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Successful UF group progression "box set"

Started by Seryk, September 30, 2010, 08:05:18 PM

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Seryk

Hello all,

A few months ago I returned to EQ after an absence of about a year and a half. Previously I was a (sometimes hardcore) raider, having spent time in top guilds on either my bst or necro. Now I am definitely casual working on SoD and equipping an SK and I wish to continue into the UF expansion (and HoT eventually) with a box setup.

Previously I had started a Shadow Knight as a project and in the past few months have spent a lot of effort getting him up to speed. I finally am reaching a point where I think he is becoming a viable tank for my "group."

I'm trying to decide on which characters should make up my "box set." I have been reading a number of posts here and in the SK forums on boxing with an SK (who is definitely going to be the anchor of this group). But, with the following options in mind, I'm interested in hearing some thoughts from people (especially those who have successfully boxed progression in UF) on the some possible combos. Basically I'm having a hard time deciding!

I would prefer to two box, but can 3-box if necessary (though it requires a second computer to do so).

Available characters spread across my accounts:

82 SK, ~4100 AC, 23khp, 830 AAs
82 Bst, ~3000 AC, 20khp, 750 AAs
85 Necro, 25Khp/mana, 1800ish AAs
78 Druid, ~12Khp, 100AAs
70 Bard, forget hp and AAs but low
77 Enc, about 10khp and low AAs

2 Box combos I am considering:

SK + Necro
SK + Bst

3 Box combos I am considering:

SK + Bst + Dru
SK + Bst + Necro
SK + Bst + Enc
SK + Necro + Bard
Bst + Enc + Dru*

* oddball group that excludes the SK but one I've seen done before

Also note I have access to 2 (and nearly 3) Journ. T5 mercs (necro, sk and soon bst).

While many threads have recommended a Shaman as a companion for an SK 2box, I am not considering that option because, frankly, after 10 years of leveling alts I do not wish to start another. I tend to level my alts (for the most part) and not power level them because I do want the learn their abilities and ensure they have sufficient skills to succeed. I am most competent in Necro, Bst and SK at this point and have less experience with the Bard, Druid and Ench.

If you have any input or suggestions I would greatly appreciate reading them.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day. :)

+Seryk+

Khauruk

I'd run sk and chanter.  Chanter can trivialize stunnable content, add pretty awesome pulling, flawless CC, and w/ HoT will have reasonably decent dps.

Sk/bst is definitely workable, but it can be a good bit of work on both toons (though you can do macroed agro spells on the sk while you work on the bst).

I'd keep your necro up to speed though for when you're doing easier content and just want more dps.  They also can be great for group healing on AE-heavy named burns via Reluctant Benevolence.
TURNCOAT!!!!!

Blarp

I run The Following.

Beastlord, Max AA
Ench 2500 AA
Shamy 1800 AA

i can kill anythign in UF BUT misstress of pain.

bobokatt1970

I run:
BST
Necro
Chanter

all use merc healers etc.

I have done much of the progression on my own with this combo.

For farming I swap out my BST for my Mage and use his pet to tank.  Don't bother with BST as he is my main and max etc.

Seryk

Quote from: Khauruk on September 30, 2010, 09:40:45 PM
I'd run sk and chanter.  Chanter can trivialize stunnable content, add pretty awesome pulling, flawless CC, and w/ HoT will have reasonably decent dps.

Sk/bst is definitely workable, but it can be a good bit of work on both toons (though you can do macroed agro spells on the sk while you work on the bst).

I'd keep your necro up to speed though for when you're doing easier content and just want more dps.  They also can be great for group healing on AE-heavy named burns via Reluctant Benevolence.

The SK + Enc combo is certainly intriguing, though I think I'd want to shore up some offensive AAs on the SK (I've been focusing more on defensive up to now). I'm curious, with that combo would you run with one healer merc and one DPS merc or two healers?

As for my necro, I consider him to be my original and perpetual "main" as he's my first and oldest character, so he pretty much is kept relatively current by default (and frequently used for lesson burns on the other characters).

My bst is the only other character I have played as a main (during the PoP era and an expansion or two thereafter mostly) and so there is a small part of me that wants to see him continue to grow. Personally I find it pretty easy to 2box he and the SK (using WinEQ on one machine). I am a touch typist so it's a matter of a quick keystroke (~) to swap between the two accounts and WinEQ swaps a lot faster than vanilla windows executions using alt-tab -- almost instant versus almost a second (in my case).

I also forgot to mention that I have a level 70 mage as well (no alt-itis here ;)) who shares the bst account. I think I would have gone with him if I had not decided to level up the SK (for some reason I wanted to work on a "real" tank since I had never done so before).

Thanks for the input!

Ahh...decisions...decisions.

+Seryk+

bobokatt1970

#5
Just wanted to add... in regards to a 2 or 3 boxing setup:

I switched a while back to 2 computers and away from wineq for a few reasons.  Mainly because I CANNOT run macros from my game pad on one computer with 2 accounts.  It would mess up both accounts.   Hence I have a crap second computer with a second monitor.  I have an older Belkin Nostro50 or something like that   On this second computer I actually have my chanter going  I then created a macro with my gamepad that essentially assists main, tash, slow and then rotates chanter stuns with one DD or at times just stuns.  That's all he does.  I also have a key that kills the macro in case I need to mezz.   As others have said, with my chanter perpetually stunning mobs (those that can be), it effectively mitigates much of the damage the MT gets hit for.  Love it!

Then the main comp is either my BST and necro or Mage and necro depending what I do.  Personally I prefer my mage over my bst... just too much stuff to do with my BST.

The necro is used to pull and then load on the dots.  Again all I do is pull with necro.. if he gets agro on 2 or 3+ mobs... I CoH with the mage, he runs back and tags again the mob that is snared and drags it in solo. SOOOOO much faster than having him clear agro and wait for the mobs to path back.  The mage really helps in this.  Anyhow he drags in the one mob.. Mage pet attacks and healer mercs heal him.  I ensure to have all HoT and CH blocked for pet (this applies to my BST main as well if he is tanking instead of mage pet).  By this point I've already hit macro for the chanter and I don't even have to bother looking at what he is doing.  

Most of the damage comes from the Necro's DOT DPS.  Reluctant Benevolence AA is amazing for the group (does not stack with Chanters Mana flare line but oh well), and his massive pet army is loved my my Mage's Jolt of many spell line... anyhow rinse repeat.

Whenever I hit a named... again mage pet all the way... I just make sure to hit pet invuln at end when named enrages.  My BST simply does not have the gear that Blarp has so I actually find it way easier to defer to the mage pet and also healer mercs are retarded.

Edit: did I mention how much I love to get my mage to a camp and then all I have to do is Coh my other chars to him... no running, no mess.. no worry of see invis etc... as long as the mage makes it spot that is :)

bradam

I'd go enchanter all the way.  There's really nothing to stop you with solid tank and enchanter.  Enchanter takes a good while to learn and become proficent at compared to most other classes but is very well worth it once you get the skills mastered.  Chanter pulls very well these days and you can't beat thier CC skills.  Plus pocket haste/c9/aura's are very handy.   Edicit of command lets you charm a white con mob with a set timer for pretty massive dps every 45 minutes.  

I 4 box beast war wiz and chanter.  I went war over sk simply because a war is very very easy to box where a SK requires a bit more attention.  I've boxed all the UF progession missions and killed every named.  I have boxed Mistress of Pain but never with all 4 toons living through it lol   To me the spitting firebug is the hardest to box as that little F'er always kills my mercs within 3 seconds and the beastlord just dosen't make a very good group healer =)

Sardarni

I do level 85 Bst/Cleric/SK.  SK pulls and tanks,Bst is DPS and buffer.  Cleric I have is primarily for combat rezzes during namers.  Some namers I ended up combat rezzing 304 times.  Another reason is to get cleric upgraded for guild raids. The Cleric has a DPS merc and the cleric primarily DPS during fight and launches pet hammer and reverse damage shield, then casts group heals and group Hot.  Been able to fight all namers except the ones who spawn adds and stay away from the charm/fear ones.

Did the Mistriss of Pain once.  Killed her and FD till birds despawned, rez and looted.

Seryk

Until today I was almost convinced to put in the effort to get my enchanter up to speed (which would be quite a bit of work actually, given the enchanter is level 78 and has fewer than 100 AAs). But with the information coming out about some promising improvements to the Beastlord class I'm thinking that SK + BST is the right way for me to go (mine is level 82 with ~730 AAs). It will be much less "busy" work to get me to where I need to be and I get to continue playing a class that is still entertaining for me (not that the enchanter isn't interesting in it's own right).

Where needed, I'll toss in the necro for additional DPS. I'll probably do progression tasks with all three (BST, SK, NEC).

Again, thanks for all the input. We'll see where this goes!

+Seryk+

Blarp

 for me 2 melee class's is just A PAIN in the ass on 1 pc  Alt Tabbin.

but to each there oun.

Mordeb42

I run a BST/Ench/Druid and have a lot of fun and succes using mercs: cleric/cleric/wiz. 
All geared out in T9 group gear. 

Bst can tank T9 trash decently, this group can take out some of the easier T9 names but I have to use chanter AA charm for a high success rate.

Seryk

Quote from: Blarp on October 06, 2010, 10:04:43 PM
for me 2 melee class's is just A PAIN in the ass on 1 pc  Alt Tabbin.

but to each there oun.

As I mentioned earlier I do not alt-tab but instead use WinEQ, and swapping between accounts is near instantaneous using a single keystroke (the grave accent/tilde key for me). I have had no other difficulties and am able to maintain abilities on both the SK and bst w/out trouble.

I agree, if I had to use alt+tab it would not be pleasant. :-)

+Seryk+

Ranar

#12
i've been boxing a bst,war,bard during uf.. at first running three melee can be rough, but once ya get used to it its pretty easy... ive even tossed a cle or ranger in as a forth box.. ) ive just never enjoyed the finger wiggling classes .. hehe

also i alt tab..its fast enough once ya left hand gets used to it..

Blarp

alt tab= Insta as well even without Ein EQ with the right system trust me i do it

Inphared

Quote from: Blarp on October 07, 2010, 10:20:02 PM
alt tab= Insta as well even without Ein EQ with the right system trust me i do it

I somehow find it hard to believe that you can hit the right keys quickly enough if you cannot even type well enough on a forum that has a spellchecker.  :-)