Was thinking about going back and doing old raids with my group. I dont have a true tank but certainly a EM20 focused Earth pet has to be better than tanks were when those expansions were current. 100 Mage mostly cotf raid and a few pieces of tier 4 RoF raid 100 Druid tier 3/4 RoF raid geared 95 Enchanter (horrible gear just made her yesterday) How far can I go with those 3 characters doing older raids? I assume most raids up to Anguish are doable. Might have some trouble in GoD since I never did any of those raids and I just remember people saying they were a pain in the . But certainly having 35 levels on the content and godly gear should make them a pushover. Im sure there are a few like that event in Solteris where you have to balance HP of a bunch of adds that keep splitting might be pretty hard or even impossible. Which ones should be doable? Which ones are probably impossible? Will I actually need a real tank or will my pet be fine since I dont have any melee?
Anguish has been soloable for years; GoD raids with few exceptions are probably mostly soloable, or moloable (depends on zone). Beyond Anguish, it is really going to come down to raid mechanics combined with your skill to determine how far you can go. There are certain raids which you simply are not going to be able to box because of their mechanics. You can probably do most basic raids through SoF or SoD, but the more complex or innovative raids you will have trouble doing or will be impossible to do; Ink`tuk`ta and the Sisters in Demi are a couple of examples of things you really are not going to be able to do 3 boxing; unless you are like the best of the best of boxers (maybe not even then). Raids with a lot of non-mezable adds will also be kind of difficult. I can't give you specifics though, I haven't had much luck beyond some of PoR; but I have not really truly three boxed in a few years, am no where near your gear level, and my main is a monk.
Sisters has been boxed, but it sounded like a pain in the butt. Your main point is quite true - mechanics are what will make old things impossible and boxing skill, not the difficulty of the mobs themselves.
I guess the first question that I would ask is why do you want to box the old raids? Is it for the loot, e.g. those specialization augments in LDON, various clickies, and so on? Is it for the sake of nostalgia? Or is it for the challenge of juggling multiple characters doing six different things (aka masochism)? If it's loot that you are after, then it's less of a question of "how far can I get" than a question of "which raids can I cherry pick" because, as others have indicated, it's the mechanics that make it difficult to box many raids, not how hard the bosses hit. For example, in some cases failure to follow the script perfectly will result in a deathtouch.
I just missed a lot of them while I was away from the game. I also would like to just back and see how far I can get. Might just start with the original planes and progress through each expansion. Just wondering whats the highest expansion thats probably doable? Im guessing it starts to get hard around TBS? Can you do stuff like Ashengate or Frostcrypt with only 3? Would having a full raid geared tank make things easier? A real tank would let me Beam away with my Mage and would make adds melt without worrying about pulling Agro.
I've boxed Solteris, if I had to put a hard stop point on boxable raiding, I'd have to say probably Solteris is as current as you can get. I don't know if Frostcrypt is doable with three though.
if they ever let Mercs into older raids does that open up a lot more? Or will mechanics still bend you over?
Mercs in old raids would open things up a ton since it would allow you to have the Merc tank adds or heal you or what not while you and your boxes take care of mechanics instead. Mercs being exempt from certain things would also determine how much they help.
There is very little i did not box with War/clerc/bard.. cleared Solteris and FC for almost 3 months before geting my first Thick Ice Studded Collar and I was clearing it all the first month untill I was told to ninja through the door lol. I'm about on my 10+ clear on Solteris and still no fire squelly illusion but plenty of circle XXX clicky or drogmor mount and one fire elem illusion for my bots... did the first 3 event from SoD tower once for overhaste clicky for my bard and tried a few UF for achievements but too much timers or too much to do every where for 3 boxed in most UF / HoT raids. =/
You don't need a raid geared tank to get through, say, Solteris with 3. 3 should be able to do all of TSS (except for those events in frostcrypt that won't trigger unless you have 6 players in proximity!). But, again, if your goal is to do *everything*, you're going to get stuck in Inktu`ta...the cursecaller's event isn't doable with 3 bots.
My guess is a Heroic Adventure Chain, with an XP potion? He stated that he is a raid Geared Magician, so he likely puts out a good burst of DPS. I box the same combination, Enchanter Druid Magician, However, I'm the opposite. My Enchanter is Raid geared, My magician, is 97. (I recreated him on my new server) I can tell you that the combination he possesses has amazing potential to get XP fast, safely, and a ton of utility to handle the different scenarios he wants to try. Back to the original topic. It isn't really how far can you go with the combination, but, What events can you handle with the mechanics they possess. Raids with adds that are not CC friendly would put a lot of stress on your baby Enchanter. Raids with a lot of "move player X away." Would put stress on the player. I would go as far as to say you could do some raids in House of Thule even, given that you push the envelope a bit. My advice? Learn your Enchanter. Check out some resources, the utility he provides can and will sway fights to your advantage. If I get a moment before raids tonight. I'll post a "boxing an enchanter guide" video If I get tied up. It may take a day or two. Secondly. GINA is your friend
Did u just ignore the first 85 levels? lol. Either way Im pretty good at PLing. 1-95 in a day is a joke considering 1-75 is like 3 hours.
Ive three boxed Tower and Convorteum (with help on sisters event#5), Some HOT raids are also easily boxable. NTOV dragons can also be boxed but you need more then 3 for that. Solteris is def not the last noxable raid zone.
