View Full Forums : Advice on 3 Box


DabrixMGP
09-16-2006, 02:38 AM
So far I am looking at Monk,Druid,Mage for my 3 box. But I have also considered Ranger,Cleric,Mage. Made a post a while back about this but want to switch it to a 3-box since my PC can handle it and will be much better than simply 2-boxing. I don't really want to lose my monk but just wanted to know how the Ranger/Cleric/Mage would do compared to Monk/Druid/Mage or maybe Monk/Cleric/Mage. I don't care about being able to take down uber_mob_1 only fast AA exp and maybe trio old world stuff like VT/NToV/Elemental named stuff like that. Would even consider switching monk for berserker or SK if it would show a noticeable improvement.

Otzberger
09-16-2006, 03:41 AM
Monk + Mage & Ranger + Mage are both great combos. Either healer will do. Monk & Ranger are both good pullers and more DPS than plate tank classes. With the right level & AAs you should be able to take down quite a bit and and pretty fast. With new expansion (I hear) skills will go up for Rangers to further improve defensives. Of course I am partial to my Ranger but it does take a lot of work to get to the level where you can take the big hits.

Palarran
09-16-2006, 03:53 AM
What about a shaman?
That'll give you healing, slowing, and a bunch of nice buffs...

(I use cleric+druid+enchanter myself, plus a rogue if I really need melee damage.)

Rrasis
09-16-2006, 04:03 AM
monk druid shaman is pretty nice......slows help sooooo soooo much

ToKu
09-17-2006, 02:47 AM
It really depends on what you plan on doing, farming, aa'n, etc. Then you need to look at how well geared they'd be.

For a low gear kite group druid/necro/mage do well. Either the druid or the necro can do the kiting, mages air pet is very nice for backstab dmg and then just apply nukes/dots. You have necro rez if ya need it, ports, buffs, mana tweaks.

If your looking for a farming group druid/(warrior/sk)/(chanter/shaman) work nicely. The tank needs some decent HP/ac going for him if your running a chanter else you need shaman for patches.

Mage pets do nicely too as tanks, but then you may want a shaman still as backup healer.

Minadin
09-17-2006, 04:27 AM
I only 2-box, but, the ranger / druid combo has worked out pretty well for me. If I were able/going to add a 3rd, I would probably look at a slower - either a shaman or enc, to make tanking things easier on the ranger. It's a tough call. Heck, I might even add a beastlord since they get mini HP buffs like focus, and SA is fairly similar to C6, and can still slow.

WiLdOnE786
09-17-2006, 10:44 AM
I usually do Sk/Cleric/chanter/ranger... My ideal 3 box team would be SK/Shaman/monk or ranger.

ToKu
09-18-2006, 01:53 AM
Knowing the lvl you plan this for, the type of content you wish to 3 box as well as gear levels would help alot.

Example. I wouldnt reccoment a 3 box with a tank with less then 10k buffed HP tryign anything harder then pre-EP PoP.

If you go kite group though, gear makes less of a difference, its useful to survive if things go poorly but you are not dependant on it to accomplish anything.

Woodelfous
09-18-2006, 10:59 AM
I play Druid, SK, Bard. That usually ends up working out well. Though I wish i would have made a shammy or a chanter instead of a bard.

The SK is awesome...

DabrixMGP
09-18-2006, 05:50 PM
OK might scrap the monk since everyone I have talked to says I need a plate tank. Was thinking about the holy trinity of warrior/cleric/chanter but this being a druid board and all might go with Warrior/Shaman/Druid. That gives Slow, Snare , Uber Mob Tankability, Buffs out the ass, and 3 targets for panther. Yes im counting druid bear as a target hehe he might suck but when hes procing 400 a pop I will use it for extra DPS. Just got to make sure he stays behind and everything will be ok since i dont think he could live through a 1400 hit hehe. Also with shaman slows im sure a druid will be able to play cleric on a warrior a hella lot easier than on a monk.

ToKu
09-18-2006, 07:28 PM
OK might scrap the monk since everyone I have talked to says I need a plate tank. Was thinking about the holy trinity of warrior/cleric/chanter but this being a druid board and all might go with Warrior/Shaman/Druid. That gives Slow, Snare , Uber Mob Tankability, Buffs out the ass, and 3 targets for panther. Yes im counting druid bear as a target hehe he might suck but when hes procing 400 a pop I will use it for extra DPS. Just got to make sure he stays behind and everything will be ok since i dont think he could live through a 1400 hit hehe. Also with shaman slows im sure a druid will be able to play cleric on a warrior a hella lot easier than on a monk.

That once again, depends on how well geared the tank is. I'd reccomend SK over warrior though, alot of agro control as well as mana taps which are win for your casters. But only if you can get him at least CoA geared or comporable.

RuadhTheRed
09-18-2006, 08:25 PM
Two dedicated 3 boxers in my non-raiding family guild swear by these set ups:

BST (tank/slow/melee dmg/buffs) / DRU (heal/buffs/atk debuff/evac/spell damage) / MAG (dmg/pet toys)

&

RNG (tank/dmg) / DRU (spell damage/buffs/atk debuff/evac/back up healing) / SHM (slow/buffs/heals)

They have only 1 groupable gear and they rip through non-raid content at an astounding pace.

Druids are excellent main healers for these three boxing groups if you invest in the healing AAs and your RNG or BST invest in Tanking AAs. Just make sure you have a slower in the mix one way or the other.

Also, in the first configuration, you can swap out MAG for NEC and also do very well.

DabrixMGP
09-18-2006, 11:27 PM
Problem with having a beastlord is he will even need far more gear and AAs to tank what a plate class can. Im guessing Id need around a 13-14k Beastlord to equal a 10-11k warrior. And ranger would need at least 12k HPs as well. Also with the new changes in TSS warriors get 2 agro discs on different timers now or so I have read so might make agro control simple.

ToKu
09-19-2006, 12:00 AM
Problem with having a beastlord is he will even need far more gear and AAs to tank what a plate class can. Im guessing Id need around a 13-14k Beastlord to equal a 10-11k warrior. And ranger would need at least 12k HPs as well. Also with the new changes in TSS warriors get 2 agro discs on different timers now or so I have read so might make agro control simple.

Then it comes down to play style, I chose SK because of the spells, he became my puller and with FD it helped alot in my 3 boxing. Mine wears alot of don cultural with dodh augs and has a morguecaller though so he does fairly well in the agro market.

And what can I say, manataps make me very happy.

A war is nice but when you 3 box your tryign to get the most out of all 3 chars. A SK or pally would generally offer the same as a war and then some though a pally is even more micro then a SK. The only time i'd take a war over a SK is if I needed defensive disc for some reason.

DabrixMGP
09-25-2006, 03:14 AM
New consideration hehe. How about Zerker/Shaman/Druid or Zerker/Chanter/Druid?

vidvandre
09-25-2006, 11:17 AM
Well, as been said so many times before, depends what you are doing.

I only 2 box (not always i can 2 box either, depending on zone) (my computer kind of crappy, can't do more) and druid / SK - druid / shm works really well.

as for a trio, I sometimes bug a friend to play me, along with his char (beastlord) and I just play the SK, can basically kill most stuff for 1 group. a shaman VS the beastlord would be better though I think - I belive (correct me if I'm wrong) shaman is alot more dps then a beastlord, better slow (for bigger targets, long lasting slow) and can heal.

I like the idea of a bard also, been wondering if I should make a 2ndary account with one. Always in need of pullers...

Just my thoughts

vid-

ToKu
09-25-2006, 07:34 PM
Well, as been said so many times before, depends what you are doing.

I only 2 box (not always i can 2 box either, depending on zone) (my computer kind of crappy, can't do more) and druid / SK - druid / shm works really well.

as for a trio, I sometimes bug a friend to play me, along with his char (beastlord) and I just play the SK, can basically kill most stuff for 1 group. a shaman VS the beastlord would be better though I think - I belive (correct me if I'm wrong) shaman is alot more dps then a beastlord, better slow (for bigger targets, long lasting slow) and can heal.

I like the idea of a bard also, been wondering if I should make a 2ndary account with one. Always in need of pullers...

Just my thoughts

vid-

When 3 boxing you want the least ammount of work because of all the tabbing. Thats why you dont go 2 melee's (unless 1 is a autofire ranger.)

Bards are an insane ammount of work and just not worth the effort most of the time, i'd take monk or SK if that were the case.

vidvandre
09-26-2006, 01:16 AM
Yup, guess that's true, but you can just /melody 1 3 5 7 and not be on the bard, get mana song, over haste, slow etc. And when needed "play it for real" and pull. I'm sure there are better classes to make though=), with the new "resting system" mana song isn't that good any more...

vid-

ToKu
09-26-2006, 03:01 AM
Yup, guess that's true, but you can just /melody 1 3 5 7 and not be on the bard, get mana song, over haste, slow etc. And when needed "play it for real" and pull. I'm sure there are better classes to make though=), with the new "resting system" mana song isn't that good any more...

vid-

Unless melody got a MAJOR buff within the last 6 months that I missed on the bard boards its not very useful because your still having to check it to compensate for missed notes.

And unless your doing M'sha in Qvic you really shouldnt need the only thing bards would do better the other classes, resists.

My ideal 3 box maximizes what all 3 can do, I have the druid for ports/buffs/healing/dps, SK for pulling/tanking/mana taps, shaman for hots/buffs/pet/dps buffs. The shaman is my wild card slot, its either a shaman, cleric or mage depending on what I plan on fighting and what I need. If druid heals alone will cut it i'll go mage for dps, if healing power is short i'll go cleric.

vidvandre
09-26-2006, 04:32 AM
Yep, druid / SK / shm is more then enough to do the Goats in Qvic. Basically everyone are full mana, even without sk ancient tap / normal tap. just takes so damn long time hehe.

The fact they now AE ramps doesn't really affect that make up either=)

vid-

Gegen
09-26-2006, 05:28 AM
I use a pally/shm/druid 3-box, though most of the time I'm not 3 boxing anymore and my brother plays the paladin or shaman or both. Works very well, but like everyone's said depends on what you're doing, if you want a group that can do anything by themselves my combo works pretty well, sk would be better for pulling though.

If you want a good DPS addition to a group zerkers pump out nasty DPS, with TSS monks and rogues got a huge upgrade too. Mages wizards and necros are all sick DPS if you want caster DPS.

Rino
04-29-2008, 03:52 AM
Hello,

I play an SK(80) as my main, I currently box an ENC(80). both have 2.0's and some decent(non-hardcore raiding) gear. My goal is one day I will have enough AA's that a decent raid guild will take me, lol. I am looking for the best fit for a 3 box (4 boxing and staying married are often used in the same sentence). Although a druid would pretty well round out the group. I kinda have a hard-on to play a wizzy, but that would leave me needing heals.

....so as best I see it is.....

Option 1
SK
SHM
WIZ

Pro: (1) Can duo with SK/SHM when my son(8) wants to play his bard(not a bad trio). (2) Group can tank/pull/slow/buff/mega dps
Con: (1) Losing ENC 2.0 (2)Group lacks crowd control(cc),healing is so so.

Option 2
SK
ENC
DRU

Pro: (1) Keep the 2.0, that was a lot of work lol (2) Group can tank/pull/slow/cc/mana buff!/healing is better (mostly because i am not trying to slow on the same toon)
Con: (1) No wizzy (2) SHM buffs are nice, much less dps (3) weaker duo


Considerations:
Epics (lvl of difficulty)
DRU vs SHM healing
DRU vs WIZ kiting (when i dont feel like running three toon)
....And one of the 3 must port, lol <---Lazy

Thanks for your time.
-Rino
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Trevize
05-06-2008, 02:57 PM
I do sk, druid, chanter. Works pretty well. Recently I went to 4 boxes and re-added my cleric. All of them are level 75+, druid be level 80 and chanter will be level 80 by Saturday :-)

Sadly I've noticed A LOT of people boxing. It's become wicked hard to find a group with six "live" players. Which really hurts when doing harder zones.

jdpatt
05-11-2008, 11:11 AM
I've started playing my main (rogue) shortly after Luclin launched. I added a cleric in PoP, which allowed my rogue to get some experience rather than sitting /lfg forever (there was a huge period of time where rogues were red haired stepchildren in groups...like from Kunark to now, haha). Shortly after, I added my druid, then a beastlord, then a warrior, then a mage. I've tried quite a few different classes for my combo over the years, and this is what has worked best for me. As far as classes I've tried:

BARD---way too much work, requires too much attention to get the most of. They're FANTASTIC utility classes if you can dedicate some time to them, but very difficult to play when multi-boxing unless you use some sort of macro software, which is against the rules. I know some have done it, I've just never been able to get the most out of a bard when multiboxing.

CLERIC---Great for rezzes, best heals, great buffs; although druid rez and heals with AA can be nearly as good (other than the xp loss on a druid rez). With VoV since TSS, then can make a good backup tank as well (although dps is underwhelming).

BEASTLORD---Great class for boxing...the pet stays on the mob even when push gives the BL the "can not hit" messages. Good buffs, good slows, BL crack for the casters and haste for the melees.

ROGUE---if it wasn't my main, I wouldn't recommend it. DPS is highly dependent on mashing backstab and staying in position, which is hard to do when you're minding your other toons. Although I'm not up to speed on their current abilities, I'd probably choose a Berserker or Ranger over a rogue at the current time, if I were starting from scratch.

MAGICIAN---great class for 2 reasons: 1) great pet, pet weapons and armor, and decentish nukes make for solid DPS without requiring a lot of attention, and 2) CoH is a GODSEND for multi-boxing. Only having to run ONE toon to a camp spot is SO much easier than individually running more than one toon. I added my mage last, after years of multi-boxing, and I wish I'd have added him earlier. He's still levelling up (only L67 atm), but becoming more and more valuable as I learn to get the most of him. Been using CoH to debuff and pull lately, seems to work as well as monk or bard pulling, unless it's a zone where CoH is disabled.

DRUID---FANTASTIC all around character for multi-boxing. A solid healer when you need one, great buffs to compliment any other classes' (especially clerics), consistent dps that doesn't require a lot of attention, snare and root for crowd control, good pulling abilities, and (of course) makes travel a LOT easier.

WARRIOR---when I added my warrior tank, they were the best tanks in the game. Not sure if a well geared Pally or SK wouldn't be a better choice now for their utility, but I'm stuck with what I have. Still great for holding aggro and toe to toe tanking. For boxing GROUP content, I think an SK would be better for pulling, a Pally for back up healing/rezzes/buffs.

RANGER---had one for buffs/pulling/dps/backup tanking during PoP. They're a solid all around class, but I have no idea where they stand now (I took a few years off of EQ). When I was boxing a ranger, archery was still one of their most valuable abilities; I don't think that's the case anymore.

SHAMAN---good class for healing/buffs/dps, although a shammy was redundant for me, since I had a druid/cleric/beastlord that does most of what a shammy could do for me. Still, worthwhile to consider when building a multi-boxed group.

NECRO---never played one to high level (past L50 or so), but probably worth considering for their pulling ability and pet. Pet classes are great for boxing, requiring very little attention. Overall, I'd take a mage over a necro for a boxed group (just 'cause of CoH), but they're worth considering for straight dps and pulling, rez and summon corpse.

WIZARD---again, never played one to high level, but good dps in a group. TL is a bit redundant if you already have a druid. If you didn't have a druid already, it'd be worth considering, but you could probably add more utility with a different class, without sacrificing much in the way of dps.

All in all, pet classes seem to work well when multi-boxing, since the pet will stay on the mob as it's moved around. Casters are easier to box than melee if you can't keep the mob in one spot...melee is great if you can. For example, fighting mammoths in icefall is great for melee, they just don't move; fighting the polar bears is a different story, as I have to keep "following" them with my rogue and BL or they get out of melee range.

I would go with a rezzer, since multi-boxing (even on the best system) will result in more wipes than being in a comparable group (you can only do so many things at once, and even when you're on the ball, you get a lot more lag and LD running multiple accounts...my system's pretty high end at the moment, but there's nothing I can do about zoning into a train and watching toons die while waiting for the tank or healer to pop).

You didn't mention what toons you currently have and their levels/abilities. If you have a druid already (my assumption since you're posting here), maybe a Pally and a Beastlord for a good 3-boxed group. The Pally can tank well, root for CC, rez is things go south, buff with symbol to compliment your Dire, BSS, etc. The BL can buff, haste, slow, clarity, dps, offtank, and pull pretty well with pet. The druid, of course, can heal, dps, buff, taxi the group around, pull, root and snare for CC. It's not the epitome of the holy trinity (warrior/cleric/chanter or shaman), but it's damn close, with a lot more utility. I doubt there's much groupable content that you couldn't tackle with those three.