Need help deciding on 3 box classes.

[Bearskin]

I've returned to EQ and have been amazed how much the game has changed. The game has a lot more fun factor and seems so much more relaxed then the old days. I had one character that was still in a guild so I started rebuilding from there. My 75 shaman with only 200 AA went to 90 and now has over 1k AA in less then 2 months. Things are looking good up to a point.

My guild is a very relaxed non raiding guild. The ones I was grouping with are now going in different directions. My shaman can access T4 HoT zones and has a T5 merc tank. Now I'm trying to figure out if I can 3 box progression of Tasks thru HoT solo style so I can help other guildies and myself get up to T4 HoT camps and gear.

I recruited a 3rd account and went with a Mage. The fast leveling and the extra xp bonus for my Shaman has helped a lot but still, I am keep debating how do I gain progression with my 3 box thru group.

I keep going back and forth trying to decide for my 2nd account, do I use my SK or Bard. SK is so very gear dependent and will take a huge investment in AA to be able to hold up like my T5 merc tank or better. A bard seems like the perfect puller even with lacking gear initially.

Is the best 3 box setup with a Shaman/mage/(sk or bard) the best setup to handle The stuff of dreams and No Freedom in Death Progression tasks? It seems those two are all about DPS with those two. Or am I just dreaming and should go with a Wizard, Wizard, Bard or enchanter like a lot I have heard about which would require months of time investment.

Thanks ahead of time.

[dohrian]

I would go with bard, you will need pulling for T3 progression.

[Sowslow]

There is really no bad choice to make, just whatever makes you happy.

I personally run shm/mage/war just because it works well for me. I do lack a true puller, but with shm and mage tricks I have been able to get everything done that I want. All tanks are going to be more gear dependent than casters, but gear is pretty easy to get at higher levels if you can rely on a merc tank at lower levels.

I used to run shm/mage/mage but wanted to try a tank and randomly chose a war for no good reason other than I wanted to. It was really a good trio and was much easier to bot than I currently have. Again no true puller but nothing I couldn't get done. That was UF and prior so I would imagine HoT is the same or easier.

If you like easy botting, pick a caster or even bard, with melody they can be an easy class to bot.
If you want a challenging bot, pick a true tank as they take a little more work. SK are probably the easiest to set and forget for aggro and overall tanking. War and pally require a little more work, but it only becomes hard when you get multiples or really want to burn on the caster damage.

Although if you can get singles and are ok killing slowly, pretty much any combo will work. It all really depends on how much you want to push your skills.

[Kaisung]

I run a Ranger/Shaman/Chanter trio, occasionally swapping out the chanter for a mage, or the shaman for a wizard. As Sowslow stated, there really are no bad choices, it's whatever you are comfortable playing, and can learn to make work for you.

Ranger offers primarily DPS, pulling skills, and can tank if necessary, although I prefer to let the T5 merc tank so I can focus on DPS. Can be set up as a "fire and forget" toon if neccessary, although DPS will suffer if you do.
Shaman offers slows/cripples, heals, panther proc, pet DPS, some decent DOT DPS, and has even tanked once or twice although I do not recommend it =D
Chanter offers slows (if needed), cripples, minor DPS, pet DPS, and is mostly there for his buffs and his ability to AE mez when the ranger screws up a pull.

[Grants]

With mercs you can get Tank, DPS or Healer. So what you "lack" is puller or CC and Slows. You already have a shaman, so then what you really need is some sort of puller or CC'er. I wouldn't recommend a ench since you already have a shaman for slows. So either get Bard or Monk, and then add whatever class you wanna threebox really. A mage is a good boxing class, and since he is a caster its less moving around then if you have a rogue or something similair.
My bet would be:

Shaman (Slower, VP, extra heals)

Bard/Monk (Prolly bard for some extra damage to the mage and your DPS merc)

Mage (Easy to manage, some useful toys + CoH is awesome when boxing)

[Ughbash]

[ariowen]

My main 3 box combo is Ranger/cleric/shaman and let the cleric's merc tank things while I concentrate on pulling, dps and CC if needed on the ranger. I have macros set up for the shaman to malo/slow/tiger/tar MT/HOT on inc, then dd/long dot/long dot/long dot/quirks, next hotkey is /alt act canni/dd/short dot/short dot. Cleric mercs are there to main heal with my bot cleric there well just because I botted this cleric long before mercs were out, plus this is a person behind the toon character, not a merc, so I can react on the cleric to benefit the box group when needed. I do have macros for the cleric to target the MT/mark the MT with Fintor's retort/HOT (just because it lasts longer than mercs) But in reality mainly there cause I don't want to have to level up a new toon on that account and as I said been boxing cleric for at least 8 years now so the cleric does have sentimentality for me to continue to box even though another class would benefit the box group more.

My first alt was a bard on the ranger's account, and in the past year I have gotten serious about playing the bard so sometimes I switch out the ranger for the bard and what I give up in dps, I make up for in somewhat better pulling/CC and songs that enhance shaman dps/abilities and the tank's abilities.

[Bearskin]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am Boxing my Shaman with a Mage and Bard. This combo is just amazing. Shaman is using J5 Tank merc that tanks the HoT content. Mage is dps that I don't have to watch but I have already had my mage pet tank when I wasn't watching the health of my tank merc. Using the bard allows me to pull a mob that can be stuck in the middle of a crowd. I can chain pull, boost dps for the mage and pets ( tank merc included ). Bard helps maintain mana and can crowd control. The Mage can provide burst dps second only to Wizards. I added a castor merc with the Mage. Takes a tad of monitoring if I use burn but when you need dps, it's there. Thanks again for the ideas.