Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:15 am by firescue17
I read your thread on the SoE boards also. Some of this info pertains to that post. The short answer, if you never, ever, ever, ever want to run a Raid DZ, do whatever. It won't matter.
In group content, anything will work. If you're going to run a mostly homogeneous group I would run 3 or 4 x Mage, Bard, Druid. It's much easier to set up cascading combat chains for nukes than it is to stack 3 or 4 x DoTs on 3 or 4 or 5 characters - X number of Necros and a Druid. A burst DPS mage group will have the mob dead before the Necros and Druids got 1/4 of the way through their DoT macro. I would recommend a Paladin Tank over SK for a second Radiant Curer/Splash Curer. I would not be comfortable with only a single curer which leaves: SK tank and 2 of Druid, Shaman or Cleric; or Paladin and any 1 Druid, Shaman or Cleric.
For easy button group mode:
Paly
Bard
Druid
3 x Mage with the mages slots replaced by mercs depending upon content and how hard you feel like working that day.
Group content focus or not, my personal opinion, if one is going to go through the effort of building an EQ crew which even in today's game could take 6 months to even approach viability, why would you want to lock yourself out of the most interesting and challenging content, Raids, by not having a well rounded group. Raids are the ultimate achievement in big boxing. Even if the content is not current, I would venture most of the satisfaction in big boxing comes from figuring out the logic and synergy in making your crew operate in unison; handling complex scripts, emotes, bane clickies, all that jazz.
I've read your various threads here on this forum. Any beginner can set up a window layout, drag X number of toons around on auto-follow and broadcast <nuke> to all the windows. I think you'll be bored. I've done it [EDIT: the homogeneous Mage thing]. The "blow shit up" thrill wore off after about 10 minutes.
FTP Apprentice Mercs are pretty worthless after 70 to 75 in level appropriate content. With that said, I run a 5 box to save room for 1 merc and occasionally drop down to 4 boxes with tank/dps merc and a healer merc when farming old, open world content. FTP mercs are a great workhorse for DPS and maintenance heals when survivability does not depend upon them.
Mercs can not be used inside Raid instances. With the new(ish since you last played) achievement system, If you ever think you'll want to run some old raids, BiC, Anguish, Frostcrypt ... anything really, you will need a PC tank. For old content, you probably won't need the extra mitigation of a Warrior. That leaves Shadowknight (AoE aggro, Harm Touch, Snare) or Paladin (AoE aggro, group heals, area splash cures). I'm currently running an SK and some days wish it was a Paly if only for a change of pace and to say I did it.
While transportation may not be the issue it once was, it is still a consideration. Evac is nice. Group port to bind is nice. CotH is nice. I would leave room for a Druid or Wizard, with my preference being the Druid for snare, track and group buffs such as Spirit of the Wolf/Wood. Disregarding CotH, I would add a mage anyway for the purpose of pet tanking open world content and DPS, which then adds CotH by default.
Bard. They are a must have. Their ADPS and other unique abilites such as single target permanent mez, fade, etc are too valuable to go without. I would never build a box group without a Bard. No offense to single player Enchanters, while their crowd control abilities are top notch, it requires too much micromanagement to big box.
Cleric. They're kind of a leech in big box group content, but again, invaluable for raid instances. While the healing advantage of a cleric as the primary healer over Druid or Shaman may not be required, considering Divine Arbitration, Epic Arbitration and DI I would not recommend building a box group without at least having access to a Cleric on a separate account. The big issue with boxing a cleric is not the question of whether or not it will be needed at some point, but how do you skill and XP the Cleric if not dragging it along in group content. My cleric is the first account to be replaced by a second merc when I don't feel like working too hard.
Since you're starting from scratch, it is impossible to go wrong with a balanced group. It is possible to go wrong with a homogeneous group. Even if you don't buy the "no raid DZ" boredom point at this time, my ultimate, best recommendation would be for a well rounded group:
Sk/Paly
Bard
Druid
Shaman
Mage
Cleric
Feel free to send Arora a tell on Vox if you'd like.
