The Trio!

[webrunner5]

The OP was talking about dungeons. I don't think there is a better toon than a Enchanter indoors for crowd control. As a Shaman you can't control 5 mobs with Root. I think a Monk gets too squishy high end Kunark let alone in Velious.

I think you are back to the "Holly Trio" with maybe a Shaman instead of a Cleric. Looks like Chanter, Warrior, Shaman or Cleric to me. High end is tough just having 3 in a group. Really need a puller like a Monk or Rouge to help DPS wise or both.

I have been playing this game for 12 years non stop live and here. A WELL played Enchanter, and very few can do it, is the best class in EQ solo or grouped hands down. Your life in a group is a breeze, pun intended, with one, and solo they can do magic things. If you don't have one in your group you are missing out.

[SamwiseBanned]

3 mages

[Autotune]

Originally Posted by webrunner5 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The OP was talking about dungeons. I don't think there is a better toon than a Enchanter indoors for crowd control. As a Shaman you can't control 5 mobs with Root. I think a Monk gets too squishy high end Kunark let alone in Velious.

I think you are back to the "Holly Trio" with maybe a Shaman instead of a Cleric. Looks like Chanter, Necro, Shaman or Cleric to me. High end is tough just having 3 in a group. Really need a puller like a Monk or Rouge to help DPS wise or both.

I have been playing this game for 12 years non stop live and here. A WELL played Enchanter, and very few can do it, is the best class in EQ solo or grouped hands down. Your life in a group is a breeze, pun intended, with one, and solo they can do magic things. If you don't have one in your group you are missing out.

ftfy

[webrunner5]

Wow Autotune; a Necro. That sounds interesting. But who would tank?? Group wise as a Necro I have to Root Rot more top end. Dots take too long to work. Even Live solo a Necro has to Root Rot more and more. Just can't get hit as hard as mobs can do now. I have to think on that.

[pharmakos]

a shadow knight would be nice for a trio, as they have a bit more utility. they pull better and die less often [[feign death]], can help with CRs, and heck don't they even get Screaming Terror? i forget.

i love my warrior, but if i was going to be mainly in a trio then i would seriously consider doing an SK instead.

[Lazortag]

Originally Posted by webrunner5 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wow Autotune; a Necro. That sounds interesting. But who would tank?? ...

One of the three pets in the group would tank, I assume.

[Autotune]

Originally Posted by Lazortag [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

One of the three pets in the group would tank, I assume.

normally with an enchanter, i wouldn't even use a pet myself.

with a cleric, I would charm or pet tho.

Also, with a warrior, you might as well do the same as you would with a pet, Root tank. relying on a warrior to aggro tank makes me laugh, especially if while leveling.

[quido]

Enchanter charm isn't what it once was here, but I find enchanters to be especially effective with a shaman. Shamans can stack their malo with tash to make charm last, can provide quick heals and/or root CC for charm breaks, and they present all the standard shaman utility and awesomeness. It's a trade off, though.. risk vs reward. Charm pets are the most powerful (highest dps and most HP, generally), but you have to face the certainty of eventually having a pet break at an inopportune time.

A necro in addition to a shaman is an excellent choice as well. Necro pets are extremely powerful and you don't have to face the possibility of them turning against you. Throwing double pets at a mob is a great option to have, and if you want them to tank, you can manage it with some finesse even when shaman heals are weak (pre-60). Necros carry a good amount of utility and great survivability.

So are you more concerned with your trio leveling up, or are you more thinking about what you'll be able to do when you're all 60? Torpor isn't CH, but really a 60 shaman has more than double the healing power of a 60 cleric when you account for Cannibalize and Torporing yourself. Some situations will demand CH or an incredible amount of luck (like fungi king), but Torpor can cover most situations just fine.

Warrior + Cleric + Enchanter is considered the holy trinity of Everquest groups, but I don't think this really applies to a trio - they are merely the firmest foundation of a more full group. At 60, monk + shaman really is the ultimate duo; a third is just a bonus, and personally I always preferred a rogue. Pre 60, though, I'd probably take a necro or a druid as a third to get some decent dps, add some heals, and get some snare or whatever utility the situation demands. A cleric is also an excellent choice to add to the monk/shaman duo - this allows the monk to have huge HP, frees the shaman from blowing all his mana healing (especially pre-60), and allows the shaman to focus more on dps as opposed to healing. Shamans are pretty awesome dps for the amount of utility they bring, especially if you have an epic and a JBB.

[astuce999]

Shaman/necro/monk or shaman/necro/ench.

No two class in classic EQ have more synergy than Shaman + necro.

The shaman regens the necro so he can keep liching, and the necro in turn throws the heal-over-time on the shaman so he can keep canni'ing.

If you choose your dungeons you can also have the necro keep a charmed pet, with help from the malo line from the shaman, and a tash stick is nice as well for this.

The shaman slows the mob and buffs the monk, the necro keeps the monk healed with his overpowered heal-over-time (40 mana total including the dispell).

Both the necro and shaman have a non-damage root for parking mobs, but a good monk should keep single pulls coming as well for efficiency.

Well played this group is so efficient you'll actually get bored of how easy it is (true story).

'stuce

[batkiller]

Anything other than a full tank is just going to get eaten alive in Velious, and even a lot of Kunark content. And anything other than a Cleric is going to struggle to keep the tank alive. So I still say War/Cleric for you to stand a chance. The third class is the one more open to experimentation, but like I said, nothing beats a Necro if it is played by a talented player.

If you put a chanter in the third spot, you'll struggle to kill mobs due to a lack of dps and if you end up with tricky mobs like healers and gaters etc, things are likely to get really ugly. A necro can still mez, can FD split some pulls, but can also lay serious smackdown when you need to kill something fast, and nothing makes dungeons safer than knowing you can drop any mob quickly.

Originally Posted by Namegen_Isterrible [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

He didn't ask what was best. He asked for a powerhouse trio.

I didn't say he did, and there is no powerhouse trio. Like I said you could go with 3 wizards or 3 necros or something and have what seems like a powerhouse trio in a lot of situations, but eventually you are going to be backs to the wall in a tight dungeon with a bunch of very hard mobs quad hitting for 100 or whatever, and you'll have 3 dead lollerskaters with a CR to worry about too.

Originally Posted by Namegen_Isterrible [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Warrior + cleric + necro is a pretty good combo. Tank + healer + dps also will generally work well. But neither of these is going to be a powerhouse, especially when your tank (and melee dps, if any) are going to be wearing banded and using crap weapons for the foreseeable future.

But whatever seems like a powerhouse trio at level 20 is not going to be as good as the War/Cleric/Dps in the later levels, and that's when it matters.