So got bored and reinstalled EQ. Thinking about running at least 3 accounts because that would give me a full group once you throw in the Mercs. But Im kinda struggling to decide on a group setup. Also I am thinking about eventually making it a 4 or even 5 box but dont know if thats really necessary. I proly wont be doing this on TLP so I can use Mercs and because having 2 or 3 empty group spaces would be wasteful. I just want to keep my boxing set up simple for now and as I get more comfortable I will add more classes until hopefully I dont need to use Mercs at all. I had considered a caster only group but figured having a real tank would always be better. Right now Im thinking about just starting with the holy trinity of warrior, cleric, and enchanter with 3 wiz mercs. That gives me an easier tank class so rather than dealing with all the stuff Pally/SK have to do I can focus more on my healer and my Enchanter. Dont really know if I need the cleric though. Are Cleric Mercs good enough to keep a real tank healed? If thats the case I will drop Cleric for Druid. Im just going to assume when I get to the point where Im comfortable adding more classes they should all be Wizards?
Just speaking for myself (and my boxing laziness/newbiness), my three box consists of: Main Warrior: Pull, hit stout and a few hate keys then can easily tab away. Alt Druid: Ports, heals and debuffs. For max laziness, I usually have one merc healer up, so I only have to heal in oh shiz moments. Alt Mage: CoH, dps, back up tank. Having this set up, my main warrior can get carted swiftly around Norrath on a pillow by her two minions (sistahs). If you are a quester, I would personally recommend having a mage in your group for coh. Running three toons around is sheer hell at times.
I like mayfaires line of thinking. Imho it's best to run your squad with a main toon that is powerful. The other two toons provide support and extra oomph when able. For instance, my main team is my main necro with a bard by his side. I find these two able to take on almost any content by themselves. However I did roll and level up a beastlord recently and the beast can melee when I use tank merc or stand back and contribute to pet tanking. I may consider leveling a mage to use in place of beastlord.
First of all, this is very helpful: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=106180. 2ndly, Vaz is right, being raid geared helps. But there is also sometimes and some things where I have to stay on the tank and let the dps mercs slowly kill until I get the number of adds down to one or two. If you're worried about splitting, u could always use a chanter, monk or bard in lieu of the druid.
I run SK, Enc, Dru, Mage. I personally think it's the easiest setup that covers all the utility you need. SK pulls and tanks, druid has track, heals, dps, ports, run speed, buffs. Chanter for crowd control, moderate dps, buffs, and Mage for dps, Call of the Hero and a backup tank in case SK goes down. You won't regret this combo!
Same as Gr8fuldave, except I only three box, so it's DRU/ENC/MAG. Been pretty happy with it, though I'm very casual, so not sure how it would work at the top end. Works really well for me. Tat
Hmm. Well, I have only been in current expansion raid gear since I joined Reckless Ascension a year ago. Prior to that I was in raid gear that was at least 1.5 expansions old (which is slightly better than what current group gear would have been), and what I have written here is the way I boxed then as well. Please feel free to disregard if you feel my being raid geared invalidates my advice. Oh, and for what it is worth, raid gear can only do so much; it isn't a magic bullet. You have to know how to play your toon(s). GL with whatever you decide.
