Mixed team versus all 1 class

[StephenMB]

Ok, so I am back and at it for about a week. I had my old 5 accounts and power boosted a 5 man Hunter team to 100. I ran a few dungeons and did pretty well. The thing is, I really didn't find it much fun. I just hit basically 4 buttons the entire time and killed everything. I guess what I had so much fun with when I played 5+ years ago was the challenge of the dungeons and the diversity of my group. I ran a Paladin, Cleric, Mage, Hunter and a Shaman. I watched a lot of videos back then and obviously I couldn't clear stuff near as fast as People that had like a 5 pally team, 5 hunter team, 5 Mage team or whatever.... but I had a lot of fun figuring out how to maximize each toon in my setup to make them most effective...Sorry to ramble on, just wanted to explain what keeps me interested.

So ANYWAY... I just RAF'd 5 new accounts and am going to start at level 1 with all 5. That way I can intimately learn each class since it has been awhile and also learn the game mechanics.. (yes I am a glutton). However, I am reading a ton about all the new changes with the new expansions and I am a little concerned. So 3 questions:

1. Would making 5 different classes be very difficult to maximize them with the changes coming up considering I am running a 5 box? I don't really know what those changes are, but from what i have read it provoked this question.

2. Does building a more diverse group in today's game and the new expansion, 5 different classes, offer any advantages?

3. As far as tanks go, I am trying to decide between Warrior, Pally, Druid and Monk for the next expansion. Any input on which will be better in a group running dungeons and hopefully myths with 5 different classes?

Thanks for your input.

[JohnGabriel]

In WoD having a mixed team made everything more difficult than having all dps.

The class changes for Legion will be coming soon so you can try them before the expansion actually releases. I don't think anyone will actually know what to tell you until then.
http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/53063-The-Legion-Pre-Expansion-Patch-Is-Nearly-Here-(19th-July)

[StephenMB]

In WoD having a mixed team made everything more difficult than having all dps.

What was made harder? I am not sure what you mean.

[JohnGabriel]

What was made harder? I am not sure what you mean.

You could just run through heroics with 5 DPS, but a tank/healer/3xDPS had to follow all the mechanics of the fights. You should check out David mages videos. He is taking 5 hunters through mythics.

http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/52880-Davidmage-s-Multiboxing-Videos

[Ughmahedhurtz]

What was made harder? I am not sure what you mean.

In the purest sense, having mixed classes versus one class is N times harder to manage. You have to manage at least 3 different rotations, 3 different sets of cooldowns, 3 different "oh shit" buttons, 3 different thought processes regarding fight mechanics, etc. If you have 5 different classes, it's even worse.

That said, once you intimately understand how all that ties together, you can come up with some pretty amazing setups with ISBoxer to help manage the complexity.

As for the other questions, the general answers are 1) yes, moreso than a single-class team for reasons outlined above; 2) and 3) all-DPS groups have advantages in some fights, whereas a mixed team has advantages in other fights, and certain tanks have better synergy with certain DPS mixes, but how that affects Legion nobody knows yet.

[JohnGabriel]

3 different "oh shit" buttons

And I thought I was the only person to call it that.

[Andreauk]

I find I have way more fun with a mixed team that consist of tank/heals/dps setup than I do with x5 of the same class.

[Wubsie]

While I agree that currently dealing with dungeons is probably easier with 5x DPS, just bursting through it, we do have to keep in mind that even in Tanaan gear you can outgear these instances by something like 60-70 ilvl. I seriously doubt that playing the instances at intended gear levels (at max 630 in the case of Heroics, or 680 in Mythics, no legendaries) is always easier as just 5 DPS. So looking a head to legion, you do have consider that DPSing through everything might not be an option to begin with.

Similarly to Andrea, I also found more enjoyment in playing as all roles in instances, although I absolutely adored my 4x Ret 1x Prot paladin team for dungeons as well. Sadly with the upcoming nerfs to off-healing on Pallies, I don't know viable this setup will be anymore.

As far as the actual questions by OP:

1. As others have mentioned, adding another class usually means you do have X amount of new things you need to be aware of, or choose to lose efficiency by ignoring them. How much each one adds is very dependant on the spec. Some need fairly little baby sitting to perform adequately, while some require constant attention to fulfill their potential.

2. The main advantages, in my opinion, are in terms of utility (portals, lock cookies, life grip, mass invisibility, etc) and FUN. While hunters currently outperform anything else in the DPS role (for consistant single target anyways), it simply is not as fun as having a variety of classes and spells going off.

That being said, class stacking is just as viable as buffs are basically non-existant in Legion and the introduction of personal looting methods means your characters won't be fighting over gear upgrades even if they use the same type. Additionally having less class halls to deal with is a bonus.

3. All of them should be viable. Monk perhaps needs the most attention out of the 3 due to the stagger mechanic, while Warrior and Bear tanks can be made a bit more passive in your setup. Exact numbers for which perform the best are really not available, so take this with a grain of salt.

[Djawol]

For example im mixed group player for 3-4 years now. I played at the beginning of the wod xpac a range team and cleared all dungeons with blue gear. My team was a pally tank, druid heal, Destro Warlock, Hunter, Frostmage. It was very hard at the beginning to learn the boss mechanics. heroism and raid heal cooldown helped a lot. Now at end of the xpac im playing a mixed meele group with pally tank, druid heal, warrior, hunter( OK not meele :D) and enh shaman. With this group it was easier to clear all heroics with 610-620 ilvl, because i remembered everything and used pots, food and flasks to push my team and thats not cheating :D. Now im clearing mythic dungeons with this team http://www.dual-boxing.com/threads/53049-Multiboxing-Mythic-Dungeons

For your question to maximize your dps: first of all i highly recommend to use isboxer pro system:
here is a how to made by mirai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cONmD2E69nA
with this system i perform better than playing the class solo, depends on a class ;)

My way is that i build my team stacking buffs and raid cooldowns like heroism or raidheal cd. Then i look in their rotations and how i can manage them with is boxer and the macrosystem ingame.
Best way atm is to go on ptr and test your classes. I tested since early beta nearly every class and i can say that hunters will be again the easiest range dps class. Most other range classes like shadowpriest become more complex or are still the same like frostmage. Meele classes will be very easy to play.

Like the others already said a cons agains mixed group are the classhalls and you must manage your dps rotantions and cooldowns, but with the is boxer pro system its not a cons for me :D In legion there are an ability pruning again, so less buttons to manage again :)
Pros for mixed team are for example: you can get all raid cooldowns and battleres... in one team.
My team will be in legion pally tank, druid heal, enh shaman, fury warrior and a hunter bm or surv. My thougts on this team are:
for my tank: lay on hands, quite good selfhealing, good against casters with shield silence, consecration heal to my group and persistent against spiky dmg
For my heal: battleres, a lot hots, with innervate tranquility while moving and tranquility get buffed for 100% more heal in 5 man group
For my fury warrior: 15% more life for 10 sec 3min cd, execute burst
For enh shaman. bloodlust, enhance 3 party members with empowered stormlash, causing to do additional nature damage
For hunter: second battleres and i like hunters :D
If i change my tank, i will think about to exchange my hunter or my warrior for a ret paladin, because of their new blessings and they get a buff 20% more dmg and 30% reduced dmg for 20 sec, if one party member dies :D

[Mosg2]

All good points so far, though I'll add my two:

1) In Legion, there are no buffs. Most classes have some 2-3 minute cooldown utility ability, but otherwise you don't have to have a specific mix of classes to attain all of the appropriate group buffs. This pretty strongly incentivizes stacking the same class if possible.

2) It is pretty easy in ISBoxer to manage the DPS/tanking rotation of any class that is resource limited or first-come first-serve (FCFS) style. For instance, it's pretty easy to setup an optimal rotation for Hunters, EShaman, Warriors, Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and RPallies. I would say you can get 90+% efficiency on those classes. Mostly, you're figuring out how to maximize big cooldowns.

[Lyonheart]

It is pretty easy in ISBoxer to manage the DPS/tanking rotation of any class that is resource limited or first-come first-serve (FCFS) style. For instance, it's pretty easy to setup an optimal rotation for Hunters, EShaman, Warriors, Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and RPallies. I would say you can get 90+% efficiency on those classes. Mostly, you're figuring out how to maximize big cooldowns.

And Boomkins..no eclipse proc to worry about. IF i understand it right..lunar and solar are just single target and AE now. So a full druid team is sounding great as it is the only class than can fill ALL roles ( including Ranged DPS )

[Mosg2]

Yeah, Boomkins also would be trivial to maximize DPS... except their only AoE is ground targeted meow :/ If Starfall hadn't changed I would love Boomkins.

[Lyonheart]

Yeah, Boomkins also would be trivial to maximize DPS... except their only AoE is ground targeted meow :/ If Starfall hadn't changed I would love Boomkins.

This bummed me out as well.. I loved being able to hit starfall and run around and gather up mobs for skinning etc.. BUT i dont mind GTAOE spells.. I use them easy enough with the on next click key maps. ( combined with the macro that sets all my toons camera the same )

[JohnGabriel]

There were 5 new (6.2.3) heirloom trinkets added that drop only in mythics, and they drop only for specific loot specializations. The only way to get all of them is to run a mixed group.

Unlikely you can do it with a single team, here is what you need:

Orb of Voidsight - Mage, Balance Druid, Elemental Shaman, Shadow Priest, Warlock
Judgment of the Naaru - Holy Paladin, Restoration Druid, Holy/Disc Priest, Restoration Shaman, Mistweaver monk
Gronntooth War Horn - Retribution Paladins, Arms/Fury Warrior, Frost/Unholy Death Knight
Infallible Tracking Charm - Feral Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Enhancement Shaman, Windwalker Monk
Purified Shard of the Third Moon - Protection Paladin, Protection Warrior, Guardian Druid, Blood Death Knight, Brewmaster Monk

I've only managed 3 so far myself.

[Andreauk]

To get more trinkets on the same team just dual spec, then select a different loot specialization?