Ok, so we had about an hour discussion while grouping and all 6 people had different viewpoints. I wont bore you with all the extra chat, but the general chat was this: Both in a raid and in 6 man heroics we debated. Group Makeup= SK/Fury/Wiz/Conj/Lock/Lock (just go with this setup please, stay focused) So someone commented that we should take out a Lock for a Troub. Another person said lose one lock and add an illusionist. Another said add Troub and Illusionist, remove both Locks. So I guess the questions is, does adding one or both of those (Troub/Illus) actually increase DPS over lets say an hour of raiding or grouping? Because the Troub DPS obviously sucks compared to Lock. So removing one Lock and adding a Troub, would that group do more DPS over an hour than keeping the Lock? Does the benefits the group gets from adding either a Troub or a Illus, or both, outweigh the lost DPS from another 1 or 2 Locks or whatever DPS casting class? I sure hope that makes sense... I really am curious what you guys think.
dps is one way to measure it, but they have other utility too... with the CC and mana regen of an illy, theoretically you can pull harder mobs and bigger pulls. On raids you'll be out of power all the time without illy, especially on mobs that mana drain and when people get rezzed in combat.
I definitely recommend swapping out at least one DPS for a support. You can make perfectly fine cases for either the troubadour or the illusionist. As for whether you would swap out two DPS to gain both support classes, my question would be what is the ability of the DPS? If two are lagging behind, swap both out. If only one is lagging behind, I would say to stay with three DPS and one support.
Depends on a lot of factors really, including gear level and player skill. In a theoretical scenario, assuming equal skill and given that group comp, personally I'd drop one of the Locks or the Conjuror for either a Troub or Illy (I wouldn't sweat over which, although probably lean towards Troub). The loss in raw DPS would probably be offset by the added utility and group buffage, although at level 70 with only KoS AAs at your disposal that might be debatable. Troub has better group buffs, but Illy is (probably) better personal DPS, and slightly better crowd control and much better power regen. Troub has group AE avoid as well, the usefulness of which really depends on the content. But you already have a Fury and they get Tortoise Shell when they need it anyway, which makes Bladedance less relevant except in later level raid content with a lot of AoEs. Disclaimer: My info could be out of date, though. It's been quite a while since I've been in the position of having to form raid groups.
So the fun part here is the answer is very different on TLE vs Live and even from expansion to expansion on TLE. Currently I'm betting dropping the conj for a troub would increase your overall dps. You will be able to maintain jcap (cast and reuse) on the wizard for single targets and on warlock for encounters. Between the Jcap increase, 1.8k dps from the troub itself, the increased int and spell skills will be more net dps than having the summoner. Not to mention bard debuffs will keep your tank alive better on harder encounters. The larger question is if dropping a lock for an illy will also increase your groups dps. This is a tough call in current expansion. The double warlock is already super strong on power regen, so the illy isn't needed for that, but the illy will offer more +int buffs and abilities. Presumably between the fury int buffs, illy int buffs, troub int buffs, good gear, and int pots, You will be reaching overcap bonuses from int increasing damage amounts. Providing the illy makes the difference in reaching that magical int number (~1100) in group, then the illy is going to be better. Buf if you aren't running max int from food, pots, and best gear, and the illy doesn't jump you over the int soft cap, then I bet you'll find the 2nd warlock adds more than the illy does. Note Illy debuffs are relatively meaningless. Net/Net Illy isn't super good utility right now, but should be able to do 2.5k sustained dps. I would run: SK/Fury/Troub/Illy/Wiz/Warlock But, I would be using everything possible to raise that group's int cap, casting and reuse speed. Taking the maximum advantage of that comp will be the best comp. But if you have average gear, not spending on pots and food/drink, etc, then you might not go with the Illy yet. In EoF when illy gets TC, it will be the best comp, but right now, double warlock MIGHT be better depending on the players and play style.
