Fulll Group looking for advice

[thufir]

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

In a regular group a wizard will always be less valuable than a druid. Wizard can do 4 things: DD, Port and root and snare.
Druid can do all the above things + heal, charm, damage shield, regen, buff. Druid DD is only a bit worse then wizard DD for mana efficiency, more than made up with better utility and damage shields and almost unresistable dots for the really tough targets.

Wizards really need to be buffed. There is a reason why there are so few of them.

In indoor dungeons (like what OP is proposing his group spend most its time in) the druid's utility is significantly lessened, and these all become less true as the group advances in levels and most of what a druid can do is overshadowed by what the other classes do better. Wizard nukes are really face-meltingly good as you advance, and they get stuns and spell interrupts. I would generally rather have a wizard than a druid in a setup where I already had 2 healers.

If you don't take the shaman, sure, do the druid... but why not take the shaman?

[Estu]

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

In indoor dungeons (like what OP is proposing his group spend most its time in) the druid's utility is significantly lessened, and these all become less true as the group advances in levels and most of what a druid can do is overshadowed by what the other classes do better. Wizard nukes are really face-meltingly good as you advance, and they get stuns and spell interrupts. I would generally rather have a wizard than a druid in a setup where I already had 2 healers.

If you don't take the shaman, sure, do the druid... but why not take the shaman?

Wizard nukes are face-meltingly useless in groups, because your sustained DPS is beaten out by everyone that can contribute any other kind of DPS. Stuns can be useful but plenty of other classes have the ability to stun/interrupt and actually contribute something else to the group as well. Wizards are great in raids and AE groups and they're OK soloers. They are terrible in regular EXP groups.

[Wudan]

Warrior
Cleric
Enchanter
Rogue
Monk
Wizard

[thufir]

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

Wizard nukes are face-meltingly useless in groups, because your sustained DPS is beaten out by everyone that can contribute any other kind of DPS. Stuns can be useful but plenty of other classes have the ability to stun/interrupt and actually contribute something else to the group as well. Wizards are great in raids and AE groups and they're OK soloers. They are terrible in regular EXP groups.

Maybe in a LOIO or OT mindless grind group, sure. I like them in situations where you will be in actual danger in a deep dungeon and are paying attention to other things than your damage-over-time counter. Seeing healing mobs reduced from 30% to 0% with one big blast is handy, for example. And of course they can evac.

But yes, if you are just grinding in the outdoors with all melee mobs, they do not shine. And a lot of people do that. I don't think that's what the OP wants, though.

That having been said a druid is fine there if that is your personal preference. They do a wider variety of things, just less well.

[Estu]

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

Maybe in a LOIO or OT mindless grind group, sure. I like them in situations where you will be in actual danger in a deep dungeon and are paying attention to other things than your damage-over-time counter. Seeing healing mobs reduced from 30% to 0% with one big blast is handy, for example. And of course they can evac.

But yes, if you are just grinding in the outdoors with all melee mobs, they do not shine. And a lot of people do that. I don't think that's what the OP wants, though.

That having been said a druid is fine there if that is your personal preference. They do a wider variety of things, just less well.

Evac's nice. Healing mobs can be dealt with just fine by other classes that have stuns and interrupts.

[Tiddlywinks]

Play on red. Make having fun and killing other players your source of enjoyment from the game. Don't ever expect to enjoy raiding, even the select few who get to actually see pixel dragons hate their lives for having to hit a track button 24/7 and wake up at 4am in order to slay them. That is the only advice I can offer.

[Verityn]

The further advice and even the debates have been very useful. We talked it over a bit and we're leaning more on the Freeport area though we still haven't decided on the last 2 classes, but we are locked in with SK or Pal, Cleric, Bard, Enchanter so far. We'll make it work with whatever the last 2 people choose (please be a shaman because I'll need the buffs).

So my next issue which will seem small once we hit 20 is WTF do we do until we can just sit in a dungeon for tens of levels? Let us assume we're a couple dark elves and four humans. The dark elves get to level 5 or 6 on their own and we meet up in the commons. What are the options for a full group at levels 5 to 20 since they seem limited and slightly even more so with evil races? What level can we all go to Befallen or unrest (besides BB and CB they appear to be the lowest level dungeons) and expect to have enough doable content to grind exp on?

Once we hit 20 a lot more opens up like MM, lguk, Najena and then CT and Paw at 30.

[falkun]

If you have a bard an enchanter, shaman will be minimally useful. With the four you've picked, your best options are DPS classes (and porter if mobility is important to you).

UGuk is fantastic from L5 until the mid-upper 30s, then lower guk. These two dungeons can take you from 5 to 50+.

[Lojik]

A lot of good advice in this thread. Most,I think, geared toward players who have played before and who will play a fair amount. Some things to consider-
1- You will not be as good at this game as other people. This game takes time to learn. I would not worry to much about sustained dps, as you will pull slowly. Burst Dps,cc, healing is what you want, as you'll pull slowly and probably have bad pulls too. Not dying is important.
2- You will be poor, so avoid gear intensive classes. Particularly melee classes, especially tanks. However, you really should have a tank and paladin is good due to cheaper gear since there are few paladins on the server. Mage is a great dps class that requires no gearing.
3- You will level slowly. It will be painful if you're used to other mmos or if you've never played one. hybrid penalties can make a difference, but mostly play classes you enjoy. The low levels are the most fun imo.
Recommended setup-
cleric... dwarf?
Paladin.. dwarf?
mage...eru
enc...de
monk..hum
necro...de
can put mage again, but included necro for variety. I would not worry about a porter, as that's not until 29 anyway, and if you're playing once a week that will be forever. You'll have good dps, require minimal gearing, have backup falls,cc, monk can off tank, and few hybrid penalties. If you think sow is a big deal you can swap in druid or shaman somewhere.

[falkun]

Bard > druid/shaman for SoW. There is no reason a balanced group cannot exp quickly even if inexperienced. DPS classes are one trick ponies, OP has stated the bard will know what they're doing (so pulls will be better than you anticipate), and the paladin can FOL/stun for solid aggro. Mage and necro are fairly interchangeable, mage will have slightly higher DPS while necro will have more utility, that is a good suggested alternative. The bard is set in stone, the paladin will tank better than an untwinked warrior, cleric can heal and the rest is gravy. The hardest part will be the enchanter learning charming.