So i am sure this question have been asked before, but not sure much of that is TLP specific. So i am wanting to start a box team, so i have the freedom of popping on and off when i got the time. It will be purely for group content. I dont want casters if i can avoid it, as i really like melee's more and i'll get my the positioning and moving. Im sure it's not THAT bad I would prefer to have the following traits of the comp: Tank, Heal, CC, DPS. Ports would be REALLY nice, but i can live without i guess. Rather want a solid melee team with good dps. I know Monks are quite good DPS, but i am really more of a rogue sorta guy. And never tried ranger so that might be fun to play? So my own suggestions is as follows: Paladin / Shaman / Rogue / Bard (Seems to have it all - albeit bard is hard to CC with) Shadow Knight / Shaman / Rogue / Ranger (Lacking CC, but decent DPS= Paladin / Enchanter / Rogue / Ranger (No shaman, and really wanted that for buffs) Shadow Knight / Shaman / Rogue / Monk (Balls to the wall DPS with no CC) I'd love any input. I am limited to 4 accounts. Thanks in advance.
The only thing I find when boxing is that CC is quite tricky when you have 3-4 mobs inc, and you can find half your group dead before you can get the situation under control. Much better (IMO) to focus on getting the single/double pulls you want instead. This basically means you want a Monk, SK, and/or Bard if you are going to have a dedicated puller. What I would also say is, play the classes you enjoy the most without worrying too much about efficiency, interaction and such. With 4 classes, you should have most, if not all the bases covered. My main pair is Paladin + Magician + Healermerc. While missing snares and FD pulling that an SK would provide, I don't really like SK's much as I much prefer the Paladin playstyle and the Magician is about getting high efficiency with only 2 hotkeys, /petattack and /nuke. If I had to run a merc-free 4-box, I would have (Just because I like the classes): Paladin, Ranger, Shaman and Magician OR Paladin, Druid, Beastlord and Magician
I would say monk, bard, shm and SK or pally (depending on ur play style) I find SK is best for if u get too many or just feel like tabbing to another toon for a bit, an SK played well can hold agro off of all but a war. At early lvls I'd say go with melee mercs as the bard will offer more to their DPs over casters.
Why arnt you guys into rogues at all? I mean, arnt rogues more dps than monks? I know they ARNT right now in TLP, but come velious i suspect them to be more dps, with BS mods and better ratios?
Just my 2cp on Rogues. DPS is not the be-all-end-all when it comes to group play. When I play with/in small boxed-groups, I want the versatility that the hybrids/generalists bring over narrow focus DPS specialists. If a Ranger does 5-10% less DPS than a Rogue, but can snare, supply a damage shield, root-park adds, track and off-tank adds in a pinch, that is worth more to me than the raw DPS numbers. Same for BST, Spiritual Radiance line gives +HP/+Mana as a long term buff. The ability to slow/haste is invaluable, pet can off-tank in a pinch, again, that's worth more to me than raw DPS numbers. Even Zerkers (whenever they unlock) who can both stun casters and snare runners, are better off-tanks and DPS doesn't go down the pan when not flanking mobs. I would be taking a Monk for its pulling ability more than its pure DPS anyway The only time this doesn't hold true, is when the DPS gap is so huge between classes, that mobs take too long to die, and, that will probably have more to do with weapons/gear/buffs than class based differences. TL-DR. When boxing, versatility > raw DPS numbers. IMHO - YMMV.
That is some very valid arguments. And i agree. I wanted to build around the Rogue for sentimental reasons and the shaman, as i always thought they were cool. Rest is pretty much up for discussion. I am not quitre sure on Paladin vs SK for TLP content. I cansee the pally paci and the rez + BBB + LoH is quite useful and come Luclin, Slay Undeads should be quite nice? SK on the other hand, seemns like way more passive self-only healing, which isnt really versitile? Also the problem i run into all the time is taking care of CC. Enchanter are by far the best class for this, especially when boxing i find. But chanter and shaman are kinda wasted with eachother. To many overlapping skills. And the bard is just iffy to CC with when controlling a melee team i think, and i guess they wont get really good till they get v3 haste at the very least? And dunno about the 4th...bard or maybe ranger? I dunno. For some reason SK / Shaman / Rogue / Ranger appeals to me, but theres just so may fall groups in that. Lacking cc being the main part. This is incredibly frustrating! Only team comp i've seem to come up with, that has more or less everything is Paladin, Druid, Enchanter and Necromancer. But not much melee over that
SK + 3 Mages. Tap tap tap, /pet attack x3, nuke nuke nuke dead mobs. (if you consider mage pets melee of course) Or if you're really up for a challenge, build around a charm group: Chanter: Tash + Charm Pet + Hasted pet = $$$ Shaman: MR Debuff on pet, slows, heals. Druid: Snare on Charm Pet, ports, nukes, track, sow. Bard: Pull / Mana Regen, ghetto CC, can charm if chanter drops as backup as well. Later on Shaman + Druid do fairly well healing pets. Cleric is obviously a better choice overall but you give up significant amounts of utility simply for a cleric to heal a pet and rezz early on from a borked pull. Nothing you cannot fix with a merc cleric later on of course.
I think you need to consider the amount of micromanagement needed for each of those toons. I am not sure how TLP servers work. A bard, for example, with melody is a toon you use to pull with and then put him on autopilot with a melody while you switch toons. If you can't use melody, then you there is way more micromanagement. As far as tanks go, I use a warrior for box toons because there is essentially no key mashing needed to hold aggro. SK and other classes will require more time on that toon before switching. While you may not like casters, a wizard is also very simple. Have a key to /assist group and cast a spell, alt+tab to next toon, do something, back and cast spell. Very good DPS. With melee DPS, you are going to be constantly fiddling with positioning. My box army is: war/bard/wiz/cleric. I also have a monk on the war account for when I pop a tank merc. I think the cleric is the most expendable and easily swapped with a shaman or druid. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably swap cleric for shaman. On the other hand, when I really need to, I can take on a lot of content that might be more difficult without the cleric. But there is a lot of time fighting blues that the cleric just sits there.
