[Classic] Good farming team?

[nodoze]

First, thanks so much for your input. It has been invaluable. ...

You mentioned you plan to do 3 War / 3 Pal. What does that look like for you? 1 Pal tank, 1 Pal healer and 3 arms/fury wars for dungeon leveling? What would you drive from, the tank?

If I did 4 War / 1 Sham would I need one of those wars to go prot? I am thinking so. Then I suppose I would drive from the prot tank for dungeon leveling as well?

I tested a Prot War/Resto Shaman/2 Mage/ Warlock in RFC on a private server. My biggest issue was keeping aggro as the prot warrior. I know practice will really help. I need to not have my dps macros assist the tank since the tank is tab targeting each mob to grab aggro. This did make me wonder though if perhaps Druid with swipe/maul would be easier. Druid/3War/Shaman?

Although 4 war/shaman might still be ideal, but I am just concerned about no cc and holding aggro. Perhaps holding aggro isn't as big of a deal if the dps are warriors and can take a hit.

Any advice with this would help greatly. I essentially would like to end up with an optimal 5 man farming group that includes my main (shaman), and possibly at some point have a 4 shaman/1 priest pvp group.

Agreed Apatheist provides great info.

I am pretty sure he plans 3 DPS warriors and 2 Healing Paladins often in melee range sealing the main target & I plan on doing a similar configuration. If the content really requires a true Tank I think he would convert one of the warriors although one of the Paladins could be a mana heavy Tank option as well. Maybe he will chime in on this as well as how he plans to drive them.

PVEwise Druid/3War/Shaman would give you a Tank option that could convert to a Healer when Tanking isn't needed. It could also open up some stealth options for you and a give you a battleground flag runner option.

[Apatheist]

My plan at the moment is to level the paladins as holy and the warriors as 2H fury until I get enough hit rating to DW. Whenever necessary you can switch to a 1H/shield and go defensive stance on any of the warriors but most of the time there's no reason to go full protection unless you're raid tanking.

It doesn't really matter which character you drive from. Whichever way is more comfortable for you will work best. Generally with melee teams I prefer to control from the healer since it's easier to manage positioning while your melee IWT.

The DPS from 3-4 warriors will be more than enough to keep agro off your healer, but even if one gets past every now and then both shamans and paladins are tanky enough to take a few hits until you can regain control.

There are quite a few comps that will work well in dungeons. I just prefer melee groups when IWT is available. You could probably even manage dungeons with 4 shamans and a priest if that's your end-goal anyway. Why level up classes you don't really want to play?

[Syclone]

You could probably even manage dungeons with 4 shamans and a priest if that's your end-goal anyway. Why level up classes you don't really want to play?

Both yours and nodoze's responses have been great, thank you. My thoughts on leveling up classes I dont want to play is to have a more efficient setup to farm with. I figure a more optimal 4 war 1 sham will clear much faster than 4 sham 1 priest. I also wasn't sure if I would even be able to do dungeons with 4 shamans 1 priest.

[nodoze]

In our case our dungeon farming team contains our mains that we plan to play at cap as I plan to raid as a Paladin Healer and I hope my brother will come raid as a DPS Warrior who can off Tank and maybe he will work into Main Tanking at some point (I plan on us getting him BiS gearsets for both roles).

One concern with 4 Shaman+Priest would be heavy water costs unless you have your own mage or a really good friend who is a mage and can be available. My other concern would be lack of a Tank option for any content that needs it.

In BC one of the teams I played was a Druid+3 Shaman+Priest team and between Chain Lighting and Chain Healing it was a nice fun flexible Hybrid group. Sometimes in PVP I would play the Druid as a BoomKin to be kinda like a 4th caster shaman and in dungeons I could make the Druid Tank if I needed to. If I recall correctly that was BC though when the level cap went to 70 and there were significant changes so I can't speak to how viable/fun they would be in clearing dungeons and in World PVP on classic WoW.

[Apatheist]

My other concern would be lack of a Tank option for any content that needs it.

You can tank on shamans with the right build. They actually have very high single target threat between earth shock and rockbiter weapon with windfury totem. They just can't hold agro on multiple mobs very well. The water cost is an issue but overall, the cost of leveling a second team just for farming would be higher. Finding a mage to summon you several stacks of water for a couple gold shouldn't be to difficult.

If I were going to make a team exclusively for farming dungeons I'd probably go paladin, priest, 3 mages. Consecration+Arcane explosion is easily the fastest way to clear large groups of trash and a prot paladin with a mage in the group for free water is pretty efficient.

[nodoze]

You can tank on shamans with the right build. They actually have very high single target threat between earth shock and rockbiter weapon with windfury totem. They just can't hold agro on multiple mobs very well. The water cost is an issue but overall, the cost of leveling a second team just for farming would be higher. Finding a mage to summon you several stacks of water for a couple gold shouldn't be to difficult.

If I were going to make a team exclusively for farming dungeons I'd probably go paladin, priest, 3 mages. Consecration+Arcane explosion is easily the fastest way to clear large groups of trash and a prot paladin with a mage in the group for free water is pretty efficient.

I agree that is pretty much the same group I would do if I were making a group strictly for PVE farming and if I didn't want both a Paladin & Warrior main for PVP. The added benefit of a team like that is that theoretically you could later raid with 4+ of them in a ranged DPS group (at least on raids a guild has on farm). I am not sure the Paladin would fit unless maybe the Paladin speced differently for Raid Healing and improved concentration aura to bring all 5.

From a clearing perspective how close do you think Paladin, Priest, 2 Mages, & Warlock is to Paladin, Priest, & 3 Mages considering the synergy of Warlock with Mage? Personally I would like the utility of Warlock getting the group together and sending 1 character to town and back between clears and would maybe be willing to trade a little DPS for that.

[Apatheist]

Paladin, Priest, 2 Mages, & Warlock

Substituting arcane explosion for hellfire makes things a little bit more awkward but overall it's pretty much the same. Nice thing about arcane explosion is you can ignore knockbacks and interrupts. I had issues trying to hellfire in scholomance on my priest+4 warlock team because of all the knockbacks and you have to spend a lot of time in there to farm the epic robe pattern.

DPS-wise it's pretty much the same though and blood pact is nice to have for a little bit more health on your tank.

[Syclone]

Really been struggling to decide in terms of best for farming.

4 War/Sham
1 Druid/3War/Sham
1 Druid/3Mage/Sham or Priest

I wasn't too fond of macro'ing aggro control with a warrior with tabbing targets. Hence why I am considering a druid for ease of holding aggro. Its a shame windfury doesn't affect the druid though. Although 4 dps warriors may not even require a tank to hold aggro. Just would have to worry about the healer.

Also a shame that Leader of the Pack 3% crit wouldn't apply to the 3 mages' spell crit.

The idea of driving from the healer and sending off relatively tanky dps warriors seemed nice. No cc and gear dependent so a bit concerned about progressing through dungeons until gear is obtained.

If I were going to make a team exclusively for farming dungeons I'd probably go paladin, priest, 3 mages.

Apatheist, you left me a tad confused since you mentioned that you would revise your original Druid/Shaman/2 Mage/1 Warlock as an ideal group in favor of melee thanks to IWT being available. However here you mention a caster group for farming. I am assuming you were considering other aspects such as PvP previously.

Would a 1 Druid/3Mage/Healer setup farm faster/better than 4 War/Sham (or a druid tank in place of a warrior)?

[Apatheist]

Apatheist, you left me a tad confused since you mentioned that you would revise your original Druid/Shaman/2 Mage/1 Warlock as an ideal group in favor of melee thanks to IWT being available. However here you mention a caster group for farming. I am assuming you were considering other aspects such as PvP previously.

I had assumed previously that IWT wouldn't be available, since it wasn't in the original game, so casters would be the only viable option. With IWT available I much prefer melee. Casters are still fine though and provide a lot of utility and buffs. I will still roll a warlock group after DM releases because I think warlocks are also a strong all around pick for PvP/PvE.

With the availability of 16 debuff slots and 1.12 itemized gear from the start it seems likely casters will be in a better place DPS-wise in the early phases.

Mages AE clear larger groups of weaker enemies faster. BRD farming, for example. Warriors clear smaller groups (4-6) of stronger enemies faster such as the ogres in DM. Neither is really "better" than the other, they both have advantages. I think warriors are stronger in PvP but other people have played mages and had some success.

Largely comes down to preference. You'll be able to farm fine with either group. The convenience of having a mage for portals and being able to summon back your looter might tip the balance for you.

[nodoze]

Really been struggling to decide in terms of best for farming.

4 War/Sham
1 Druid/3War/Sham
1 Druid/3Mage/Sham or Priest

...

If we are strictly talking what is the theoretical best 5 boxing dungeon clearing team for any/all circumstances I think the proto-typical design is:

-1 Tank;
-3 DPS;
-1 Healer;

With that in mind for strictly most efficient Dungeon clearing for those 3 roles I would recommend:

-1 Tank: Paladin (or Druid if Horde though Warrior may also be an option);
-3 DPS: Mages (though having at least 1 Warlock gives utility/buffs);
-1 Healer: Priest Dwarf/Undead (though Paladins & Shamans are good options with pros/cons);

The biggest thing I like about the above party composition is that it gives great Area of Effect (AoE) Threat, AoE Damage, and AoE healing options in addition to single target options and from a boxer perspective likely gives more simple & consistent timings, rotations, management, & positioning than other options.

I think the Alliance option is overall best because the Paladin tank seems the best for maintaining threat on the largest number of targets as well as being able to reduce the other party member's threat if that is an issue and the Paladin can self clear poison letting the Priest clear magic & disease and the Mages clear Curses.

I love druids and druids are probably my favorite overall class but, while they can be solid healers with a nice long cool-down combat rez, they lack a regular rez makes me hesitant to have them as the party's single healer. I guess they can be a good option if you have things fully on farm and rarely if ever wipe and/or if you can leverage another team member as a rezzer (like a Paladin).

Druids Tanks also have strong AoE threat but on fewer targets and also can't reduce the aggro of their teammates and while they they can theoretically self-clear both Poisons & Curses I believe they have to shift to do so which can be dangerous...

In the end there are lots of options and what is theoretically best may not necessarily be the best for your personal play-style, preferences, and/or skill level and/or the specific content you are targeting. If you want to consider various options you may want to review the following chart regarding who can clear which debuffs:

https://cwl-forums.s3.amazonaws.com/...2fabb91c5c.png

TLDR:
From your options I think on the Horde side the most efficient overall 5-boxing option for clearing dungeons for the average person is:

-Druid/3Mage/Priest (or Paladin instead of Druid if Alliance);

Though personally I would at least substitute a Warlock for a Mage...

The above being said I have concerns you maybe asking the wrong question or at least not be considering all needs... If you are interested in how I would recommend deciding on what your main 5 box party composition should be I would read the following:

https://www.dual-boxing.com/entries/...or-Classic-WoW