.

So maybe a lot of words for nothing, but I can say, for your overarching question, I think the options you listed are pretty much ideal IMO if you can decide between them.

I use CWTN plugin for all 3 tank classes. Hope that clears up my statement earlier

 

[Wagga]

The eskay CWTN is terrific. I run that with the bard/shaman CWTN’s and it makes for a great team. As others have mentioned, bard is all the help you’d need for cc. The SK does a great job maintaining aggro on multiple mobs, even with less than ideal gear.

 

[fakename]

Playing on mischief, with BST as my main. Raid geared, max aa, etc... So my question is what is the best 4 box (including bst) to support my BST?
Currently running PAL/DRU/BRD/BST with rogue and cleric merc as needed.
Would a shaman be significant enough dps increase to replace the druid?
Is paladin close enough for a tank, or would shadowknight or warrior be better?
I think bard is best over enchanter, but it feels like sometimes my bard spends all combat mezzing and doesn't actually do much for adps. Does bard aura contribute enough over enchanter? Or not worth the hassle.
Open to feedback and suggestions.

If you want to go all in on bst dps you want a shm a brd and a rng. so you have cheetah fang from the rng to twin spam your ice nuke/dot and a bard to buff your dots / nukes with aria and a shm to buff your melee with epic and also do the healing and slowing while your pet tanks. but i dont suggest going all in on bst dps. i would swap your pld to sk drop the druid and add a mnk. my reasoning is after tbm you dont really need a tank a raid geared high threat melee dps can tank all of the group content in eok and ros. tbl through velious might be a bit different but ive done luclin through ls and they can do decently well there to specifically mnk and bst / bst pet. but your sk can also self heal and tank everything with your clr merc and has some adps / utility with tyvls and epic. also when you get to eok you get the synergy aa and mnk synergy is one of the better synergies a melee can give to another melee. ber is obviously the best if you crit enough with melee.

if you want to go to 6 later it would be real easy to add a shm and ber to sk bst brd mnk to.

 

[Wagga]

Swap the druid for a shaman — more DPS, better buffs, less flower-picking. Paladin’s fine unless you’re tanking a small army; SK’s more aggressive, but not required. Bard > enchanter— stop mezzing and let the auras carry while you enjoy bard speed