5 boxing - Instance leveling - need class advice

[Mini]

Hi there!

I just programmed my own application to be able to dual box 5 characters, my idea is to level 5 characters majorly using instances.

I have tried different setups, but haven't yet decided exactly which classes i want to use.

Does any of you got some experience to tell me what works good out together?

I want a tank, a healer, and 3x dps/cc.

I have thought about this setup:
Warrior - Tank
Priest - Healer
A combination of Mages and Warlocks for the last 3 spots.

Give me your thougts ;)

[Bunny]

I have tried warrior, healadin, sham, 2 firemage and it worked out pretty good. Since i only cleared the deadmines I don't have that much experience with that group but what I wanted was:

* Main tank to actually play on my main machine
* Range dps to avoid problems with positioning of chars
* as much Manareg as possible

The warrior is played by me, the healadin has a couple of hotkeys (one for each party member) and the dps is standing in the back and has their castsequences. I found out that it is much harder to play that group as opposed to playing my 2mage2lock1priest group because I have to dps, heal and tank as opposed to just heal and dps. But after getting used to it it worked out okay. The nice thing is that you have few mana breaks with palas blessing of wisdom and mana totem (which i didn't have at 22) up you can virtually chain pull the trash. I decided not to play that group anymore because the server i started on sucked and because I decided that I want my clothy group to get to 70 asap. When that is done I might find out that I do want to add a tank or something but I'll leave that for the future.
Whichever group setup you choose: Don't forget that having fun with it is the most important thing :)
Bunny

[hapiguy314]

I suggest:
Prot Pally
Holy Priest
3 warlocks


Warlocks can CC just as well as mage if not better. But they have the banish + enslave over the mage. Furthermore, with a paladin tanking, you dont necessarily even have to CC anymore if you buff up your paladin well enough.

PS
If your alliance, get a dwarf priest - fear can be a real pain.

[Runiat]

PS
If your alliance, get a dwarf priest - fear can be a real pain.
Draenei. They get both Fear Ward AND Symbol of Hope (some HEAVY mp5 for 15 secs).

As for the classes..
Well, a priest is a given - even if shadowspecced they can often outheal healers.
The tank.. depends on your priorities: If you want some extreme AoE tanking once you pass the mid-levels, go with a Paladin, but if you want to be able to recover aggro on an un-tauntable mob you gotta get a Warrior. As for druids they've been nerfed quite badly in comparison.
DPS: Mage + Warlock + Shadowpriest. This is just my personal opinion. Polymorph is better than Fear in instances, and pettanks will put a strain on ur healing. Warlock is useful not just to act as a panic button (keep him near healer to scare off any mobs interrupting) but also do a bit of pettanking in tight situations (no harm done if pet dies) and most importantly: Curse of Shadows. Shadowpriest will, at mid/high lvls, boost the DPS of the warlock, ease the healing like you wouldn't believe, and regen TONS of mana.

[Xzin]

With 4 mages aoeing, you don't need a pally to aoe taunt :)

Just be sure to bring an aoe healer :)

[hapiguy314]

PS
If your alliance, get a dwarf priest - fear can be a real pain.
Draenei. They get both Fear Ward AND Symbol of Hope (some HEAVY mp5 for 15 secs).

Sorry - but having a priest as a main - I'd rather have Desparate healing than the mana. But to each his own... :)

PS Edit

Warlock Succubus Pet > Sheep. (not to mention mages can't banish for elemental CC - hi? fighting the elemental packs in mechanar brings nightmares to me 5 boxing using mages)

PSS
Hellfire > Arcane Blast (with a paladin concecrating / holy shield / ret aura, u wont need to heal the rest much other than the paladin + the "occasional" PoH for the dmg the warlocks take, or u can opt for rain of fire instead).

PSSS
Warlocks are better because of their ability to continue to move and DPS at the same time while mages have to stand in place to cast - this is only concerning boss fights however (think bloodelf - boss #2 - in Mechanar and Naga biatch boss - boss #1 - in Slave Pens). When it comes to clearing trash - u can have any of ur prefered class.

[Bunny]

On a sidenote:
anyone ever tried 1 war and 4 shams (3 nukers and one healing speced)? Sounds pretty funny apart from the fact that you don't have any CC. Opinions?

[Xzin]

I tried 4 wars 1 sham in test center. It was awful :)

[Bunny]

why was it awful? because of the positioning of the melee classes?

[Mini]

Thanks for all the nice suggestions.

I have decided maybe to go with a druid tank instead, because of the buffs, and because i, myself, got a 70 druid, so i know how it's played.

And maybe put it up with a Mage (AoE, Portals, Buff, Sheep), Lock (Banish, Enslave, Summon, Soulstone, Healthstone), Resto Shaman (Totems, etc.), Shadow Priest (Vampiric embrace, Buff, etc.)

What do you think about that?

Im planning on going horde, and i want to wait until lvl 60 about buying tbc for the accounts if possible.

--

Additionaly i have seen numerous posts here about 5x dps etc. is that doable in TBC just nuking bosses without a tank? Maybe with a healer tho, but without a tank?

[hapiguy314]

If you're really serious about maximizing your DPS and safeguarding your glass cannon clothers, there is no buff out there in the game better than Blessing of Salvation. 30% less threat goes a long way when you're chaining nukes and dots. As far as your class decisions, they are good on paper. But - when you start micro managing them because 5 lvl 70 mobs are coming at you :twisted: , well... let us know how it goes.

My main is a priest, Angelie:
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Draenor&n=Angelie

My alt is also a priest, but shadow, Dalaga:
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Draenor&n=Dalaga

Maybe it's just me but as much as my alt is a bit more decked out than my main, I'd rather have three warlocks in my team than my shadow priest. Micromanaging a shadow priest + CC + tanking doesn't allow you to have VT and VE up all the time + spam Mind blast, Mind Flay, SW: Pain, SW: Death. I've even created a /castsequence that would utilize all of these spells up at all time - but ur down time per pack due to the shadow priest blowing half her mana on each pull is just a hindrance. Warlock Life tap FTW.

However, since you've made up your decision to stick with the druid and those other classes, we all wish you the best of luck. Let us know how it turns out :)

Cheers! :D

[Xzin]

30% less threat is not going to do anything at all when you are chain aoeing and start off with PoM pyros.

The lack of AoE healing is going to be a nail in the coffin IMHO.

[Xzin]

why was it awful? because of the positioning of the melee classes?

That and the fact that it took a year to kill a single mob. Mostly positioning and lack of ranged damage.

They could live through anything though.

[hapiguy314]

30% less threat is not going to do anything at all when you are chain aoeing and start off with PoM pyros.

The lack of AoE healing is going to be a nail in the coffin IMHO.

You're kidding me.

There is no way you'll survive POH casting time on more than 2 lvl 70 mobs pounding on you, let alone 5 + 2 none elites in Shattered Halls. And 30% threat does ALOT of reduction allowing your paladin to soak up most of the threat with concecration, Holy shield, and ret aura.

/shrug - if you're that desperate to get agro from your tank - then by all means, open up with Pyro + PoM Pyro.

If you want more ideas why paladins make the best AE tanks with Constant AEers:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KJZn2eouHRI

Rinse & Repeat. I'd rather heal the paladin only on a good solid Gheal + Renew rather than having to cast PoHealing on my glass cannons. But then again, that's just me - to each his own. :shock:

[Xzin]

You may have a point with 61+ elite/instance content. But keep in mind that I never used/needed anything more than a cloth tank as aggro would bounce around to different mages as different crits would trigger - giving me 4 mini tanks. You had to be SPOT ON to heal for some fights but since I was specced holy, I could take a few hits and keep casting.

Not sure that will fly in the 61+ world but we will have to see :). I still question why you would want a pally in a 5 box PvE setup over a priest.

[hapiguy314]

I still question why you would want a pally in a 5 box PvE setup over a priest.

Me too. Who wants a pally over a priest as a healer? :D

It'll be hard to detach me from the optimal set up of Pally + Priest + 3 Warlocks on PVE Instance clearings.

I, however, won't have the time to both PVE and PVP and improve in both aspects as they are nearly night and day. My hat will always be to Xzin and his ilk in that regard 8)

[Xzin]

I could see pally + priest + 3 DPS (lock/mage) as a very viable PvE setup. In PvP, in my opinion, pallies have NO place - at least not in a 5 box setting. Wooo consecrate!

They make decent 5v5 members combined with 2 priests and some dps according to some of the top PvE players though.