Hello Everyone, First off my box group is Necro (main) shm, mage, bard, and cleric merc. I added the bard because I was told that would be an amazing dps boost. The problem I am noticing is the /melody does get him killed (which I have learned to not have running the entire time while pulling.) But, I do not feel like the bard is adding that much dps to the group with his buffs. He is a silver account lvl 91 with current spells. My main question is should I consider removing the bard and replacing him with an enchanter? I basically got the bard for mana regen and some added dps, but the bard cannot do anything but just sit back and /melody. I know that enchanters are not heavy hitters for dps, but its more than sitting back doing 0 dmg. Plus the enchanters buffs would be nice. I would like to mention also, I do use the bards buffs like fierce eye, which that does add a lot of dmg for named fights. So, some information would be great and maybe some defining reasons to help me out. Thanks!
Which toon are you pulling with? And what spell/etc do you use to pull with? If you drop a hefty aggro dot it should keep the bard safe. The only times I get aggro from songs are if someone else is pulling, and fades/FDs. It may be easier for you to pull with the bard and tag with the mage pet / dot (if kiting). It takes some practice but this is what I do when boxing - I much prefer it over pulling with other toons. What songs are you playing? For your setup I would recommend something like - Aria of the OratorArcane ChorusPulse of Lunanyn (unless you feel you wouldn't benefit from extra mana regen)Lyrin's Psalm of Potency or Sotor's Aria (depends if either the mage or nec gets more # of casts in on average, unless you can /melody 5+ songs at level 91)Lyssa's Lively Crescendo (1/15 songs)Aura of Renewal (or overhaste aura if you don't need mana regen, and are using RS on the mage) Have you done any parsing (its ok if not, just curious)? I don't know about playing with an enc so I wont comment on it, it may be better for you. I think since you have a nec and mage (vs, say, two wizards) the bard should indeed be very helpful. I assume your other toons are around level 91 as well (over 95 will not benefit as much from the bard).
Personally I would twist: Aria (#1, spell focus helping on every tick of necro dot, and helping pets) Arcane line (spell and melee proc) Psalm of Potency - for DoTs (for reference, this should take priority over nuke focus, because it applies every tick of the DoT and thus is a bigger boost) Fire focus Song of Suffering line - big melee DD to proc off pets seeing as you have 3. Interchangeable if you need something else. Could swap it for AC song or spell resist if you feel you need it. Some like mana regen but I don't feel 100 mana per tick when people have 100k mana pools is worth anything. You could use a DoT or HoS if you're fighting resistant mobs.. I could see fire being useful.. Personally I always use haste aura. Like Sirene suggested, fit in Crescendo to your melody so it casts every time it's up. You should be seeing a very significant boost for your mage and necro. Make sure you get the epic 2.0 as well as that's a pretty nice buff for casters and very short refresh.
I'm pretty sure that anything you replace the bard with will do even less for you if left to /autofollow and /melody...except a merc. You're getting what you're putting into it. Yes, you could do better with an Enchanter if you made it the primary toon, but as a buff bot, it's probably not worth the trouble.
The obvious problem with having an enchanter for extra mana is that their mana regen line does not stack with necro lich line so the only mana regen you'll get on the necro is 2nd spire and aura.
Sorry for the delay on responding! Anyhow I use Aria of the composer, Chorus of Renewal, Lyrin’s Psalm of potency, Sionachie’s spry sonta, Selo’s don’t have aa yet for bard cast, and War March. I always pull with the necro, the reason being higher lvl more gear/ac ect. The bard is silver with T2 & T3 HoT great at the moment. I do have most of his buffs cool down buffs on hotkeys to make it easier for me to click over. He does have CA/CS up to 90, but takes tons of dmg most of the time. With the necro since I’ve played him for years now, I have more experience with him and split mobs easily. I brought the mana regen in for the mage to be honest, since we all know how much of mana they are. Obviously I can have some enchanter cast regen on me and be on my way, but why pay for it? Lol. Anyhow, I can see how the enchanter would have to be more of a main than silver because of the AA’s needed. Thanks for the input all!
Normally I do not pull with a dot, pulling with dots on summoning mobs is usually a big mistake from the get go. I pull with snare (I know no aggro) or Scent of Darkness. I usually have my pets set out in front so they can snap aggro, but sometimes adds come through and smack him dead. I mainly focus on para rooting mobs away because the bard dies so quickly.
What level is your Necro/Mage?Do you have your offensive AA"s maxed? What about your pet AA's? Offensively are they maxed? Honestly your Mage should be doing so much DPS it seems wasteful to use the Necro's dots. I used to box a Necro/Mage and found out quickly how useless the Necro was except for Nameds, and even then my Mage would dominate by a ton, so I rolled a Bard and now box Mage/Bard. Maybe you're DPS setup for Necro/Mage is off, what spells are you using in your weave? I don't think taking the Bard out for an Enchanter will help your DPS.
The Necro is 95/5k aa with all pet defensive and some offensive, I do not plan to max the necro pet's offensive because of the lack of dmg they produce, not like a mage pet. My mage is 4k aa all pet aa's are maxed for 93. My mage does do a lot of dps, don't get me wrong. The necro or mage is not the problem. I am trying to get the most out of the group setup. I kill stuff fast, which is great, but the issues with the bard not really doing much of anything is why I am considering swapping him out. Otherwise the necro/shm/mage are an amazing combo. I play the necro as the main with dots (which the dots still own) and I do not see why the dots would be useless for 25-30k crits. The mage and shm both are on macros. Shaman cast counter slow/heal then dots. Mage sends pet in/malo/rubbling/then fickle/bolt/bolt/fickle/bolt. I have a burn macro for spire/frenzy ect.
Do necros get a low aggro snare? Debuff aggro is normally 1600 hate if I remember correctly. If you FD that drops to almost nothing. The problem with bard usually is that they are too close to the mob and either get a pet override or are the victim of the exponentially decreasing hate from lack of tank proximity.
Chanter would help your group. and can assist in DPS. It depends on how much you use him. Myself I box Enchanter (main) Mage and Druid. All bases covered. But then again my main focus class is CC/pulls/DPS/ADPS Mage is pet tank/DPS Druid is heals/DPS
Yeah the AA casted snare is a low aggro, the debuff aggro I always have on the mob. I hit snare/debuff within a few seconds one another. As soon as the mob gets within the bards buffs it aggro to the bard, but with one mob it never reaches the bard. Sometimes even with multiple mobs they do not reach the bard. I just want to be sure that if I am gaining a major difference with the bard being the buff bot or not. obviously its a F2P character silver, so I really have nothing invested except time/plat, so if he's making a major difference great. I am just trying to see the benefits, when he's in the group /melody I really don't notice mobs dieing faster. When he's not in the group it seems the same. I only run one merc the cleric merc, I know if I ran a wizard merc the dmg would be higher, but I don't need to pay 200p per 15 minutes.
Yeah, I guess since the enchanter would be mostly a debuff/dot/dd macro he wouldn't be doing any pulling. I could see some CC if needed of course! But, I don't even use the bard for CC with two para roots, and the mage temp pet. I suppose I could get my bard more involved into the group with additional macros or something like that, but he goes down within in two hits, and I do not want him gold for any reason.
More damage from the pet will mean that it holds aggro better. Also, your swarm pets get the benefit of regular pet AA abilities.
The mage pet is the tank pet, he out dps's and holds better aggro than my necro's tank pet. I use an air pet for everything. He's an amazing pet, and I never have had to worry about him getting his butt kicked. The swarms ect on the mage are all done, and I do send them in on fights to benefit. The swarms on the necro are more for O-crap moments. However, I know a few necros granted they have 8-10k aa and now have all the offensive pet aa's, and they still think that those aa's are a waste in comparison to a mage pet. I would have to agree, the necro pet is a pawn to hold aggro during fd dot fights. The mage pet is a combo package.
With Twincast Aura and Mana recursion. A Chanter would boost your DPS passively that way, plus throw in Tash for less magic resistance and nuking. Do NOT use dots on a chanter after level 85. You will get more DPS from you chanter if you use nukes. Plus. If you feel like being risky, you can charm on your ENC. I charm when I three box. It's relatively easy
