Box to add to shaman and necro

[Darsondar]

Wow!  An entire forum dedicated to boxing.  I have thorougly enjoyed reviewing all (ahem, nearly all) of the posts in this forum.  Long time shaman (7 years or so) who has recently gotten the boxing itch.  Started with a Ranger and leveled him to 60 or so but was drawn to the power of the necro.  Recently rolled one up and Necro is now 55 and moving fast.

Well, as with many on this board I am adding another box.  I am stopping at 3 or my wife will kill me (if she doesnt when she sees I have added the third already) and I face a large decision.   What to add.  Many classes are obviously out so I have narrowed down to 3.

Ranger - Some tankage, uber long lasting snare, easily bottable damage with bow (not great but good enough), track,  nice addition to aggro kiting team, outdoor pulling

Mage - Damn good pet with some tankability, DPS, CoH, pet pulling and fairly easy to bot, particuarly as a third box, pet toys

Paladin - Good Tank, supplement heals, low dps, additional Rezzer,

I am leaning towards paladin now.  The additional healing power would be nice as well as a tank for those encounters where I need one.  Would help more in specific tank required encounters and would hinder  the experience grind where a plate tank is not required, but all the choices have tradeoffs I suppose.

Any input?  In particular from anyone who runs a Shaman / Necro and any of the above, particuarly the paladin.

Shaman is 70/120 with average bazaar gear.   5800hp/5000 mana or so I think.  None of these will be raiding and I would probably gear up through DoN and DoD missions to start.

Thanks all!!

[Taiglin]

Sounds like the shammy is your main and anchor toon for the intended threesome(?). If that is the case and it was me I would probably steer away from a straight tank and probably go mage. Many factors come into play, in my mind anway: toon to computer ratio, which toon will be your anchor (most screen time/direct play), how you tend to play (group vs "solo"), are you wanting to actually tank mobs or kite, etc, etc. I guess the other thing to look at is where you think you might end up spending a decent amount of time ie would it be a goal of yours to take out named mobs in RSS with your threesome?

You also might want to wait 2 months for the new race and see what classes they can be. Can be tough when you get the itch to delay though.

[Darsondar]

Sounds like the shammy is your main and anchor toon for the intended threesome(?). If that is the case and it was me I would probably steer away from a straight tank and probably go mage. Many factors come into play, in my mind anway: toon to computer ratio, which toon will be your anchor (most screen time/direct play), how you tend to play (group vs "solo"), are you wanting to actually tank mobs or kite, etc, etc. I guess the other thing to look at is where you think you might end up spending a decent amount of time ie would it be a goal of yours to take out named mobs in RSS with your threesome?

Yeah, should have indicated my playstyle, setup and intentions.   Young kids so play time is sporadic.  Originally starter a 2box to supplement my odd playtimes and inability to commit to a group for extended periods of time.  Necro was build for pure DPS and aggro kiting ability.   The third box will be put in place not only to supplement the group but to allow for me to get instances without guildies (unguilded atm) and friends getting involved and remaining in the instance while AFK or me bolting on a mission due to the usual family stuff.

One box, 3 toons, nearly all solo.  Grouping, when viable would be with Shaman which is my "main" and without boxes.  What toon would get most of the attention would depend on the situation.   Once the necro hits 70 it will be the main when we aggro kite with other toons supplementing with DPS and pets (less the pally of course which would sit and soak experience in these situations). 

The only reason I was gonna go with Pally is that it would allow me to take on those situations where a "tank" is required while necro DPS's and feigns, shaman slows on INc and heals etc....

Mage may be more viable based on my situation though

[howard]

why not Shd ???
I feel Shd tank better than pally
HP tap more better than stun when high level
Nec can rez....so You no need pally , shm can call of wild too
and Nec is best pet puller , so you no need mag too
And you can use Shd aggro kite , other char send pet too,
I love Shm DD proc buff , good proc rate on pet !!!

[Bulge]

Wow!  An entire forum dedicated to boxing.  I have thorougly enjoyed reviewing all (ahem, nearly all) of the posts in this forum. 

Yeah, isn't it great? :) The best thing is, apart from the great advice of seasoned players, that you do not get flamed here for boxing, no matter how many boxes you are adding. :)

[Taiglin]

You know - to my knowledge we haven't had Sam Deathwalker ever post here. I think he is up to 18 accounts or something crazy like that. Based on the very few posts I have seen of his I believe his setup is something like a pure class, holy trinity based core group and then has like 5 rangers + bard in satelight groups sort of thing. I don't think he would get flamed here but 18 accounts does tend to raise some eyebrows.

[Darsondar]

why not Shd ???

I never really like the class much, no offense to any SK's out there.  More utility and DPS, yes, but just can't envision myself playing one.  Always been a bit drawn to the Pally class, though I haven't really played one since 99' or so.

You know - to my knowledge we haven't had Sam Deathwalker ever post here. I think he is up to 18 accounts or something crazy like that. Based on the very few posts I have seen of his I believe his setup is something like a pure class, holy trinity based core group and then has like 5 rangers + bard in satelight groups sort of thing. I don't think he would get flamed here but 18 accounts does tend to raise some eyebrows.

I remember reading some of his posts somewhere, maybe the Ranger Glade?  He PL'd 6 rangers in no time to 65 and EQ/AM3 in some sort of amazing time frame.  18 boxes...whew.

Yeah, isn't it great? :) The best thing is, apart from the great advice of seasoned players, that you do not get flamed here for boxing, no matter how many boxes you are adding. :)

Not great, fabulous.  So many ideas here.  If I wasn't so attached to my Shaman there are several other probably better ways I could go with a 3box.  Always have to be a shaman though, just too damn attached to them.  This is actually my second Shaman, first one I played from just after release on Prexus until a couple years ago.

Well, I did decide to go with a Mage.  The DPS and ease to box is just too much to pass up.  CotH and pet toys are a nice bonus too.  I figure anything I do need a tank for I can just start up my own group and drop the Necro and just 2 box or play the Shaman alone in a group setting.  The Mage pets start to get pretty meaty at 66 too.   Once I take care of my healing AA's combined with slow I think I could have Mage pet tank MPG some DoN's etc...

As a matter of a fact, one thing I forgot about was that I was taking a break when LDON was the hot commodity.  I still need to get my LDON spells, curse DoTs for my Shaman, go go 3 box team!!!

Thanks for the input all.  Looking forward to having a new posting home while I develop my boxing skills.

[Darsondar]

Mage is moving along nicely.  38 now.  Can get a level about every half hour DSing the Shaman and letting 4mobs or so whack away while Azuen sicks hit pet and hits em with an AE nuke to get full exp.  This is in City of Mist.

On a seperate topic, boy do those MoBs in CoM hit a ton harder since the changes in mob damage since the patch.  Used to be able to put DS on and forget about it.  Did that a couple times and switched over to my Shammy and he was less than 20%.  Had to channel a HoT one time because I just quaffed a potion a few minutes earlier, thought the Shammy was going down!!  Shaman has about 7500Hp with self buffs and Conv I believe.  That was with the entire stables on him though, which is one of the reasons I only pull 4 or 5 at a time now.  Easier to control, Mage doesn't lose exp on any mobs and I can pratice abjuration divination and alteration while they beat themselves to death on the shammy.  Conjuration and evocation are maxed for the most part already.

One aspect I am really looking forward to is CotH.  Havent ran all three toons around much yet but I can see how that is going to be huge later on.   Run mage to camp, CotH and get busy.  Even running two toons has been a pain in the arse.  Autofollow is a bit buggy even with the follower looking at the ground.  While two boxing I mostly Num Lock em both and toggle back and forth to keep them together.  Did I mention I can't wait for CotH?

Wish I had more playtime to get Necro and Mage up to Shamans level, gonna be a blast (figuratively and literally)!! Too much RL going on lately though, summer time busy with the kids.

Current Status:

Mage 38 and being leveled in COM
Necro 53 and sitting Idle with the Mage catches up to him.  0 AA
Shaman 70/120 and PLing the Mage.

I will post my experiences here for others to reference in terms of where I hunt, what I can take out etc...

Safe Travels!!

[Gungagunga]

Mage will be nice for the pet kits and additional pet (love air pet that stuns and water with its BS at upper lvls), but i'd also have leaned towards the SK class when you were comming up against mobs that require a tank class. 

Some nice things about SK's:
Soul Abrasion line of AA's can crit dd/heal for 1608hp
Leech Curse AA's can crit dd/heal for 1400hp
DD tap spells can heal for 2k+ on dd/heal crits
Taps over time
Bite spell line heals group hp/mana (260/130 tho hp can crit) for the non ancient line
Include WA5 and some lifetap augs and you got a tank that wont require much healing on slowed mobs in the content your looking to box

Tho the mage dps will be significantally higher than the sk's.