New 3-box, now that we have mercs?

[dlphelan]

So, I can't seem to get EQ out of my system and I'm planning a return. My last 4-box didn't really get anywhere and I've decided that I'm going to stick with just three for easy handling.

In the past I was running PAL-SHM-DRU-MAG and having a pretty good time with it. Mercs could change the situation somewhat.

I'm split as to what my three main classes ought to be. Since there is no DPS merc, it seems like one of my classes should be a pure DPS class, since I can always just have two healer mercs tagging away. So maybe SK, SHM, MAG? Ports have always been pretty nice and evac a godsend when boxing, so I'm not sure if a WIZ would be better. But snare is oh-so-important, so maybe the DRU instead? I hear that slow is mitigated a lot, so maybe switch from the SHM? Especially since if things go bad I can just pop 2 healer mercs which should take care be enough... Or maybe SK, WIZ, ENCH for CC, DPS, and Tanking.

What are your thoughts folks?

[Arslayn]

Well if yer looking for easy DPS the Wizard is the way and with the recent changes to the class at higher end with the right focuses, AA and even with passable focuses they are the DPS king in group and raid.

[Keltsete]

this entirely depends on what you want to do. Are we talkign pure xp boxing? Are we talking solid group? Or ability to do a bit of a both.

I personall 4 box a shaman/cleric/monk/necromancer combination. This combo with a tank merc and cleric merc allows me to do pretty much anything I want.

personally I would recommend monk (pulling is key when boxing since you always want singles and it's easy box dps) shaman (best all around box class period panther proc line is easy free box dps and healing + slowing is huge in a box class ) and a dps class either wiz, mage, or necromancer. Personally I'd say go pet class as lynx will add more dps but really either of the 3 is easy enough to setup hotkeys so you only have to flick to their screen once or twice a fight and press 1 button each time.

Unlessy ou want to put a ton of effort into a tank class it's just not worthwhiel to get them up to level they need to be to box current content.

I'll say this I've boxed a lot of combinations over the years and I'd say right now a shaman and pulling class (bard or monk) would be my mandatory recomendations.

[dlphelan]

The content I'll be doing is single-group. I dont' have any raiding aspirations. I'm looking to dig through old-world content, see the sights that I missed in previous go-rounds, and play through the single-group game.

My worry with a Monk is that he won' t be able tank most single-group content at the higher levels. I've heard a lot of mixed things about merc tanks at high levels, and I'm concerned about relying on them. That's why I was leaning towards a plate class like the SHD which would have some pulling ability, but could also take a hit. I've never really played a monk before though, so I'm just putting together what I've read. How does the tank merc hold up with merc cleric healing?

I'm leaning towards SHD-SHM-MAG now, decided that ports/evac from the druid aren't that important and that COH and the Mage pet will give me more flexibility. Of course, that means no real snare except for the Darkness line. Having never played a SHD before (always a PAL guy before), does anybody have any thoughts/experiences on how well it works?

[Sowslow]

I play a shm/mage duo and add a tank/healer merc sometimes, so this info is based on that. I honestly don't consider the J3 tank merc all that much better than the level 81 air pet, with void c pet focus. The merc can grab aggro pretty well, but with the new mage pet heal and stance, don't see a big difference in survivability. All you need is one pet focus item, rather than a full set of gear for a tank, so it is much easier to get started. If I were to add a third account, it would probably be a wiz. Wiz dps is good, not great, without gear or aa, and only goes up from there. Snare and ports are really nice to have when boxing.

[Bigcat Daddy-o]

If I might add to this, I found the mage pet to be a BETTER tank than merc J3, but needed to use the merc tank because I also was running a monk so couldn't use the mage pet to tank. When merc went down I'd often flop the monk (Feign death) and just let the mage pet tank it out. Never had a failure doing this.

Now that i have J5 (tier 5 journeyman) merc tank I have actually gone down to 3 boxing the following

85 Shm, druid, monk. I dropped the mage because I want to run the 3 box and unfortunately as much as I love the mage, he wasn't bringing the critical skills to the table that I required. The merc tank and merc healers are working out amazingly well for me for boxing, and now I have a slot to add a friend when she is on (Bard) whereas before she was competing for a spot and I had to sit an account out. That kind of bugged me from an economic stand point (why pay for an account that I am sitting out). Now, when she is on, monk is doing nice dps, and when she isn't monk can do pulling.

Key skills that I find I need to box in this expac (your mileage may vary) are
healing - covered by merc, and backed up typically by druid and shaman on named
pulling (or cc, I have gone the pulling route) covered by monk, or friends bard when she is on
DPS - shaman, monk, druid cover this nicely (really miss the mage for this, and for the pet as back up tank.)
snaring/runner control - covered by druid, or by monk in an emergency with his AA or snare hammer *damned if I can recall the name of it at the moment. I have it set up in a bandolier.
OH OH! rescues - Druid, hands down with evac, followed by a kind of hail mary play of monk flopping, and either wait till agro clears and merc cleric resses (assuming she didn't pick up agro) or wait 5 minutes till she can be revived and she will res then. Typically it's just as quick to either campfire back if I had one set near by, or port/run back but it is an option on 'deep in' camps.

I even tried dropping down to 2 boxing on the weekend with druid and monk. It worked fine in many aspects (was killing in TOSK) except for very slow dps without shm , and I really missed the leadership AAs! So I am back to 3 boxing.

All of this is just from one man's perspective, and I am sure that there are other combinations and possibilities that will work as well or better, but this is my 3 box set up currently.

Peace

[Keltsete]

My monk can actually tank content although it's a little more pricey on healing but then I'm buffing to close to 3700ac now although I am only in group gear but I'm full T5 so.

That said you just need to get the T5 merc tank like somebody else pointed out. THey tank fine and I also do namers with my box setup and the only time I help heal with my cleric is typically when names pop. Otherwise I just use the t5 merc healer with the occasional hot or ch from my cleric.

That said if you do an SK you are absolutely goign to have to spend a lot of effort gearing up. A massive amount of effort into getting every single group AC AUG you can. It's neccesary in order to tank current content... although I have to say the t5 stuff is pretty decent on AC and you can build a pretty good tank with current gear. Problem is you have to find a way to get it.

Merc tanks are fine as long as you have the t5 versions. Not the most efficent but I can typically net 4.5 to 5 aa a lesson burn with my box setup. Pretty decent xp considerimg I'm boxing everything.

[Khauruk]

Bard
Wizard
Wizard or mage
merc
merc
merc