3 boxin dilemma

[zarzilla]

Well then here is my issue I love my beast and want to start 3 boxing. I have been 2 boxing with a lvl 62 Druid for the most part up until recently when I decided to add a third account. Now on this account I immediately started a mage and he is almost lvl 50. Yet I am starting to second-guess myself as to what would be the most useful combo.

I would really like to be able to 3 box LDoN and DoN and other dungeon zones but I find pulling and CC difficult root only goes so far and harmony is outdoor only. I really enjoy doing both and would like to keep a focus point on areas like this and other instance zones. I would also like this 3 box to be efficient in the later game with the beast tanking as much as possible – I would like to be able to do places like riftseekers and what not without too many issues.

OK so the focus point of group is on the beast

65 beast / 62 druid / 50 mage currently
Thinking about
65 beast / cleric (best healing and HP buffs and paci) / necro (necro requires more attention but has amazing potential)
65 beast / cleric / ranger (auto fire ranger wouldn't require too much attention while putting out good DPS with snare in here as well) maybe?

I want to be able to maintain DPS and keep the beast healed (will druid always be sufficient? / maybe with the reinvisioning) while still being able to pull singles and take the occasional named down as well. Will my current trio be fine in the higher end zones, they do fine in places like GE but I would like to be able to 3 box DoN and LDoN

Also I have a 60 sham on the same account as the druid if maybe that would be a better option?

Starting over with new chars is something I am willing to do but only if will truly maximize my needs as leveling a chars into their 50 takes less then a week.

Thank you all for your help

[WildcardX]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I have been 2 boxing for a couple years now. Before I stopped playing EQ for 9 months, I did have a 65 ranger and 65 enchanter that I boxed and I would do LDONs with a 65 druid friend. Now this was about 2 years ago, maybe 1.5 years ago, definately before GoD was released and we could barely win a collection mission in BBM and really had no chance of winning a slaughter mission. Now with that said...

When I came back to EQ, I lost my ranger account. Well I have the account, but my ranger was gone thanks to SOE purging accounts inactive for too long, but thankfully my enchanter was still there. When I decided to 3 box because my druid friend is also gone from EQ, I was very tempted to drop my enchanter because he has virtually no DPS in ldon, but after thinking about this and reviewing in my mind why the ranger/druid/enchanter combo in ldon was seemingly ineffective, I relized some mistakes.. As an enchanter I would overly pacify in ldon, spending too much time casting pacify before every pull. At the time, there was no way to tell if somethign was still pacified or not so you had to recast unless you were willing to mezz mezz mezz mezz. But now, the game will tell you when your pacify spell has worn off a mob. This will decrease time spent pacifying.

Another thing I could do better is to let my enchanter tank so my ranger could DPS with EQ/AM3. Now i know this sounds retarded, but believe it or not, enchanter self only runes are VERY powerful and they don't require a reagent. Since my enchanter has over 260AA he has the ability to pretty much chain cast is self only rune so that he can effectively tank very well in a level 60 ldon. When I get to a level 65 ldon I may rethink this, but I'll have to see how well his rune holds against those mobs.

So in a level 60 ldon mission, with my 67 enchanter, 60 ranger, 60 druid, my enchanter gives me CC, best haste in game, best MR debuff in game, second best slow in game, can nuke crit for about 2.4K and can tank...

My point in all this, I have found in ldon that CC is key .. If you can single pull efficiently in LDON, then you have solved half of the equation so to speak to win in ldon, now you just have to solve the DPS part of the problem. To solve this part, I decided its best to leverage my toons strengths. Both druids and rangers get spells that allow them to cast mana efficient nukes against summoned mobs, so instead of grinding in BBM against undead, I will go to NRO and fight summoned mobs, druids and rangers can do their best dps against summoned. With c5, both the druid and ranger can chain cast those nukes to dramatically shorten the fight. Of course, if my ranger isn't tanking then hes just going to be doing archery on autofire, but I'll still get those nice mana efficent summoned nukes in from the druid between heals, which wont be many since the mob won't be around long to do much damage.

So, I guess I would either go with the beastlord, druid, enchanter combo or if you really just dont see yourself being a good enchanter bot, i know people say its hard and I can see why people say that, but my first main was an enchanter so I can bot my enchanter effectively as second nature. Otherwise, go with the beastlord, cleric, and <insert any DPS CASTER class here> combo. The cleric will give you pacify so you can single pull. Just make sure you give your cleric a high as possible CHA. When pacify gets resisted, there is a check against your CHA that determines if the mobs comes charging after you with his room full of friends or if he just doesnt do anything at all. With my enchanter, my CHA is maxxed and it is very rare for pacify to resist, but when it does it is even MORE rare for the resist to result in a train. Also with the cleric, make a DE cleric. There is a quest available to DE clerics for a neck piece that has a clicky snare spell...

Good luck and I hope you give the enchanter class some serious consideration, I think it's far more effective in a 3 box ldon team than many give credit for.

[Thaeliun]

That is basically the same set up I am working on now except my wife is playing the cleric.  I 2 boxed a druid/bst most of the way to 66.  I have a mage that's on the same account as the druid and switch him in as much as I can.  I prefer the mage but sometimes I need the druid heals/regen/snare etc.  Soon my wife's cleric will be big enough to join me and then the plan is BST/MAGE/CLR. 

I prefer this to the BST/NECRO/CLR but this is more personal preference then anything else.  I really enjoy the mage/bst 2 box.  It's nice to have the summoned toys along (though my mage is too low for the preferred stuff atm), I like that the mage pet is a far more effective offtank then the necro one.  I also like the mage DS especially in a CLR/BST/MAGE trio.  On long grinds, I much prefer the lower DPS maintenance of the mage over the necro too.

However, if I was going to keep the druid  instead of adding a cleric I think the necro would edge out the mage.  Having either the necro or the cleric available for single pulling is important and with the druid's weaker heals it's nice to be able to effectively grab agro and....well run with it when things start to go badly.  The necro takes this category hands down.  Once agro is established you can turn what was an ugly pull into a win with 3 toons stacking up the dots and 2 toons beating on the mob's back.  Specialized situation yes but one that is worth being prepared for. 

[bham]

I did a lot of LdoN 3-boxing as beast / mage / cleric, before I got my wizard. It works well at level 65 and is doable at 70.

With a cleric healer a beastlord can tank RSS, if you have full defensive AAs and top-notch non-raid gear. I doubt you could do it with a druid on heals, even if the druid re-envisioning goes in as stated.

I would recommend the mage and cleric combo to back up your beastlord. Druids are the best toon to duo with, but when you 3-box I think a cleric and some extra DPS is the way to go.

[zarzilla]

OK so i believe i will be creating a cleric to box then cause i would really like to keep the beast tanking for as long as possible and it will help with dungeon pulls. Now then as far as the DPS class goes i am still torn - Mage, Ranger, Necro, Possibly Wiz.

How does DPS compare between the classes

Ranger - I understand to get the max DPS from rangers they need to melee in the latter stages of the game so this may pose an issue. Yet with autofire and the right aa's the can provide easy constant DPS with snare added and outdoor pulling. Also has ATK buffs / back up healing / Dmg shields

Mage - Pretty much going to be the same tactic all the way send pet in nuke when needed. Also has Summoned toys / mod rod / CotH / Malo / Dmg Shield - nice consistant DPS and easy to box. Mage with air pet should be comparable to snare with beast pet as well correct?

Necro - This guy can do all kinds of things and can prove to be a large asset. Yet getting the performance out of one requires more attention unlike a mage who can be maximized rather easily. Having never really played a necro i do not fully understand their DPS i understand it varies greatly vs different mobs and in different situations. Perhaps someone can provide tactics or tips on how to box with this guy and shed some light on the subject for me.

Wiz - Nuke Nuke Nuke - Evac / Port - Nuke Nuke - all i really know - this is my least favorite choice ATM but perhaps someone can change my mind.

Thank you all for replys so far has really helped me. Also please note LDoN and DON remain a large factor on the decision. Thanks for all the help

[bham]

You dont get a real snare with cleric, mage, beast. But you get lots of options for sort of snare. Including hobble of spirits, warder stuns, air pet stuns, fire pet snare and stuns, snare proccing pet weapons and cleric stuns. Between those I never really had a problem with snares.

Mage is a very versatile class that complements Beast / cleric well. The main part of this groups damage is spell or proc based, so I like to use the mala-line of spells even if slow is landing easily from Bham. CoH gets you out of bad pulls if you use it right and can be used to split off mobs if you have room. DS is extremely mana-efficient DPS and the pet / nuke combo can exceed wizard DPS on long constant grinds.

I wouldnt use a ranger in this combo, Autofire is unreliable due to lose of LOS and even then damage isnt great.

I havent boxed a necro but I dont they are that hard to get 85% efficency out of. Which is good enough when boxing.

[Bulge]

I box a Necro and I love it. Because I have a Druid in my group too (Blessing of Replenishment) I can put Seduction of Saryrn on her and never bother with any lifetap spell at all. This is with +3 hp regen from AA, BoR and off course Spiritual Dominon. Seduction is the level 64 Lich and has a humongous mana-regen. You have to offset the - hp effects of her Lichline: if you accomplish this, you are homefree.

When doing a DoN mission, she Mindwracks *all* mobs once during the fight, winning back the mana for all my nukers (Mage, Me as BL, Druid, even Cleric). She herself also nukes with the poison nuke *and* I always start of with a Funeral Pyre on every Drake.  I have an affliction haste III item(Circlet of the Falinkan, fun Skyshrine quest)  which means I cast Pyre in 1.8 seconds.  She has never ever ran dry on mana.  When I have a death, she twitches mana, so the toon gets up on his feet quicker.  With a Pyre at the very start(after slowing off course though), a Nuke in the middle and a Mindwrack at the last 1/4 of health, she never has gotten any aggro( she sends in pet too, off course).  Once you start throwing Blood of thule in there, you should expect aggro issues, but with my line up, never. Funeral Pyre is still one of the most efficient Necro DOTs till this day, so  get it if you go Necro. :)

The fact that you don't have to lifetap the Necro makes all the difference, imo. From then on she is a DPS machine, also providing DPS to the others in my group through Mindwracking.  If you do not have a Druid, then use the Beasts Chloro and make an Iksar Necro: should work too. There are off course more hp-regen AA"s, there's the Groupleader AA and off course you can just buy nice hp-regen items for him. My Necro has zero hp-regen items, the BoR does all the work. Also,  her endless mana-pool offsets the fact that her poison nukes are not as efficient as a Wizzies. By far, to be honest. I am going to love Acikin and I am sure that nuke will not run her dry either.  It's a real challenge to run her dry, never was able to do it. :)

Summon corpse can be handy after a succor left someone behind, and once she saved my entire group by succesfully FD and then resurrecting the Cleric after the mobs had cleared.

I LOVE my necro.

Here's how I calculate here MindWarck potential: Assume that a Grinding the Drakes mission takes 40 Drakes to collect the 15 fangs. This is average and wil take me about 75 minutes, notwithstanding any screw-ups. Can be more mobs/longer, or less mobs, shorter.

I mindwrack every mob (I do, timer is on 1 minute, you could even MW twice with some mobs I guess but I never do that. That means 40 Mindwracks. 40x300=12000 mana per groupwmember. If your mission took 75 minutes, then we are talking 16 mana/tick here.  Since this calculation is based on 1 Mindwrack per mob, instead of per time-unit, it will hold up pretty well no matter if it's a long or short mission. Nice!

[Dakat]

I have every character except 3 classes. I've played those classes for a little and never really cared for them (SK, Rng, Bez).  I've boxed just about every combination out there minus the classes mentioned. I find that the Cleric, Beast, Druid work extremely well together. The cleric and the druid do not require a lot of maintenance to operate at peak efficiency. 

The druid offers way to much utility to be discarded my a necro or mage. Mage dsp is real nice, but run out of mana and your dsp is gone.  Since you need a character with sustainable dps every mob, druid does this. I've boxed so many LDON's with my Beast as tank a druid backup and I've added every character you can imagine (besides above mentioned) and I succeeded almost every adventure. Which I might add my total wins is in the 600s now for my beast.

Druid has decent dps thru nukes and dots. Which some of their dots are on par with necros but druid gets more nuking power. Granted druids don't get a pet but their nuke would make up for what a pet could do. Mage nukes great but is heavy dependant on mana regen to sustain their dsp, similar to wizards.  When I boxed the necro and sat the druid out, mobs died slower. I would have to spend to much time on the necro and not enough time on the beast. With pets going in all directions your losing some dps from the beast because the mobs keep getting pushed around.

With the druid, your sitting back just like the cleric. Cast a heal on the beast when ya think the CH might not land, immediately cast a nuke right after followed by 450 dmg per tic dots. Doing LDoN though DoT's were not practical since mobs would die so fast. Just nuke, snare and nuke again. Meanwhile keeping mana regen up on the group, hp regen, ds, while cleric takes care of healing.  I love the Cleric, Druid, Beast combo better then anything else thus far.

[bham]

Mage nukes are equal to or greater than druid nukes.

Mage pet much much greater than druid pet

Mage DS better than druid DS.

I dont see how a mage with the same level / AA / gear can possibly be less DPS, either sustained or burst, than a druid.

Druid dots are nice but only if they last the distance, which they rarely do.

Ill admit that a druid adds more versatility than a mage, but more DPS? I dont see it...

[Dakat]

Just to give an idea.

A level 65 druid that I use always has 3 Dot's memed and one nuke.  The dots are Vengence of Tunare, Swarming Death, Immoration of Ro. Vengence does 295 per tic for 5 tics or 1475 dmg in 30 sec, Swarming does 220 per tic for 9 tic or 1980 dmg in 54 sec and Immoration does 144 per tic for 10 tic or 1440 dmg in 60 sec. That's 4,895 dmg per 1 minute 15 seconds giving 5 seconds between each cast. That's not including the 1 nuke that can be casted on top of those.  The mobs I am fighting last over 1 minute each.

Mage nukes are equal to or greater than druid nukes.

I'd have to agree with that. However yours cost more mana per cast. Mage highest nuke for up to lvl 65 is 2100 dmg, it has a 7 sec cast time and 2 sec recast for 515 mana or 4.07dmg/mana used.  Druid has 1600dmg casts in 6.5 sec recast 2 sec for 395 mana or 4.05 dmg/mana used.  Lets say for grins a druid and a mage both had 5000 mana. And they were to cast that one spell over and over until they were out of mana. (not including any regen whatsoever) the druid would do 19200 dmg with their 1600 dmg nuke casting it 12 times.  A Mage casting their 2100dmg nuke would do 18900 dmg casting the nuke 9 times. That's 300 dmg more.

Mage pet much much greater than druid pet

Druid only gets the bear. But juse like a mage Druids can also Dire Charm animals like mages can summoned.

Mage DS better than druid DS.

Yeah they do, but druids have them as well. And they can give me a sow, hp regen, mana regen, port me to where i want to go, snare anything when we get there, root if it gets dicey, evac if its close, heal me if I need, paci and pull if outdoors.

Maybe this will open your closed eyes since you said you didnt see druids as a DPS class.

[bham]

You said

A level 65 druid that I use always has 3 Dot's memed and one nuke.  The dots are Vengence of Tunare, Swarming Death, Immoration of Ro. Vengence does 295 per tic for 5 tics or 1475 dmg in 30 sec, Swarming does 220 per tic for 9 tic or 1980 dmg in 54 sec and Immoration does 144 per tic for 10 tic or 1440 dmg in 60 sec. That's 4,895 dmg per 1 minute 15 seconds giving 5 seconds between each cast. That's not including the 1 nuke that can be casted on top of those.  The mobs I am fighting last over 1 minute each.

I said previously

Druid dots are nice but only if they last the distance, which they rarely do.

If they last then yeah they are ok

I'd have to agree with that. However yours cost more mana per cast. Mage highest nuke for up to lvl 65 is 2100 dmg, it has a 7 sec cast time and 2 sec recast for 515 mana or 4.07dmg/mana used.  Druid has 1600dmg casts in 6.5 sec recast 2 sec for 395 mana or 4.05 dmg/mana used.  Lets say for grins a druid and a mage both had 5000 mana. And they were to cast that one spell over and over until they were out of mana. (not including any regen whatsoever) the druid would do 19200 dmg with their 1600 dmg nuke casting it 12 times.  A Mage casting their 2100dmg nuke would do 18900 dmg casting the nuke 9 times. That's 300 dmg more.

You have skewed the numbers by picking 5000 mana. If it was 5150 mana then mage wins by 1800 damage. Also the mage can do his damage faster if required. Note also that mages get this spell at 61, druids have to wait till 64 (?)

If you want to ignore the mage pet doing 75-100 DPS, as well as stunning mobs (air pet) thats ok by me. Even if nuke/dot damage is almost comparable, the pet kicks the mage well ahead.

Druids are a decent DPS class, but not as good as a mage. Druids are definitely more versatile, no arguements there.

[jabby]

ill have to agree with bham here, mages kill bunnies WAY faster than druids, ive had a 65 druid, and yeah the utility is awesome but if you want the best DPS basically int casters are gonna smoke the druid, mages necro, wizzie.

i prefer mage for pure dps, and when his manna runs out his pet is still wacking away at a good clip.

i would also like to put in a plug for rangurs though, ive seen very well equipped rangers do comparable damage to mages (with a bow =p), and the LOS issues are not a problem anymore for the most part. very easy to box, decent buffs, some utility with SoE, Ensnare, tracking. If you have the beastie ornate pants or other haste clicky helps a ranger box to dps without losing manna

[zacknafien]

mage > druid almost anyway you look at it

With aa it just gets worst i have parsed friends pet doin 166dps in mpg, and thats just pet not to mentioin mage himself criting upwards of 9k sometimes imo and experience if you want more dps with a bit of utility mage is way to go.

[Bulge]

and the LOS issues are not a problem anymore for the most part.

yeah, what happened to LoS? :) I remember that when using Fireballs with my mage, that my big Troll butt would often block LoS, and she also had to be at least facing the direction of the target, but nowadays she can be facing the other way and I can be in the way as much as I want, and she still hits home. :)

The only thing that still blocks  the fireballs are walls and height-differences (mob is partly behind a bump in the surface).

[bham]

You have skewed the numbers by picking 5000 mana. If it was 5150 mana then mage wins by 1800 damage.

My maths sucks, from 5150 mana a druid would get an extra nuke in too, but mage still wins by 200.