Requesting feedback re: team member reassignment for northrend instance runs

[ss2]

I believe all heroics except Oculus have been cleared by the following teams:

Pally Tank, 4 Elemental Shaman
DK Tank, 4 Elemental Shaman
Pally Tank, Resto Shaman, 3 Elemental Shaman
Pally Tank, Resto Shaman, Boomkin, 2 Elemental Shaman

Allthough other various combinatinos are making serious progress.

You could also add protection paladin, resto shaman, moonkin, frostmage and elemental shaman to that list

Frost mages are absurdly easy to use efficiently with macros, like tbc shaman easy. Water elemental/icy veins then Frostbolt x infinity, plus they add 10% crit for the party and 3% more for one person.

[echo]

Ty SS2 for the tip! I might respec my mage then. I was thinking of the following setup

Prot Pally
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...00000000000000

Resto Shammy
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...13041022331251

Balance Druid
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...00000000000000

Demonlogy Warlock
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...00000000000000

Arcane Mage
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...00000000000000

But if a frost mage is easier to mindlessly control, that's good to know beforehand. Would the arcane build I linked be comparable in terms of use of use and dps output? if not, can you recommend a good multibox frost build that's easy to control as you described? I spec'ed

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...00220152201350

to minimize talents that are of little use in pve environments and those that I have to keep an eye out for like brain freeze. Will I limit my dps too much though by doing so?

once again, feedbacks appreciated.

[ss2]

I recommend something along the lines of this for a paladin with the last two points going where ever you see fit
resto shaman, something like this
balance druids are debatable, but I've never found the extra hit from 3/3 from improved feari fire to be needed in heroics while 2/2 balance of power is very useful, and gale winds is good if you plan to use hurricane.
I've never had a warlock, but I imagine 5/5 demonic pact is better than flametongue totem

I've never spec'd my mage arcane because I don't believe they give a 10% crit chance for the party on a target like fire/frost mages do (I could be wrong)
Your frost build looks fine, except I HIGHLY recommend putting 3/3 into winter's chill.

My mage has brain freeze, but I never use it while multiboxing. If you're like me and want to dps with the repetitive mashing of one key then the 15% of a free fireball isn't worth trying to work into a macro.

[Aradar]

this[/url] for a paladin with the last two points going where ever you see fit
resto shaman, something like this
balance druids are debatable, but I've never found the extra hit from 3/3 from improved feari fire to be needed in heroics while 2/2 balance of power is very useful, and gale winds is good if you plan to use hurricane.
I've never had a warlock, but I imagine 5/5 demonic pact is better than flametongue totem

I've never spec'd my mage arcane because I don't believe they give a 10% crit chance for the party on a target like fire/frost mages do (I could be wrong)
Your frost build looks fine, except I HIGHLY recommend putting 3/3 into winter's chill.

My mage has brain freeze, but I never use it while multiboxing. If you're like me and want to dps with the repetitive mashing of one key then the 15% of a free fireball isn't worth trying to work into a macro.

Just keep in mind if you go with an Elemental Shaman that has Totem of Wrath, it doesn't stack with Heart of the Crusader which is included in this tank build. As for the Restoration Shaman, I heal my tank with Healing Wave since nothing is generally in range to feed off a Chain Heal, thus making the talent Healing Way very nice especially next patch when it's 18% after the first heal instead of stacking up to it. I personally don't have Riptide either for the same reason but I guess it's just preference, since ss2 has proven he knows what he's doing.

[puppychow]

You also have to consider whether or not you are going to "drive" your mage (druid, etc) solo. For example for mages, frost is the best multibox spec, since it gives 10% extra caster damage and its very easy to control/macro. HOWEVER, frostfire bolt spec (0/53/18) is vastly superior to frost for raiding DPS, especially once you hit 1600 spell dmg and 30% crit levels of gear. So if you plan to spend a bit of time raiding in guild or in pugs, you may just want to spec 53/18 since your DPS will be quite a bit higher when grouped with others. On the other hand, arcane is a vastly superior spec for arena, so if you are going to arena with friends then arcane is way better.

Just figure out always first what the thing you want to do most is - arenas, battlegrounds, wintergrasp, farming gold, heroics, regular instances, raiding, etc. "All of them" isn't really a valid answer, you are going to gravitate to one more than the other. I do all of them, but my team is setup more for heroic farming and doing raids with my mage/pally more than anything else, so I have a very geared tank (prot pally), a very geared AOE healer (resto shaman), a mage (teleporting/food), and 2 ele shamans (may replace one with a boomkin) - remember, the challenge isn't going to be the current 5 mans, but the NEXT 5 man that opens up in a few months.

[echo]

Wow, thanks to you all for taking the time to review everything I said and giving me the benefits of your experience! I'm gonna go digest everything I read just now and play around with the teams in nexus/uk to see which is the easiest for me to run with. (btw, ty for the heads up about the buff stacking aradar! I did not know that they didnt stack)

and actually I think I will have just 2 teams or so for variety that I will actively work on, and with all my leftover toons, I will play maybe one or two of them solo and gear/talent/setup specifically for solo play. (multiboxing is fun, but being so independent with your own team makes it harder to get to know the other players since I dont have to interact with them at all if I dont want to. maybe playing soloing will hopefully allow me to meet more nice people to group with in the future)

last clarification, the 10% to crit for fire/frost mages that everyone is talking about, you are all referring to winter's chill stacked 5x right? and the fire equivalent? that's the only thing that I can think of, if I'm missing something please let me know. thanks in advance!

[ss2]

Winter's chill x5 or 5x scorches with improved scorch give 10% crit
My last post was assuming you were going after a heroic team with no elemental shaman in group~

I personally heal my tank with earthshield + riptide and throw in a healing wave if needed, and then the group (which are stacked up and auto following my tank) get slapped with chain heals when they're not at full, but that's all preference really.
tbqh I wish I had a priest healer but I'm completely burned out on leveling characters