Trying again: help with choices

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by Pegasus, Jun 22, 2020.

  1. Pegasus New Member

    I apologize because I know there have been quite a few of these posts... but none addressed my specific issues. (and I accidently posted this in the Veterans' Lounge instead of here).

    I play an enchanter on live and the class is completely different now compared to original, which is why I rolled an enchanter on Rizlona. I wanted groups that need mez and slow and not just be a wizard wannabe.


    I prefer to group but play kinda late and it can be spotty finding groups, so I rolled decided to box to support the enchanter.
    I initially started a cleric to box with my enchanter, then added a druid for the utility (I have 3 accounts, so 'limited' to 3 chars).


    On live I box and SK and Enchanter and miss that combo,
    so I just created an SK on the cleric account and have finally gotten her up to the level where she can group with enchanter.


    But I'm undecided...

    Should I continue with my original team: Enchanter, Cleric and Druid?

    Should I go with Enchanter, SK and Druid?


    Thanks!
  2. Tierdal Augur

  3. Thewiz Augur

    x3!
  4. Brunlin Augur

    I wouldn't go back to the original team. Druid is not considered a dps even though they can do some dps. Druid is a good utility box with good heals. So i would decide between Druid and Cleric. Druid has snare,succor, sow,sup heal,regen, DS,and animal charms (which will not be very useful to you since you will be charming on chanter).....Cleric has CH for those high level charms, a 0 point stun for those charm breaks, best Hp,AC buffs, and rez...not to mention the cleric will have a better ac (plate armor) and 2 DA to survive heal aggro. With Sk and Enchanter, i think the cleric will be a better choice all around. You will just need to get 3 pairs of jboots or stock up on sow pots for the puller.

    I myself , love the.... Enchanter, mage, cleric or druid trio as this is very powerful 3 box..the difference between the druid and cleric is the same as i stated above, except with no sk, you only have snare if you go druid.( evil clerics of innoruuk...please spare me the 10 sec snare cast unholy symbol that you guys go on about.....10 sec cast time makes it not very good) This box group lets you main focus the enchanter with 2 powerful boxes that only need a few hotkeys to make them very viable.

    I personally would have a hard time focusing on SK to pull and tank, and main focusing on enchanter for charms and mezzes...though i guess if you pulled with enchanter and tanked with SK you could just main focus enchanter. box sk, box healer...anyway....just my 2 coppers
  5. Pegasus New Member

    Thanks Brunlin.
    Good thoughts. Not currently viable, since the SK and cleric are on the same account - so my choice is playing the SK vs the cleric (along with enchanter and druid).
    I wish it was easy to switch characters to different accounts, would probably go with enchanter, cleric and SK.
    I suppose I could start another SK on the druid account but it was painful leveling the SK up to where she could group with the enchanter...
  6. Truetotheblue Augur

    Enchanter can really fill the role of your tank, especially at higher levels. But given your SK and Cleric are on the same account it really seems like SK / CLR is your primary debate. Since you have a druid, cleric provides a lot of overlap in terms of the role you'd really need them to provide. Druid could provide adequate DPS and utility as a 3rd to that, but won't be min-maxing value. Cleric and Enchanter is a strong 2 box itself. But given your options your best bet is likely SK, Enchanter, Druid. Cleric, Enchanter, Druid will work fine, however.

    There's situations where having the PC tank is very handy and an SK will provide great steady DPS even without casting. This would give you more DPS out of that slot compared to the cleric, maximize the use of your druid, and provide a backup for your enchanter.
  7. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    If it was me I'd start a cleric on the druid account, will be far easier to level up than the SK and less gear dependent, rarely will you ever need 2 healers. It wouldn't be too much extra work to level up the druid and cleric on the same account as expansions roll around and the SK as far more AAs to gain than the others. Druids are also good soloers so you have that option as well if you want to level both up on the same account, sometimes a change is as good as a rest. :)

    I'd use the druid to port the group near to where we were going and then campfire the cleric in for killing.

    But druids are reasonable healers so you could just go druid, chanter, SK. :)

    Have fun whatever you do.
    Machen likes this.
  8. Machen New Member


    The whole point of TLP is to progress.

    Your two teams will have vastly different power at different points of TLP expansion.

    Enchanter, SK druid is powerful early on, but is also missing rez. It is also missing dps if you choose not to charm and are relying on the druid for both dps and heals.

    Enchanter, Cleric and Druid is a very strong start to a group during Gates-->SOF, but until mercs you are going to have to rely on other players. Your only tanking option in this setup if you are just 3boxing by yourself is an encanter pet. You will not always have a tank-capable enchanter pet in this stretch of expansions. So there will be some group content you absolutely cannot 3 box with these classes. Once you have mercs, you will be just fine, but you'll go for a year and a half with no reliable tank and no mercs.
  9. Fluid Augur


    Yeah but... I've run an Enchanter/Druid combo. It's as less then optimal as you say, it still isn't that bad overall. Tash line always breaks through so Roots stick like glue. Procedure is a PIA since the Enchanter's DOTs break Root. I have to pull with Druid Snare, kite MOB past Enchanter who applies Tash, DOT, and maybe shoots off a Root at which time the Druid gets back in it. Since the package has travel and Clarity it isn't to onerous. I don't really use it in dungeons so I have room to run around. Since leveling is the game as it's played, your right in that dungeons are kind of a must for any team.

    If I use the Druid's charm I haven't noticed Tash helping as is the current common knowledge. I should get off my butt and do some timing on charm breaks. There is one silly thing I have never tried and can only be don't on a TLP server. Bottom of Splitpaw has some killer snakes, toughest yard trash MOB in the zone IIRC. I should ramble down there before the Infected Splitpaw change to see if they are any good as pets. I don't think the snakes are in the game anymore post Infected Paw.
  10. Tucoh Augur

    Dunno about the killer snakes but a one eyed gnoll was the best charm pet I found in split paw. He doesn't backstab or anything but whatever magic resistance the other mobs have seems to have totally skipped him.

    Doesn't help a druid though :D
  11. Tucoh Augur

    A few notes:
    • Enchanters are so powerful that with an enc/dru or enc/cle you're going to be fine with whatever thrid option you pick, though I find that extra DPS is really useful
    • You shouldn't feel restricted to a single set of characters. It's super easy to level on TLP and gear is of secondary importance for casters. When people can hit the level cap in a few days after a server opening, there is a lot of time between TLP releases.
    • On TLPs a druid retains a lot of value for whatever box groups you use both in terms of porting your team and power leveling other characters. Enchanters/clerics have a lot of power leveling value too.
    • Druids suffer from getting DD / healing spells a little later than their competing pure types (cleric/wiz), but they still do OK
    • coming from live, I've found playing an enc/cle a lot of fun, but the lack of ports / SoW is very painful
    • I don't know of any places you can't charm for a looong time, so I consider the SK a poor choice because they aren't really needed to tank
    All that to say, I don't think enc/cle/dru is a bad choice. When you're fighting you might wish you had a mage, but when you're traveling you'll be glad to have that druid, and if you want the druid later for ports/powerleveling you'll be glad you have it.
  12. Kabshaak Journeyman

    I currently play a Druid on Rizlona and this Friday I am subscribing to 2 more accounts, so I will actually be doing Druid / Cleric / Enchanter as was mentioned. I did try this trio for a while on Test server throughout the lower levels and really enjoyed it.

    I understand concerns that Druid is low DPS, but I enjoy their DPS style in combination with all their utilities. The Druid can focus more on DPS considering the Cleric will mainly be healing, but I even had the Cleric jump in and do some nukes too and the Druid was able to back up heal, which was necessary at times.

    Just my 2 cents. I will be rolling SK in a few expansions to add to the team, but for now, this is going to be my trio until a bit into Kunark during which I will make a Shaman/Monk combo.
  13. Daimos5 Journeyman

    I always look at an "ideal trio" as having all 3 of the EQ group trinity. Tank + healer + dps. if one of those classes can overlap into the support role, then that also helps a ton.

    Enchanter is a great support class with clarity, mez, haste, etc. With charming, it also can play the tank/dps role, so I consider it almost required for a self-sufficient trio on a tlp at launch.

    Above, everyone has discussed the travel advantages given by the druid, which are absolutely helpful, but in the grand scheme of things, need to be considered in the context of your entire playtime. If the ports/succor save you 20 minutes going to a camp spot, but you then spent 12 hours at that spot, is the difference in usefulness of druid vs cleric worth the 20 minutes?

    If you're comfortable playing using a charmed mob as tank, then enchanter/cleric/druid is very powerful and has basically all the utility of a group. You really aren't missing anything at all in the group to perform adequately.

    Another consideration if you're not going to be using the druid to heal is to roll a wizard. More dps and still has the ports, has snare and is CRAZY easy to box.

    Enchanter charming with an SK in group isn't super useful, as your SK will just be fighting the enchanter pet for aggro.
  14. Megazen Elder

    Dru/SK/Chanter by a mile. Even if you only 2 box, Druid/Chanter is a much better duo than Cleric/Chanter. Dru/SK/Chant is one of the best 3 boxes in the game. Dru/Chanter/Mage is another one, especially up through PoP. I'm running dru/chant/mage right now on Riz, and have done dru/chant on a couple of TLPs, as well as sk/bard/druid.

    Cleric/Sk/Chant or Dru/SK/Chant are both amazing box teams. You can get away without the druid because SK brings snare, which is huge, especially in earlier expansions. I personally love having ports, sow, evacs, damage shields on a box team. With CC and slows, and the SK on mana regen, the better healing the cleric brings isn't really needed for anything but real bleeding edge stuff.

    P.S. As far as charming with the chanter with SK in group....it's an absolutely huge DPS boost, which is the one thing that group is shy on if you don't charm. You will more than double your kill rate with a charm.
  15. Bullsnooze Augur

    Enchanter, Druid, and Magician would be the ultimate caster trio. And, you would not need to level up characters in between.

    Cleric's complete heal and resurrection are really good, however Druid healing, ports, damage reduction with the addition of Mage's Malo, Pet, Damage, and weapons it won't be needed - things will just melt.
  16. Megazen Elder

    For me, Druid/Chanter/Mage is the single best 3 box to roll on a TLP, for a number of reasons.

    1. No gear needed. You can level this trio to max in any era, with literally no gear on. Something that is very different for an SK, especially moving forward, they become more and more time intensive to gear adequately.

    2. All the 3 have bind and gate. Now that origin is on TLPs, this is actually really huge. Between CoH, eventually stuff like port to bind etc, you can do some really great things that make having a box team much less hassle.

    3. It never sucks. If you stick with it, you can actually level this all the way to live, and do it without ever using a merc. Merc healers make this combo just ridiculously easy to play, and really really powerful.

    4. Through most of your EQ life, unless you spend a ton of time gearing a tank, the mage pet will be better at tanking, this is something that continues to grow the more expansions are released.

    5. You literally have what I consider to be every base covered, those are:
    a. Tank
    b. Heal
    c. CC
    d. Travel
    e. Snare
    f. (eventually) recovery
    g. Adequate to great DPS depending on how aggressive you want to be with charming. Once mercs come in, being able to full time charm on the druid and the chanter turns this into an insane DPS trio.
    h. Synergy. D/M/C has possibly the best synergy in the game, especially going forward. Druid fire debuffs, chanter caster buffs, druid form buffs, druid attack debuff and skin to plant line, combine with chanter slow.....the list goes on and on.

    A lot of your choice depends on how long you want to stick with this. If this is just a lark to go through the first couple of expansions, anything will really work. Once mercs come into the picture, if you last that long, your player character cleric is pretty much a wasted spot, as you'll get more out of a player controlled DPS or control class than you will a cleric.

    I've spent years 3 boxing, if I could have only one combo, it would be M/D/C. There are a lot of great 3 box combos, but this one has such great quality of life and power.
  17. Redgnome1 Lorekeeper

    Didnt read any of these ramblings about nothing
  18. Pegasus New Member

    Dang! Who would have guessed there wasn't one right answer!!
    Thanks all for the responses.
    Enchanter remains the backbone of the team. I do charm so I see the idea that I don't need a tank, at least in TLP. That said, when charm breaks it's nice to have a tank around while I recharm (tanking the mob(s) I was fighting while the enchanter deals with 1 mad ex-pet). I agree that a tank does require a lot more attention to gear/augs (on Live my SK gets all the drops, the enchanter doesn't need much).
    Druid: SoW is definitely nice to have. SK can snare so that's a wash. I'm not at the level yet where I can port, but that will be very nice moving a box team around. DS not game changing but nice.
    Cleric: Bigger heals and rez is also nice. I've never played a cleric so interested in trying to get one leveled up.
    And now I'm kinda interested in the enchanter, druid, mage idea. At least in TLP that should be a sweet trio. (On Live, my enchanter and SK are getting a shammy leveled up - want to control some healing as well as for extra DPS).

    Maybe that's why I don't progress as far/fast as I could... I get distracted trying different combinations.

    I'm actually a little fascinated by redgnome's post. I can't decide if going into a thread and posting that 'I didn't read any of these ramblings about nothing' is hilarious or … (forum rules prevent me from using the terms I really want to use). Is this a thing you do often? Is that your contribution to the community? Do I need to stay off your lawn? I don't recognize you from Veterans' and am new to TLP.
  19. Bobbybick Only Banned Twice

    Did someone say Choices? NSFW Audio warning so Dreamweaver doesn't smack me.