Like I've posted in many other of these boxing advice threads its all about what you wanna do, and what you enjoy the most. IMO the mnk/shm is a fun duo, can't say much about SK since I play a pal as main, but knight DPS is a joke and if its XP you want then go for mnk/shm. If you wanna farm nameds then go with pal or sk.
Whoever you decide to go with as a tank, make sure you get looooads of AC. I would rate AC/HP 1-10 if you have a shaman as healer.
Another thing to consider is if you have any friends you play with alot. If they play mnk or whatever as main, you could pick something else.
I usually 3x box pal/mnk/clr and that trio is working very good for me, but I have over 4k AC so I can take a few hits even without slow. My biggest problem with this setup is that I don't have any class that can cast haste, and no efficient snare(have the snare AA on mnk that works decent but long recast, and stuns on paladin if mob is 75-. And ofcourse slow would be nice.
About the mnk vs knight tanking ability:
I play alot with a friend who boxes mnk/shm. He got around 3100ac, and can tank pretty much any mob I can. Only problem for mnks is if you get more mobs then 1.
Its more or less impossible to get that amount of AC without raid gear for a monk tho.
http://eq.magelo.com/profile/984402 = link for his magelo.
Shaman Duo Partner - Tanking
Moderators: Druid Mods, Paladin Mods, Shaman Mods
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by Valdemar » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:58 pm
The original post is almost a year old now, so I'm sure the poster has made his choice and moved on. Therefore, the advice I offer is for those that read this thread with the same basic question in mind.
One thing I see a lot in boxing threads, regardless of which board they appear on, is the notion that War/SK/Pal are heavy tanks and every other class is a "light tank". There is a broader spectrum of tanking ability than that. There is even a class which is lighter than the traditional light tanks - the BL. Yes, War/SK/Pal are the undisputed heavy tanks. But, there are classes that I call medium tanks. The medium tanks are Berserkers, Monks, and Bards. I define them as medium because they have innate abilities that allow them to tank better than Rangers, Rogues, and BLs, but they cannot match the heavies. Clear enough?
There are only two core considerations in choosing which class to act as tank for your Shaman, namely: gear and content. What level of gear are you going to realistically be able to get your hands on? What content do you want to do? Let's illustrate by example. If you're best hope is player-made stuff and one group-able gear, and the content you want to tackle is high, then you will be not have a prayer of meeting you content goal if you choose anything other than one of the heavy tanks. Even then, your gear access will limit you. If you can realistically guarantee that you will have access to high-end raid gear then you're tank partner can be any class you like. Obviously, you will be more limited if you choose a BL as your tank over a War, but since you'll be raiding for gear the content you see outside of raiding is dependent on how much you want to see. The tougher the content, the higher up on the tanking scale you need to go. This seems like a super obvious statement and I've seen others repeat it ad nauseum, but people still seem to miss it.
A subset of the content question is gear drop/quest content versus XP grinding. If you only wish to use your box duo to grind XP and you'll be grouping or raiding to do gear and quests, then kill speed begins to overrule tanking ability and a medium or light tank DPS machine looks a lot more attractive. If you are going to use your duo to do gear mobs, missions, quests, and the like, then tanking ability becomes paramount. Personally, I would argue that tanking and defense trumps kill speed and offense in every situation, but that's because I duo'd with my wife's Ranger for many years.
I chose to do Shaman/Bard as my duo because it fits my gear/content calculus. I'm a very casual player, I'll never be in a high-end raiding guild, and I want to explore. These three considerations mean that reliable single pulling and the ability to cherry pick mobs was a central consideration. The Bard brings me better tanking than the light classes by virtue of their ability to wear plate armor, and they have snare and DOT camp ability. I consider the Bard a nice mix of tanking, pulling, and support roles. Now, if I had access to better gear, the Bard would not look so attractive. Why? Because if I had access to better gear I wouldn't need to worry so much about pulling non-trivial doubles or even triples. As it is, non-trivial mobs need to come one at a time for me. Thats a must in new world zones, again reinforcing my choice of Bard.
The Heavy Tanks
The SK is the single best heavy tank class to choose for a Shaman, if you are willing to make some sacrifices in the exploration department and can be comfortable with the occasional bad pull where you're taking on multiples. The SK brings a limited single pulling ability, snare, heavy innate tanking, and DOT camp ability. The Paladin and Warrior are weak partners because they lack all these abilities. No pulling, no snare, no DOT camp. (This not a flame of Pal/War. I love 'em both, especially Paladins, but not for a Shaman-centered duo.)
The Medium Tanks
If your gear/content equation equals a medium tank, my pick is the Bard for the reasons I've already mentioned. The Monk is a good choice if DPS is more important to your situation than pulling ability or utility. The Berzerker is a weak choice in my opinion. The only advantage they have over the Monk is more reliable snare and they get it sooner. The Monk's limited pulling and "oh shit" options trump the Ber. Still, the Bard is the AC king of medium tanks and has utility oozing from every pore at the cost of DPS. But then again, if you can live with Pal/SK DPS then a Bard will be no disappointment there.
The Light Tanks
If you have access to gear that will allow you to use a light tank, then there is only one choice in this class. The Ranger. The Rng compliments the Shm superbly and lacks only indoor single pulling ability. That is no hit to the Rng because all the light tanks lack indoor single pulling ability. They bring good buffs, DPS either melee or ranged, snare, and DOT camp ability. Druid root is another plus.
Regards.
One thing I see a lot in boxing threads, regardless of which board they appear on, is the notion that War/SK/Pal are heavy tanks and every other class is a "light tank". There is a broader spectrum of tanking ability than that. There is even a class which is lighter than the traditional light tanks - the BL. Yes, War/SK/Pal are the undisputed heavy tanks. But, there are classes that I call medium tanks. The medium tanks are Berserkers, Monks, and Bards. I define them as medium because they have innate abilities that allow them to tank better than Rangers, Rogues, and BLs, but they cannot match the heavies. Clear enough?
There are only two core considerations in choosing which class to act as tank for your Shaman, namely: gear and content. What level of gear are you going to realistically be able to get your hands on? What content do you want to do? Let's illustrate by example. If you're best hope is player-made stuff and one group-able gear, and the content you want to tackle is high, then you will be not have a prayer of meeting you content goal if you choose anything other than one of the heavy tanks. Even then, your gear access will limit you. If you can realistically guarantee that you will have access to high-end raid gear then you're tank partner can be any class you like. Obviously, you will be more limited if you choose a BL as your tank over a War, but since you'll be raiding for gear the content you see outside of raiding is dependent on how much you want to see. The tougher the content, the higher up on the tanking scale you need to go. This seems like a super obvious statement and I've seen others repeat it ad nauseum, but people still seem to miss it.
A subset of the content question is gear drop/quest content versus XP grinding. If you only wish to use your box duo to grind XP and you'll be grouping or raiding to do gear and quests, then kill speed begins to overrule tanking ability and a medium or light tank DPS machine looks a lot more attractive. If you are going to use your duo to do gear mobs, missions, quests, and the like, then tanking ability becomes paramount. Personally, I would argue that tanking and defense trumps kill speed and offense in every situation, but that's because I duo'd with my wife's Ranger for many years.
I chose to do Shaman/Bard as my duo because it fits my gear/content calculus. I'm a very casual player, I'll never be in a high-end raiding guild, and I want to explore. These three considerations mean that reliable single pulling and the ability to cherry pick mobs was a central consideration. The Bard brings me better tanking than the light classes by virtue of their ability to wear plate armor, and they have snare and DOT camp ability. I consider the Bard a nice mix of tanking, pulling, and support roles. Now, if I had access to better gear, the Bard would not look so attractive. Why? Because if I had access to better gear I wouldn't need to worry so much about pulling non-trivial doubles or even triples. As it is, non-trivial mobs need to come one at a time for me. Thats a must in new world zones, again reinforcing my choice of Bard.
The Heavy Tanks
The SK is the single best heavy tank class to choose for a Shaman, if you are willing to make some sacrifices in the exploration department and can be comfortable with the occasional bad pull where you're taking on multiples. The SK brings a limited single pulling ability, snare, heavy innate tanking, and DOT camp ability. The Paladin and Warrior are weak partners because they lack all these abilities. No pulling, no snare, no DOT camp. (This not a flame of Pal/War. I love 'em both, especially Paladins, but not for a Shaman-centered duo.)
The Medium Tanks
If your gear/content equation equals a medium tank, my pick is the Bard for the reasons I've already mentioned. The Monk is a good choice if DPS is more important to your situation than pulling ability or utility. The Berzerker is a weak choice in my opinion. The only advantage they have over the Monk is more reliable snare and they get it sooner. The Monk's limited pulling and "oh shit" options trump the Ber. Still, the Bard is the AC king of medium tanks and has utility oozing from every pore at the cost of DPS. But then again, if you can live with Pal/SK DPS then a Bard will be no disappointment there.
The Light Tanks
If you have access to gear that will allow you to use a light tank, then there is only one choice in this class. The Ranger. The Rng compliments the Shm superbly and lacks only indoor single pulling ability. That is no hit to the Rng because all the light tanks lack indoor single pulling ability. They bring good buffs, DPS either melee or ranged, snare, and DOT camp ability. Druid root is another plus.
Regards.
- Valdemar
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by Lathdrinor » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:36 am
- Lathdrinor
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by Samanna » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:57 pm
NOTE: Split off topic deciding what Non-tanking-type partner is best to duo with a Shaman. to http://crucible.samanna.net/viewtopic.php?t=5212
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Samanna
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