Best three man group? With some Criteria.

[Tecmos Deception]

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

Okay. Pretty sure I'm going with MNK/SHM. It's just that third spot.

I'm not too worried about snap agro. With good MNK pulls, SHM root parking, and AE slows in higher more hectic places.

I'm thinking another MNK or a WAR might be good?

With a MNK two Mends popping can help heals, FD to share agro/dmg well between them.

With a WAR's higher AC the DMG taken would be less, but DPS would drop.

Not sure what's better.

If you're doing shaman+monk for the first two characters, almost anything will work for the third, including a second monk or a warrior.

However, if you're concerned that your dad can't handle (or doesn't want to handle) things like charming or quadding? Well... he probably isn't shaman material at all (they're really busy to play well), and he probably isn't monk material if the monk needs to be tanking and pulling either (pulling can be demanding). Most casters can be played without a lot of effort, although a chanter/necro/bard/druid who isn't on top of his game is only half of what the class could be (again, all classes that have a lot to pay attention to and do to get a good bang for the buck).

Mage, monk (who isn't the puller), warrior, rogue maybe... might be the best choices to work well with shaman+monk while also not being as demanding in order to contribute a lot? Mage, monk, and rogue do a ton of DPS and can just hang out with the shaman most of the time while the (first) monk does pulling and tanking. Druid would be solid too though without being quite as demanding in this trio as chanter/necro/bard... they contribute a fair amount of damage through dots and damage shield, can help with some buffs to relieve mana costs for shaman, have snare and roots for CC, and ports would be fantastic for a trio like this imo.

[aubie]

Question. Just for the all around ease of grouping/leveling, why wouldn't a paladin, rogue, druid group be the best? I know it probably wouldn't be the most efficient/powerful group, but as far as just grouping, leveling, traveling and enjoying play, it seems pretty good.

Pally can hold aggro so rogue can DPS max, and druid can basically regen/heal/DS pally and snare mob while medding. Travel is easy with ports/SoW. Pally can heal well later with clicky and spells plus LOH for emergency and rez at some point. For casual fun, this would seem like the winner. Druid can invis, Pally can ITU, and rogue can CR if needed and lockpick. Seems like this group would allow you to cover the most content.

[Darkatar]

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

Question. Just for the all around ease of grouping/leveling, why wouldn't a paladin, rogue, druid group be the best? I know it probably wouldn't be the most efficient/powerful group, but as far as just grouping, leveling, traveling and enjoying play, it seems pretty good.

Pally can hold aggro so rogue can DPS max, and druid can basically regen/heal/DS pally and snare mob while medding. Travel is easy with ports/SoW. Pally can heal well later with clicky and spells plus LOH for emergency and rez at some point. For casual fun, this would seem like the winner. Druid can invis, Pally can ITU, and rogue can CR if needed and lockpick. Seems like this group would allow you to cover the most content.

The problem with dru/pal/rogue is -
No slows, no haste, no crack (until druid is 60 at least..) no melee buffs outside of druid STR.

The regen is nice sure but with two mana classes (dru/pal) you would probably do better with some form of mana regen and/or DPS such as enc/bard (which also provide haste/slow) over an unhasted nearly unbuffed rogue.

So, yes, a druid/paladin/rogue would..work..why are you crippling the group composition?

Do you want ports that badly? You may as well go for shamtank+rogue+druid so you can at least get some slows/haste, or a caster trio of druid/cle/enc or dru/nec/enc or something, if you want the freedom of free ports..Otherwise you could always just pay for a port.

[Spyder73]

I have done a few trios in KC recently with Necromancer/Shaman/Monk and it has been quite exceptional. Lots of synergy in this grouping.

[Troxx]

My ideal trio? Sham monk necromancer.

Monk: pulls, tanking, dps, fd
Shaman: heals, slows, buffs, support, cc
Necro: dps, stupid levels of synergy with shaman, cc, heals, rez, fd, charm (situational)

Amazingly efficient and effective group that keeps getting stronger the higher up you get. With shaman at 60 necro heal stacks with torpor for an incredible 425/tick in heals over time per tick that's cheap and 100% sustainable. Working together each class brings a lot of killing power and group survivability to the table. If you need to add more people, you have a ton of options available with very few stacking issues.

[Issar]

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

My ideal trio? Sham monk necromancer.

Monk: pulls, tanking, dps, fd
Shaman: heals, slows, buffs, support, cc
Necro: dps, stupid levels of synergy with shaman, cc, heals, rez, fd, charm (situational)

Amazingly efficient and effective group that keeps getting stronger the higher up you get. With shaman at 60 necro heal stacks with torpor for an incredible 425/tick in heals over time per tick that's cheap and 100% sustainable. Working together each class brings a lot of killing power and group survivability to the table. If you need to add more people, you have a ton of options available with very few stacking issues.

This is my favorite trio in a non-enchanter setting. A while back I was in a trio of necro and monk with my bard. That was solid combination as well, but I think a shaman is superior to a bard in this group still.

[aubie]

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

The problem with dru/pal/rogue is -
No slows, no haste, no crack (until druid is 60 at least..) no melee buffs outside of druid STR.

The regen is nice sure but with two mana classes (dru/pal) you would probably do better with some form of mana regen and/or DPS such as enc/bard (which also provide haste/slow) over an unhasted nearly unbuffed rogue.

So, yes, a druid/paladin/rogue would..work..why are you crippling the group composition?

Do you want ports that badly? You may as well go for shamtank+rogue+druid so you can at least get some slows/haste, or a caster trio of druid/cle/enc or dru/nec/enc or something, if you want the freedom of free ports..Otherwise you could always just pay for a port.

I'd agree on all your points. I guess I was going for the ultimate casual, laid back group, that could consume the most content without relying on external help.

No slow I know, but that's counter productive to the druid damage shield.
No haste I know, but rogue has easy epic, which has a haste click, and other melee haste items are fairly easy to obtain by either camping or EC tunnel for both melees.
No mana regen I know, but druid should be medding most of the fight after ensnare, and pally should be able to sustain flash of light/stun for minimal mana. I'm sure pulling will be slower without mana regen, but again looking at lazy/casual group.

Pulls with pally lull/druid harmony should be singles, and the instant access to SoW and ports/evacs, lockpicks, ITU, and invis allows the group to travel anywhere anytime with no external resources to worry about. Just seemed like a good simple group that can enjoy and access a ton of content without worry of external help.

Obviously, not the most powerful or efficient group.

[Darkatar]

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

I'd agree on all your points. I guess I was going for the ultimate casual, laid back group, that could consume the most content without relying on external help.

No slow I know, but that's counter productive to the druid damage shield.
No haste I know, but rogue has easy epic, which has a haste click, and other melee haste items are fairly easy to obtain by either camping or EC tunnel for both melees.
No mana regen I know, but druid should be medding most of the fight after ensnare, and pally should be able to sustain flash of light/stun for minimal mana. I'm sure pulling will be slower without mana regen, but again looking at lazy/casual group.

Pulls with pally lull/druid harmony should be singles, and the instant access to SoW and ports/evacs, lockpicks, ITU, and invis allows the group to travel anywhere anytime with no external resources to worry about. Just seemed like a good simple group that can enjoy and access a ton of content without worry of external help.

Obviously, not the most powerful or efficient group.

The slow/damage shield argument is heavily offset by the amount of mana you'd save not having to heal 50%-75% extra damage taken by having no slow. (and the 50-70% extra DPS from the melees from having haste would help massively)

The rogue worn epic is not a click, it's worn. The only haste click a rogue gets (afaik) is a 20% eyepatch, which takes a lodi+stormfeather kill/MQ and probably not something you're going to obtain early or possibly ever without paying for the MQ//actively raiding.

Ensnare and flash of light are super light mana spells, for sure, but if you plan on chain killing you need crack, haste, slow or some combination of the 3, or you will have extended downtimes, guaranteed. In the later game, you may only be able to kill 2-3 mobs before having two uncracked mana classes OOM and needing to med up a full mana bar, meanwhile your rogue is ready to go and nothing to do.

Lull pulls, especially from a paladin, are not reliable. at all. At least not here, and not without a dedicated charisma set. Extra dangerous compared to an enc because you have no mez/memblur/FD.

Harmony is outdoor only, otherwise yes it's freaking great.

Sow can be replaced with Jboots, everyone should get these eventually, and sow potions are relatively cheap as well. IVU and Invis are helpful, but many 50+ mobs are going to see through invis/ivu anyway.

You can get a port almost anytime with a /who all dial or /who all druid/wiz and a couple tells, and a small coin persuasion.

Now I'm not saying any of the involved classes aren't good choices, they're all good choices, they just don't mesh very well as a team.

I understand you want to play more casually, I definitely understand where you're coming from, it is a GAME, not a JOB, but, you can make it much less like a job and more laidback gaming by having a more effective combo, giving you a very large "fuckup buffer" letting you handle sillier situations and being able to take breaks whenever you feel like it because you're clearing mobs like a well oiled machine already. You could be effective enough to hold down your killing area with two people letting a third afk whenever needed, etc.

[Spyder73]

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

This is my favorite trio in a non-enchanter setting. A while back I was in a trio of necro and monk with my bard. That was solid combination as well, but I think a shaman is superior to a bard in this group still.

Yea I can see Bard being pretty good in this group - I feel like Bard power actually decreases as they level unfortunately. The 'jack of all trades' becomes less of a focal point and the 'master of none' becomes a lot more prevalent. Chances are a casual trio will not be reaching 60 anytime soon (or ever) so I'm not sure it matters...Top end the shaman would be more useful for sure, but pre 55 I think the Bard might have the edge. Relying on someone to constantly twist and play Bard well is cruel and unusual punishment though.

[Tingowingo]

Monk, enchanter, and shaman/cleric