10 Man PVE Team: Looking for Feedback on Master Plan

[bradleyb]

I've been playing WoW since beta (yeah, a LONG time now) - and multi-boxing off and on over the years. I've gotten to the point now where I have very specific goals that I want to fulfill:

Ability to run 10 man raids
Ability to run 5 man instances using LFD group
Ability to run 5 man instances with a single class NOT using LFD
Ability to run 5 man team of single class to complete dailies as easily as possible
Ability to mix and match/capitalize on buff and debuff synergies (especially for raids)
Ability to pull in a single Alliance character with stealth that I can find and kill to help with certain tokens
Ability to cover all professions with one of each gethering type and two of everything else (three of some things)


I also want to make sure:

I am leveling and maintaining THE ABSOLUTE LEAST NUMBER OF CHARACTERS TO ACCOMPLISH MY GOALS
I am maximizing the growth and enhancement perks of my personal guild (currently level 7 with 8 bank tabs)


Right now I have 11 accounts that I am collapsing down to 5 - and will reexpand to 10 when all toons are max level and ready to start raiding.

Group composition is set up as:

Account 1:
Protection/Retribution Paladin (Tauren Blacksmith/Jewelcrafter) - Level 90 (Main Tank)
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Blacksmith/Jewelcrafter) - Level 35 (Heirloom Geared)
Banking Toon (Goblin Mage, Alchemist/Jewelcrafter) - Level 80 (From RAF granted levels)
Alliance Toon (Worgen Rogue, Skinner/Enchanter + Archeology, First Aid, Cooking, and Fishing) - Level 60 (Must be self-sufficient)

Account 2:
Discipline/Shadow Priest (Goblin Alchemist/Tailor + Archeologist) - Level 88 (Main Healer)
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Alchemist/Tailor + Archeologist) - Level 84

Account 3:
Arcane/Frost Mage (Blood Elf Enchanter/Inscriptionist + First Aid) - Level 87
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Enchanter/Inscriptionist) - Level 35 (Heirloom Geared)

Account 4:
Destruction/Demonology Warlock (Orc Engineer/Leatherworker + First Aid) - Level 86
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Engineer/Leatherworker) - Level 88

Account 5:
Balance/Guardian Druid (Tauren Herbalism/Miner + Max Cooking and Max Fishing) - Level 90
Elemental/Enhancement Shaman (Troll Skinner/Tailor + Cooking) - Level 35 (Heirloom Geared)


5 Man Teams Include:
- Paladin (Prot/Tank), Priest (Disc/Healz), Mage (Arcane/DPS), Warlock (Dest/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS)
- Paladin (Prot/Tank), Shaman (Resto/Healz or Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS)
- Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS)

Dailies Team Includes:
- Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS), Shaman (Ele/DPS)

10-Man Team Planned Will Include:
- Prot Paladin (Main Tank)
- Guardian/Balance Druid (Off-tank/DPS)
- Disc Priest (Main Heals)
- Resto Shaman (Off-Heals/Off-DPS)
- Resto/Elemental Shaman (Off-heals/DPS)
- Elemental Shaman (DPS)
- Elemental Shaman (DPS)
- Elemental Shaman (DPS)
- Arcane Mage (DPS)
- Destruction Warlock (DPS)


*A few key profession notes here:

The Druid is my gatherer of all herbs and ores (top flight speed, herbing in flight form, faster herbing, quick shift for mining, flying around and looting everything at once)
The Elemental/Enhancement Shaman with Skinning and Tailoring is to simplify looting when running my pick-up team - and he's my only skinner)
My profession setup is not ENTIRELY maximized to class/role (though it's close), but I have:

1 Herbalist
1 Miner
1 Skinner
3 Alchemists (1 of each specialization)
3 Jewelcrafters (for faster team gem discoveries)
3 Tailors (for larger amounts of cloth, and quicker bags)
2 Blacksmiths
2 Leatherworkers
2 Engineers
2 Enchanters
2 Inscriptionists
1 Main Cook (with a couple of alternates)
1 Main Fisherman (Druid with Full PVP Gear)
Archeology on the 2 Alchemists who go out into the world
First aid on those toons with little to no self-healing

The crafting professions are split/replicated by team, so discovered recipes can always be useful


My emphasis right now is on leveling the 3 level 35 shamans (as Elemental) - triple boxing them. They each have:

Hierloom PVE Chest (Mystical Elements)
Hierloom PVE Shoulders (Mystical Elements)
Hierloom PVE Pants (Mystical Elements)
Hierloom PVE Staff (Headmaster's Charge)
Hierloom PVE Trinkets (Eye of the Beast x2)
And,

The lead one I drive from is the Skinner/Tailor
One is the enchanter (for DE'ing everything)
One is the blacksmith (carrying keys to unlock chests)


I mainly do questing to level them and grind guild XP, but I also run each new dungeon one time when it unlocks (to see if I can 3-man them at level).


I'm sure I'm forgetting a few other details, but this is pretty detailed on my setup and my goals... What I'm curious to know is:

Do you feel like I'm on the right track with my choices and my approach?
Will my planned 5 man teams be viable for MOP heroics?
Will my planned 10 man team be viable for MOP raids?
What other ideas, adjustments, changes would you make?


Thanks in advance...

[JohnGabriel]

I had a 10 man druid team http://www.dual-boxing.com/entries/232-My-first-10-man-team

You mention wanting single class to run things, as you sit now you'll be creating multiple teams all of which will need geared. If you run 10 druids you will only need to gear up 1 team and use them for everything.

[bradleyb]

I appreciate that - and I gave it some thought, but I already have more than half my team established with character that are over level 85. I REALLY dont want to start over - I'm done RAFing. Right now it's only the three shaman that need a big bump... and they'er pushing up pretty quickly with 40% bonus XP and being rested.

But yeah, 10 druids was appealing... and if I were starting from scratch that WOULD actually be my preferred choice. I LOVE the idea of flight form movement, stealthing past trash, mixing and matching 4 possible specs across 3 different functions using one class, cheating on LFD and LFR by switching specs after getting in, etc.

Yeah, that'd be sweet, but I'm not starting over... ;-)

My only REAL focus on having one class for simplicity is running the dailies (with 5 shaman). That way I can do them quickly and easily with no complexity. In dungeons and raids I can handle the mixing of classes and take the time I need to to do things right.

[bradleyb]

Okay - I really HAD been considering the druid team - but I didn't want to start over. I've given this some more thought though...

I also want to level up my guild (about 50% away from level 8). The easiest way to do that now - is to level up low level characters through questing. So, I'm going to start a 5 man druid team and a 3 man druid team (adding to the two druids I already have). I'm going to level them up to about 15 and then set them aside while I get everyone else to max level. At that point I'll turn around, put heirlooms on all 8 (the other two are already 85 and 90) - then I'll start pumping them up.

In the end, here's my planned structure:

Account 1:
Paladin
Druid
(+bank)
(+ally)

Account 2:
Priest
Druid

Account 3:
Mage
Druid

Account 4:
Warlock
Druid

Account 5:
Shaman
Druid

Account 6:
Shaman
Druid

Account 7:
Shaman
Druid

Account 8
Shaman
Druid

Account 9
Shaman
Druid

Account 10
Druid

That gives me pretty much the absolute best set of options possible - with everyone either being a melee tank, a healer, or a ranged caster for proper symmetry.

[JohnGabriel]

I think the average boxer starts over with a new team 1,000,000 times.

[Khatovar]

I think the average boxer starts over with a new team 1,000,000 times.

Yup. Even though I'm happy with my main team and have been paying the same team through 2.5 expansions now, I still {re}roll new teams every now and then just to do something different.

[EaTCarbS]

I think the average boxer starts over with a new team 1,000,000 times.

Hence all those alts I have.

[bradleyb]

So I tried tinkering with my Druids and setting them up for multi-boxing. As much as I would LOVE to run 10 druids, I found feral to be too challenging from a placement perspective, and boomkin too difficult to manage from a proc perspective. Yes, I can make both specs work - but I can't really maximize their DPS potential.

So back to a modified version of my original plan:

Account 1:
Protection/Retribution Paladin (Tauren Blacksmith/Jewelcrafter) - Level 90
Elemental/Enhancement Shaman (Troll Skinner/Tailor + Cooking) - Level 45 (Heirloom Geared)

Account 2:
Discipline/Shadow Priest (Goblin Alchemist/Tailor + Archeologist) - Level 90
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Alchemist/Tailor + Archeologist) - Level 84

Account 3:
Arcane/Frost Mage (Blood Elf Enchanter/Inscriptionist + First Aid) - Level 88
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Enchanter/Inscriptionist) - Level 45 (Heirloom Geared)

Account 4:
Destruction/Demonology Warlock (Orc Engineer/Leatherworker + First Aid) - Level 86
Elemental/Restoration Shaman (Troll Engineer/Leatherworker) - Level 45 (Heirloom Geared)

Account 5:
Elemental/Enhancement Shaman (Troll Skinner/Tailor) - Level 88
Holy/Protection Paladin (Blood-Elf Blacksmith/Jewelcrafter) - Level 85

Account 6:
Feral/Guardian Druid (Tauren Herbalism/Miner + Max Cooking and Max Fishing) - Level 90
Banking Toon (Goblin Mage, Alchemist/Jewelcrafter) - Level 80
Alliance Toon (Worgen Rogue, Skinner/Enchanter + Archeology, First Aid, Cooking, and Fishing) - Level 60


Team A:
Prot Paladin Tank (1)
Disc Priest Heals
Arcane Mage
Destruction Lock
Elemental Shaman

Team B:
Prot Paladin Tank (2)
Resto Shaman
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman

Dailies Team:
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman

Eventual 10 Man Team (Setup A: Tank, Tank Heals, Party Heals + 7 DPS)
Protection Paladin - Tank
Holy Paladin - Tank Heals
Discipline Priest - Party Heals
Arcane Mage - DPS
Destruction Warlock - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS

Eventual 10 Man Team (Setup B: Tank, Off-Tank, Tank Heals, Party Heals + 6 DPS)
Protection Paladin - Tank
Protection Paladin - Off-Tank
Restoration Shaman - Tank Heals
Discipline Priest - Party Heals
Arcane Mage - DPS
Destruction Warlock - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS

Eventual 10 Man Team (Setup C: Tank, Off-Tank, Tank Heals, Party Heals, Extra-Heals + 5 DPS)
Protection Paladin - Tank
Protection Paladin - Off-Tank
Restoration Shaman - Tank Heals
Discipline Priest - Party Heals
Restoration Shaman - Extra Heals
Arcane Mage - DPS
Destruction Warlock - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS
Elemental Shaman - DPS

Additional Option for Old (25/40) Raids and Flex (11) Raids:
Add Druid to team... as Balance/Guardian for added DPS and tertiary tank


Personally, the most fun I've had so far is with my Discipline Priest. Atonement healing is AWESOME! I could imagine having a team of 2 protection paladins and 8 disc priests that never needed to move during a boss fight and would STILL end the battle at full health!

[JohnGabriel]

I made use of the Jamba-Proc addon and it tells me when to switch between moonfire/sunfire whatnot. I did switch all boomkins at the same time even though they dont all proc at the same time, so its not 100% of your max DPS, but its very close and made boxing boomkin easy.

I know any group will work you just have to find the one you want to put the time into.