Intro: Hello all, returning player to EQ. Started on August 12th 1999, left around the WoW release timeframe, got back into EQ on p99 blue with x3 60s and most recently I migrated to EverQuest live (non-progression servers). I'm loving the game, and I appreciate all the QoL changes, though it took about 2 weeks to really start to enjoy it (a lot of learning and catching up to do). Question (EQ live, non-TLP): So coming from Kunark/Velious era, Shamans and Enchanters are the power houses. I'm curious what classes are similar or near similar in their solo-ability, giving me the best chances of killing named mobs and trying to push the limits. I'm open to 2box but no more than that, so my limit is solo/molo up to 2box, without 3rd party software (I read 3rd party can be a gray area I don't want to venture in or spend the time in learning). PS: I've been running mage/bard, a bit boring to be honest, I was contemplating necro/bard as the alternative or mage/necro, necro/enc? Seemed to me that shamans are not what they were in their Velious era, and I hear necros can turn mobs undead and slow them? Thank you all for your time!
The answer varies a bit, depending on what level you are on the Live servers. Assuming you're in this for the long run, then pushing the limits comes down to this. 1. You need a class that can take the hits, especially from the big named mobs. Ultimately, tank mercenaries won't cut it. They're amazing for a while. But starting roughly around level 70's, they rapidly fall in power. And won't be able to handle the tough stuff you're aiming for. By the time you reach 115-120, you're left with just a few options. * Warrior * Shadowknight * Paladin * Mage, Beastlord, Necromancer (because their pets are eventually incredibly strong) I am not saying other classes cannot tank, in a pinch, for a brief period of time. There are always exceptions. However. Given your requirement "the best chances of killing named mobs and trying to push the limits"? I'd suggest 1 of these 6 for tanking. Player tanks are ultimately far stronger, if fully-geared and played skillfully. Pet tanks don't require the same gear+time investment, and can (mostly) get the job done. 2. With a maximum of 2-box, you need the ability to burn down targets quickly. Without a full group, your ability to wage long, marathon battles is limited. You want to be a sprinter. While every class has their own flavor of Burn DPS, certainly some are better than others. If your chosen tank class is also great at burns? That's a nice bonus. With the above in mind, find a duo that feels good/fun for you. There's no right or wrong answers. Which is part of what makes EQ fascinating and fun. Endless theorycrafting, trying new things, and second-guessing yourself. * Do you want to consistently and safely pull and split? Bards, feign-death classes, or classes with lulls. * Do you want to survive when things go really, horribly wrong? Enchanters, Bards, or Druid/Wizard (evac). Or even feign-death classes. * Do you want to rely 100% on tank + healer mercenary? If not, you'll want a Cleric/Shaman/Druid/Paladin on your team. * Do you have a strong preference for melee or ranged combat? Some people just don't like melee or casters.
Thanks for the answer Koshk, Yea I realize this is a bit of theory crafting, fun to do but also helps me a lot. So Mage pet with 20+ EM should suffice well enough as a real player tank replacement? I'm not sure if I want to go down the real tank route, it looks like there is massive gearing necessary to fill in all important augs etc. to be viable. Maybe it's not as bad as I perceive it but fishing for 1 EM seems a lot more straight forward than fishing for 20 aug gems
solo/molo is not recommended. There are better games to play if you want that experience. For two-box in current live there are quite a few great options: sk + nec/brd/bst/mag/shd/enc war + brd/sha/bst nec + nec/brd/mag/enc/sha mag + nec/brd/mag/enc/sha bst + brd/bst/enc/sha If your goal is to take on the toughest challenges I imagine sk+nec would get you the furthest right now.
Thanks for your answer/input Tucoh. Interesting, I assume NEC has a dependable way to slow mobs? I'd assume that's still important for bosses?
Currently, the classes that can comfortably solo (with merc) top level names are : Necro Shaman SK Enc - often requires a very slow fight and can take multiple charm pets. Mage Necro is obvious, high damage burns, strong pet and swarmpets, ability to slow (50%). Shaman is in general 4th best PC tank, with 4th best pet tank. However, the shaman pet has become much closer to real pet classes in terms of tanking ability in the past years and can tank t2 ToL names without much issue. SK has fallen off a bit, but mostly just because of ballooning hp of mobs. They sometimes have to burn 6th to take some names as the mob outlasts their mana pool. Enc with charm pet is obvious, however charm pets do basically no damage nowadays and you have to be careful with aggro with them. When charm wears off during the fight or the pet eventually dies, the Enchanter must get a new one fast and drop aggro to let the new pet rebuild it. Mages are strong in general and have good damage output. Their pets and swarmpets are also extremely tanky and mages can do a lot to heal and keep them up. Lack of slow can make it a little rough (willsapper 35% helps) and mana does become an issue sometimes. Mage's biggest issue solo is generally just splitting mobs.
Slow is useful, but most mobs at high levels are resistant (iirc slow has a 25% modifier on most mobs), so it is no longer the essential spell it used to be.
@Goratoar thank you for your response puts in better perspective the things I've read from other threads. @Tucoh thanks for your response - I sensed it from other threads but now it makes clear sense why Shamans stopped being the power houses they used to be, slow was their major win and 25% mod is pretty big. Is there any resource anyone could point me to where I can compare necro to magician pet hp/dmg? I realize Mage pets are 'stronger' but would be curious on the difference, I haven't been able to find anything beyond level 80 for their stat comparison. Thanks again for your responses! Necro/Bard may be the way to go for me for now (already have the mage and bard). Mage/Necro may be interesting but I saw it in Tucoh's B tier comp . SK/Necro notably was on Tucoh's S tier I believe - I just need to L2P SKs well and gear them properly, I have a heroic one but he runs out of mana in 3 kills, maybe I'm over casting, and I use a 2h, maybe solo/tanking I should stick with a 1h/shield. Thank you all!
I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. My opinion is that without a lot of help both pets be unable to handle most difficult encounters, so the difference isn't that important to the kind of high-level players that would generally produce those parses. Additionally, one way that mages support their primary pets is through their swarm pets which are respectable offtanks. It's also the only strong use-case for their Dichotomic spell, which they can use to drop aggro on a tough mob to get it on their swarm pet instead. Meanwhile, necros can support their pets with CC. [49246/7651] Dichotomic Companion 6 Classes: MAG/250 Skill: Abjuration Target: Pet Range: 300' Resist: Beneficial, Blockable: Yes Focusable: Yes Casting: 0s, Recast: 6s Duration: 12s+ (2 ticks) Song, Dispelable: Yes Max Hits: 100 Outgoing Hit Successes 1: Increase Hit Damage by 150% (v185) 2: Increase Current HP by 23005 per tick 3: Add Melee Proc: Dichotomic Companion Strike 6 with 200% Rate Mod 10: Increase Base Stats by 200 Increases damage from all melee skills by 150%, heals for up to 23005 hit points every six seconds, increases all stats, and triggers a powerful spell on melee for 12 seconds or until 100 procs have fired. [49252/7651] Dichotomic Companion Strike 6 Target: Single Range: 300' Resist: Magic -100 Focusable: Yes Casting: 0s, Recast: 1s Hate: -1 1: Decrease Current HP by 35393 2: Decrease Current Hate by 35% Deals up to 35393 damage to your target and removes up to 35% of their hatred for you.
What would a "most difficult encounter" be? In terms of tanking abilities pets do just fine. Mage's air pet and beastlord's warder in protective mode can tank every named in ToL (including missions) with just a single mercenary healer (speaking from a first-hand experience prospective). Mage earth pet is just immortal. Although, a few clarification have to be made. Those are focused pets summoned with EM29 raid earrings. Group earrings with EM24 have much lesser effect - pets are 2 levels lower (117 instead of 119) and seem to be much weaker. And beastlord + mage have a powerful synergy. I am surprised you have not listed this duo. A beastlord provides melee boost to mage's pet (both long term shaman-level buffs as well as Primalist Synergy, Merciless Ferocity and Dicho short-duration buffs), slow and mana-regen. Meanwhile a mage equips the warder and provides long and short duration damage-shiled and pet aura to both pets (+15% to pet damage is a very welcome addition). As well some utility in coth, mana rods and IVU. Fully geared warder is a powerful beast: when summoned it shows just 55% health, once I heal it it reports in the log that I've landed a critical heal (if it was critical) for 350K+ (the rest is overheal). Well, the math is impressive 45% worth 350K+ means the warder has 770K+ at full health. And in protective mode it has some serious damage mitigation too - ToL mobs usually hit it no more than 37K per swing (the beastlord get's punished with 48K from the same mobs) normally, and even less when warder is Fortified with AA. When with offensive buff the warder exceeds 100K dps sustained, though mage's water pet hovers aroung 200K situationally. A mage in the group adds a convenience of rearming pets with different weapons situationally. With aggro axes and taunting on the warder hold the aggro reliably against the beastlord, zerker, bard, mage and other dps members. In short - warders and mage pets are great tanks, unless there is a bunch of mobs are incoming. This is the weakness - absent area aggro. Hold aggro against some trash is usually not a problem, but add-summoning nameds pose a serious danger: quite often somebody in the group will be beaten up before pets recapture aggro. One great benefit of pet tanking - immunity to nasty auras. Some mobs and tasks are very difficult for plated tanks and are just a joke for pet tanking (like charming aura etc). Raid EM summoned pets are tough tanks and decent dps. Group EM - not so much.
I defer to your experience on a pet's ability to tank ToL named mobs or missions. My experience is mostly with Group EM pets that I played, well, poorly. regarding BST ADPS contribution to a mage, this thread is fairly negative on it: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/2-mages-and-what.283536/
With a tank you will almost always need updated gear, so grinding out gear for a tank usually nets a good amount of xp/aa. AC augs are the main thing you would need to really seek out specifically, armor tends to come from group content and at least some of the AC augs will. Not the worst thing to gear up a tank. Agro management does become a thing with a tank though, against any caster it becomes a bit more effort than non-burn melee.
I'm also reinstalling the game as we speak and I haven't played since 2010. I had a level 85 rogue and cleric that I used to box, but pretty sure I can't remember the account info for the cleric. Since I'm not currently playing anything I figured hey, I'll go check out what EQ is like 12 years later.
