Starting from Scratch -- Group Critique

[B33gP3wp]

Merle,

Did you use the Shaman as your group's main healer to start from level 1? I had some concerns that until the Shaman had enough healing AA's that it might not be able to main heal the group, but it sounds like you had a different experience. I also was not sure how effective botting the Shaman would be until it had sufficient levels/AA, so any feedback you might have on that would be helpful.

 

[turnip]

its funny how little love beastlords get, i personally think they are the best class in the game solo or group.

 

[Dealings]

i been speaking up for bst dps for about 3 yrs now, people have no idea for the most part and currently they are fucking nice.

 

[devestator]

I don't know, I leveled up a beastlord put 2500 AAs on him, and put him in tier 4 gear at level 90 and he could barely break 4k - 5k dps while my rogue and monk both easily sustained 10 to 15k.

Did they get some sort of huge boost at 95?

 

[Dealings]

they are way more than 4 to 5k dps

i dont even macro mine (have issues when i dont forget to shut off downflags)

a little melee config and /attack on gets them huge dps

rogue on the other hand i still havent had much success with

monk using advdps to read dmg saw him do 60k dps on a named in windsong (no where near that sustained), was botting guess everything landed just right (i use monk mac still btw w small modifications), grp geared except for crushbone claw


when i use PeteSampras bot macro and have downflags off and bst isnt bothered w healing ie he can chain cast his nukes hes fierce , properly healed hes got no problems w voa t4 named (im sure there are exceptions on hard ass mobs but i struggle w those even w reg tanks)

 

[KingKiller]

War/Sk
Bard
Zerker
Shm
Wiz
CLR

You can fully automate that with bard doing pull/buffs/dps or mez if he pulls bad
Wiz for the ports, yea you have guild lobby what not but nothing like a wiz binding and sending its whole group 20 seconds from a camp location. Without /zone a wiz is worth it.

What JJ said other than i would use a rog instead of zerker. Just personal pref. The SoS is handy at times and with the VoA AA rog dps is pretty high.

 

[Merle]

B33gP3wp - Nah, my Shaman and my Bard were both already 75 with 1500ish AAs when I came back. I rolled the rest of the team new though. You might be right about early Shaman healing, they don't even have a solid heal spell toolkit until later one...their first real HoT is at lvl60? and thats the LOL one that snares as it heals. On the other hand, with Defiant gear being soooo great compared to what we used to level in back in the day, I am not sure how much heavy healing you'll be needing anyway. Worst case, I would think it to be easy to level up your core toons, say an SK, Shm, Bard, and whatever flavor DPS you fancy (Bers!) along with a Merc Tank and Merc Healer. Once you get your core guys to 65 - 75 or whatever, then using them to PL the rest of your team.

Dealings/Turnip - you guys are trying to get me interested in Bsts! You think I'd see a significant benefit in dropping maybe my Rogue for one? How would you say Bst stacks up against say a Ranger for a Melee DPS based group?

 

[JimJohnson]

War/Sk
Bard
Zerker
Shm
Wiz
CLR

You can fully automate that with bard doing pull/buffs/dps or mez if he pulls bad
Wiz for the ports, yea you have guild lobby what not but nothing like a wiz binding and sending its whole group 20 seconds from a camp location. Without /zone a wiz is worth it.

What JJ said other than i would use a rog instead of zerker. Just personal pref. The SoS is handy at times and with the VoA AA rog dps is pretty high.

I only go zerker as it doesnt look as bottish and only needs 1 good weapon hehe

 

[Dealings]

unless u have a phenomenal rogue macro and hes mindblowing bst is an easy choice, now bst vs ranger u can take either, they both have little things that separate em for diff situations, headshotting rng, tanking+offtanking pet bst

the bst ranger is a much harder choice for me as they both even out imo

 

[William12]

War/Sk
Bard
Zerker
Shm
Wiz
CLR

You can fully automate that with bard doing pull/buffs/dps or mez if he pulls bad
Wiz for the ports, yea you have guild lobby what not but nothing like a wiz binding and sending its whole group 20 seconds from a camp location. Without /zone a wiz is worth it.

What JJ said other than i would use a rog instead of zerker. Just personal pref. The SoS is handy at times and with the VoA AA rog dps is pretty high.

I only go zerker as it doesnt look as bottish and only needs 1 good weapon hehe

exactly this a zerker can just swing from any spot a rogue will move all over and its obvious what you're doing.

I'm not sure how classes have changed from a year ago, but I prefered bst > ranger and ber > rogue. I basically had 1 of every class with max AAs so I had the opportunity to test out any group build possible.

 

[Merle]

Hmmmm....maybe I should ask this then:

Given a group of SK - Shm - Bard - Bers, what 2 classes would you use to complete the 6?

 

[William12]

Hmmmm....maybe I should ask this then:

Given a group of SK - Shm - Bard - Bers, what 2 classes would you use to complete the 6?

Just starting out ? another healer for sure but once your shm is geared and AAed you wont need the extra heals. Of course I had macros loaded where I was only really playing the tank.

 

[Quatarian]

These discussions come up every so often and I enjoy reading people's thoughts. I've posted these thoughts before but every time I feel like I can summarize it a bit better.

In my opinion, you have 2 options for optimization: Melee and Caster.

DPS
Choose an enchanter if you go with caster DPS. Choose a Shaman if you go with Melee DPS.

Then, build the rest of your crew. First, if you are going to play 5 toons, I really don't know why you wouldn't just go for six.

Healing
A Cleric, even macro'd (well), will blow a merc out of the water. If you want to tackle the toughest namers with your group effectively, there is no substitute for how a cleric can manage healing a group.

If you want to simply grind as much exp as fast as you mind-numbingly can, then druid or shaman will probably work.

Tanking
Warrior, much like a cleric, will maximize your chances of tackling the toughest namers effectively. However, they are completely gear dependent and will demand top priority when you move from one echelon of gear to the next.

Again, if you want to grind exp, go with the hybrid SK or Pally. I personally give SKs the edge here.

Pulling
A Bard is like a rising tide: it floats all ships (makes everyone better). Hands down my best experience for pulling.

A Monk is a great puller and fantastic individual DPS. All others I don't really know. Just note that any pulling toon will sacrifice their individual DPS to some extent.

General

Melee will generally look more automated than casters.

I don't sweat having a lot of the same gear requirements among toons (i.e. having a lot of plate, or chain classes). That used to be an issue but now most drops are generic trade-in type molds.

Port class: sucks to be playing in this era. I quit when /zone was detectable. That nerf, among other things, broke my spirit to play.

Beware of burnout. With almost any full group of six, you will be able to conquer the group game in short order. Take your time and pace yourself. It is possible to run out of shit to do.

Good luck!

 

[spin]

Beware of burnout. With almost any full group of six, you will be able to conquer the group game in short order. Take your time and pace yourself. It is possible to run out of shit to do.

Sooo true.

Thats why we stopped at 84 to level our AA up before going into content that will require the next level of gear and AA.
You can outlevel your gear and abilities if you are not careful. And that feeds the run out of shit to do factor.

There are places we can farm now for AA that is only possible because we have a full set of 900HP+ gear and 200 AA more than before. Anguish gear is gone now. Ashengate being one of the places we can just farm.

 

[MakoStreak]

Wow.. My main was a Rogue, I was a DPS king.. always in the top 5 on raids usually neck n neck with Monks or Zerks (Maxxd AAs, Maxxd lvl, Maxxd Gear), but that was some time ago.

But to be out DPSd by a hybrid.. like a BST.. Im glad I retired..lol. No offense meant.. when your a pure melee class and DPS is your business and you cant beat out a hybrid who is supposed to be a little weaker (at least back in the days you were supposed to sacrifice something for that hybrid-ness) because they get the best of both worlds (cast an melee).

Of course this was when 65-75 lvls were top. Im not looking for a argument just making a note of how that class was left behind... "Holy redheaded step children Batman."

I thought I saw someone say they would use their Rogue to make poisons for the rest of the group.. you mean to tell me that anyone can use poisons now?? Whats next Clerics get BackStab.. lol.

Im so glad I rerolled a Mage..

PS How in gods name do you guys six box!?? I have a hard enuff time switching windows between just 2 on the same PC.

 

[Dealings]

six box!??

this is an MQ board
we use macros round here

 

[William12]

Wow.. My main was a Rogue, I was a DPS king.. always in the top 5 on raids usually neck n neck with Monks or Zerks (Maxxd AAs, Maxxd lvl, Maxxd Gear), but that was some time ago.

But to be out DPSd by a hybrid.. like a BST.. Im glad I retired..lol. No offense meant.. when your a pure melee class and DPS is your business and you cant beat out a hybrid who is supposed to be a little weaker (at least back in the days you were supposed to sacrifice something for that hybrid-ness) because they get the best of both worlds (cast an melee).

Of course this was when 65-75 lvls were top. Im not looking for a argument just making a note of how that class was left behind... "Holy redheaded step children Batman."

I thought I saw someone say they would use their Rogue to make poisons for the rest of the group.. you mean to tell me that anyone can use poisons now?? Whats next Clerics get BackStab.. lol.

Im so glad I rerolled a Mage..

PS How in gods name do you guys six box!?? I have a hard enuff time switching windows between just 2 on the same PC.

Innerspace/isboxer is like a god when it comes to EQ multiboxing.

 

[Dealings]

Innerspace/isboxer is like a god

tried it out wasnt my cup of tea, didnt work too well for me (good for when no MQ compile is out I guess)

 

[William12]

Innerspace/isboxer is like a god

tried it out wasnt my cup of tea, didnt work too well for me (good for when no MQ compile is out I guess)

It isn't too user friendly.

 

[Dealings]

I think it had limitations and MQ is now like an old shoe (or an old rubber for some of u recyclers out there) that fits just right so i may be skewed now

been using PeteSampras macro and its nice for alot of classes

Will I still use your zerk macro