6 Box help (returning player)

[Levith]

Hi, I use to played years ago and decided to return. I 2boxed a Rogue and Shaman. ToV was the most I had done, and mainly just trash to farm my rogue his gear.

My toons:
webtools/magelo/character.php?char=Levith
webtools/magelo/character.php?char=Froguer

I'm looking to 6 box and to progress at least to T6 (assuming I really need 6 toons to do so). I'm wondering what classes I should run for ease and efficiency. Is it possible to keep my shaman as a healer and not have to level a cleric? (i can farm the rez clicky to cover that aspect) I plan to level a warrior as a tank for ease. If War, Rog, Shm work, then what 3 other classes would be suggested? I don't mind running 3 of something either, ie 3 Mages.

I found this guide I will probably follow:Solo boxing guide through T6 viewtopic.php?f=30&t=10960

Thanks!,
Levith

[Safiya]

I'd highly suggest getting a cleric in there....or you may run into a dead end once you reach the Sleeper. Single healing The Sleeper and a lot of content past him is not really much of an option unless you outgear it. Often, I just put cleric on group heal and MT HoT duty while shaman does most of the MT healing until his heals are outmatched. Then Cleric helps.

I run war/clr/shm/mage/bard/rogue

You could replace the War with a Pally or SK but the defensive options available to a war are too good for me to pass up.

I'd also suggest bringing up an Enchanter and Wiz. Let them eat rotloot. You'll run into a few melee immune mobs where the wiz DPS will help a ton (1 in ToV and 1 in Stillmoon are what you'll run into early on). For the Enchanter, you'll want her sitting in your guild hall buffing you before you go out. An enchanter in group will not be needed for a very long time if you're at T3.

Get the T8 mage pet and pet toys ASAP. Find or farm an aug to make him stronger (2 available through LDoN points and 1 from Radiant Crystals iirc). This will help you immensely. Looking at your gear....you should park your butt in ToV for a long time. There are a boatload of upgrades for you. Be sure to snag a coth orb for your bard and rogue. Bard is priority. Also, be sure all casters get the chains to recover mana. You may need it on the Sleeper later. Healers are the priority.

EDIT: That guide you linked is a damn good one.

[Ydiss]

Bard. I'd definitely get some ranged dps, so pet class (bst is best of both worlds) or wizard. Level up a shaman on the side and main a cleric.for tough fights. Shaman will be enough for most content outside major bosses.

[conradd]

I have a melee team : war, clr, rog, bsk, mnk, brd

Despite the two boss immune melee, I have no problem going through the different tiers.

Personnaly, I don't think there is a better boxing combo from another, it just depends on your playstyle and what class you want to use.

And don't forget you're playing EverQuest, teamwork is part of the game

[Ydiss]

It's a fair point, you don't really need ranged dps until t7 (that's mainly where I was coming from). So it's fine to go exclusively melee if that's a preference.

[conradd]

It's a fair point, you don't really need ranged dps until t7 (that's mainly where I was coming from). So it's fine to go exclusively melee if that's a preference.

Where do you need ranged DPS in T7+ Ydiss ? I've joined many raids of my guild and I don't remember a fight where ranged DPS are absolutely required...

[Nilbus]

It's a fair point, you don't really need ranged dps until t7 (that's mainly where I was coming from). So it's fine to go exclusively melee if that's a preference.

Where do you need ranged DPS in T7+ Ydiss ? I've joined many raids of my guild and I don't remember a fight where ranged DPS are absolutely required...

While not REQUIRED for Hatchet, fight is a lot easier if you use ranged only. And later on for Vule in DSK3 it is required for part.

[Ydiss]

It's a fair point, you don't really need ranged dps until t7 (that's mainly where I was coming from). So it's fine to go exclusively melee if that's a preference.

Where do you need ranged DPS in T7+ Ydiss ? I've joined many raids of my guild and I don't remember a fight where ranged DPS are absolutely required...

As Niibus suggested, Hatchet is much easier with ranged, bordering requirement for a brand new semi t6 small raid force. It can be done without any ranged dps, particularly once you out-gear the event, but a new guild will find surviving all the adds tough over a long period of time, so the more ranged dps you have, the greater chance you avoid failing the fight.

The same can be said for Xithuli, as having more pets to engage him inside his room makes the event much faster (particularly under certain situations we can't discuss In this forum). Not required, and it's much harder to fail this fight than Hatchet, but still.

I guess my point is a group that balances ranged and melee is generally more diverse than a group that specialises in one or the other. This is particularly true when you use a bard, as a melee only group doesn't fully utilise the bard's boost to magic damage.

[Furry]

Beastlord is highly recommended due to their t8 pet avoided the nerf bat for only having 1 rank of the spell. They're not horrible later on either, but they eventually get outshined. But at the very least, that pet + his other buffs can provide provide a huge DPS boost to get your group going. If you get yourself to t7-8 and feel another DPS class can do better in that slot then you can replace him fairly easily since the rest of your force is already geared.

You've already got rogue/shm, I'd probably throw in war/clr/bst/brd. I say bard instead of another pure DPS class because there are several lengthy fights along your path even with the t8 bst pet, and the mana regen / extra dps from bard 2.0 and his other songs will provide the maximum benefit to keep that force moving.

The beauty of the bst pet dps is that it's pretty constant. If you have to pull back your other melee DPS due to AE's draining too much healer mana, that pet will keep chugging along resisting AE's. And it's healthy enough to eat ramps just fine for many tiers to come. Same goes for the bard, it doesn't need to be in LoS of the AE's, as obviously 80% of his DPS is from beneficial songs to the group. Before t6-ish, bard should really only be in melee LoS of boss if he's already out-geared by it. They're pretty darn squishy until much much later (t8).

Just my 2 cp.

[Ydiss]

Beastlord is highly recommended due to their t8 pet avoided the nerf bat for only having 1 rank of the spell. They're not horrible later on either, but they eventually get outshined. But at the very least, that pet + his other buffs can provide provide a huge DPS boost to get your group going. If you get yourself to t7-8 and feel another DPS class can do better in that slot then you can replace him fairly easily since the rest of your force is already geared.

You've already got rogue/shm, I'd probably throw in war/clr/bst/brd. I say bard instead of another pure DPS class because there are several lengthy fights along your path even with the t8 bst pet, and the mana regen / extra dps from bard 2.0 and his other songs will provide the maximum benefit to keep that force moving.

The beauty of the bst pet dps is that it's pretty constant. If you have to pull back your other melee DPS due to AE's draining too much healer mana, that pet will keep chugging along resisting AE's. And it's healthy enough to eat ramps just fine for many tiers to come. Same goes for the bard, it doesn't need to be in LoS of the AE's, as obviously 80% of his DPS is from beneficial songs to the group. Before t6-ish, bard should really only be in melee LoS of boss if he's already out-geared by it. They're pretty darn squishy until much much later (t8).

Just my 2 cp.

Just wanted to say I agree with all of this.

The Beastlord is an excellent DPS option. They can also heal nicely. The Beastlord is an all-round great class and is also fun to play.