Mage or Bard

[jestisp]

Ok so I am in group that runs

90 Warrior, 90 Shaman, 86 Cleric, 87 Monk, T5 cleric Merc and......

Trying to decide between the following

85 Mage-devastators macro
85 Bard- Pete Sampras macro
T5 Merc Rogue

Which will produce the best dps

 

[jjmanfdl]

not sure what devs mage macro sustains, depends on the toon as well but once the mage gets to 90 and has a decent number of aa's he should be able to sustain 6-9k.

Mage would be most dps, then bard, then merc rogue

 

[PeteSampras]

single toon, mage > bard dps. but you need to factor in whole group dps. overall, bard probably has edge thanks to proc songs, dps songs, overhaste, funeral dirge, etc. bard gives you crowd control, mage gives you nice pet/stun option. but youll be plate heavy in that group and all silk gear will rot.

id probably do bard for lack of CC and because i like pulling multiple mobs at once, but you cant go wrong with either. your burn dps should be solid with anything you put there once monk is 90 and has AAs/weapons. zerker wouldnt be a bad choice with that group setup either. youd be looking at 60k+ dps group burns easy in group content.

 

[supertimmy]

mage and bard. no need to use that piece of shit merc cleric when you have a shm and a real cleric. rampart, div and shield from cle. list, bias and group hot from shm and you can pull multiples without bothering to mez.

 

[midian99]

i have a similar setup to you, same structure but a few different classes than you. have a bard aswell, it would make your group plate heavy but the utility of a bard is invaluable to a group, i was 3 boxing and planned to do a wizard myself but i decided on a bard for their utility and it was worth it!, their songs do everything, from AC buffs to spell focus, Dont forget their auras aswell!

Theres no doubting the usefullness of a mage either, their dps is nuts and in some situations their pets can save a group. But id choose a bard over it. Like someone else said, maybe do both, Ditch that T5 merc, i only use one in some situations because my healer is a sole shaman and while he does a good job, theres some instances where he just cant stand up to the pressure of a couple of 10k hitters

 

[hytiek]

thoughts

I run shm, war, ber, bard, merc:clr & rogue.

Absolutely rock solid group. I'm averaging 15k dps running shambot, mq2melee on warrior, afkber + mq2melee, and twisting 4 songs on the bard.

My 2 cents.

ADDED EDIT: So what I was saying is bard is my suggestion.

 

[jestisp]

Maybe once I purchase Devastators premium clericbot (april 13th) I will be able to ditch the merc, but right now its very slow at healing and just doing Fall of Tae ew and Welcome to nightmare tasks can get hairy on the healing sides of it.

I still dont know which way i will go. I have a friend leveling up the mage (im lazy and plat is cheap) so will see how they compare.

 

[supertimmy]

dev's premium clericbot is fantastic. and don't forget it set it to use shining rampart.