Thanks for the responses all - you gave me a lot to think about!! I very much appreciate all the feedback as it has allowed me to come to a solid conclusion (at least for me) about which group lineup I will go forward with.

At this point, I think that I am going to stay with my current lineup, including the cleric and the enchanter. My reasoning for this is that while the shaman and bard have a lot to offer, I’m not seeing a distinct advantage of replacing either my cleric or enchanter with something else. In addition, I have played an enchanter (at least as a box char) on and off over the years, so I am more familiar with how to play one. Bards, on the other hand, would be largely a new thing to me. So, yes, even my own laziness played a part in this decision .

Alge – you bring up some good points about the usefulness of Selo’s for getting around, but between the druid and the wiz giving me access to all of the port points, Flight of Eagles (Druid lvl62 65% movement increase + lev), perma-invis thru AA’s on the wiz or mage, and perma-undead invis AA’s on cleric (and SK?), I think I am covered pretty well for getting around (yes, I’ll need to deal with some non-perma invis’s, etc. at lower levels, but it seems doable).

Tatanka7th – you are indeed correct – the symbol line stacks with the druid skin line, so between that, Enchanter mana regen buffs, mounts, OOC regen, etc., I think I will be OK for mana. The Shaman slows are nice, but as Alge alluded to, I don’t relish the thought of trying to get a heal out in a pinch while trying to slow as well (although I know that I can combine some of those actions on the shaman). I like the idea of just working the slows and mezzes from the enchanter and healing with the cleric. I have also read, as Ualaa pointed out, that slows, outside of raid situations, are no longer as important/necessary as they once were.

Since I am a fairly caster heavy group, I am also thinking that the enchanter adps auras/buffs later on will be handy. It sounds like Bards bring some goodness to caster groups as well, but it sounds like it is on par with what an enchanter brings. Perhaps if my group was more melee and/or pet heavy, I would benefit more from the shaman, but as it is…

Shadowlord63 – you make a good point about utilizing a cleric merc and running a team of 5, but I am hesitant to do that in that I think there are still some instances, etc. in EQ that don’t allow the use of mercs (some Anguish stuff, etc.). Perhaps this has changed in the last expansions, but I would not want to have to skip content because I am using a merc. I also like the predictability of using my own boxed characters – that way I never have to wonder why the hell my merc did this or that thing – I always only have myself to blame.

I plan on pulling primarily with the SK. My old main used to be a monk that I played for years and years, so I am used to FD pulling, etc. Bards do appear to have some fantastic pulling tools, but as many folks have pointed out, it seems that pulling singles has become easier over the expansions. If all else fails, I have the druid or enchanter to help with splits and/or enchanter to mez if I can’t avoid multiples.

I could go on, but I think this pretty much sums up my conclusion. Thanks again for everyone that took time to weigh in – your advice/input is greatly appreciated and helped me immensely in coming to my decision! Now to finish setting up ISBoxer (which, ironically, is almost as fun for me as is playing EQ ).

Thanks,
SFDD