The Trio!

[Etris]

Hey gang,

I'm playing with 2 other friends, one of which has a shaman and is waiting for me and my buddy to level up.

I wanted to know what you'd consider to be a powerhouse trio to group with and stick together would be.

I mean, we enjoy unique roles and kiting. But you can't do that in a dungeon, with close quarters.

So necro / ranger may be out of the question. We figure we need SOME sort of tank. Maybe a healer ? (shaman could do that).

And a hard DPS right?

What would compliment eachother really well. Buffs and such.

THANKS for any information.

Also, we need to be able to run to eachother (race wise). Unless I can grab someone in game to guide us, and bind. Maybe ressurect if we die from a Puma, ha.

Thanks again.

[Supaskillz]

Shaman+monk+anything makes a pretty good trio. A variety of trips would work though. Cleric, tank and ench is another great one. Even the ranger necro shaman is doable. Especially if you pick outdoor dungeons where ranger can harmony(Casio Thule, karnor, city of mist), but it can work elsewhere as well since all 3 of you can root for crowd control, necro gets a short term mez and ranger and necro can help out shaman a bit with the heals. Most trios can find a way to make it work, even indoors, but some may not be as efficient as others

[Namegen_Isterrible]

If you don't mind relying heavily on charm, shaman + enchanter + cleric/mage/necro/druid/wizard. You wouldn't have to rely on charm as much if you had mage/necro for the third, but charm IS amazing if you want to use it. Dru/wiz for third is less of a POWERHOUSE option than the others imo but you do get ports then.

You really can do almost anything when you've got a shaman in the trio. You could do shaman + monk/sk/pal/war + anything else. Just kind of bias the third class depending on what the second is. If you have a monk, the third could be anything. If you have a paladin or SK, you'll want a higher DPS class in the third spot (rogue, monk, necro, mage being the highest). If you have a warrior, you'll probably want a third that can lull/FD split/help CC, or else your shaman will be busy with rooting and slowing and healing every time you pull something.

Sidenote - since you're starting off fresh, the more you can rely on pets and spells instead melee, the better off you are in terms of being a powerhouse. Melee DPS and tanks are great, yes, but only with great gear. But that killing machine charmed pet who has cleric buffs, shaman buffs, and enchanter buffs, who is chewing through shaman-slowed, rooted mobs one at a time while the cleric CHs him and you and your 2 buddies are able to med constantly? He doesn't give a shit if you are all carrying epics and high-end gear. You'll do just as well with your ench wearing a bunch of cheap charisma gear while the shaman sports banded and the cleric has crappy wisdom gear.

[batkiller]

There is no 'best' really. You could go with various different group builds, each would have pros and cons. But if you are talking about going in to dungeons and killing almost anything with just three people, then for me the best choice would be Warrior, Cleric, Necro.

Warrior is the best tank and can do a bit of damage. Cleric is the best healer, and will keep the Warrior alive no matter what. Yeah the Shaman can slow but some mobs will still manage to do a lot of damage and the Shaman won't be able to keep up with heals. And Necro is the best third option because they are a DPS who unlike Wizzies and such, will never need to med much, and have utility like Mez and FD for pulling/splitting.

The thing with Necros though is that it takes a skilful player to make the most of them. In fact a lot of people in this game don't even realise a necro can mez or heal or whatever else, just because most people who play necros are sucky. If one of you is good with their mouse and keys and quick thinking though, then put them as necro and the Warrior and Cleric will need to do nothing more than tank n spank. You will lack the ports and sow and stuff that others could offer, but again, if it's just about going anywhere and killing anything, then this would be my choice.

But in none min/maxer terms, I would say any tank + healer + dps combo would work well.

[godbox]

sham/monk/necro is a combo i play alot on my sham its pretty insanly imba. there is almost no need for heals as you get higher lvl with sham slows and monks already imba damage avoidance. also ive said it before and will say it again monk is functional with shitty easy to obtain gear unlike all other meelee. if the persons skills are maxed /they are good at learning dungeon pathing / they always have shurikens and bandages (grouped with a 55 monk who didnt have bandages and bind was at like 50 cause "they dont really need it very often")

necro brings the extra punch to make fights fast and alot of utility (dont discount the necro heal) crowd control, pet, charm, FD ect

Ench is nice then you have max haste and max slow in the party as well as both hp and mana regen. lots of powerful stuff you can do with charm and mes.

could go with Wiz or Druid so you guys can make groups with little or no effort and get around easily. evacs ect

cler is out cause they dont bring anything extra to the table. (if your friend that was a sham was an ench then Monk/cler would hands down be best pick but not with sham). only thing game changing cler would bring is res but there is alot of clers on server not too hard to get a res usually

warrior is out because wars are all gear there so not good for new players. the skill of a war (imo) is a wars understanding of all other classes since wars are all auto attack and gear its about telling other people how to do shit well. (seriously that is a talent)

rouge out

could pick a hybrid tank but again same with war alot of gear dependancy for a new player

ps
love what is the best trio threads

[Namegen_Isterrible]

There is no 'best' really. You could go with various different group builds, each would have pros and cons. But if you are talking about going in to dungeons and killing almost anything with just three people, then for me the best choice would be Warrior, Cleric, Necro.

Warrior is the best tank and can do a bit of damage. Cleric is the best healer, and will keep the Warrior alive no matter what. Yeah the Shaman can slow but some mobs will still manage to do a lot of damage and the Shaman won't be able to keep up with heals. And Necro is the best third option because they are a DPS who unlike Wizzies and such, will never need to med much, and have utility like Mez and FD for pulling/splitting.

The thing with Necros though is that it takes a skilful player to make the most of them. In fact a lot of people in this game don't even realise a necro can mez or heal or whatever else, just because most people who play necros are sucky. If one of you is good with their mouse and keys and quick thinking though, then put them as necro and the Warrior and Cleric will need to do nothing more than tank n spank. You will lack the ports and sow and stuff that others could offer, but again, if it's just about going anywhere and killing anything, then this would be my choice.

But in none min/maxer terms, I would say any tank + healer + dps combo would work well.

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

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.

[fadetree]

I've always liked Shaman+Druid+Ranger. Yeah, its not the optimal in every situation, but its very workable and fun. The shaman and druid can keep up with the heals, stack dots, add pets, and you got druid evac which is tops for rapidly exiting a bad situation. The ranger is a melee thats very easy to get decent gear for, and can hold aggro through the dots and provide good damage.

[Lazortag]

You're better off just picking 2 other casters, preferably pet classes (enchanter/necro, enchanter/cleric or enchanter/mage works fine, although the first two are probably more utility at higher levels unless you have the epic pet). Your melees won't be able to do less aggro than pets and you basically want pets to take all the hits since you can just resummon a pet if it's about to die (whereas you can't as easily resummon a player). Plus some pets are frankly just better than most melees.

[webrunner5]

Two Mages and a Enchanter. End of story.

[Malrubius]

You have a healer already, and a Shaman is one of the best.

Since you want to do dungeons with a small group, one of you should play an Enchanter. In those tight quarters you are talking about, nothing else can keep everything under control as well.

If you go that route, then the other one should probably be a tank (Shadowknight would be great, but I'm biased) or high-dps+pet class like a Mage.

What you don't get with the above is evacs and rezzes.

[Nagash]

As you already have one shamy, I'd go shamy+monk+druid. Reason:
- Shaman: he's already there
- Monk: insane duo with shammy and I can't think of a single encounter a 3 persons group would be interested in that the monk couldn't tank
- Druid: a lot of utility (DS, snare, teleport, charm, buff...) + extra heal in case the shaman struggle + DPS through DoTs or DD
The only thing the group would miss is clarity, the druid will be the one sufferingg the most but hey, wouldn't that be the case with any group not including a bard or a chanty

Alternatively, if one of you is interested in carpal syndrom, you could replace the druid by a bard. Loose teleport but gain a lot of extra utility (super run speed, regen, mez, lull, charm...)

[webrunner5]

Sidenote - since you're starting off fresh, the more you can rely on pets and spells instead melee, the better off you are in terms of being a powerhouse. Melee DPS and tanks are great, yes, but only with great gear. But that killing machine charmed pet who has cleric buffs, shaman buffs, and enchanter buffs, who is chewing through shaman-slowed, rooted mobs one at a time while the cleric CHs him and you and your 2 buddies are able to med constantly? He doesn't give a shit if you are all carrying epics and high-end gear. You'll do just as well with your ench wearing a bunch of cheap charisma gear while the shaman sports banded and the cleric has crappy wisdom gear.

Namegen has a very good point about pet classes and pure casters. Every so many levels you are getting a new and better pet or damage spell. Sort of like getting a better Melee weapon every 4 to 6 levels. And the cost is cheap as hell. He is right about the gear also. You can be naked on a Mage or a Necro and do OK even high levels. Takes a lot less time to med also lol.

So a pet class maybe the way to go for people just starting out. Monk can do well without much also in the begining. But now there is like 2 thousand Monk Twinks here.

[baub]

I see two obvious choices

shaman, ench, druid

or

shaman, monk, cleric

either way the world will be your playground

[Autotune]

I see two obvious choices

shaman, ench, necro

or

shaman, monk, cleric

either way the world will be your playground

fixt

[Servellious]

shm/mnk/rogue is sick

[Galelor]

What about shaman/enchanter/monk. You have a lot of versatility here, and really you are just missing rez. Could be interesting at least.

[godbox]

sham/necro/monk wins imo cuz monk necro are the best duo partners for sham already this just increases there kill speed and u got 2 classes with perfect mana sync to go nonstop from a pretty early lvl

[webrunner5]

You know I was thinking. Looking to Velious I wonder if a Shaman is going to be able to keep up with heals in that expansion as the main healer? I remember the mobs really hitting like hell. Because Superior Healing best they get heal wise.

I know a Shaman will be great solo there but have my doubts they can keep up with a really buffed tank like a Cleric could with CH and other heals they have.

I don't think Velious is too far down the pike to come out.

[mindsculptor]

You know I was thinking. Looking to Velious I wonder if a Shaman is going to be able to keep up with heals in that expansion as the main healer? I remember the mobs really hitting like hell. Because Superior Healing best they get heal wise.

I know a Shaman will be great solo there but have my doubts they can keep up with a really buffed tank like a Cleric could with CH and other heals they have.

I don't think Velious is too far down the pike to come out.

torpor>all

[webrunner5]

torpor>all

I am not too sure as a Tank I want Topar as a heal on me. Decrease Movement Speed by 100% Decrease Attack Speed by 30%. Sounds like a ugly outcome. And still only a 1200 point heal. Not 10,000 like CH.

[Phallax]

sham/necro/monk wins imo cuz monk necro are the best duo partners for sham already this just increases there kill speed and u got 2 classes with perfect mana sync to go nonstop from a pretty early lvl

This

Shaman + necro is a disgusting duo as they feed off each other and both have insane utility. Add a DPS or tank to the trio and you can do most anything.

[Namegen_Isterrible]

I am not too sure as a Tank I want Topar as a heal on me. Decrease Movement Speed by 100% Decrease Attack Speed by 30%. Sounds like a ugly outcome. And still only a 1200 point heal. Not 10,000 like CH.

Yeah, torpor has some drawbacks. But it is 1200 hp healed over 24 seconds for only 200 mana. And don't forget that tank + sham means that the mob attacking the tank is going to be stuck with a 75% slow.

If you're tanking something that does so much damage after a 75% slow that you need more than 50 healing per second, then CH (and an unslowed, or weapon-proc slowed mob) isn't going to be able to get the job done either.

[Kevlar]

Warrior, Cleric, Enchanter were always considered the holy trinity in Everquest, and for good reason, Warriors are by far the best tank. Clerics by far the best healer, and enchanters by far the best crowd control. You can do pretty much any groupable encounter with that base. Add dps classes as you like to speed up kills. There is always a good bard or monk /lfg that way you get some dps and a puller. Or if outdoors even a ranger or druid would suffice. If you are on your game with a good enchanter you won't need any extra dps though.

[godbox]

why ppl keep sayin war/cler/ench
overrated trio

his friend is already sham and war has got to be the most expensive class to gear.
wars are for like the 4th alt of guild leaders

even if you ignore that his friend is sham. sham/nec/monk much better trio to start and play with. you get tons of utility. non gear dependent classes (or easier to obtain good stuff with monk) and they can ALL SOLO when they need to.
cler/ench/war is just good because all you need is dps and your gtg for a group not because its all inclusive ready to go group who in this situation is killing the mob? charmd pet? if you cant break a camp with 2 FDs 2 roots and 2 pets =(

[Kevlar]

Necro monk shaman? An enchanter charmed pet can out dps all 3 of those combined. And good luck keeping the monk alive if you get a slow resist or on mobs that mitigate.

[godbox]

kevlar dude none of that is relevant or even really true other than that ench charm pets out dps everything. talking about class combos that include a sham ench is in the middle or bottom of the list Im assuming you dont main a sham cause every shams friend list is pretty much all the good necro/monks on server.

[Autotune]

kevlar dude none of that is relevant or even really true other than that ench charm pets out dps everything. talking about class combos that include a sham ench is in the middle or bottom of the list Im assuming you dont main a sham cause every shams friend list is pretty much all the good necro/monks on server.

Necro + shaman + monk is good

Ench + shaman + monk is good

Both are damn good if the enchanter and necro are pros.

Me personally, I'd roll Necro + Shaman + Enchanter, but that's just me and I only grouped with pros.

Enchanters + Shamans have overlap, but where one is weak the other is strong. The necro then makes both of those more efficient and adds more survivability to the team.

[Tarathiel]

shaman/monk/rogue/thread

[Naerron]

i say shammy/monk/wizard.

U have snares, heals, DPS, tanks, puller, slows, and travel.

[Namegen_Isterrible]

Including wizard in something that is supposed to be a powerhouse trio?

Tee hee.

[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]

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]

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

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

[Autotune]

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.

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.

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.

[falkun]

Anyone who thinks a warrior will out-tank a monk (without defensive) in Velious is just kidding themselves. There's a reason the warrior community (led by Furor IIRC) held a "sit-in" during Velious. Outside of defensive, monks had better avoidance and mitigation than the premier tank class, while also having FD, mend, and doing better DPS.

*EDIT*: And equal or better aggro generation due to procs and better DPS.

[Messianic]

Anyone who thinks a warrior will out-tank a monk (without defensive) in Velious is just kidding themselves. There's a reason the warrior community (led by Furor IIRC) held a "sit-in" during Velious. Outside of defensive, monks had better avoidance and mitigation than the premier tank class, while also having FD, mend, and doing better DPS.

It's true - Monks get some insanely high-ac items in velious and start tanking excessively well.

Oh and to all the magician/magician/enchanter proponents...You have to think with a longer time horizon than mid-kunark (Even though that combo really already had its apex in vanilla).

You need CC aside from the puller being competent (And root doesn't always cut it). But you'll also *need* a healer and slower - the chanter can handle the slows, so chanter/cleric/tank works - but on balance, monk/shaman/chanter is simply hugely dominant. It's pretty much the three classes with the most force multipliers among a trio...one you go to 4, 5, or 6 people, the force multiplier situation changes a little, but duo = monk/shaman, trio = monk/shaman/chanter

You might argue there are heavy overlaps between shaman and chanter, which is somewhat true - but shaman have better slows than chanters, and chanters have better haste than shaman. That handles basically all of the relevant overlap.

And monks are the best all-around combination of DPS/mitigation/avoidance. Plus a charmed pet...It's difficult to see how a better combo could exist for general dungeon crawling or grinding (i'm thinkin stuff like velks).

[Dunes]

Im at work, so I couldnt read every page ( :o ) but Ive been having a blast playing with some friends. The trio, shaman + paladin + rogue, is the ultimate dungeon crawling trio imho because you have you buffer/healer/slower/canni+regen in the shaman, you have small heals, cleric buffs, anti-undead, and good snap aggro tank in paladin, and you have great dps, sneak, lock picking, and different guise access in the rogue.

If your into trying something new and dungeon crawling (versus dungeon camping), this is a great little trio and lets you play the game the way it was meant to be played - constant new challenges requiring adaptation around every corner. Definitely a fun set up that doesnt require a whole lot of downtime.

[webrunner5]

To the OP. Well it does look like most people are recomending a Shaman so you have one class covered lol.

[Etris]

Lol!

Thanks again everyone for some amazing feedback.

I'm almost afraid to post - but our shaman friends is going back to his monk once we hit 40s.

So our new Trio of Destruction will be Necromancer / Monk / Druid.

Ports, Speed, Insane Kiting, Tank / Heal for close quarters.

[Autotune]

Lol!

Thanks again everyone for some amazing feedback.

I'm almost afraid to post - but our shaman friends is going back to his monk once we hit 40s.

So our new Trio of Destruction will be Necromancer / Monk / Druid.

Ports, Speed, Insane Kiting, Tank / Heal for close quarters.

I'd highly suggest dropping that druid for a shaman. The difference in power at max is huge and will completely negate the ports/evac.

Spend the 100p for ports, a druid in a trio is only going to hinder you the higher lvl you get and the less effective his heals are without someone to slow.

[fadetree]

I agree, I like druids but in that group you are WAY better off with a shaman.

[Galelor]

It's true - Monks get some insanely high-ac items in velious and start tanking excessively well.

Oh and to all the magician/magician/enchanter proponents...You have to think with a longer time horizon than mid-kunark (Even though that combo really already had its apex in vanilla).

You need CC aside from the puller being competent (And root doesn't always cut it). But you'll also *need* a healer and slower - the chanter can handle the slows, so chanter/cleric/tank works - but on balance, monk/shaman/chanter is simply hugely dominant. It's pretty much the three classes with the most force multipliers among a trio...one you go to 4, 5, or 6 people, the force multiplier situation changes a little, but duo = monk/shaman, trio = monk/shaman/chanter

You might argue there are heavy overlaps between shaman and chanter, which is somewhat true - but shaman have better slows than chanters, and chanters have better haste than shaman. That handles basically all of the relevant overlap.

And monks are the best all-around combination of DPS/mitigation/avoidance. Plus a charmed pet...It's difficult to see how a better combo could exist for general dungeon crawling or grinding (i'm thinkin stuff like velks).

This is exactly what I believe. I think the monk tanking nerf happened after
Velious, so this is 100% valid. Spend all the PP to gear the monk first, then the enchanter. Then save for torpor and then malo.

I can't think of 1 non-raid camp in Kunark that this trio can't handle. Same goes for Velious.

[SamwiseBanned]

3 mages

[fadetree]

6 rangers