Hi there, I'm looking for some help on choosing between these two trios. Paladin, Beastlord, Druid Or Shadowknight, Beastlord, Cleric Can both of these trios accomplish the same things? Does one excel at harder content than the other?
Clerics are great. Built-in snare from your tank is one less spell your healer needs to cast. Druid lets you get around easier, and the first trio would be higher DPS but that second group will take on harder content better and ultimately gain more exp/hour when the grind is at its worst. (I rolled Paladin, Monk, Druid on TAKP - great through the 40's but the 50's got more difficult since we don't have the great Druid spells from Luclin).
Either trio should plow our content atm. Paladins end in a better state by pop. Sks can flop. You decide - the power is yours!
Will the Paladin/Druid be able to take on hard names in Luclin/PoP with the Beastlords 65% slow, or am I going to be needing the healing power of a Cleric to accomplish those sort of things?
65% slow is not a lot lower than shaman at 75% or chanter at 70% so you really won't miss a lot there. Druid as main healer may or may not be able to keep up on hard named though.
heals: clerics crush all other healers in Velious due to CH and an efficient HoT. Shammies and druids do okay at level 60 when they get Torpor and a 1k spot heal, respectively, but until then it's just Chloroblast or Superior Healing. Druids get better in Luclin with a 3k mini CH, and again in PoP with its 5k upgrade, but they never really come close to clerics. CH and the Divine Arbitration AA are ridiculously good. slows: 65% slow is pretty much indistinguishable from 70 or 75%, especially in PoP when most interesting mobs mitigate slow to some degree. The main difference you'll feel as a BL is the inability to debuff MR. No tash or malo for beasties. tanking: SK and pally are pretty much interchangeable, but actually you might not need 'em. BLs have zero problem holding aggro, and can take a beating as well as any non-tank. If things get dicey they can also back out of range and let the pet tank for a bit. Have you considered dropping the knight and going BL/cleric/X? That might be more fun for you as a BL main - tanking is fun, and boxing two melee tends to be fiddly and stressful due to constant repositioning. You'd have lots of utility or damage options for the third slot, since the BL/cleric duo already covers the holy trinity of tank, slow and heal. Druid, wizard, mage, chanter, necro or bard could all fit nicely.
I main a bst and have a cleric for second box. Then I add a mage,necro or druid to 3rd spot depending on what I want to do. Bst with AA's is a fun class to tank with and I use slow to pull so the mobs usually come to camp already slowed. And it is a plus to have a druid to move toons around with and a necro to summon bodies if things go south.
I hate boxing two melees so I will State my bias upfront. I would go Bst/Cleric. That gives you a tank, heals, slows and pacification. I would add a 3rd box for DPS. Wizard or mage probably. I like mage personally as it gives you malosini line to help land slows and they are easy to box DPS. If you are good at boxing two melees I would probably add a rogue as the third toon.
I'd also go beast mage cleric. I had beast mage Druid on AK at PoP Druid heals were fine but cleric woulda been better. This time I'm starting ench dru cler then later I'll do dru beast mage to have many dynamic combos.
Chiming in to say that I also play beast,mage,druid. Sometimes I wish I had a cleric instead of the druid (pacify, better heals) but the druid is nice for my low playtime style so I can port about. Also the druid brings a lot utility. I just got into the 50's with my trio, and for the most part it has been a fairly easy trip. There were some level ranges that were tougher then others, due to the beast only getting a new pet every 10 levels. Right now being in the early fifties with a new slow and a new pet is a nice change. I spent almost all my time leveling in dungeons; Najena, Sol A, Kaesora, The Hole was the main path I took, and I ate quite a few deaths while trying to get my bearings in new zones and figure out pulls. It would have probably been a lot easier to hunt in outdoor zones. Anyways, I think beasts make great boxes (or mains) and they are pretty fun to play.
I went Paladin Beast Druid because I wanted to incorporate a druid into a trio for my casual play style. Teleports and being able to sell and gate back to my group are priceless for my lack of playing time currently (two kids under 2). However, SK Beast Cleric is the more powerful trio. Keep in mind, both trios lack a bit of firepower until the beastlord gets haste at 60. But if you can camp some eyepatches, it will alleviate that pain. Cleric power can never be underestimated in a trio, they are just too good in this era. Cleric heals, spell haste, rez and pacify take this trio over the top. Paladins cant pacify above level 55, but with a cleric and SK you can pull anything. Don't be discouraged by the beastlord's lack of growth. At 60 and in Luclin and PoP, they really shine.
Paladin can self haste at 49. It's not as good as Alacrity but it lasts three times as long and believe me with paladin druid beastlord you're going to get SO sick of watching buffs as it is...
