2nd box, SK or Shaman

[flubuk]

Thinking of adding a 2nd (gold) box to my account for easier taking down of nameds, general farmage etc.

Choice is either:

mid 80's shaman - group geared with about 1k aa.
or
high 80's SK - group/raid geared with about 1.5k aa.

Main char is 100 nec with group gear and about 4kaa.

Gut instinct tells me the Shaman will probably add more to me, as the 97 pet is already a pretty good "fire and forget" tank, and has currrently maxxed CA, working on CS/Sturdiness.

Thoughts?

Lastly, are CotF heroic mission things boxable? or need 3 "human" chars?

[Filter]

Mage

or if you're too lazy to create the mage....shaman. SK needs way too much work to make it useful and they don't take a beating as well as a mage pet unless they're raid geared.

[Vivamort]

The only really big advantage I can think of for having an SK is that if you want to have a buddy who has a melee dps toon join your group they can actually do their job if you have a real tank vs pet. SK probably does less DPS than Shaman can (dots, the proc buff and pet). SK isn't a viable healer for group if in a no merc situation. Sk (as mentioned above) requires more work to keep it current between AAs and Augs and Gear... but you say you already have a good start on that with raid gear so maybe not a major issue for you.

Also with Shaman you maybe able to swing double invis, for easier travelling... where it would have to be double invis for one toon only for necro sk combo.

[flubuk]

Done a bit of a u-turn I think.

Making it a bard! Never played one, though always liked what they bring to the equation. Plus AA are that quick

Starting at level one:

I have an 85 druid to DS PL him to ~60
Then my 90 wizzy can group&slaughter and take him to 70.
Then he can group with me

Sound good? I'll top him up with fellowship vitality XP from my necro, and have a metric fuckton of potions to claim on that account, should be fairly swift?

[Filter]

Great idea! You won't be disappointed with a bard.

[Zynt]

Great idea! You won't be disappointed with a bard.

I'm a very lazy boxer or this is how I would go. Instead I've been pling an old Shaman. At level 85 now. Mainly want for slow, melee proc for pet, and heals. I can set all of that pretty easy just alt tabbing. I would love to do a bard and may do a third box and just have him melody or I might transfer my 85 mage to another account.

[forcallen]

My two cents.

Its not as enhancing as a bard nor as powerful and easy as a mage (until very well geared) but.....

I have been boxing SK and Nec since TSS and love it. Granted I did this much like you said for named farming (and I am mostly raid geared on him) or tanking summoning mobs long before mercs, before our pet became some beefy and before swarm pet spells but I still like the setup. Still very useful for some named, trash, odd quests with funky scripts, old raid farming and stuff like that where another tank with the ability to lock down endless mobs easily helps.

Personally I can't play that much without a toon that can't fd, self invis and basically get around anywhere on their own easily. If I want to do stuff on him alone for various reasons I can run him wherever and fd. Then start working when I can without having to plow, find a safe spot to invis, etc. I prefer to stealthily get in and out when working on stuff if I can verse traditionally grinding out every mob (when it can be helped).

HA is amazing. Sk epic is amazing, DS for plvling is amazing. Used to be 4 pets with DA but that's gone but two toons with tons of DA's and dots can do some sick stuff. Swarming is a ton of fun but as others said an SK is a major time sink any tank requires every slot, every aug and all AA's up to snuff just to work nevermind excel. But SK's do add some nice tools to compliment the necro stuff. I used to duo Mino Warleader to sell his augs when it was current and most groups struggled. I used to duo Summoner Nek and MoP in convo when it was current to sell the augs or help out guildies. More recently I duo'd all VoA named (and some where very funky or hard to do, except like one mob that required a true healer to do). I have done a lot of stuff that others can't just because of the tools they have and since I can hit the reset button to try again anytime I want with two fd'ing toons.

[Filter]

I see forcallen's point and it is valid. However, you can do everything discussed with a mage due to their pets. Their pets are every good at taking dmg as a group geared SK and you can do it with more dps also. Nothing compares to a mage in terms of simplifying group content because their pets are awesome, some say over powered but I wouldn't go that far.

nec + bard = amazing duo that's extremely simple to play

nec + bard + mage = godly trio that's simple to play

[dsalafia]

I was in that boat adn went with Shaman for my second account and then a Druid for the Third. Now I can stack dots, slow and have pets as well as swarm pets, ports DS, buffs and its all around fun. I will say that Druids are pretty damn powerful and fun to play solo but with a Tank, Healer and caster merc's I am a full group or excitement. Thank God for Exodus!!!

[Hayzeus]

Holy necrotic thread rez..

I went with

Necro - healer merc
Shaman - wiz merc
Bard - wiz merc

Bard is mostly just for support melody (although I have a hell of a bad time getting the AE Mez melody down).. the wiz mercs are stupid and always break the wrong target mez... wish the mercs could be forced to assist my pet only.

shaman is mostly used just for slowing with some backup healing. I almost never cast dots with it. he's only level 92, so his dps and his heals are weak compared the other 100 toons (admittedly I'm not good at boxing yet, so I just do the heavy lifting with the necro).

But, I really like the trio, and I feel once the shammy grows up, it will be an integral part of the team.

Bard Tracking skill for the win! Hunting for named to target is awesome with track.