Scholomance 4 Mages 1 Priest 37min run (Video)

[Broim]

A dedicated 2nd Player running a Priest with 1 player running 4 Mages is not the same as 1 player running both...

While I found the video impressive there were multiple parts that I didn't see as viable for even a very gifted single player. For example, the Priest running large out of sight circles up/down stairs with the 4 mages picking off lagging/following mobs seems impractical for a single player.

Similarly, the Priest was running around all over the place and shackling while the mages were poly-morphing and focusing and I just don't see that as realistic for most single players. I am sure some single players can pull off some of that but certainly not all and people should remember that the video was not a 5 box and it was not 1 single player in the video...

My thoughts are that for PVE for most people having a real tank option would be safer and more realistic & possibly even more efficient as you could AoE clumps down rather than having to poly 3-4 mobs and kill 1 by 1. You would start with smaller clumps but as your gear grows your clumps could grow. With a Tank you can still poly some if/as needed and your keeping the non-poly mobs at bay is more conducive for single player play.

I am not sure why you think this would be hard to even if you played 5 characters. I am new to WoW and I was going to play 4 mages and 1 priest myself, but then my friend wanted to play a priest so I decided to only play 4 mages. I have been multiboxing in others games like Dark age of camelot were I was multiboxing 5-8 characters so I still have a good understanding about multiboxing. Running up and down the stairs with a priest and then press assist + frostbolt on your mages is not that hard, you only need to press 2 extra keys when you are running around with your priest and there is probably otherways you can kill this boss. In the last boss fight one of my mages get ported in to another room and I am easily able to move him around and cast other spell with him and at the same time my 3 other mages are casting frostbolts on the main boss.

Him running around pulling mobs when I was drinking my water probably saved us a min or two for the total run. Shackling a mob with a priest at the same time as you are doing dmg with mages takes 1-2 key presses depending on your keybindings.

The reason why I use polymorph on almost all mobs in this video is because I am using my PvP spec and honestly you dont really save that much time when you aoe small groups. I could aoe if I wanted without taking any damage with my frost shields up but I rather do it super easy and just use polymorph and save my mana.

I am not saying 4 mages 1 priest is the best setup for PvE, I myself hate PvE and I am only playing WoW for PvP and that is the reason why I picked 4 mages. 4 mages 1 priest are probably the strongest setup for PvP and I have been able to farm all dungeons so far without any problems. I have even been able to farm most bosses with just my 4 mages without a tank or healer in my group when I was farming my BIS items. You just need to play smart.

[smk]

Just finished DeadMines @ 22 with my team, recorded it and will at some point get it up on youtube.

[nodoze]

I am not sure why you think this would be hard to even if you played 5 characters. I am new to WoW and I was going to play 4 mages and 1 priest myself, but then my friend wanted to play a priest so I decided to only play 4 mages. I have been multiboxing in others games like Dark age of camelot were I was multiboxing 5-8 characters so I still have a good understanding about multiboxing. Running up and down the stairs with a priest and then press assist + frostbolt on your mages is not that hard, you only need to press 2 extra keys when you are running around with your priest and there is probably otherways you can kill this boss. In the last boss fight one of my mages get ported in to another room and I am easily able to move him around and cast other spell with him and at the same time my 3 other mages are casting frostbolts on the main boss.

Him running around pulling mobs when I was drinking my water probably saved us a min or two for the total run. Shackling a mob with a priest at the same time as you are doing dmg with mages takes 1-2 key presses depending on your keybindings.

The reason why I use polymorph on almost all mobs in this video is because I am using my PvP spec and honestly you dont really save that much time when you aoe small groups. I could aoe if I wanted without taking any damage with my frost shields up but I rather do it super easy and just use polymorph and save my mana.

I am not saying 4 mages 1 priest is the best setup for PvE, I myself hate PvE and I am only playing WoW for PvP and that is the reason why I picked 4 mages. 4 mages 1 priest are probably the strongest setup for PvP and I have been able to farm all dungeons so far without any problems. I have even been able to farm most bosses with just my 4 mages without a tank or healer in my group when I was farming my BIS items. You just need to play smart.

I actually think you are a talented multiboxer and your experience multiboxing shows. Even though you may be new to Warcraft your polish is evident, especially with the smoothness with which you polymorph (among other things). That is part of my point...

I have nothing against Polymorphing per se. It is great to avoid damage when/where you can. I also don't have any issue with a non-tank team but do want to caution that some folk may regret not having a tank option. My point is more that a group running a proper tank should also be able to clear fast (without having to poly though they certainly can) and should be able do do all bosses (not just some or most). In the end it should be safer & easier for the average multiboxer.

[Apatheist]

some folk may regret not having a tank option.

My reason for preferring teams without a dedicated tank, which is why I chose warlocks as my main team, is that the tank is generally a wasted character once you're done farming dungeons. One melee class mixed in with a ranged team isn't much use in PvP or raids. With 4 mages/warlocks and a healer you can feasibly step into raids or wPvP and all of your characters will have an impact.

[nodoze]

My reason for preferring teams without a dedicated tank, which is why I chose warlocks as my final main team, is that the tank is generally a wasted character once you're done farming dungeons. One melee class mixed in with a ranged team isn't much use in PvP or raids. With 4 mages/warlocks and a healer you can feasibly step into raids or wPvP and all of your characters will have an impact.

Understood and I get that though most of the goals and discussion on the forum center around the ease of clearing dungeons to fund a main.

Warlock(s) can get very Tanky so you are kinda tanking ;-)

Remember also that not all Tanks are forced into melee in PVP/Raids as a Paladin Tank can be an effective Healer, a Druid Tank can be a semi-effective caster/healer, & a Shaman tank can be an effective caster/healer.

[Barazanthul]

What AddOn do you use for your party frames?

[Imposibil]

As i see the power of 4m1p i am not sure you could have done the same thing with only 1 player playing all of them , while you don't have to worry about healing and priest able to kite and kill the mobs alone (because they can only take holy or melee damage). i have run strat with war/priest/sham/2xMage and the only problem was the skelly sience my rotation does not include priest as DPSer (i have an "max dps" key witch includes priest also). Also my gear is far from pre-raid BiS , never played classic wow, heck my total wow experience is under 6mo and thats on BfA ...
Do not compare DAoC with WoW , they are 2 world apart , i have been boxing daoc (read boxing only) for more then 7 years , running 8man party on my own, played couple chars to RR10+ when RPs we're not so easy to make like now so i know what im talking about.
Not having to worry about heals and having an free casting priest is one thing , while having a priest on follow while healing, kiting, shackeling, not pressing heal key / clickbar , not shackeling or dpsing .... is another thing ....
Not underestimating your boxing skills , just saying 4 + 1 outsider is a total different experience then 5 of your own.

For Barazanthul, the party frame is SUF (Shaddowed unit frames)

Cheers !

[Apatheist]

I wonder how an elemental PvE build would do with 4 mages?

Something like: https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-c...50200102251331

The synergy between improved flamestrike and shatter plus master of elements is pretty nice. You gather everything up and frost nova then cast flamestrike and cone of cold. Flamestrike has a 65% base chance to crit frozen targets which procs ignite -- which will stack 4 times with 4 mages. Then kite for 4 seconds until ignite and the flamestrike burn wear off. Frost nova again and repeat. If played properly the mobs shouldn't even touch you. The cone of cold may even crit with shatter if your connection is fast enough to batch the CoC cast at the end of flamestrike. Huge burst.

Every video I see people are just spamming arcane explosion and barely avoiding dying on a mage or two.

Added benefit of this spec is that you get pyroblast for opening on bosses.

[nodoze]

I wonder how an elemental PvE build would do with 4 mages?

Something like: https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-c...50200102251331

The synergy between improved flamestrike and shatter plus master of elements is pretty nice. You gather everything up and frost nova then cast flamestrike and cone of cold. Flamestrike has a 65% base chance to crit frozen targets which procs ignite -- which will stack 4 times with 4 mages. Then kite for a couple of seconds until ignite and the flamestrike burn wear off. Frost nova again and repeat. If played properly the mobs shouldn't even touch you. The cone of cold may even crit with shatter if your connection is fast enough to batch the CoC cast at the end of flamestrike. Huge burst.

Every video I see people are just spamming arcane explosion and barely avoiding dying on a mage or two.

Added benefit of this spec is that you get pyroblast for opening on bosses.

I am pretty sure Bruce Lee (Peregrine) is at least running PyroBlast on his 4Mages+Priest build... Not sure if the rest is Elemental or not. Now that he hit 60 I think he is planning on posting his builds (if he hasn't already) and I think he saves his videos on twitch.

[Apatheist]

It's an interesting thought.

Cleared deadmines at 18 on my mage team today. Was a bit of a struggle but some of the mobs are 2 levels above me and my characters are half naked so I imagine it will improve. Definitely not as forgiving as my warlocks. One mistake and a mage drops quick. When I get cone of cold at 26 to cycle with frost nova so I can AE kite effectively it will make a huge difference.

Still not 100% convinced that this comp can manage DM but we'll see. If nothing else, it'll be handy to having mages on 4 of my accounts I can summon to provide portals and water for my locks.