The usual story...Started in 99 a couple of weeks after release and played pretty solidly with some breaks through TSS...TBS had just released when I quit. Have played here and there a few times over the last couple years but nothing serious....mostly just checking out mercs and whatnot. A friend who quit sometime around DoN has returned to the game and is boxing a Druid and a Rogue with mercs. I would like to join him with a single or boxed duo of my own and find myself at a bit of a quandry as to what to play. The goal for us is not just to level, but also be able to handle camps, progression, etc when we get there. When I last played, it was being said that you needed a played healer and a tank to get the most mileage out of a box group since mercs can't go into all content (like CoA for epic 2.0 orbs). Also, at that time, slow was still an issue (is it still now?) as I recall....That being the case I would kind of be inclined to go with a War/Paladin and a shaman. If slow isn't much of an issue I would probably go with a War/Paladin and a Bard. If having a played tank isn't an issue I would probably go with just a Bard or a Bard and Ranger. I also enjoy playing clerics, although probably a bit redundant with the mercs now. Those are just some combos and classes off the top of my head that I would enjoy playing....I'm really not sure what's needed for the long haul these days so I thought I would ask. We want to be able to tackle the most/hardest content possible with our combo of classes, his being Druid and Rogue, basicly. Thank you very much!
Then you want a puller and a tank - bard and SK/paladin/warrior. Some content is tricky for merc healers, even with two of them, but the druid should be able to handle that. Mage is counted out for the tank slot by the rogue. Another option for puller would be enchanter.
Thank you for the response, Borek. I was thinking a tank and bard might be the way to go. Enchanter is an interesting option as well. Never really played one past 50 and that might be cool. Also takes care of slow. How big of a factor is slow, these days? I really hate not having a shammy in the group, honestly, but my friend went druid so I guess that might be a bit too much overlap and leave out good pulling.
Also, I'm gathering from a cursory look at the tank forums that warriors are having some issues with keeping up in the group game, so for our purposes I should probably be looking at a Pally or SK... Any major differences between the two of them I should consider? Kind of leaning towards a Pally because I've never played one to any real extent and I have 2 SKs on another server than we will be playing on, both with pre-nerf CoSes and I know that not having the use of that will drive me nuts. But if SK is the better way to go, I suppose I could give it a try....Or pay to move one over. Would be interesting hearing thoughts on that though. I have no idea what the post 75 game is all about, really.
Slow: having slow is nice, it can make the difference between needing a cleric and being able to cope with a druid or two J5 healer mercs. Difference between slowers (shaman, enchanter, bard, beastlord) is minor. But if you have gear on your tank that is one notch better, you can do without. The catch with warriors in the group game is that they need to have good gear, augs and weapons, plus the right AAs - although they get fewer AAs in total. Plus they have weaker (but only slightly) aggro control, and much less utility abilities. Make no mistake, it's not a big difference in tanking ability, more a matter of convenience. Paladins: great dps on undead, which is fine if you don't mind the one zone per 5 levels drag; good aggro from stuns, and useful heals - but no snare. SK: AE aggro, slightly better dps on normal mobs than paladin (less than warrior). Snare, FD. Most utility of the three. You can make any of the three work for groups, including the hardest content. Take your pick, you can't make a wrong choice.
Thanks again for the responses. Your insight is greatly appreciated. At this point, I'm thinking I will go with a Pally and a Bard to go with my friend's Druid and Rogue, filling in the last two slots with mercs as needed. When I last played, at least, Bards were the boss pullers and I'm thinking getting reliable single pulls will overcome a lot of the concerns I have. Bard also has CC for adds and /melody keeps effectiveness up if I have to concentrate on the Pally during a fight. Plus, the goal is to get to endgame and should we wind up raiding I think I would probably enjoy doing that with a bard, but that's a long way down the road, if ever. Bards get snare and we have a druid for that, too and, while SK FD is great, the bard can handle pulling anyway. Final question (hopefully): Is there any reason I should consider an enchanter over a bard for this setup?
As a biased bard, I can think of nothing. As a bot, the bard will add tons more to the group than an unattended chanter.
Because you could pick any class and do what you want to do, I suggest picking what you'll enjoy playing. Also, the current flavor of the month classes that are considered overpowered today may be underpowered by the time you've reached the end-game while current troubled classes may rise to be flavor of the month. There's no way to know. I would say that if you really don't care, SK/Pal/War & Brd/Enc is probably the best bet for the future. All the tank classes have a very long road ahead of them to get AAs, Gear, and Augs to function at expected levels. If you play the Enchanter as your primary, that's probably your best bet, but if you want to concentrate on the tank, Bard may be a better second box. SK is the flavor of the month, and Warriors is, as usual, the worst of the 3 for grouping, unless we're talking raid tanking which we're not. That said, as a 2nd box, the Warrior may be your best bet as a tank because he doesn't use spells. You'll know immediately if your ability worked and can switch back to the primary box, rather than have to wait for a spell to complete casting to see the result... ...or so I hear. I don't box!
Thanks for the advice, guys. My friend wound up moving his Rogue over to our old server (he had forgotten which it was with all the merges since he played) and is rolling up a Bard to play with my SK and Shammy. So now we are just getting his guys caught up in levels while I get my sea legs again. I'm pretty happy he decided to do this because I had forgotten how much I missed playing my old characters. The SK is over 13 years old....Rerolled him a year and a week to the day after starting him as a pally a couple weeks after release when I started. He was my first toon that never made it past 8 due to a corpse rot...Got whacked making the run from Qeynos to Freeport in Highpass and none of us had any clue you could make a halfer rogue to pull corpses there. I think the thought of fishing (yes, FISHING lol) for 2 weeks to make the cash to buy another set of storebought leather and a much needed greater lightstone to be able to see like I had already done kind of overwhelmed me. RL called, anyway, and when I got back I sunk into a wizzy which was my classic main. Rerolled the Pally as a SK during kunark "to reap revenge on the bastages who left him to die in Highpass," lol one of whom is the friend I'm playing with now. He was also my first twink and main until PoP. I hate to say it, but I kind of love to hear that they are FoTM right now....When I started him it was largely for roleplay reasons and the fact that it was probably the most underplayed class in classic. I was around for the group exp penalty, the CoS nerf (although I do have a prenerf one that I looted back in the day), the disease cloud "fix" that left us without our main aggro spell for months, cultural armor with the wrong stats, lol everything imaginable. This will be refreshing! The shaman was one of my earliest alts (that required several rerolls to get "right" for some reason I don't recall lol) that eventually got moved to his own account. Have always loved that class. He's still rocking his drogmor mount from LoY. Might need to do something about that, but that 10k almost broke me at the time yet it was still a bargain! Great stuff. Nostalgia abounds! I'm walking down memory lane, meanwhile my friend is going NUTS with the marketplace....Mounts, the armor skins, you name it. He's going to wind up broke because of EQ but he's having fun so I guess that's what it's there for. We both are. Thanks again. The game has changed so much just in the several years since I was last seriously playing, it's almost overwhelming, but we are very stoked to be getting back in the saddle.
Glad to have you back. Looks like you're on Bertox, so look me up if you need help. Don't be afraid to ask questions in General Chat. This game has no instruction manual, and there's a ton of great stuff you'll miss like the Zone Guide if you don't have someone showing you the changes.
