Just returned after quitting in 2007 and feel like boxing this time around. I'm currently playing with a friend so our party is Bard, Mage, Shaman, Monk, and an unboxed Berserker. I don't feel like the monk is a very good fit and was looking to replace it with something else but I'm not quite sure what. Right now I'm thinking about Enchanter, Rogue, or Wizard since I read that the mage pet can fulfill the tank role in group content at later levels, though I'm of course also open to other suggestions.
While mage pets could be a tank, I would still recommend a "Real" tank of your choice if you are planning to go over level 80. Any would work in a Tank/Shaman/Mage/Bard group, so it is largely down to personal preference. Although I would ask whether your Bard is going to be your dedicated puller as it might affect tank choice slightly.
Thanks for the response, I was going to have the bard pull but I am just using wineq and alt-tabbing around so if I can alternatively just leave it playing melody that would probably be for the best.
I tank war/bard/mage, most of what I say relates to modern EQ (EoK). A few notes: 1. Mages and monks are currently two of the least powerful classes. If you do bard/sha/monk/mage, the unboxed berserker will probably do 2x your 4box DPS and you'll only switch to your monk out of pure pity. =( 2. What Elsewhere said about tanks probably can't be overstated. Right now tanks are OP relative to pets and tank mercs. 3. You may want to reconsider 4boxing and instead choose to 3box. Unless you're very proficient a 3boxed group with three mercs is probably moving through content faster than a 4boxed group with 2 mercs. Even if you were able to play 4 characters well enough to beat a 3box in just a straight kill-speed battle, every new character has to be moved around, geared, set up and cared for. 4. My recommendation for a box team is to first pick a character that you want to be your main and have an attachment to, and go from there. A top-shelf box team probably looks like war/ADPS/dps (and two DPS if you 4box). Warriors, paladins and SKs are all good tanks, but warriors are the easiest tank to box. ADPS usually means shaman, enchanter or bard. In my opinion bard is the best. Right now the DPS order for grouping looks something like berseker>wizard>ranger>rogue>necro. In that list, rangers are easiest to box followed by wizards. 5. Playing a healer and a tank shouldn't be done lightly. With a shaman you can still have a cleric merc to help with the burden, but if the cleric is doing all the work and the bard is providing ADPS, what is the shaman doing? 6. If you do 4box, check out inner space to make it easier. I also recommend multiple monitors. 7. Whether you have a tank or not you'll probably want your bard pulling. With a tank it means you'll be chain pulling mobs and will start pulling the next mob while you're finishing off the last one.
Thank you for the response, dropping the shaman in favor of merc healer seems like a good idea. What makes war easier to box than Sk or pld? I remember wars having a lot of threat issues in comparison and while I'm sure it's changed I just never thought they'd be easier to maintain threat on.
Overall aggro is trivial now. Warriors are easier to box because pal/sk need to constantly cast spells. Warriors can pretty much get aggro via Stormstrike (PBAE) and their handful of single-target taunt/aggro/dmg abilities, then hold aggro via riposte and auto attack (assuming the DPS targets the right mob and doesn't AE too hard). This became especially true in the last expansion which gave an ability called harmonious expanse that procs an AE aggro ability everytime the warrior receives a decent heal. So for multiboxers, we can basically snap aggro, hit a few defensive abilities, then jump to our DPS classes and not worry too much. Note that SKs are still amazing tanks to box, and someone would be perfectly fine with one, especially if their healers were weak. Paladins are less powerful right now.
At what point is that the case for warriors over shadowknights. Early on when I tried coming back to EQ I tried a warrior shaman necro box, but the warrior just couldn't hold agro while leveling so I swapped to SK and it was much easier. Now with the free 85 on all accounts I'm trying to come up with another trio to use (as my main is close enough to 85 to not be worth boosting to me). But not sure I want to run another SK. Been going with a paladin so far, but now you make me curious about a warrior.
I honestly don't know. There's no wrong way to get to the max level, but my preference is to limp along to 105 ASAP instead of trying to establish a coherent party along the way with everyone set up, getting gear/AAs etc. All my advice is for what life is like at level 105. But with how formulaic EQ has been for the last twenty levels and how good heroic characters are (in terms of gear/AA) I'd be surprised if a heroic warrior wasn't able to do everything you needed in terms of mitigation and AA.
Tucoh's advice is very solid, and will net a very strong group that will tear through content like a chainsaw through butter. I play with a much softer and far less effective setup: Mage (main, me), Shaman (main), Druid (main), Bard (box), Mage (Box), Enchanter (box). We use IS Boxar. We can take any group content, we can chew through yellow cons in EoK in 20 sec, take 3-4 yellow cons a minute (2 pets, 2 dotters), and we have an intense and lively play style. It is much less effective than Tucohs set, but it is really enjoyable, and a lot of the challenges of the game, like thinking about how to handle multiple mobs, are intact.
There is another thing with a pet tank, and that it is very consistent. The aggro is decent w. aggro swords, shaman bufs, and maxed AA. And i the mob moves, the pet is moving with it. Any good tank will outperform a pet, but a slacker tank, or perhaps a boxed tank, might not hold proper aggro, and a box tank need to be moved around. Also, having a lump of mud taking the hits for you is quite satisfying... but I guess that is a mage thing...
Almost all classes today can pull i box war/shm/rog can pull with any them easily yes war i pull many when tighter pulls use shammy or rog if goin is really tough have bard on shammy acount just swap out ,shamman goes with any set box`s never leave home without one
Nothing like moving your bard to a named mob that just spawned a bit aways in the middle of the fight and trying to execute the perfect heist single pull passed 4 groups of mobs only to look back to your monitor and see the 3 mobs in your camp each attacking different DPS while your warrior is just standing there!
