Ive been on FV and I'm debating going to Rizlona when it opens since there isnt as much activity from my group of friends on Live lately.. still on the fence, but if i did, what do you think would be the best 3 box for that server both early game and post-PoP? On FV I have a SK/Mage/Wiz trio and its been pretty good with healer mercs, but that wouldn't work on a new TLP with no mercs to keep me up..
Well, in classic and for leveling, on a new server, I don't see how Enc/Mag/Dru gets beat. I always include ports in the early game in box setups if at all possible, if you don't care about that cleric might be better. Sometime around GoD melee are much better box dps overall. Fact is early game setups and post pop setups have big differences, and you have to decide early on weather you want to switch some classes later, or take the early power hit and not have to switch later.
If you don't want to worry about gear at all at the start then I would suggest either mag/mag/healer or ench/mag/healer. Remember until many expansions have been released that a lot of classes get some of their major abilities that you have on live. Another one to consider is SK/Shaman/(Wiz/Mag/Enc). I agree with Hinastorm86, melee based groups start becoming better overall after GoD.
I agree with Hinastorm with some obvious bias. Only thing I would say is a downside Druid's outdoor only spells is a PIA if you prefer dungeons. In my experience what is fairly big on TLP servers starts with SoW. Even though they get SoW a level earlier I find the first levels w/o it on a Shaman are harder then a Druid. Add in ports, damage shields, tracking, forage, and DOTs, it becomes pretty hard not to like a Druid in the mix. Things are different for a box group of course. My first three characters on a TLP server are usually Druid, Magician, and Enchanter. There are many things that can be substituted for instance there is a Bard song that lets you haste attacks instead of using an Enchanter spells. You could get along just fine with your SK/Mage/Wiz combination. There's quite a bit of overlap between the SK and Mage, except the SK gets snares which I find indispensable. Stuff like lack of a healer is OK since the Mage can heal their pet and SK can heal themselves. I would prefer to have a straight up healer in the group. The other thing unique to TLP servers is the level of use of potions. I am constantly chugging ~Clarity or SoW potions. If you have three subscriptions, consider u$ing them too if you are in a hurry to level. Much of the TLP experience is getting levels quickly that enables you to hunt desired items. If you stick with Wizard, you would probably want to keep them juiced.
Druid is tempting again, I made tons of krono on Selos just porting people around during Luclin and that was when there was a Nexus hub... I found that once PoP hit tho, I had a lot of trouble keeping up with healing as a druid, just couldnt really do it unless you have crazy good gear. Never played a druid past PoP so no idea how they are long term
I have been practicing some 3 box combos on Test in anticipation for Rizlona. I think I am going to go with ENC, CLR, DRU. I see that ENC MAG DRU is popular, but I enjoy the DPS and utility capabilities of the druid and having the cleric to main heal lets me play the druid how I prefer. Their DoTs can be pretty strong, but their DoTs are already mana inefficient so it just kind of takes some burden off the druid to have the cleric available. Plus rez - not so much about regaining exp, but more so I can save myself from a longer CR
Ports heals ress invisible ivu charm root snare slow stuns damage tank runspeed manabattery evacuation. Win Paladin druid shaman - shm tank if cleric Paladin wizard shaman - shm tank if cleric - no mana battery? No charm but it's dead Paladin bard wizard - bard tank if cleric Paladin bard druid - bard tank if cleric Replace paladin with cleric
Chanter/ Mage/ Druid. None of them need gear to be decent, so great first characters. Also one of the best 3 boxes in the game. Ports, heals, CC, snare, damage shield, haste, pet, charms. You really do have everything in this group. This trio is especially strong in earlier expansions when charm is really powerful. You'll spend 95% of your time playing the chanter, as both the mage and druid are dead easy to macro. There are a ton of great 3 box combos, but this would always be my go to choice for starting on a new server because of gear dependency issues on some other classes. This trio also has the best synergies in the game, especially as expansions roll out. Druid fire debuffs/skin to plant line etc combined with a mage is insane DPS, not to mention all the other buffs that come with later expansions. Great from the start, great till the end. Other great combos depending on your proclivities: 1. Sk/Shaman/Wiz. 2. Palie/Chanter/Wiz. 3. Warrior/Cleric/Chanter 4. Shaman/Monk/Bard 5. Druid/Monk/Bard 6. Druid/Any Tank/Bard I have boxed all of these trios to at least level 95, they are all solid, but if I could only use one it would be Chanter/ Mage/ Druid.
What do you think of maybe Pally/Enc/Druid? I've played a lot of hybrid tanks SK and Pal's. I was thinking maybe doing War/Clr this go round but then what would be my 3rd? I'd even thought of SK/Sham/Ranger but I know I'm going to miss Crack/CC of Enc. War/Clr/Enc would be super powerful long term, but I feel like 1-60 would suck with that trio.
1-60 on War/Clr/Enc is just fine, hell, you could put the warrior on follow lol. Just charm with the chanter. Pally/ Enc/ Druid is actually great long term, but is not as hot in earlier expansions. You're basically playing Pally/ Enc/ Wiz with less damage and more utility, which is not a bad thing per se. A lot of these box teams really change in how you pilot them based on what expansion you are in. There are expansions where the chanter is really going to be the driver, but later on it usually becomes your tank (if you're playing one). On a TLP I'd be more inclined to go SK/Cler/Wiz, but Pally /Enc /Druid will work just fine. You will have very little trouble as a 3 box with that combo. Pally /Enc /Druid can be a bit weird to get going on a TLP, as where are you going to start your Pally? You can make a high elf, so you could do 2 high elves and a wood elf, but you will really suffer with the low str. You could go all human and probably round that group up. If you go SK/Cler/Wiz, you can do troll or ogre + 2 dark elves, or even 3 dark elves, which is really easy to get going. Starting location of your box team is sort of a thing on TLPs, like...trying to get a shaman to Faydark for example lol. It can be done but it's quite a pain. At the end of the day, ANY combo of tank/chanter/healer is viable. Play what strikes your fancy. I've played a ton of 3 box combos, and there are a lot of them that you never see people play. Palie/Chanter/Wiz was a total lark, because I had 3 accounts with all classes on all accounts so I could try all combos. That's not a combo I would have looked at on paper and thought would be so good, but it really is. P.S. The one problem you have with War/Clr/Chanter is lack of snare, which in classic is a major problem. I'd go SK/Clr/Chanter any and every day of the week. Not only is the SK a much better puller (so you don't always have to pull with chanter), but it also really makes use of the chanter much better than a warrior does. An SK seriously benefits from having clarity, so some of that class budget for the chanter is wasted on the warrior. I'd be inclined to go War/Clr/Bard.
Thank you for the response. I started a Pal/Enc/Druid on a live server today just to kind of get a feel for the 3. If I were to go that route it would be Dwarf Pal/ HEF Enc which is what I did on Agnarr and Wood Elf Druid. In that case they would all start within 2-3 zones of each other. I may setup a SK/Enc/Clr next week on my next set of days off. I used to play strictly DEF, so I could start all 3 in the same area. I've actually main'd all 3 as DEF on other servers. Only downfall is the atrocious Str, especially on the SK. I did miss the Hide option on the Enc last go round playing as a HEF instead of DEF.
It's pretty easy to get a Troll or Ogre grouped up with Dark Elves, and especially on a TLP where gear is such crap, that starting str and stun immunity is actually quite valuable. The extra mana you get from a dark elf is largely negated by the fact that you will always have clarity. Mana issues for an SK are actually a real thing early on, with ogre you many not even have enough to cast your first spells , but it goes away pretty quickly. If I was on a modern server, I'd go dark elf and never look back, as once you get into the higher levels with AA etc the difference really doesn't matter at all, but on a TLP that stuff is worth quite a lot. P.S. SK/Chant/Clr is an absolutely bulletproof combo. The *only* thing this team lacks is ports and evacs. You could consider doing a druid instead of a cleric on that team, because with the chanter CC and slows, and the SK on clarity life tapping, you'll be fine with healing. I actually main SK/Chant/Druid on test, and it's my go to box for pretty much everything now. Sow, damage shield, druid debuffs in exchange for better healing....well, you only need better healing if you would have died without it, which doesn't happen much.
Yeh. May try that combo next week. Ogre Sk, DEF Enc, and Halfling Druid. All different areas but still Antonica. Worst will be running the ogre over, but can then bind in Neriak.
In my opinion it's worth it to run the ogre, that starting str and no stun is huge on a TLP. You will be required to enable old character models though lol.
I just built a computer last month: 4.1Ghz 6 core, 12 thread, with RX 5700XT, and 16gb ram. I'm not turning anything down, plus I dont want to be running a huge square around. Lol
Turning on old character models isn't turning anything down, it's reveling in the glory of how much better the original character models are than the literally horrible and should be burned at the stake updates.
