There is no perfect class make-up!

[DarkslayrX]

After reading the last few threads, I thought I would throw this out there:

There is no perfect class make-up, whether 5xdruid / 5xshammy / 1xpally+4xshammy / etc. I think even if you know exactly what kind of content you want to face, there is not a specific setup that you should use. There are rules of thumb found throughout this site, but no hard and fast rules (only recommendations to make life a little easier). One of the best parts of being a boxer is that you get to mess around with your setup and try new things.

For anyone looking to decide what class to play, consider playing whatever class you would like to play. The first time I dual-boxed, I ran a shammy and a druid - not because this site said it would make my life easier, but because I had never played those chars and wanted to give them a shot. I rolled a pally-priest group after that for the same reason.

For those who visit this site frequently, we might want to look at the stickied beginner posts and see if there are edits that should be made to address some of the recent questions as they appear to be repeating.

[elo]

Lies.

You're just trying to steer people away from the greatness that is pally+4shaman.

[Vyndree]

Part (most?) of the fun of multiboxing is tweaking things. Experimenting. Learning. Breaking new ground. Pushing the limits. etc. Being unique!

I was unique....

... until everyone started rolling SHAMMIES and a PROT PALLY!


If we had a master sticky that was linked on the top bar of the forum (Members, Help, Chat, THE MASTER STICKY) that was just a FAQ with links to each respective sticky for answers... I think we might make a dent.

I might also take Fursphere up and write a book that includes all of my macros, addons, instance strats, talent points, key bindings, buff list, hair styles, favorite color, phone number, date of birth, social security number... you get the idea -- anyway, I might do that and make a easy to type link just like my multiboxing FAQ so we can just reply with the URL and be done with it...

On second thought... scratch the social security number

[Sanctume]

My approach is from one character's strength and weaknesses.

My first character was a warrior and I played it and learned how it is.

Then eventually, I come upon things in the game that I can't quite do, or do well. I would say, if I only had some small heal over time, I can take on these 2 mobs. The idea of a priest standing in the back tossing heals over time sounded great. And what about the priest tossing from dots on my warrior's target as well?

Soon I am taking on 3 mobs at a time. My first challenge back at level 60 was how do I clear those 5 packs (Officer, medic, +3) in BRD to get that dark iron node. I could almost tank all 5, but that damn officer and medic heals. Simple tank and spank wasn't enough.

I eventually learned how to handle that 5 pack. Mind control on the medic kills the medic fast. During the MC, The warrior charges the lowest add. When the medic dies, warrior does AoE and priest dps the one fast. After the fear is gone, I'm back to a 3 mob situation.

Fast forward to TBC. I levelled a paladin on my priest's account, and I end up having a Warrior + Paladin at level 60. I did not do BRD as much, but when I did quests, I found out that my Paladin can handle 3+ mobs without a healer. It sure was slower, but I used my warrior as DPS with some good shouts and debuff that benefits the paladin tanking: thunderclap, demo shout, and battleshout to speed up the killing.

Anyway, when it comes to instances, a tank is a tank no matter what class. The tank's job "buys time" or helps increased the "margin of error" I can do in a fight before things get out of control. That's how I approach it; based on what the game event and mechanics.

A warrior can do the tanking job. It may not be as efficient as front load threat. but a warrior has a bit more health and mitigation compared to a paladin when "just stating out and gearing up." This little bit of advantage can be overcome by a paladin over time as the paladin gets geared up.

Overall, the paladin is "easier" to micro manage in normal 5-man instances. Having a high DPS team helps here.

But when it comes to heroic, a fresh paladin geared with quest items and random blues will most likely not last versus heroic trash without good heals, and good dps. That's verus 1 trash heroic mob. What are you going to do with the other 2 or 3 mobs in a pull?

A similarly geared starting out warrior for a heroic instance will have a slightly more hp and slightly better mitigation than a similarly geared paladin. It will still not be trivial to tank one heroic mob. He'll have a much hard time tanking 2 as a paladin regardless of threat.

The heroic videos shows high DPS team. These teams have been geared well above the heroic trash mob encounter, and just about even par with certain boss mob encounter. I fresh DPS team with quest items and random blues will not survive the first pull of a heroic instance. They will not have enough dps, and not enough health to survive a couple of heroic trash mob hits. Having a tank "buys you time" to learn that encounter. Or if you don't have a tank, then you would be farming for better gear before you tackle a heroic instance as a pure dps team.

[Lance]

Part (most?) of the fun of multiboxing is tweaking things. Experimenting. Learning. Breaking new ground. Pushing the limits. etc. Being unique!

I was unique....

... until everyone started rolling SHAMMIES and a PROT PALLY!

Hey, I gave the Prot. Warrior an honest try before rolling my own Paladin. (lvl 20! woooo) :P And I do plan on dropping on of my Shaman and adding in my Shadow Priest at some point too for fun.

I love how you keep trying to make out like your some kind of trendsetter vyn. That timeline post you made made me lol. Must have taken a fair bit of time to put that together. :thumbsup:

[Wilbur]

Everyone knows that I'm the trendsetter...

[elo]

There we go Vyn, I updated my sig so there'll be no doubt.

[Vyndree]

I love how you keep trying to make out like your some kind of trendsetter vyn. That timeline post you made made me lol. Must have taken a fair bit of time to put that together. :thumbsup:

I got the energy to write that timeline out of the sheer frustration. When I first started my shammy group and was told that I wouldn't be viable, or that shamans don't make good healers, or that shamans could not succeed in PvP without viable AoE. And then when Ellay got his PvP team rolling and people started flocking to shammies in droves, I had to deal with the second frustration of being considered what is now an OP "FOTM" setup.

It's not a FOTM to me.

I rolled the shammies cuz I had a 70 resto shammy already, and I needed a tank, so I swapped between warrior and paladin before choosing to keep the paladin after level 40. Trial and error. Research and determination.

I never want to see it reduced to "lawl feed me PvP/PvE epix kthxbai"

Go do a forum search for 6 months ago and look at the people who didn't just roll with the 4x warlock 1x priest "FOTM" group that was so rampant back then. They had an idea and regardless of criticism they took it and made it work. You don't see much creativity on these forums anymore in regards to class setups.


...ok I'm done with my serious hat now.

[Vyndree]

There we go Vyn, I updated my sig so there'll be no doubt.

Haha!

Seriously, though. I don't want followers. I just want people to think critically for themselves and what class setup works best for their goals -- not what they think might be easysauce or OP. Most of this forum contains smart, intelligent folks that I love to spend time with and discuss new ideas with.

Besides, if there isn't any interesting, intelligent conversation on these forums, what else would I do while I'm at work?

I'm just trying to prove a point - when I first started there wasn't anyone to hold my hand and tell me how I should run my "FOTM" setup. There's a certain wisdom to be gained in facing difficulties and succeeding, and in finding your own "perfect group" and perfect macros and perfect strats. Sharing knowledge is well and good, but learning things yourself is way more valuable.

[Boylston]

I might also take Fursphere up and write a book that includes all of my macros, addons, instance strats, talent points, key bindings, buff list, hair styles, favorite color, phone number, date of birth, social security number... you get the idea -- anyway, I might do that and make a easy to type link just like my multiboxing FAQ so we can just reply with the URL and be done with it...

Front cover must include belly ring pictures...