Hello tanks! I am going to be starting up either an SK or Paladin tonight with a friend who will be making a BST, we'll be starting from level 1. I have a couple questions, as it's been a few years since we've played. 1. How good are mercs in the later game? I know they are OP for the first 80 levels or so, and kinda work after that ... but what about 100+. Can you get by with a healer merc in challenging group content, or is a player healer mandatory? How about DPS mercs? Do they come anywhere near what a player can do at 100+? 2. I will likely be boxing another account ... however I am terrible at boxing and want to basically bring a buffbot around with us to drop group whenever we find a real group. I'll likely be using the free 85 heroic token on him and just keeping him out of group until we catch up. I've heard Knights are hard up on mana ... and I like to spam my buttons. My first thought was a SHM, but as he is playing a BST, that may not be necessary. My next thought was an Enchanter. I could use it to single pull if harder areas and give us decent haste/mana regen type buffs. Any thoughts? 3. I've see in the forums here that the tanks are all relatively balanced, which is kinda a first for me to hear a community say, and is great news! That said, each tanks still shines in their own niche. I'm not planning on raiding, as it's just never been appealing to me. Out of the two Knights which do you think would be better for small to full group oriented play, that could also solo a bit (though I plan on grouping with at least my friend 95% of the time). 4. Server. We're looking for a new server to start fresh on, we like large communities, even if they are mostly end game (we'll catch up quick). Any suggestions here would be most welcome! As a side question to this we'll also be looking for an active guild, so any info their is appreciated as well. 5. Informational sources. As this game is coming up on 2 decades old, there seems to be a LOT of outdated material out there. Is there a current, up to date website that I can review class info, spells, stats, strats, guides, etc? Thanks!!
1. With a tank, healer merc at high level is viable 2. Druid may be a good fit, would help with early leveling too 3. All tanks can solo, warrior molo is strong with their dps currently. Recently made a paladin alt and love it as an sk main. 4. When I returned not too long ago, went FV and love it 5. Eqresource, allakhazam, raidloot, freelance raiders forums are all great
I've been playing a paladin up with some buddies. Try not boxing. Paladins have enough to do that you don't get bored, as they don't seem to have agro locks the way other tanks do. I play with a shaman and a necro (both not boxing). We try to keep 2-3 mobs at a time so they can dot everything (Which gives a paladin alot of work for agro, but its fun). 1 Cleric merc seems to be enough for us, as they use wiz mercs. The shaman only does healing when things go bad. However, the better I get at a paladin, the less the shaman needs to help. If you playing a pal and boxing, make it something that does not have a vital tool you need. So that if your too busy on the tank, you don't lose cause you didn't have time for the box.
I cannot agree enough with this. I've hated boxing for years, even avoided groups that have a box in them whenever possible. That's why I was looking for something that was basically a buffbot, that could sit in (or out of) group and assist through aDPS, and the occasional utility (rez, pulling, heals, etc). I was thinking either SHM or ENC, but Fohpo mentioned a DRU ... I am leaning away from that suggestion only because ports are not nearly as necessary as they once were, and the buffs they have seem lackluster in comparison to what a SHM or ENC could do ... Please keep in mind I am speaking strictly as a buffbot toon, I know DRU's bring more to the table than that, but as I want to put 110% into the tank, I don't want to have to micromanage another toon.
1. Healer mercs will heal you through all EoK content, though you'll need to go through a gearing process to get there. A good thread for someone who recently geared to EoK levels is here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/finally-moving-on-from-cotf.237553/ 2. A bard is probably the best fit. Requires no usage during combat, provides great ADPS, mana regen, +healing ability, has track and selos. It fits well with a tank because you can switch to it, pull mobs, run back to camp, start melody/pop ADPS cooldowns, switch to paladin before the mobs get there and not need to bother with the bard until you need to pull again. 3. Right now SKs are considered the best group tanks, with warriors in a close second. The good thing about tanks is they are somewhat overpowered right now, in that a group geared tank can tank mobs in 2H DPS mode, and out DPS many DPS classes. 4. I can't speak to other servers, but Bristlebane has Ring of Valor which has the 5th best raiding crew gamewide, and has a large contingent of casual players that have no raiding requirement, but can join the casual raids twice a week.
