Beast/Druid and ??

Rhyce · December 13, 2005, 04:38:57 AM

Greetings everyone,

My wife and I just moved to the FV server. We just don't have the time to commit to raiding, so we felt the rule set on FV might suit us better. We can always save up plat for gear.

Any how, the advice I'm in need of is what to add to our Duo. I'll be playing the beast, her the druid and I'd like to add my second account to the mix. I have a ranger started ( a frustrating class but one I enjoy ). Could a ranger with AM3/EQ bring enough to the trio? I'd be playing the second account on the same system as the BL. That and I'm not good at casters ( read as basically suck ). Was hoping I could just set the ranger in a prime location and /autofire with him.

Hoping to do some DoN's, and MM's with the three, along with general farming/exp grind. We both enjoy doing the tradeskills, one reason I started the ranger, so I could forage for myself.

Thoughts, comments, and advice gladly accepted.

Kanan · December 13, 2005, 02:35:04 PM

/shrug.. do a wizard/necro to that mix imo.

I ain't a master boxer, but they're massive dps, and frankly, that's what you're looking for in the extra on your trio.

And your setup for them will be this: hotkey to assist you, /cast dps spell one, tab back to bst (assuming one comp. Just turn your eyes back if multi-comps). After you see the spell land, load up the next one or renuke etc.

Hinthi · December 13, 2005, 03:29:33 PM

I'd add a mage to that duo. A mage will bring CoH and malo to help slows land plus a lot of dps.

Kanan · December 13, 2005, 03:41:56 PM

guess I should add a lil clarity to my statement... main reason I listed the necro/wizzy to add is simplicity in the boxing. If you did the necro, I'd not even get the pet out. Its just something else you'd have to monitor, and if you have the box just sitting there, dpsing, its minimal attention, just tab over hit a nuke hotkey & ignore em ;p

Chickennuggets · December 13, 2005, 04:14:16 PM

I would also go with a Mage... already got evacs handled by the drood (if hes not getting beat up of course). mages provide a lot of dps through their nukes, and pets. Malo for landing slow, rods for mana, and CoH. Can even set up a hotkey for (/assist <tank>, pet attack, /cast (malo)), and tab back over for a heal, and back to beast for a few casts, and over to mage for some nukage. Just my 2 copper, never played a necro, but have a wizzy I sometimes box.

Waeoth · December 13, 2005, 04:20:12 PM

I think a wizard, necro, or mage would be ideal. Though you said you are not very good at casters. Maybe the ranger would work for you. If I felt that I wasn't very good with casters then I would go with a rogue or zerker.

Chickennuggets · December 13, 2005, 05:20:49 PM

I think if the Beast is going to act as the MT... then your only real option would be a caster. Between your own, and warders push... trying to keep another melee positioned is difficult. Casters are the easiest to box as well. Can hit your hotkey, or gem, and tab right back over. You will want to spend as much time per fight on the Beast, or tank (whatever combo you are using), just to be able to maintain aggro, or snatch aggro back from another one of your group. A ranger with eq, and AM3 is easy to autofire, but that would be all he would really be able to offer the group, and if you are just assisting and hitting a button... thats the same thing as a caster bot to be honest.

Rhyce · December 16, 2005, 07:25:37 PM

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll try out a mage. It does sound like the best choice.

One another side, if we were to add a 4th, what might you sugest? This character would be played by the druid. So in a sense we'd both have 2 characters on each system.

Thanks Again

Kanan · December 16, 2005, 07:48:31 PM

/shrug.. more dps is always a wonderful thing ;p

Hinthi · December 16, 2005, 09:27:47 PM

Adding an other you have a number of options.

DPS, healing, tanking or crowd control.

Depending on how your friend likes to play his/her druid a cleric might be a good option. It brings powerful healing spells and would let the druid go DPS.

If your friend likes to melee you might consider a berserker. Once they have a few AA under their belt berserkers can put out a lot of DPS. Plus they can do it while facing the mob when they pull agro off you. If you want DPS but as a caster then a necro is a great option, lots of DPS plus mind wrack.

With evac, CoH and pet pulling tricks available to you I wouldn't worry about CC. But being able to mez stuff is not something you should overlook.

Lastly having a tank to stand in there and take a beating is nice. It could help make up for the druid healing.

Trying to figure out a fun combo is part of the fun in my book.

Good luck.

hakaaba · December 16, 2005, 11:17:58 PM

id say wizard

Chickennuggets · December 19, 2005, 12:46:39 AM

I agree with wizard. Easy to bot, decent DPS, not much else to offer to group though.

Stumps_Bertox · December 19, 2005, 01:24:34 AM

Do you happen to have Magelos for your BL and your wife's druid?
DPS never hurts, but no matter what gear you have your BL will never be able to tank like a plate class, and wizzy's definately cant tank :). I havent seen it suggested, but a chanter could really bring alot to a BL and druid.
I play my BL/Druid on the same system and flip screens, and I'm pretty effective with it unless i get more than 4 700+ hitters at once, and find myself having to evac situations that would be trivial with a chanter around. If you decide to run with 4 characters, Id go with an enchanter for your BL, and a Pally or SK for your wife's druid. Its very challenging to run 2 melee at the same time. You buffing/mezzing/tash/slow with hotkeys is cake while you play your BL, and healing/snaring/debuffing is just as easy while your wife tanks.
For a controllable situation, where my druid can properly debuff, Gogbuk can tank fine..I duoed Gimblax (it was ugly, but i won), but if I had a single add it would have been a wipe. I've also found myself having to evac in Stillmoon because of LB swarming. Other than being stupid I die for one of 2 things, slow not sticking, or adds. A chanter would solve both those problems for me.

Rhyce · December 21, 2005, 08:22:11 PM

Stumps,

We are just starting over on FV ( we each had a level 70's on another server )neither of us over 30 yet. So gear will be comming in the future. Right now we mostly have quest items and a few little items we have picked up in the bazar.

Perhaps we will need to take another look at our group, maybe add a plate class for one of us to 2box. That would increase our range of mobs we could handle. A paladin may add some nice things to the group. After all 90% rez is better then nothing. And the added healing til slow lands. Humm so many options.

Thanks everyone and keep the ideas comming, nothing is set in stone for our 3rd just yet. We just both know BL/Druid are our favorite classes :-) ( tho a premade group for a tank would be nice ).

jabby · December 22, 2005, 03:21:34 PM

pally

actually i would vote for pally as your third to go with Beast / druid.

He would bring HoT, group heals, symbol to stack with druid skin line + beast buffs, rez, stuns, plate tank, and on FV you can buy some awesome pally weapons and gear fairly cheap. Malgrinnor Captains short swords, 45/35 1hs no rec level, rune 3 proc sell for 65-100k there i think.

the only downside to the pally is they are kind of busy with all the stunning/healing, but if you have 2 people playing three toons shouldnt be that bad.

oh, just remembered, the old beastie pet push issue - that can be annyoing when boxing 2 melee