Hey gang, I know you've been asked a billion times on this topic - just wanted the laziest route to go and your suggestions My friend and I plan on 3 boxing each on this server. I'm a Wizard (main) and he's a Monk (main). We only really want to concentrate our skills / gear on these two characters. However with the 80% experience bonus for a full group we're going to box 4 more characters that will remain idle for the most part. We really hate to switch between screens. This is our idea; Him: Monk - pulling / tank / dps Enchanter - Clarity / Haste Bard - Run Speed / Healing Song / Dmg Buff Me: Wiz - 30% dps nuke (mostly sits) Cleric - Top off tank / Resurrect which we'll need later. Beastlord - Best idle dps that I don't need to manage? Auto attack and pet. Mage pet is better dps, but I won't be casting as a mage...so auto attack BST wins? Also SoW / Slow Our goal is to keep 4 characters sitting mostly without ever switching screens. We also never plan on going into dungeons as our boxed group - rather find REAL people for dungeons. So we won't need to worry so much about mezzing in outdoor zones pulling single pulls... Ideally.
Just some ideas... Might want to consider druid vs bard for SoW, ports, nice buffs, another healer. Hard to weave songs boxing especially if you aren't switching screens a lot. A necro vs BST maybe, pet dps, and ability to corpse summon (but probably don't need so much if not doing dungeons). Even tho you don't want to switch screens, a slow or mez from your chanter will be very nice now and then.
Agree with everything Trybil said. Other than that, you may want each group to be self sufficient when the other group can't be online, so Druid to replace the Bard makes sense in that case for heals. When not healing, can add dps. From what I understand, BST's pet dps is overpowered for the era, so might be worth a look. Also, keep in mind that if you want to group with anyone outside of the two main characters (monk and wizard), you are going to need to work on your skills on the other characters, IF you plan on ever playing them. Skills are rough in classic EQ unless you work on them every so often. Level a character up to 16 without working on any casting skills and they won't be able to cast any of those lvl 16 spells.
I think everyone starts their boxing career thinking the way you're thinking. You'll eventually get used to it and get better at it and you'll start using those chars a little closer to their potential. the group setup you mention looks like it'll do a lot of what you want to do starting out with a lot of room to grow into the utility as your boxing skills increase. I think you'll be happy with it.
laziest route to go? monk/mage/sham wiz/mage/cleric both trios would be efficient if the other person wasn't online and pretty amazing grouped as 6 only downside is no clarity my suggestion tho monk/sham/ench wiz/cleric/ utility (bard/necro/mage/bl) monk - puller / tank sham - buffs / pet / slower (in later levels) ench - buffs monk will be played 75% of the time wiz - nukes / ports cleric - heal / rez bard - not really gonna be able to twist, but very good utility, group invis, mez, mana song or necro - FD rezzer, easy pet dps or mage - easy pet dps (root pet would be nice so your wizard doesnt have to snare mobs, and root would help monk tank better) or bl - easy pet dps, backup slower i'd say 25% of the time on wizard, 50% on cleric, 25% on other
I'll throw this out too, as a former wiz (single toon), then wiz/clr duo, then wiz/clr/other trio player... A single wiz can be fun, and people do enjoy the challenge and thrill of the DPS, but it can get a little boring at times. Wizards really only do one thing, and it takes them a while to get snare. It's an easy mode class, all things considered. Coupled with a cleric, which is also an easy mode class, you may find yourself actively boxing three sooner than you think... I know I did years ago.
I think your projected setup would work, I'd go for it. Honestly it comes down to a few things and it's really easy to over-analyze it. If you two are going to be playing together most of the time and especially if you're going to have access to each other's account then you should be more than fine. There is no real overpowering trio. Just remember unless you're really good at boxing you're gonna wanna focus heavily on 1 or 2 chars. Also I'm gonna have to disagree with my buddy Surron on Monk/Enc/Shaman i think it's a fairly redundant combo and it's going to take a lot of attention to pull it off, you'd be better off with Monk/Enc/Cler - Monk/Enc/Beast - Monk/Enc/Druid .. I play Monk/Sham/Wiz and sometimes swap out the Wiz for a Mage and absolutely love it, it's efficient and it's easy to play. Mage/Sham go pretty well together, especially once you get Mod rods. <3 Anyways, Live your dream, lots of good options and like i said nothing is over powering.. So I always just say play what sounds most fun.
I soloed a Wiz all through Alpha and had a blast (literally). It was so much fun, I highly recommend Wiz as a solo toon.
Just wanted to add Beast Lord is an amazing class in small groups but doesn't synergize with shaman all that well. A lot of their group utility comes from having the weaker shaman buffs + crack + good enough slows + better dps than other slowing classes. Ench/BL have a lot of synergy though. With beast lord you also have to be in it for the long hall as they don't get their mana regen spell until 59 on this server (the lower level ones are sold in zones that aren't in the game yet) and they don't get their "good enough" 50% slow until 60. Both of these spells are total game changers. Your comp looks great and well thought out would just suggest that whoever is running the monk also run a healer so that he isn't dependent on the other person. Also +1 to what Thucy said.
Wiz, Enc, Mage Monk, Cleric, Shaman Both will work well as a trio if you're on alone. Mage - damage shield, hit macro to send pet and cast one nuke. Call of the hero in later levels to save the monk. If you just want him to sit there, just ds is great help. Ench - haste, clarity, mez, can have a nuke macro as well. Cleric - buffs, rez, quick heal macro. Shaman - more buffs, slow, regen, sow, can nuke or dot on macro.
Your friend should make 3 clerica or 3 wizards. Myself I played 3 wizards to level 60. And playing the same class is super rewarding
I am enjoying shm/enc/monk up to my current levels. Seems like it will be very flexible as I get further. Usually I need to switch to my shaman once or twice per involved fight and enchanter twice or three times.
I play a Mnk/Shm/Dru trio. I was skeptical of adding the Druid at first, as I originally had just the Shm/Mnk up to 14 or so. I wanted to add a Necro for sustained DPS/little downtime, with the snare DoT to prevent runners. Then I realized that it might be better to compromise on DPS a bit for the added heals/utility of a Druid . . . haven't looked back since and I'm loving it. Snare prevents things from running, I can nuke with both the Dru/Shm to burn down caster mlbs, and everything else can be slowed/DoT to oblivion. I'm at 27 ATM, and the trio only seems to be getting more powerful. I was worried about using a Monk as my tank, but it seems to work extremely well. Especially since I can distribute heal aggro over two characters instead of having to spam with one. That really makes multimob encounters easier.
I think most who pick druid as their third haven't been disappointed. I actually did what you first wanted, and went Shm/Necro (with a paladin instead of monk). I still sometimes wish I went druid instead of the necro. Thankfully now, my friend is starting to play and wants either a wizard or druid as one of her boxes. Yay for ports.
I think Bards are perfect for this kind of situation. They do ok by just standing at the back playing 1 song, mainly because you can change that song in between fights. When you are fighting you can have the bard set to give your melees some haste. After fights you switch the bard to mana song to top everyone up while you med. And then when you are travelling somewhere, run song is all sorts of awesome. But anything will work, add any sort of healing you can manage to a mnk/wiz duo and you are all set. Mage/Bst are perfect too, send pet and focus on your main. Although you can set hotkeys to fire 2 or 3 nukes so you can just press 1 key that sends pet and then has them fire 2 or 3 nukes automatically. So you might end up using them more than you think. I agree a LOT with thucydides by the way. I started 2 boxing on another server and didn't want to but everyone was doing it and I didn't wanna fall behind. At first I sucked at it and found it stressful. But after a few weeks I got the hang of it and started to love it. Then I added a third character and loved it even more. When I played on the original Al'Kabor, I 6 boxed without using any macros or anything. It was pretty hard work but it just shows you can really get the hang of stuff! Although I much prefer this server, 3 box is enough to do most things by yourself, but not so many that it becomes a chore to handle. But start easy and see how you go.
Hey guys, didn't want to start a new thread so I thought i post in here. Deciding between chanter or shaman in my 3 box: Monk/Shammy/Druid or Monk/Chanter/Druid Shammy: Slow 2ndary Heals Pet DPS Haste Buffs Enchanter Haste Slow Clarity for himself and druid Mezz Pac Assume i won't use chanter pet cause its too much work. I'm leaning towards chanter right now cause from this list it seems i'm giving up pet dps for clarity, mezz and pac. Any arguments for shammy over chanter? Just to include what i see in the druid: Druid Heal Snare TP Track thanks,
Go Shm/Dru/Mnk! The Utility of Snare cannot be overestimated! Once you realize how annoying it is to have to root everything and worry about that root breaking through nukes, and the fact that mobs will fight till the death if they're rooted rather than simply turning away and not moving whilst snared in the last ~15% alone is worth it. Druid will give you ports and EVACS, which is, again, invaluable. Pulled two+ caster mobs and a grip of melee? Fine, Succor. No stress, no mess. Pulling lots of LB/DB mobs? DMG shield for that extra distributed DPS. Need to relieve your Shm of healing duties because it's either LoM or has too much heal aggro? Toss in a Dru heal. Need to burn down that particularly nasty Wiz mob that's melting your face? Dru nuke. Don't have a lot of gear? Dru + Shm buffs really alleviate that. The synergy in this trio is amazing. You will have to wait a little longer to get haste with a Shm/Dru/Mnk combo over a Shm/Enc/Mnk, but you will have so much more killing power. You don't have the greatest CC, but are you really going to effectively CC with an Ench in a 3-box on this server? Best to simply learn how to appropriately pull with your Monk and avoid bad situations like that altogether. Succor when it gets really bad.
Since both druid and shammy can heal, it should still have the same healing power (or better) of a c2 druid solo healing. As you mentioned as well, a well played monk can split most things. Druids have harmony for outdoor zones too. I guess i've been spoiled by pac for too long, lol thanks for the responses guys
Harmony works fine here. I use it almost every day. It may be level capped, but works fine at the mid and lower levels. I am currently leveling up an SK, ENC, DRU. There are times when the Druid has a problem keeping up with heals below level 29. Plan on slowing most mobs unless you're twinked and using the enchanter for extra dps. At 29/30 this group gets much easier, SK gets invis, chanter gets Clarity, Druid gets group ports and a decent heal finally. Just my 2cp on my experience so far.
It just depends what you want to do. Monks aren't the best tanks and Druids aren't the best healers, so with a chanter you will find yourself struggling with heals against tougher mobs. Casters can be deadly too. With a Shammy you have a better slow and better heals (especially if you can get Torpor eventually), but you will lack crowd control. You can fd split most stuff, and you can root mobs too, but doing somewhere like Seb with no paci or mez is just going to be deadly and hard work. But if you do easier places and avoid some of the tougher dungeons, then either choice will be fine.
Can confirm. Having hard time CC with enchanter while playing monk/shm. Getting enchanter pet involved is also cumbersome. Also not having snare is a pain. Makes you afraid to nuke since you don't want root to drop early. Don't get me wrong, enchanter has saved the trio many times. I also have a hard time running OOM. Sometimes I wish I just had a snare and TP tho. Mnk/Shm/Enc requires more work than I anticipated. However I am still learning to manage 3 toons.
Nah, maybe a month /played. There are plenty of people below level 40. Not all of us are racing to end game. Edit: I guess a month /played is pretty long, more like a couple of weeks. But still, not everyone plays everyday or is twinked out. I know I've taken a few month long breaks over the past year.
So, just wondering if the SK/Enc/Dru setup is still working out... I've been going back and forth in my mind between that setup and SK/Enc/Clr. The obvious trade offs have me scratching my head. It seems like the added DPS+utility from the Dru should win, even if I only use the DS, SoW & ports, but the improved rezzes, heals and buffs (AC especially) are playing tricks on me. As state above, I know there would be some challenges <29/30, but my bigger question is on the Dru healing ability at 50+. For whatever reason, the guilds I was in back in the day never had many druids, and I've never played one, so I've never trusted them as much as Shm/Clr - both of which I have played to 90+ on live. A friend that I will be playing with is leaning toward Mnk/Shm/?, so I'm not considering either of those, at this point. Any opinions on SK/Dru effectiveness at 50+ would be appreciated. There are always trade offs...just trying to weigh my options. Thanks!
