What is the best Out Of Group class to pack around?

I am asking a TLP question on the Vet forum because most of you have played through the 70-90 levels in era whereas I have experience from 1-70 and 105'ish to 115.

I will be a Shaman main on the upcoming TLP server, but I want to have an OOG box with me at all times. Which class would be the best pick and why?

Shaman + Druid (Druid buffs become rarer as the server progresses)
Shaman + Cleric (Clerics in groups drop off due to Shamans handling it all)
Shaman + Mage (Mage DS and pet toys)
Shaman + Ranger (Ranger attack buffs which will be rare for most groups to have)
Shaman + Enchanter (Enchanter mezz for uh oh moments and mana regen + better haste for melees)

Play a bard and have a pocket shaman out of group.

Hard to beat a druid box for general purpose utility throughout a TLP. Can help powerlevel with healing, DS, can port, can heal out of group, DPS out of group, utility, buffs etc. it doesn't synergize with a shaman as much as other classes might.

Mage and enchanter would be good too.

How do you plan on leveling the out of group character?

I'm going to level them separately. If I chose a druid, I would level the druid first and power level my shaman. All five OOG classes would be able to help my shaman level up with ranger being the least helpful.

Just an editorial comment but I've always hated someone dragging around an out of group box as they seem to get a bit pissy when I'm pulling and they manage to get the thing killed and no one notices it for a while

Cool. I think druid is a good choice. But why not something more conventional like a monk or shadowknight box with your shaman? Might be more enjoyable and easier than leveling another char ghen out of group leveling your shaman.

For PL it would be druid or cleric, but boxing two healer classes is nonsense. If you want ports, evac, and other usefull things, go with the druid. It is unclear what content you want to face, how to play, etc. As Tuco wrote you would be doing better with a SHD or MNK in group. Why out of grp, is it because of a true box ruleset ?

I'm not a good boxer and quite honestly I don't enjoy it. I like to focus on my one character and play that character well. We have all been in a group with boxers who are so slow to engage with their characters that it leaves a bad impression of boxing in general. On top of lazy and slow gameplay, their boxed character always seems to win the rolls on the good items. I am an OOG boxer who is aiming for mostly utility.

An OOG buffer is a pretty big advantage that I cannot go without. If I go with a druid, I will not be using my druid to heal on every pull. The druid will buff, sit, hide, and do nothing until the buffs need refreshed. When I leave the group, the druid will port me out of the zone.

Your assumption that I would be healing on two classes brings up a really good point that I never thought to address. My group will probably expect me to heal on both characters if I pick say a cleric. My group might also expect an OOG enchanter to charm for extra damage. Cleric and Enchanter have been axed from my list.

Shaman + Druid (Druid buffs become rarer as the server progresses)
Shaman + Cleric (Clerics in groups drop off due to Shamans handling it all)
Shaman + Mage (Mage DS and pet toys)
Shaman + Ranger (Ranger attack buffs which will be rare for most groups to have)
Shaman + Enchanter (Enchanter mezz for uh oh moments and mana regen + better haste for melees)

Maybe, I will buy the expansion pack for the persona and go with Druid, Mage, and Ranger.

Druid is a great first class to level, can PL your other characters, port your main around, buff out of group, make a ton of money on ports early on.

I'm not sure you're fully set on your idea and maybe you should reflect on your goals some more. You're asking us because of level experience but you are also going to be doing something very few people do.

If you are truly going to park a box and not do anything with it while you play the SHM, then this is just a utility questions. My answer is the answer is Druid. It can port, track and buff. In the event you die on your SHM, you can heal with the Druid. You get Call at level 70 and can get the SHM back up during a fight if needed.

CLR doesn't offer anything, especially once mercs arrive.
MAG pet toys are not a big advantage for a SHM and the DRU DS is sufficient.
RNG has some parallels to DRU but DRU offers more support. 2 other classes can buff the hybrid slot.
ENC only offers haste and C. You can Cani and haste, so there's not much advantage. You said you are weak at boxing and don't want to box actively, so trying to CC on a ENC and Heal / debuff on a SHM is unwise.

The only other factor here is that you said you are going to level them separately. The worst out of group box might be the best choice for a second main if you enjoy playing it more.

1 last thing. One friend uses a foot pedal to heal while boxing a cleric. DRU are weak healers, but targeting the tank and tapping your foot every 5 seconds is easy. Letting the DRU take up some routine healing so you can play the SHM in other ways is another advantage of having the DRU around. The SHM can pickup the panic healing and the group healing but the DRU can handle the mindless routine healing. That's how I'd probably play it. It's very easy to just keep mindlessly hitting a button on a healer box targeting a tank.

A druid is your best bet.

Don't be afraid to try integrating them in your group to 2box! The right UI settings ingame, desktop configuration (multiple monitors, mini keyboards like https://www.amazon.com/Numeric-Keyboard-Computer-Notebook-Letters/dp/B0BNPVMQVT ) can make relaxed 2 boxing on a truebox server not that bad. This community can help streamline your setup to be comfortable.

Not even a question on an early TLP. Clarity will massively benefit you and your entire group, and offloading haste casts onto the chanter frees up even more mana on the shaman to do other things. Haste is short duration, high mana cost early on. Tash can also help land slows and such.

Go with the mage. At levels 70-90 you'll have fun playing just the duo MAG+SHM + 2 dps mercs. You'll plow through the content. And even shaman's pet becomes viable offtank when geared up by the mage.
I predict you'll play the mage and passively box the shaman on those levels.

I am confused how are you leveling an OOG box? I understand having and OOG box after they are max level but it never works out when they aren't getting exp and your main is leveling but the box isn't. It creates a nightmare because the OOG toon will be worthless in a few levels.

The best class you can do for it would be a dps, probably a necro would be best since even if they are 30 levels under you they can still send pet and dot with a hotkey and you don't have to pay attention to them. Snare can be really nice for alot of areas with runners too.

Big question is what are the other 2 toons in the group? Guessing you are doing 3 real toons 3 mercs in main group with 1 toon out of group? Necro can snare and split, sham can slow, merc tank, merc heal... but what is the 2 toons in the group with the sham?

For the persona feature you could wait until it will appear in the marketplace in january, or you can buy the discounted LS expansion in december.

I think that the druid will be good, but a melody bard might be even better. You would have a great single puller if needed, and you could slowly learn how to box. I hated boxing when I started with it, but now I am used to it. As the fullscreen mode is broken, it is not fun anymore tho.
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Druid features that the shaman does not have:

• Good puller with the lull spell line which does reduce the mob area of aggro.
• Snare / Mass snare / Mass root
• Ports (great for quests, tradeskills, and many other stuff)
• Evac (good to escape in combat but also good for travelling)
• Foraging (best)
• Tracking (second best ; ranger is better I think)
• Buffs: Damage shield (second best).
• One of the best classes for PL.
• Charm animals / plants

Outstanding features that the bard does not have are marked in blue color.
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Bard features that the shaman does not have:

• Can passively play songs (/melody 1 2 3 4 5) while standing in a spot or using /autofollow.
• Songs and spells do not get interrupted when moving (walk / run).
• Can place static songs (echos / auras) onto a spot like a camp at higher levels.
• Best puller ; can single pull with the needed knowledge about aggro.
• Fade does get refreshed nearly instantly. Fade is a "self only" escape ability that can be used for pulling.
• Selo for run speed (travelling) and double invis at about lvl 110.
• Snare
• Mez
• Charm (unlimited)
• Mana regen songs.
• Damage shield songs.
• Rune songs.
• Tracking (not as good as druid or ranger)
• Picklock (Old Sebilis crpt, Charasis, etc. ; not very important)

Outstanding features that the druid does not have are marked in blue color.

Hmm you do realize you missed the best abilities bards have? Fade which most classes have these days but can't use it non-stop like a bard and probably the number one ability that every class in the game wish they had double invs. Not sure what you are talking about static songs. Bards don't have static songs outside the echo which is just an aura you can set at a certain point.

I didn't wanted to go to deep into the details as the bard got already mentioned as the best puller. Fade is an escape ability that can be used for pulling. Static songs are those spells that you are calling bard auras and echos. An instrument graphic effect does get placed onto the spot.

I updated my previous post a little bit, thx for the feedback.

Reading through I'm fairly certain that a lot of people can't wrap their head around having an OOG buffer sitting around a camp as it's really not typical game play. In fact I'm leery of the notion that the OP actually does use one that much as he's in forums asking for advice on what to play.

I personally haven't seen anyone using any sort of OOG character since sometime before 2010 to be honest.

"Seeing" OOG character and playing it may be the distinction here.
Great many times a guildie (or myself) may bring a charcater online for buffing or logistics purpose during guild activity. Typically, those characters remain in the guild hall though, not loitering around group camp.
In my experience - buffing/porting OOG happens often. Playing OOG - rarely if ever.

I'm fairly certain that OP is not talking about a buff box back in the guild hall but an actual character sitting OOG at a camp. I don't know if it was ever a really common practice but I was in a "family guild" between '06 ~ '09 where the practice was just common enough to be annoying. Nothing like being asked to be the OOG puller for a guild group when you're playing a Bard. Even better was getting yelled at because the OOG Cleric got killed when it overhealed and I was suppose to "take care of it".

Anyway AFAIK the OP is referring to a practice that is better left forgotten