Experiences with my new mixed team

I've been doing quite a bit of experimentation lately with composition and group setups. I started my MB-career with 5 shaman, then later switched to 1 paladin + 4 shaman. Come 2.4 I switched a shaman with a druid for the spell damage debuff. With my team at 80 in WotLK I decided to try out paladin, resto-shaman and three hunters. I didn't like them, in part because I had trouble AE healing and because the pets required more micromanagement than I had imagined. Finding myself in a pinch for some of the achievement and wanting a pure-dps main for raids, I decided to switch yet another shaman for a mage. Needing a RAF-levelling partner, I also decided to level a priest to switch for my resto shaman in order to get better AE heals.

So now my team looks like this: paladin (prot), priest (holy), mage (frost), druid (balance) and shaman (elemental). Having three chars (paladin, shaman, druid) already geared helped a lot gearing out the newcomers, but I have to say that I'm VERY happily suprised at their performance. Aside from the fact that I practically have raid buffs in instances (fortitude, arcane brill, gotw, bok etc.), the addition of the priest is simply amazing in terms of healing and utility. Mage ports, food and poly is all nice and the dps output is great also (parsed 5700 dps on trollgore and herald just spamming frostbolts, which is a few hundred dps better than my shaman who has better gear), not to mention replenishment which comes with 3.1. Joy joy :-)

I really haven't had any administration og micromanagement issues in spite of the setup with five different classes, but I suppose my previous experience has helped alleviate the learning curve a bit. Anyway, I just wanted to recommend this setup to anyone who's considering a mixed team - the synergy is great - druid provides spell damage taken debuff, moonkin aura, +hit debuff (if needed), mage provides utility and increased crit taken debuff, shaman provides +spell damage buff (tow).

Very interesting.

Can you give a few more details.
What level are all members of your team - are they all max level now?

What instances have you done with the team (and if all max level, which heroics if any).

Glad to hear that this group composition works at higher levels. My first multiboxing team is exactly the same, but still at level 31 (RAF does not work in denmark X( ). And as shaman said ... more details please :P

All members are level 80. My paladin, shammie and druid has the best gear you can obtain from rep/emblems/heroic drops, but I'm still in the process of gearing up my mage (http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sh...horn&n=Manapie ) and my priest (http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sh...rn&n=Shadowpie).

So far I've done all heroics apart from Old Kingdom (working on 2-minute herald at the moment) and Oculus (haven't attempted yet). I'm aiming to get both down with my new chars soon, but it will probably require some respeccing.

I levelled the priest and the mage up together (RAF), which was a surprisingly good combination. I had the priest specced as disc and the combination of holy nova and arcane explosion is really really nice for drop-quests. Holy fire + frostbolt is sufficient to kill mobs before the reach you so no problems there either :-)

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Originally Posted by 'Elgert',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183073#post1 83073

Glad to hear that this group composition works at higher levels. My first multiboxing team is exactly the same, but still at level 31 (RAF does not work in denmark X( ). And as shaman said ... more details please :P

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I'm happy to provide details - just ask away :-)

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Originally Posted by 'Elgert',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183073#post1 83073

Glad to hear that this group composition works at higher levels. My first multiboxing team is exactly the same, but still at level 31 (RAF does not work in denmark X( ). And as shaman said ... more details please :P

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Btw, RAF works fine in Denmark if you're the invited person (if you have a swedish friend, for instance, you can have him invite you and RAF up to 60 with him - assuming of course you're levelling a few chars and not a full team) :-)

Suggesting that a mixed group can perform better then an all shaman group... that's blasphemy. You'd better hide before the cloth wearing shaman inquisition finds out :)

On a more serious note, glad to hear more people are experimenting with finding more optimal builds.

Glad to hear indeed.
I had similar findings when switching from to 4 shamans + warrior to 3 shamans + warrior + priest to a full multiclass group.

Errrr .... I mean ... you're completely wrong! :P

[edit]
My current setup possibilities are:

[warrior/priest/shaman] + [mage] + [shaman] + [hunter] + [druid]
I'm currently mostly active with the warrior(80) as tank and druid(68) as healer. This way I can get some tanking gear for the druid by doing instance boosting.

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Originally Posted by 'Ken',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183080#post1830 80

Glad to hear indeed.
I had similar findings when switching from to 4 shamans + warrior to 3 shamans + warrior + priest to a full multiclass group.

Errrr .... I mean ... you're completely wrong! :P

[edit]
My current setup possibilities are:

[warrior/priest/shaman] + [mage] + [shaman] + [hunter] + [druid]
I'm currently mostly active with the warrior(80) as tank and druid(68) as healer. This way I can get some tanking gear for the druid by doing instance boosting.

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Good to see you're so butt-hurt over that other thread you have to make it spill over here.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but how much do you do to take advantage of proc'd abilities with this group? (Hot Streak, Brain Freeze, Eclipse, etc)


I run a mixed team also and I have gotten a little silly with this. I'm curious about your experience with that.

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Originally Posted by 'Bigfish',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183089#post 183089

Good to see you're so butt-hurt over that other thread you have to make it spill over here.

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[offtopic]
That post says more about you than about me.

Also: Please note the fontsize and the ":P".
You've got some logic issues if you're able to tie my link-placement to being butt-hurt :D (Do you actually know that butt-hurt implies being raped?)
Of course I could be wrong with the "logic issues" part, but that would very likely imply that you're just trolling in this topic :)
[/offtopic]

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Originally Posted by 'Feider',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183091#post1 83091

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but how much do you do to take advantage of proc'd abilities with this group? (Hot Streak, Brain Freeze, Eclipse, etc)


I run a mixed team also and I have gotten a little silly with this. I'm curious about your experience with that.

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Not the OP, but I take advantage of them by setting up my macros to assume a proc every so often. In the case of Hotstreak anyway. No experience with Brain Freeze, and Eclipse never struck me as being consistant enough to accurately plan for.

With Hotstreak, I have my macros set up to cast a Pyroblast every 12-15 seconds or so, which, if your crit rate is high enough, pretty much gives you an instant Pyroblast 90% of the time.


Edit: Ken, if you want to continue this, lets make a new thread or go to the one that's already been derailed.

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Originally Posted by 'Feider',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183091#post1 83091

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit but how much do you do to take advantage of proc'd abilities with this group? (Hot Streak, Brain Freeze, Eclipse, etc)

I run a mixed team also and I have gotten a little silly with this. I'm curious about your experience with that.

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I pretty much ignore brain freeze procs - there's simply too much micromanagement involved to bother with it, is it's not that big a difference dps wise. I'll spec out of it soon I think. If I can find a way to macro it I will, but the solution I used for my druids eclipse (/castrandom wrath, starfire) doesn't work for my mage since fire dps is only relevant when brainfreeze procs. And mage is still ahead DPS, so I'm ok with it :-) If anyone has a solution I'd love to hear about it though :)

Edit: A note on my eclipse "solution" - I have a few macros I use depending on situation - on heroic bosses it's usually:

/assist party1
/castsequence reset=target/combat moonfire, null
/castrandom wrath, starfire _OR_ /castrandom starfire, starfire, wrath

for raidbosses I have:
/castsequence reset=target/combat faerie fire, null
/castrandom wrath, starfire _OR_ /castrandom starfire, starfire, wrath

and reapply moonfire/flameshock/faerie fire manually (usually I'll assign the same key, mouse4, to reapply both flameshock and moonfire, although this is technically inefficient and sometimes I leave out moonfire altogether - tbh I don't see much of a DPS increase from using moonfire and I have yet to find a moonfire/IS combo that works significantly better than /castrandom wrath, starfire).

Or you could make friends and agree to disagree.

I respect you two too much to want to see you becoming the new Deathwalker/glo :)

Fuzz. I have a question for you. In my thread, I have the same setup but I was planning to use a resto shammy instead of a holy priest. Do you find the AoE healing (or general healing) is better than the priest? From some of the other threads I have read, it seems like holy is the way to go for priests.

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Originally Posted by 'SmackedMeat',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183165# post183165

Fuzz. I have a question for you. In my thread, I have the same setup but I was planning to use a resto shammy instead of a holy priest. Do you find the AoE healing (or general healing) is better than the priest? From some of the other threads I have read, it seems like holy is the way to go for priests.

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Both AE healing and general healing is much less of a hassle with the priest. I do miss earthshield and riptide, but renew + mending makes up for it imo. Circle of healing, holy nova and prayer of healing is a godsend, not only does a holy priest AE heal unlike any other healer, you don't have to stop your dps in order to heal (like you would with 3-4 shaman casting chain heal). If you go from several shamans to one (like I did) you'll probably miss miss the extra heroism when grinding heroics, but thats a minor issue and come 3.1 we'll get a 10 min exhaustion anyway. Don't get me wrong, resto shamans are good to have - the extra totems, heroism, riptide, earth shield, but after trying a holy priest for healer, I'm not going back :-)

Fuzz,

Since the "odd couple" forgot to mention it, you should join us on the other thread .

Glad to hear you are having fun with a mixed setup. I've been thinking of going the mixed route as well. Thing is, I want a DK tank and a 50/21 holy/prot paly for Blessing of Sanctuary. The main concern I've had with the paly healer is the AoE healing. Hearing how good the priest is has got me worried. I really like BoS for DKs, the RP generation is just insane, but I could live without it if the healing on a priest is really that good. Thoughts?

- Souca -

The healing on a priest is really that good. ;)

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Originally Posted by 'Greythan',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183329#pos t183329

The healing on a priest is really that good. ;)

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You guys sold me. Once I get my machine built, I'll be going holy on the priest.

I have a group a lot alike like yours, just my priest is disc specced and not holy :)

You ever tried disc priest? Shield + Penance is a great combo. Basically Penance is instant healing (no cast time) but with 3 pulses. Great for tank healing and emergency mouse over, and disc will get a serious buff on top of that with 3.1 (faster Shield, impr Flash Heal, and lots of spell haste) and disc is a much much more mana efficient healing spec compared to holy :)

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Originally Posted by 'torytrae',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183404#pos t183404

I have a group a lot alike like yours, just my priest is disc specced and not holy :)

You ever tried disc priest? Shield + Penance is a great combo. Basically Penance is instant healing (no cast time) but with 3 pulses. Great for tank healing and emergency mouse over, and disc will get a serious buff on top of that with 3.1 (faster Shield, impr Flash Heal, and lots of spell haste) and disc is a much much more mana efficient healing spec compared to holy :)

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I so agree. I had a holy priest too at level 80 for a few months and then respecced to discipline. I'll never switch back to holy. Holy is based on overhealing and has strong group healing.
When using holy in a group, you usually don't need many kinds of group healing, discipline suffices with its 2 group heal skills and Prayer of Mending. When using holy in a raid, it can be VERY effective for group healing, but only if the other healer(s) are doing their job well. From the moment that other healers are slacking a bit or when they are undergeared, the holy priest's mana gets drained very quickly.

For me, a discipline priest has sufficient multi-target healing skills, but Penance is just the best thing ever: it almost doesn't cost any mana and it does about as much healing as a greater heal and it starts healing from the moment you cast it. I usually just throw my HoT and Prayer of Mending on the tanks in a raid and another discipline priest does the same. When you do that, the tanks almost don't require any extra healing.

When there are 3 healers in a group, I often stay at 80% mana or higher during a boss fight with discipline spec. The endboss encounter in Naxx also becomes really easy with Penance.

This is my build(51/20/0), it's based on Kvdm's build:
http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-ta...+Blade&n=Senua

damn all this really wants me to level my 61 priest, I hear priests are also getting some decent love in 3.1? The raz fight in Naxx is funny as heck, I see pugs every day "lf1m naxx25 priest any spec/gear!!" and so want to take my priest and rain epics down on her :)

Also have any of you ever tried gearing for extremely high spirit and just spamming holy nova? threat free aoe heals, and if your spirit is high enough I'd imagine you could spam it non stop during most fights.

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Originally Posted by 'puppychow',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183518#po st183518

damn all this really wants me to level my 61 priest, I hear priests are also getting some decent love in 3.1? The raz fight in Naxx is funny as heck, I see pugs every day "lf1m naxx25 priest any spec/gear!!" and so want to take my priest and rain epics down on her :)

Also have any of you ever tried gearing for extremely high spirit and just spamming holy nova? threat free aoe heals, and if your spirit is high enough I'd imagine you could spam it non stop during most fights.

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Holy Nova is really just an "oh crap" button. It uses double the mana and does maybe half the damage of a pally consecrate. It can sometimes buy you time to get off some real heals, but it uses too much mana to be spammable. When I started my 5x priest group (have some RAF time left) I was intrigued with the aoe possibilities as well, but it takes about half of my mana to burn down regular mobs my level with it (and that's x5). On the other hand, a single one (x5) is enough to bring everyone from half to full health. I've soloed a priest to 71, mostly disc, and it just hurts too much to use Holy Nova anything but rarely.

Wanted to comment about watching procs since I didnt see anybody else mention it. For some classes youre giving up quite a bit of power and/or wasting talent points if you ignore procs.

Personally I use Mik's combat scrolling text add on. You can tell it to show you procs from your party (and you can ignore the ones you dont want so youre not inundanted with stuff you dont care about). So for example it shows when my enhancement shaman has a 5 stack of maelstrom weapon. It shows when my fury warrior gets a free slam prom, etc etc.

Just throwing it out ther.

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Originally Posted by 'CommanderChaos',index.php?page=Thread&postID=1835 40#post183540

Holy Nova is really just an "oh crap" button. It uses double the mana and does maybe half the damage of a pally consecrate. It can sometimes buy you time to get off some real heals, but it uses too much mana to be spammable. When I started my 5x priest group (have some RAF time left) I was intrigued with the aoe possibilities as well, but it takes about half of my mana to burn down regular mobs my level with it (and that's x5). On the other hand, a single one (x5) is enough to bring everyone from half to full health. I've soloed a priest to 71, mostly disc, and it just hurts too much to use Holy Nova anything but rarely.

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I actually used it quite a lot when I soloed my priest from 70 to 80. Disciplin extra strong + reflective shields in combination with power infusion + holy nova (and eventually mind sear) works quite well for aoe'ing groups of quest mobs.

@rebeard
Did you setup any extra keys to make use of these procs?

Would it be possible for you to update your layout thread and add some screenshots of your priest / mage setup? I have the capability of running exactly the same layout but was wondering, since you're having so much success, how you're grouping some of the spells together. I would kill to see a copy of the macros exported for each class. Thanks in advance!

Max

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Originally Posted by 'Redbeard',index.php?page=Thread&postID=183706#pos t183706

Wanted to comment about watching procs since I didnt see anybody else mention it. For some classes youre giving up quite a bit of power and/or wasting talent points if you ignore procs.

Personally I use Mik's combat scrolling text add on. You can tell it to show you procs from your party (and you can ignore the ones you dont want so youre not inundanted with stuff you dont care about). So for example it shows when my enhancement shaman has a 5 stack of maelstrom weapon. It shows when my fury warrior gets a free slam prom, etc etc.

Just throwing it out ther.

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Interessting, nice idea. How do you handle this macro-like? It should be hell to assign a specific key somehow to trigger each proc of your toons? How did you setup this proc-stuff? Was always wondering :)

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Originally Posted by 'torytrae',index.php?page=Thread&postID=184386#pos t184386

Zitat von »Redbeard«
Wanted to comment about watching procs since I didnt see anybody else mention it. For some classes youre giving up quite a bit of power and/or wasting talent points if you ignore procs.

Personally I use Mik's combat scrolling text add on. You can tell it to show you procs from your party (and you can ignore the ones you dont want so youre not inundanted with stuff you dont care about). So for example it shows when my enhancement shaman has a 5 stack of maelstrom weapon. It shows when my fury warrior gets a free slam prom, etc etc.

Just throwing it out ther.


Interessting, nice idea. How do you handle this macro-like? It should be hell to assign a specific key somehow to trigger each proc of your toons? How did you setup this proc-stuff? Was always wondering

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I use MSCT also to announce party procs. I have it only announce Brain Freeze and Eclipse though. With a mixed group random auras are procing all over the place.
I don't have my macros in front of me but basically on the main dps key I have something like this:

MAGE
/cast [nomodifier] frostbolt; [modifier:shift] fireball

DRUID
/cast [nomodifier] wrath; [modifier:ctrl] starfire (for trash)
/cast [nomodifier] starfire; [modifier:ctrl] wrath (for bosses)

When an ability procs I (hopefully) hit the right modifier.

I'll have to grab that mod - it sounds exactly what I need.

Fuzzyboy, can you update your blog or post with your current character names? I'd like to check out your talents.

Thanks!