my 3-box

[Ninven]

I'm currently back in the game and relearning as much as I can. I box a necro and a mage and my gf is playing a mage (she's brand new to the game, but learning quick haha). We are currently level 75 with 350AA's and leveling quick (characters were created about 2 weeks ago with no PL's or help at all). I am wondering this. Will we be able to farm the top zone for xp/loot? I think it is convorterum? With necro/mage/mage and 3 healer mercs...let's say 1k AA's each toon and EM5 (trying for TA to tower for EM7 but may not be able to get it). And just how much more effective would a bard be over a necro? I want to know if i should reroll the necro as a bard now before i spend too much more time on him

Thanks for the advice!

[Piemastaj]

Bard would be better over a necro. Necros require snare to be effective pullers, whereas bards can mezz/bellow mobs and fade off any aggro. Bards make pulling a lot faster then if you did it with a necro. Also, their songs and mana regen would help out the 2 mages a ton. Necros aren't very good in the group game because they lack burst DPs, on raids they are great because those fights last longer then 30 seconds or so.

Just my 2cp tho.

[Ninven]

but would the necros dps > bard make up for the slower pulls? I don't think the bard's utility songs on the 2 mages (mana regen, nuke focus, pet overhaste) would = a necro in dps would it?

[Piemastaj]

It all depends on the mobs, but possibly yes it would. and not to mention a bard with /melody commaned requires you to not even use him. Whereas a necro you would need to re-dot the mob every what 24 seconds. 2 mages with bards is quite the hawt trio, and it will be hard to beat anywhere you go. Not to mention you also have slows then and CC incase a wander aggros your grp.

I would ALWAYS choose a bard over a necro. They bring so much more to the table that a necro lacks in the group game.

[Enocha]

Agree, ideally mage, mage, bard, or mage necro, bard, but mage, mage, necro works fine (with 3 tier 5 healers). Bottom line about 3 of any class (mercs can provide healing, tanking in pinch) can handle any zone if enough experience and gear.

[Tacoma2586]

mage mage necro wit healer mercs can take conv named except for ones that summon adds or aes. goes for all the zones. mages can do so much. you ofcourse want ur pet aas maxxed, fort companion aa,hot aa DA aa n such to face the named but yea its not that bad. for main tank pet that char least i do use back up heals, chain cast servants n nuke. for main pet when named gets to 25% ish can DA the pet and yall twincast nuke it dead etc.

[Falore]

My chosen combo is Mage/ chanter / wiz + 3 cleric mercs.

3 cleric mercs can keep our pet up effortlessly against any single mob in underfoot.

Chanter is great for utility: mez/pulling/auras/debuffing (including slow), and also good for giving you an extra pet to attack the mob (for jolt).
Mage is primarily for tanking and a little extra dps on the side
Wizard is where the main power comes from, if the mob you are facing is roughyou can debuff then pet divine aura and full burn on wizard with spires / twincast / silent cast etc and kill any named mob in underfoot before pet DA fades.
This box combo not only trivializes most content in the expansion it also ensures that even the beaefiest of named mobs dies in under 30 seconds.

[Falino-Luclin]

I have bard and cleric boxes and will probably get wizard mercs on the mage and cleric today (cleric merc on bard is very handy sometimes for dragging and rezzing). Am figuring mage + bard + cleric + cleric merc + wiz merc + wiz merc should be pretty powerful. My cleric isn't flagged for anything in UF though.

[Wyntyr]

It might be helpful for some of us to know what level of focus you are using when you say "3 cleric mercs can keep our pet up effortlessly against any single mob in underfoot." I assume that includes single nameds?

I box 2 mages (L81, em4, both have J1 caster mercs) and a wizy(L81 has J1 cleric merc). My friend plays a chanter (L76) and cleric(L78) both having J1 cleric mercs.

When we do lesson burns of XP grinds together we pop the dps merc and when we're doing tasks we use a cleric merc. Currently we're just running through some DoN progression but will be starting SoD next week, I doubt we'll have too much of an issue.

[MeatnPotatoes]

I box a 81bard with cler merc, and a 78mage with war merc. if i got a third account, i would probably get another mage with cleric merc, or else a shaman with a rogue merc. I can take on most things even con to bard, and sometimes yellow cons.