I know this subject has been played out in various scenarios in various threads but I simply can't make a decision and stick with it. I want.to PLAY cleric as main which 2 boxes work best for you guys to complete current group content? Can mercs tank good enough that I could do cleric/bard/Ranger or would I need mage pet tank meaning cleric/mage/(wiz or bard or ranger)......or some better ideas? I got that itch to play again but have stalled out trying to finalize a trio. When I say "PLAY" I mean actually focus on the clerics screen as close to 100% as possible so a real tank is not an option Thanks for any input
Cleric heal power is such that a ham sandwich could tank current group content well enough, depending on how much effort you want to put in. The more robust the one taking the hits, the more leeway you have to smurf around with stuns, Glorious, Contras, that sort of thing.
I would recommend an enchanter; the mez, slow, and stun will be helpful to a cleric regardless of how you are dpsing and I recommend the chanter over the bard because of the stun ability. Three wizard mercs is very effective if the mobs can be stunned. You could add any class as a third but if you want to focus on the cleric your options are more limited to something that can dps without alot of control, so macros and/or pets. On a side note travel as a non-invis casting char is a pain; perm invis, CoH, porting are serious things to consider.
If your dead set against running a real tank SK/war, it's doable, but you might find your really need more screen time on the ranger. I realize you want to focus on the cleric but thats gonna be tough with a hybrid class, your gonna have to put more screen time on in my opinion. Besides, your bard and ranger will be doing most pulling duties. If you really want to focus on the cleric, then I would do a 4 group: Mage, Mage, Bard, Cleric. Bard will be your puller. My main is a ranger in most of my group make ups, and I pull mostly with him, and rarely ever go to my bard unless I'm doing some special pulling duties ranger cannot handle. I have a cleric in one group make up, but maybe on that screen 12%. So in a nut shell what I'm saying is if you want to be dedicated to your cleric screen, you should surround yourself with caster +pet + Merc mix, and keep a distance from the fray. There is always a point in game you will wish you have a real tank, thats why I say lesson that bad feeling now by doubling down on the the 2x Mage. You'd can add an extra cleric Merc when you need extra healing, and a wiz Merc for the DPS.
With subtlety off clerics tank pretty darn well all by themselves. I can't think of a group mob in current content a group geared cleric could not tank well enough. Get some AC augs you'll be fine.
Thanks yall. Gonna roll with cleric/shaman/bard I guess. Not max efficiency but it works for what I want to do if tanking not an issue
Well depending on how you employ the shaman, it's possible that might make my cleric tanking suggestion more difficult. Reason being the new DOTS are quite substantial aggro. Not to be discouraging though, because a shaman or a ham sandwich (tto quote brohg) could tank with a cleric supporting them (so you'd just be switching which of your toons tanks. NBD. Whichever toon you do find ends up holding aggro best, just follow my previous advice on AC augs (with Hagi preference) and you are going to be golden.
Tanking with your cleric while quite possible, becomes problematic due to spell interrupts. The tank merc with the new gear and aas will work very well with you actively healing.
So this is a pretty interesting question. I 5 box a warrior, bard, cleric, mage, berserker. My advice is purely for level 105 fighting current content. If you take a step back and say that your goal is to have an effective boxed group while spending the majority of the time on the cleric, you've got several options. 1. What you may have already chosen, some form of taking the role of tank as a cleric with a bard/shaman. 2. Using a non-tank class as the tank. A berserker + cleric would be interesting, you'd need to spend so much effort healing the berserker that you'd have to be on the cleric a lot. Cleric + melee ranger could work as well. 3. Use a mage/nec/beast class to provide a tank and just heal it. 4. Using a tank class in 2H mode, and pulling enough mobs that you'll have to be on the cleric a lot. In my opinion, #4 is by far the best option here from an efficacy standpoint and enjoyment. It'll be the only option that you'll be able to effectively kill named mobs in current content and if you've got cle/war/brd and pull 5+ mobs at a time, the riposte dmg from the warrior is enough to kill pretty quickly. And as long as you don't try to use [Unmentioned 3rd Party Software] or other tools to make it easy on yourself, you'll have to spend a lot of time on the cleric. Additionally once you get aggro on the warrior and pop a few cooldowns, you don't really need to play them much. #3 is ok, and a pretty standard option. #2 isn't a bad option, but your fake tank will get one rounded by named EoK mobs. #1 is a bad option, you probably won't be able to kill named EoK mobs, and those you do will probably just die of boredom. You'll be super slow doing just about everything.
I am sorry but I have to disagree with you, his chosen group of Cleric/shamans/bard will be able to do any content without dying of boredom. Speaking as someone who soloed (not even moloed) hunter in quite a few zones in TDS/TBM with my cleric alt. (Working on EOK give me timmmme). Add in shaman revamp dots boosted dramatically by the bard. And we'll it's not quite a zerker, but it'll do. I mean cleric dps CAN be reasonably tolerable (especially with a bard helping and shaman) barring PEBKAC.
Not to be snarky: but I did say I soloed the mobs for Hunter. It wasn't record-breaking fast, but it was a personal challenge that I did because I wanted to. And yes sometimes I rotate out my paladin or a different toon in my box setup and use my cleric to tank. Now keep in mind I am not saying this optimal, it does however work if someone is willing to do the front end work (research spell setup, do alittle math to optimize ability/spell selection, and at least start out with AC augs from COTf/h HA) On my cleric alt I basically soloed, moloed, or duoed all progression and gear upgrades in TDS/TBM (duoed with another cleric, there was a point in Thuliasaur I had to get some help to do a progression task because I didn't have the raw DPS or gear to force my way through it). Wasn't a raid geared alt or anything fancy, started with full cultural (no raid elders) and COTF augs + some other augs she got along the way to 100. But long story short. Yes I tank with a cleric, when I play it.
Good information, thanks. I'll be very impressed if you solo EoK T2 named (especially Droga, which has no safe spaces) with a cleric tanking. If you can do Chief Dronan, take a video, I'd love to see it.
That's not what I said: I said TDS/TBM. So far I've only had a chance to do T1 named. My cleric is on a server my main is no longer on, so until I bring her over to my new home I haven't really played her much. Though based on what I've seen from EOK T2 named (iI've only recently started playing again) I don't see a problem. I have 2hander tanked most of the ones I've slain with my paladin, which is usually a good metric for how well my cleric will tank the same mob. Not quite a apples to apples comparison but it's roughly valid. I just noticed Roxx comment about tank mercs, so I give that a go too if for some reason I can't do it all by my lonesome.
It can be done, I did it up to TBM then I realized it was much more fun to run 2 wiz boxes, 3 burn casters, and keeping them all alive while the mobs ping pong around with the aggro changes. Burning mobs in seconds was a nice bonus. In the end you just have to do what you find the most enjoyable. I switch to the tank merc on named and he does his job very well now, even holding aggro over all the wizzys ( on balanced, silent casting clicked), hasn't failed me once.
Thanks. Lot of food for thought. Should have mentioned I'm not necessarily named hunting. I'm fine fighting them a year later. Mainly just want to do group progression stuffs. Bard is a must for wiz mercs . Shaman be good for sluggishness. That's my thinking. Then only actively playing one cleric. Still considering adding in necro or mage instead of shaman tho
I would absolutely use something other than a shaman if you are open to it. Reasoning: you have a cleric Support: shamans dps is good yes, but will not play nice without a tank, and shaman buffs are generally (outside of Lion) not nearly as useful as consistent controllable dps/aggro (mage would be my choice personally, necros require abit more finesse to get to an acceptable result) Not that shaman aren't great. But they really require a fair amount of active play in comparison to other options. Which is what I think you are trying to achieve, a reasonable effort for reasonable reward. Where a shaman shines is above and beyond what most would consider a reasonable effort in the context of a box team.
I understand your outlook, but I think you also need to understand, playing the cleric as the primary toon is about the least effective boxing you can do. Your time spent on the toon vs. the reward is about the worst, for any class (bard possibly worse, maybe). You would have significantly more DPS playing ANY DPS toon as the main and setting macros up on your cleric, even if your DPS toon is far less geared. While still being effective at healing the tank (pet, merc, whatever). You would be able to pull more mobs, per pull, DPS significantly more, and hold agro much better playing ANY tank toon, and setting up macros on your cleric. While still healing a real tank well enough. I don't understand your reasoning for wanting to spend most of your screen time ont he cleric... Just because you're paying less attention to your cleric when boxing, does NOT mean that you can't play them as your main toon, or will play worse, while raiding or whatever. IMO, boxing is about paying the most attention to the toon that provides the biggest bang for the buck: which one provides the most benefit for the added screen time. Cleric is about the worst, at that. The benefit they provide for maximum screen time, versus swap screens and click a couple hotkeys/macros just isn't large enough for the added screen time. If you want a challenge, and to max play the cleric... molo with a wiz merc on burn
The reason I want to PLAY the cleric is because I really feel need to relearn the class. I played cleric main and was very good at it (both solo and raid) up until about a year after mercs entered the game. After that I bounced around mains but never had the pure fun i did as a cleric. Since then there are so so many new spell lines and aa that I must learn to integrate those into my arsenal before I dare try to raid again. Anyway I dropped the shaman for mage so going with clr/mag/bard..tho I have a 105 necro on the bard account I may play some or move him to the mage account...it's just when I log the necro on my cleric ends up sitting on his pony all night because like you say its more efficient. that's why I need 2 passive straight up box characters so I can learn cleric changes over past like 7 years before I try to raid again
You can practice raid cleric stuff in a group setting, but that is a different thing than good group cleric stuff. Magician's a fine choice, can multibind a standard sort of linup to get fine performance while you weave spells on the cle.
