EQ2 - Server population

[Ellay]

Could anyone tell me what servers are generally High Pop I like those!! :P
Also for a 4 boxing group, thinking of SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz, hows that look!

[Frosty]

For servers, (I'm looking right now, it looks like they are all Medium except for:

Vox (EXC)(PVP) = Light... I have no idea what EXC really means, but it says it's an exchange server. :P
Venekor (RP)(PVP) = Light

Nagafen (PVP) = Heavy
Antonia Bayle (RP) = Heavy

For the group, what are you wanting to do? If PvP I will be the absolute worst person to ask.

But then again, I probably won't be the greatest person for PvE.
I have played a SK, Paladin and Guardian though. The SK was really fun, but I am used to the Paladin type of tanking in WoW.
So when I pull too many mobs, I get my butt handed to me. Paladin was pretty decent, but for the way I really wanted to play, the Guardian is what I went with.

Granted I'm still in the 20's, but I just pulled 2 groups of even con, Heroic mobs (6 total) and only had to heal once and never lost agro.
I'm finding the Guardian is giving me more time to learn what I should do when the $%*@ hits the fan. :thumbup:

After I learn the ropes a bit, I may bring up another team with an SK (really was fun/neat).

[Ellay]

I'm definitely not looking to PvP in EQ2 thanks for the input!

[Alemi]

Could anyone tell me what servers are generally High Pop I like those!! :P
Also for a 4 boxing group, thinking of SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz, hows that look!

I haven't played in a few years, right after they added in Haven. Did they make it so you can roll a SK on Qeynos?

Otherwise, the only problem with this is you'd have to betray to Qeynos which you'd have to do "solo" on your SK, until they could do quests since the factions will prevent you from doing any city quests or first tier quests.

Personally, I loved my Inquisitor. DPS/cc/fat fast heals and coercers were my fav too just for charm. You could do a SK/Inquis/Dirge (or Troub, but Dirges get nice melee boosts)/Coercer (threat boosts) and get a nice benefit.

[Noxxy]

EXC = exchange - i.e., gold farming, botting and character selling - no, I'm not being sarcastic - that's the total purpose of Vox

Lot of ppl go RP on Antonia Bayle

SK/Troub/ Warden or Templar / and Illusionist or Wiz

I've mentioned it before in previous posts that 4mans are prob the hardest to pick a group but let's analyse it...

• heavy (plate) tanks a given
• 1 or 2 healers (following applies to a group of FOUR OR LESS, i.e., in a group of 5 or more, 2 healers is definately the norm)
  
  • 2 healers --> lower overall dps --> longer fights --> tank taking more damage --> tank requiring more healing --> healers need more mana to heal --> good chance they go oom --> dead tank --> wipefest
  • 1 healer --> more dps --> tank takes less damage --> tank takes less healing --> yadda yadda yadda --> loot / rinse / repeat
• DPS character is a given
• CC or bard
  
  • CC has mana regen, some DPS increases and of course crowd control
  • Bard is mainly utility - it will buff up the other chars to perform better. It has run speed, heaps of buffs and debuffs, mana regen
  • tbth, I'd prob go with a bard for a 4 man as the CC requires a lot of spell casting to benefit from such things as perpetuality

So for a plate tank - you got the 4 choices. You've suggested SK.

• If you've gone the 1 healer approach, you may find that your short on heals at the end game
• they are know for DPS and AOE - but they are also considered one of the 'softest' plate tanks
• TBTH, and IMHO, I would suggest going a pally for a group of four - mainly as it can heal / ward - if you go the 1 healer approach + the pally - you have in effect got 1.5 healers in the group whereas going SK would mean you only have the 1.0 healer
• Downside to the pally is lower DPS than an SK but you do get increased survivability
• a MASSIVE bonus for going either of these two crusaders is the 100% fear resist deep down the WIS line - we all know that fear is a killer of any boxing team - both have 100% fear resist but comes at a cost to DPS...

Healers, druid:

• fury, high DPS, low healing (and that 'low' comment will cause some angst - but I say that from exp)
• warden, high DPS (melee spec), high healing
• BUT - both use HoTs to heal...with the odd minor DH - therefore, if you have huge dmg inc...and only HoTs healing...

Healers, shaman:

• Main healing is through preventing damage, i.e., wards - BUT - not so good at 'repairing' damage once it has been done
• good handful of DHs

Given you only have a group of 4 - and possibly the 1 - 1.5 healers - it may be better for you to prevent the damage (i.e., wards) than to heal it (via HoTs)

So which to choose;

• SK+defiler, pally+mystic

DPS

• personally, for boxing I would not recommend a wizard. I do run a fully dec'd out wiz with everything that opens and shuts and I am still disappointed with the DPS output. Wiz has long cast times which doesn't meld itself well to a boxing group.
• rouges - I am totally bias towards rogues - smuggle (group stealth), HUGE dps (easy 3k avg boxed), lot of debuffs, evac!

DPS, caster
- honestly, prob go something like a lock over a wiz anyday

DPS, melee
- rogue
- SK + brig
- Pally + swash

So assuming you've gone MT + 1 healer + bard + DPS - personally, I'd lean towards Pally + Mystic + Swash + Troub (all good) - if your set for an SK - SK + defiler + brig + dirge (all ebil) - one team has more survivability - the other is definately more DPS

[Ellay]

That's some amazing information!! Thank you sooo much for the detailed response.
I am planning on running 4 because I like to have the option to do my own thing, but at the same time play with friends or invite random players to join in on the fun, yet still be self sufficient, 4 worked for me in WoW, FFXI, hopefully it works in EQ2 and it sounds like it if you make a solid group.

I'm not totally set on having to have an SK as a MT, I want whatever holds aggro the best, as well as being able to snap AoE aggro so my other characters are safe. Looking at eveyone's abilities it appears all tanks get some type of AoE snap.

Melee sounds very doable and is definitely opening up more options for me, or did the latest update really hurt the ability for melee followers?
Either way.. what is the big thing about defiler? I've seen them mentioned a ton! I dual-boxed EQ2 quite a while back and did Berserker + Warden and had quite a bit of fun with that, the Warden overall seemed pretty solid.

I really want a bard, so I'm glad that's included, it's still a toss up, would you suggest a monk at all instead of the rogue type to compliment a dirge for extra haste + decent dps?

Wow this is a mess of stuff, I need to pull myself together =D
To wrap it up, so hopefully your responses are easier to digest what I've said.. I want a solid tank, any of the 4 (Guard/Bersk/Pal/SK) is in my realm, I was leaning for Troub but if I'm going melee, I'll have a Dirge, and I am leaning towards Warden, but if you can tell me what all the hubub is about Defiler's and the like I'm all for it, last slot is open to a fun melee dps aka monk or brigand!

Thanks again, whew!

[Noxxy]

Just thinking about it - all of the suggested specs you'll get for a 4 man wil be one of the three following combinations:
- MT + MH + Util + CC
- MT + MH + Util + DPS
- MT + MH + DPS + CC

So we may be able to work out the combos based on the assumption you'll go a crusader and have wards for heals
- SK + Def + Dirge + Coer
- SK + Def + Dirge/Troub + Brig/Lock
- SK + Def + Brig/Lock + Coer

- Pally + Mystic + Troub + Illi
- Pally + Mystic + Dirge/Troub + Swash/Lock
- Pally + Mystic + Swash/Lock + Illi

All combos have their merits - with only the real difference between the groups being where they sit for DPS and survivability curve

DPS <-------------------------------------->Survivability

I would suggest any group with an SK tank leans more towards the DPS end (at the cost of suvivability) whereas Pally teams tend to be more towards the suvivability end with less DPS

[HomersDonut]

+1 to the SK/ Defiler/ Dirge/ Warlock group

In addition to Noxxy's info I would add that with the right AA's an SK can life tap on nearly every combat art they use. Also, all of these characters either debuff disease resists or cause disease damage - they all work well together.

Finally as a general comment, while after level 20-30 it doesn't matter much which city you come from it can be annoying in the early game just getting your toons around their individual towns. It just slows down your pace.

Monks can be fun and go well when paired up with a Mystic or Defiler, but they are no match for DPS when compared to any of the scouts. My highest level 3Box group is Monk/Mystic/Swashbuckler

[Noxxy]

Looking at eveyone's abilities it appears all tanks get some type of AoE snap.

Pretty much - even if a tank doesn't have many AOE spells/CAs they can aquire AOE attacks (fired off auto attacks) through spending the AAs - i.e., crusaders have trample (agi line 4 4 8 ), warriors get dragoon's cyclone (agi line 4 4 8 ) - and of course there's always the hate transfers coming off other group members (swash and coer, etc., only for the encouter though not adds)

Melee sounds very doable and is definitely opening up more options for me, or did the latest update really hurt the ability for melee followers?

Yes it is totally doable - and a source of consistent DPS - not hurt at all really - just a bit of a pain at present but can be side stepped through a bit more extra jiggling

Either way.. what is the big thing about defiler?

Defiler buff more hp than mystics, plus have a pretty tasty attack speed debuff - but - for a pally lead group I still prefer the mystic (remembering I am biased towards 'good' characters - not necessarily the 'best' characters).

...a monk...

There are a few ppl on here that have a brawler in their 6 mans who would be best to answer this for you. Personally, I feel you would give up more utility by including a brawler in a boxed group - but that's my own opinion. From memory, the monk gets a few special benefits when it's close to death (speed and dps inc???) but if your tank is tanking, the chance of that occurring are slim. Also, it won't be taunting much (except maybe enough to stay 2nd on the threat meter perhaps). Plus, from memory, brawlers don't seem to have many mob debuffs (correct me if I am totally mistaken) so you'd be giving up the debuffs which another class can offer.

I want a solid tank, any of the 4

Well that opens up some more choices.

Guard + Def + Dirge + Coer
Guard + Def + Dirge/Troub + Brig/Lock
Guard + Def + Brig/Lock + Coer

You'd be pretty hard pressed dying with a Guard + Def + Dirge + Coer...

[Ellay]

Opinions on Guardian / Warden / Brigand / Dirge, or is a Defiler just that much better?


Edit ** or even Berserker I suppose for the Tank. I am trying SK right now, and I don't really care what the tank is, I just want it to be highly effective :P as well as the healer. The dps is my flavor I can play around with.