Help me pick my fourth box

[Wendel]

Hey folks.

I'm currently gearing up a 3 toon team. I know the AA counts are low, and I'm working on that as well, so please try not to make too much fun of my group. It is what it is..

95 monk 2k aa
91 shaman 1k aa
90 SK 1200aa

I'd like to add a 4th to this setup and I am having a hard time deciding between Mage, Beserker, and Wizard.

I'm having the 4th toon made for me, so it will be 90 with 5kaa(thanks num)

I just want to hear pros and cons of each.

Thanks again...

 

[SiegeTank]

You need some caster dps! Either mage or wiz works. I would have said wiz but mage pet is a nice backup tank, especially these days. Wiz utility is great, though, with ports, evacs, translocate, etc. Either is a great choice.

 

[rob]

a wizard gives you DPS and ports and would probably make up for the loss of XP with increased killing rate.

 

[Quackanator]

Add a bard ... the melee dps increase to your sk/monk will be amazing and you can just /melody and leave it afk at the side unless you want to run it as a cc bot. Dont even have to melee because bard dps is laughable but the increased dps to monk/sk will be worth it.

And if things go wrong, set an event for all classes to FD/Fade on command and you're set

 

[SiegeTank]

I'd still go with the wiz. But I would like to know how much more dps a bard would generate for the monk and sk. I know the top bard haste song at 95 is:

War March of Illdaera

BRD/94

1: Increase Attack Speed by 60%
2: Increase STR by 187
3: Increase ATK by 110
4: Increase Damage Shield by 77
6: Increase All Skills Minimum Damage Modifier by 30%
12: Increase All Skills Damage Modifier by 3%

Does this stack WITH shaman haste? That would definitely have some effect, especially on the monk.

 

[Wendel]

I did think about bard, I didn't realize they would really help for melee damage, I was only thinking they would be a big help for caster damage.
Crowd control isn't a big worry as I have two pullers that can single pull pretty much any mob in the game(that I'm willing to attempt right now)
Lately I've just been grinding out some exp, but it won't be long before I'm trying to do some progression and getting more gear.

 

[Quatarian]

Bards are like cheese: they make everything a little better.

The ADPS (I think that is the right term) bards bring to the table is much more noticeable with a full group. With only 2 toons taking advantage of the songs, in this case, I don't think a bard filling that fourth slot is your biggest bang for the buck.

The other con against a bard is that you already have 2 pulling classes.

If you want pure DPS and utility, go with the wizard. As mentioned above, the mobility a wizard brings to the team will be nice...ALL the time. I'm pretty sure a caster is also easy to gear, macro, and it doesn't "look" too suspicious.

If you want DPS that is group friendly (i.e. helps your other melee), go with a Berserker. With their aura (bloodlust I think) and their level 68 spell/disc thing (crit modifier), you will notice a nice uptick in everyone's melee damage. This will also blend well with your shaman, who augments melee very well and does nothing for casters.

If you are dead set on adding caster dps, I would reroll the shaman to an enchanter. If you choose melee, your shaman is your best bet. Pick your poison.

 

[SiegeTank]

Problem here is neither shaman nor sk is high dps. So adding an augmenting toon that doesn't itself contribute more dps (like a bard) is probably not going to provide the return of a pure dps toon.

I have played both wiz and mage for years and I have to admit these days I lean toward a mage because (a) their dps is not far from a wizard's already, (b) their pets are monsters, and (c) they have their own valuable utilities, such as Call of the Hero, damage shields, summonable items, etc.

It's a tough call, though. When my wiz crits 3x in a row for close to 70k each, sometimes I wish I had a second wiz rather than a mage!

 

[Wendel]

thanks for the input guys.
I decided to go with a wizard... it was a tough call, and maybe not the right one. I was still leaning toward mage...

 

[JimJohnson]

Problem here is neither shaman nor sk is high dps. So adding an augmenting toon that doesn't itself contribute more dps (like a bard) is probably not going to provide the return of a pure dps toon.

I have played both wiz and mage for years and I have to admit these days I lean toward a mage because (a) their dps is not far from a wizard's already, (b) their pets are monsters, and (c) they have their own valuable utilities, such as Call of the Hero, damage shields, summonable items, etc.

It's a tough call, though. When my wiz crits 3x in a row for close to 70k each, sometimes I wish I had a second wiz rather than a mage!

Bards as a whole would increase the dps with buffs like it had a 4th person just afking, Add in its melee its a 5th toon.

You have Tanking+Pull/Buffing+Healing+Debuff+DPS/DPS+Pull
Bard gives a lot that would help your SHM+Sk+Monk out
Wiz seriously reduces the fight time + Travel time.

That being said you have no cloth casters with 1 plate/1 chain/1 leather.

I would go Wiz regardless, ports are still nice, the straight DPS aspect is also really nice.


EDIT -
I can not help but notice, no one thinks the bard helps the shaman why? Even as a solo healer once slowed it should be nuking/doting. These are / used to be enhanced with a bard as well.