mag? wiz? enc?

[rasp]

Hi folks,

Im starting a new 3 boxing team from scratch, new server, no twinkage. My main goal is having some LDON fun plus some dongeon crawling.

My actual setup is BST / CLE but  Im having a hard time to decide what my 3rd toon will be hence the title of my post.

mag?
+ Good dps, nice utility spells, great pet.
- No snare, crap pet root if any

wiz?
+ great dps, snare/root, evac
- mana at low/middle level (?)

chanty?
+ speed, crack, cc
- requiers lots of attention, specialy for CC. crapy dps.

Anyone can help me asses my situation?

Also, regarding Mage and Wiz, is it safe to assume that both are quite equal in the dps field? Sure Wiz got better DD (better dmg/mana ratio), but between every DD cast by the magi, his pet magi pet will proceeed in kicking the mob's butt.

So overall, can we say that mag and wiz are quite equal in dps in a regular, 3 multi-boxed game session?

Lastly, can we assume that the chanty crack/speed line of spells will also add some nice overall dps on the table by increasing the BST dps and (why not) allowing the CLE to burn some mana in nukes?

Argh...so many questions ;)

Rasp.

[Et^Cetera]

My personal choice would be Mage for 3 main reasons

1) Stuns - Air pet stunning mobs not only makes spell casting for mobs vrey tricky..but also gives.....

1a) Snare (kinda) - An air pet combined with BST relic proc means both pets stunning, which in turn means that mobs death-walking at 20% dont get very far, if anywhere.

2) Easy to box - Boxing the mage (and to a lesser extend Wizard) is pretty easy.. send pet, malo, nuke every once in a while .. and keep DS up. Therefore you can play a Mage to 90% or so of its potential while other classes you just cant give the time needed while boxing.

3) Off tanking - No root spell .. but with a Cleric buffing + healing.. Either BST + MAG pet should be able to off-tank an add each without too much trouble.

I currently 2 box and if I could, I would add a Mage to the setup over other classes - perhaps I just have a soft spot for pet classes :)

PS - mod rods for cleric + pet toys = nice.

[Oneiromancer]

It seems like many people consider a Necro for the 3rd slot.  You get your snare, additional pet, and very nice dps.  At higher levels you get the group mana tap.  Probably about as much maintenance as a Mage in terms of boxing.

Game on,

[rasp]

Et^Cetera : Mmmh mod rod are definilty a good asset. Didnt tought of them ;)

Oneiromancer: Actually I have played a Necro ikky to lvl 65, great class indeed but I wanted some change  8)

I have set aside the chanty and narrowed down my desicion between the wiz and the magi but I'm still not sure wich one to choose.

I have red lots of good stuff about the Magi in a 3 box situation but I did not find any message regarding the Wiz. Anyone got an experience they want to share ;)

Thanks for the input so far.

Rasp.

[Incite]

Wizzies have all you want in a 3rd boxed toon: DPS, ports, snare, scouting (eye of zomm).  What wizzies lack is "cool".  Mages have it, necros have it ... but wizards don't.   :?  Necros have damage and snare (sick, sick, sick DPS), mages have DPS and summoned gears.  Lack of snare can be a real problem at times in LDoN especially North Ro.

[negrismorte]

I play a wizzie for my 3rd box if I need a snare.  I don't care much for his DPS at this level (56).  Were I to go back and do it again, I would use a druid over wizzie.

Wizzie: nukes, snare, evac/ports, scouting
Druid: nukes/dots, DS, manaregen/buffs, evac/ports, back-up healer, snare

EDIT: forgot to add another very impt item - track

[bham]

I guess I am in a good position to offer advice, as I 4-box a Beast, cleric, wizard and mage.

The beastlord and cleric are a very solid base for your group. The healing power of the cleric, combined with the ability to pacify and single pull allow the beastlord to slow and tank with ease, unless you are fighting very hard hitting mobs. With no raid gear I can take up to RcoD without too much trouble. I think you need raid gear or a real tank to do MPG.

That just leaves the question of the third box. Both mage and wizard offer strengths and leave your group with some weakness.

The usefulness of wizards ports and evacs can not be underestimated. Anytime you want to go somewhere you get there quicker, and anytime you want to leave you are gone. The removal of running time makes any hunt more efficient. To be fully efficient you need KEI. That means going back to pok to get it. Any group will die occasionally, without a porter, that means run from bind to hunt spot and rez, run back to pok, get kei, run back to hunt spot. Ports will save you time and evacs will reduce your deaths.

The most useful spell in EQ is slow, but you need it to land. Making slow land more reliably means a resist debuff and that is where the mage malos line shines. Against hard mobs the first hotkey I use on my mage sends in his pet and casts mala, the unresistable debuff spell. It makes landing slow almost guaranteed against any mob I fight even though it is only -30 to magic (I think?). It also debuffs fire, cold and poison making you procs, nukes and dots more effective.

Having a reliable snare on tap is useful not essential. Wizard snare is not too mana expensive and you can cast it early and know it will stay for the duration of the fight. However, without it you are not screwed. I find hobble of spirits to be 99% effective. You can time a nuke to land right on 20% health, dropping the mob to below 10% and low speed running. You can run air pet and warder stuns to slow mobs. If you are ready for it you can drop a cleric stun at 20% as well to give you a few extra seconds to burn the mob down. The wizard was my most recent addition and I didnt have too much trouble with runners before I got him.

Pet toys are a useful addition to any pet, and with a mage you will have 2 pets to equip. Remember though that you can buy pet equipment and take it with you if you go the wizard.

Call of Hero is a very useful and I think underrated spell. Every time I enter a new zone I check to see if it works and it almost always does except for a few PoP ones. You can use it to add new group members as long as 1 of your group members can get to them for an invite, but its ability to drag the puller out of a bad pull is my favourite use. I keep it memmed all the time, if ever I pull more mobs than I want or get surprised by a pop or snare/root spell, I simply start a call of hero and pop my defensive disc. If I am mobile the chance of my dying is almost zero before it lands, even rooted by bazu grip with 2 mobs beating on me in WoS I can usually survive. You can also use it to split adds if your cleric doesnt have a high enough spell to pacify them. Run to just out of aggro range and start CoH, slow the mob you want, send warder at an add and run. The slowed mob will follow you while all the adds will go to your warder. CoH will land, pulling you back to camp and dropping all aggro from you and warder. Simply run back and tag the mob you originally slowed and you are golden. Once you get your timing right you will split the mobs without your warder dying.

Comparative DPS is difficult for me to judge. My mage is 69 with 280 AAs and good non-raid gear. My wizard is 66 with 80 AAs and poor non-raid gear. I suspect that assuming equal AA and gear the wizard will have superior burst DPS for burning down names, while the sustained DPS increase to your group will be greater with the mage, once pet weapons, damage shields and mod rods are taken into account.

The final analysis? Both are good additions to a beastlord/cleric combo. In my mind it comes down to ports/evac versus malos line. Whichever you think will help you most should be the deciding factor. I consider snare, pet weapons and call of hero to be secondary considerations. DPS is situationally and not particularly different between the 2. I hope this helps :)