post pop rizlona box comp set up

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by tyler, Apr 24, 2021.

  1. tyler New Member

    Thinking about upgrading my sk/sham to a 3box. track would be nice for hunting sessions.

    any suggestions on which of the tracking classes fits best in this comp for the eras post PoP? I'm open to swapping out either the sk or sham as well.

    edit: ive tried sham/sk/dru out since it seemed more resilient. i find its too much using two hybrid dps/heal classes. the bard is only worth it in the context of a full group im hearing, except for cc. ranger is below monk dps, can offtank in place of CC, and shifts the shaman to more of a pure healing/slowing roll
  2. Vulken9 Journeyman

    Yes, bard is not optimized for a trio, but out of the choices you listed, I would still pick the bard to add. Ranger requires a fair amount of attention as does the sk. Shm actions can largely be macro'd.

    Bard will help both sk/shm mana regen and be a more efficient puller than the sk. Its almost easy mode to pull with a bard post pop. With the extra mana, you may be able to throw out more dps from the shm to make up for the lackluster dps from a bard. (Bards get a huge dps boost in TSS unless they changed bellow.)

    And, you can always invite other people to group. People seem to forget that. Make a friend or two and you'll be able to take on quite a bit.
  3. GRACUS Lorekeeper

    Best box that will last you until end game will be SK,SHM,BRD,BST,BER,BER but until GoD come out replace BERS WITH 1 MAG and 1 MNK
  4. tyler New Member

    only 3 boxing.

    i understand in that context the bard is worth its weight in gold. but with just two other characters? i feel like picking one of the other trackers might be more optimal?
  5. GRACUS Lorekeeper

    Bard is the best trio for SK/SHM you wont go wrong ever
  6. RhekEQ New Member

    Bard is a great option, especially if you plan on grouping often so more people benefit from the bard songs.

    Personally I main a Warrior with a Ranger raid-box and add a Sham alt when I'm on my own. Ranger DPS is pretty good. On Mangler atm their DPS is about on par or better than Warriors (who are low key pretty good DPS). Rangers are no harder to box than monks/zerker and bring some added utility

    Ranger track can't be beat (unless you use 3rd party software)
  7. Gremin Augur

    Sk/Shm/Brd is by far the best trio this game has to offer overall.
  8. Machen New Member


    You might be better off with the ranger for an expansion or two, but if you are thinking long term, bard will pull away and keep pulling farther away the further you get into the expansions. Even with only 3 in group.
  9. NoseMiners New Member

    Is bst better than a 3rd berserker from the start or only after they get more adps? I dont think I would be able to play a bst effectively in a 6 box unless its just there for buffs. I havnt played past PoR but wouldn't 3 ber let you trigger alliance?... those skills seem really good.
  10. tyler New Member



    is this still true with the changes to bard songs? just seems like a waste of a character slot.

    my simple math is this:

    even if the songs made my other two characters 30% better, 30% more dps, mana, mitigation etc.. thats still only 60% (30% x 2). even a ranger on auto attack would be at 90% or higher with shaman proc buff rolling

    correct me if im wrong here but ive asked this question in several forms and read as much as i can find on the subject but it seems to me the bard would just be there for pulls(i have the SK) and buff via songs. if i had 5 other people in group, i could see that being amazing because now thats 150% (30% x 5) .

    assumptions based on what i could find online:
    -bards dont benefit from their own regen so mana is a problem
    -bards draw agro via their songs
    -bards direct dps is very very low
    -they pull amazingly but this will only compound mana issue
    -songs have no way of being improved other than instrument or AA. theres no damage stat and they dont benefit from spell haste.


    that being said, i love the idea of more mana on my shaman and sk so i can deepen their playstyle experience. however, that would mean my only source of increasing my own dps over time would be limited to the sk and the shaman as theres no improving the bard. If im banking all my dps on shaman dots then all that extra mana is just gonna get sucked up in extra heals because mobs are living that much longer no? at least on the ranger i can build his gear/AA so that things are dropping much faster.

    not trying to argue for any one class or the other. this is just my line of reasoning so far and i want to get to a conclusion so i can use this sunday to level my new trio!
  11. Baldur Augur

    What changes to bard songs? Mana is only a problem if you use fade and the bard is not going to pull aggro off your SK, ever.

    Bards keep getting better and better every expansion, they add more dps as you go along. You do have a point though now, there adps isn't as good. I don't think they add to DoT damage until OoW. Not sure what the exact % is, but it's way more than 30% eventually.

    It's also not until TSS when their boastful bellow gets really good, they can top dps charts when that happens. Also once mercs come into play in SoD you could have 3 dps mercs, so the bard would be a great choice then.

    The bard right now is more about utility: run speed, group invis, can mez, lull, lower resists. Their dps is not great right now though, so they are a better choice for the long term.
  12. Gnothappening Augur

    There is no way I would have a full group and not have some form of porting capability. Since you are basically starting in PoP though, that might not be a problem for you.
  13. Machen New Member

    Almost every assumption in your list is wrong.

    First off, the bard improves the other characters by more than 30%.

    Second, the bard himself does a LOT of dps in later expansions thanks to bellow aa. Like, sometimes topping the parse over melee dps. Their direct dps is very low now, but it will take off soon.

    Third, as you noted, bard pulling is superb. But it is only somewhat limited by mana. If you are good, it isn't much of a problem. Bad bards spam fading memories. Good bards only use it now when everything else in their toolbox has failed, or when they have mana to spare. Bards have a LOT of tools for splitting camps in the toolbox, and most of them don't use mana at all.

    The mana problem also goes away almost entirely in tss once ~3 minutes out of combat will give you a full mana bar.

    Bard should never have a problem with pulling aggro unless you are absolutely terrible on the SK.

    And while yes, technically songs are only improved by instrument and aa, that's basically irrelevant to the bard. Their songs and abilities aren't tuned around spell haste or improved damage focus or damage stat.
  14. Machen New Member


    Guild hall coming soon makes porting classes way less critical. Gate potions and guild hall teleporter can get you almost anywhere you need to go.
  15. tyler New Member



    all that makes sense.

    The question is; in the context of Sk/Sham/? - is all that you said above enough to outweigh all that a ranger brings to the table? considering the melee buffs my shaman has and that my group already has a puller in my Sk. Again, I am not campaigning for the ranger. I just want to ask my question in a straight forward manner. I feel like bard just gets offered as the answer because its the correct one in the context of 6 boxing. however, im trying to figure out if bard is still the correct choice in the context of 3 boxing.
  16. Machen New Member


    So the SK CAN split but if you are waiting for the SK to split your group is already working inefficiently. By the time the sk flop and clears part of the aggro, the bard will have three mobs in camp with two of them already mezzed.

    In my personal opinion, ranger might eek out the win with shaman/sk for pop/ldon. Maybe Gates as well as the harder zones there are mostly outdoors and ranger can help split with harmony. By Omens, bard will pull ahead. By TSS it's not even close.

    That said, I am evaluating based on you actively playing the bard. If it's an afk melody bot versus an afk autofire bot, I would take the ranger for longer, but still eventually switch to the bard. Maybe around sof once bellow starts getting really out of hand.