EZ Server

Hey guys been thinking of running my second group again and had a few questions about the different classes that I was hoping people could help me with to determine which toons I want to add to the second group.

1. Shaman epic click is nice, and I know they have kraken to add dps to all the melee, is there anything else they add? Does the dps from kraken justify logging them in full time or  are they best just being kept up to date as a buff bot.
2. Cleric epics have group heal procs like the paladin but I cant find anything on how powerful it is, are they equal? If not how strong are they in comparison.
3.  Bards use ninja augs and tempest blade for boosting other melee but how are they dps wise compared to the other melee? Worth adding over an extra zerker?
4. Max with mana neck, aummoners pack, good weaps, etc how is mage dps nw compared to other dps toons?
5. If I was going to add an enchanter or mage which would be better? I'm guessing enchanter because of vt2 but not sure.
6. How is ranger dps? Is the single target dps worth it over another zerker if I already have a monk and rogue?

1) Shammy heal fine. Pally and shammy can keep any tank alive end game. Kraken is OK, but ancestral grudge is a very strong melee buff, especially for hard hitting white damage classes (UW, for example). Also the shammy epic procs, too....a very good debuff (reduced chance mobs accuracy, drops their str and stam, drops AC, reduces melee damage) that is a noticable difference in combat.

2) Cleric epic proc is the same as the old pally proc heal, not the higher tier improved proc. Its solid extra heals, but your bread n butter is the word of viviification spell line....great group heal, cures a ton, and has a chance to proc a mass heal over time.

3) No. I recently parked a T9 bard, even though I also run a wizard. They simply do not bring enough to the party for me. Others may have different opinions, and you may see more of an add to the group at lower tiers. But as for personal DPS? They suck. Lower even than a beastlord, which makes them the lowest dps class on the server atm.

4) I dont know on lower tiers, but at the moment mages in T9 are the highest single target dps compared to any class without a UW. Word is that may change, but thats how it is at the moment. If you UW the mage and put it in the summoners pack the damage goes up considerably....but they dont see as big a return as melee classes for adding a UW. NOTE: if you have a multiple UW team and are pumping out massive DPS...enough to drop mobs in 3 seconds or less, then mage dps isnt anything to write home about. Their biggest damage spell still takes a couple seconds to land.

5) Enchanter. They are very good ST dps with a summoners pack, moderate AE dps, and what they can add to the entire team makes them the obvious choice.

6) I'd add another zerk (DEFINITELY one in each group for the group battle buff they add!) before I added a ranger. That may change, as Hate and Love are looking at the class again...but again, I just parked a T9 ranger. Even with the epic click added to their rotation the dps is meh. No Ingenuity AA makes a huge diff.

All that being said, this is min/maxing, and doing that here will drive you nuts, as shit changes all the time. I'd say try out what you like, and just have fun with it. Any group is viable with the effort invested.

Appreciate the quick response chunka, I already know I am putting Pal, Zerk, Cleric, Enchanter in my second group. Plus I already have War, pal, zerk, monk, rog, druid as my main group so I wasnt sure if I should add some more single target dps like the mage and ranger or bard, or just load it up with more zerkers for a ton of aoe. With your answers though I think I have a good idea of how to handle the last two spots for the second group.

Not sure how much impact it has, but Ranger does have a group buff to increase dps for all melee.  I have not done any dmg parses yet as I am still gearing up toons in t9 for t10 release, but I just thought I would throw it out there for consideration.  And as a sidenote; I agree with all the things Chunka posted (still sketchy on the mage as top non-UW dps, but I have no personally parsed it so I cannot disagree).

I take it you mean Howl of the Huntmaster II....problem with that spell is it is cancelled out by shammy melee buff.  I run a ranger but it is nothing to scream about...if I hadn't changed my groups up about 20 times already I would go for either AoE class (zerker) or monk/rogue for dps....as things currently stand I would use cleric/shammy/chanter/druid for buffs and paladins for heals (as they at least provide some dps as well)

I just eventually decided to upgrade 1 of every class, and then put all the strongest things in my first group :D

Since i run an even 3 groups, I have multiples of pally and zerker, thats it

Since we are talking about configuring groups. Here are my dudes. Anyone suggest a different mix than how I've been rolling? Always looking to maximize my output. Everyone is t7 flagged with t6 skins with various lvls of strike augs. I only have one UW so far. It's lvl 3.

Tank Group:
SK -
War - UW -
Zerk
Pally
Sham
Chanter

DPS group:
Zerk
Zerk
Monk
Brd
Pally
Rog

Other less dps group: -
Wiz
Cleric
Bst
Mage
Druid
Ranger.


I use grudge in my main group and the brd in my dps group for epic click and other increases aoe dps by their song. Should I put the sham in that group? How useful is quick thinking? Is champion something folks are casting still?

I don't really use the cleric for anything, how often are people casting word of viviification? If often, how do you know when to cast if their in your non main group.

Feel free to tear the whole thing down. I'd love to know what other folks are doing.

Deadend

I will point out for like at least the second time that SINGLE target DPS means almost nothing...

its all about AOE..

because you don't EVER EVER pull just 1 mob.

I am not sure how chunka parses his mage that makes it better than a t9 rogue or monk but whatever.

If you really want to get the max kill return on time run a couple of zerks... honestly other than a paladin and war you could run all zerks and destroy content but that's boring i guess.

once you get uw (like all t9 players) on your main tank you have taken care of all the single target dps you will need.

it takes time to change targets...the less you have to do this in a fight the faster stuff dies....

have fun.. play a necro.. play a druid...whatever...just have fun:P

Until you realize that adding more UW's to other classes in your line up is even better.....plus getting a Hatestomp aug on your UW makes your UW toons AoE too (not as much as a zerker) but any AoE is good AoE.  All this talk about a zerker may come to a screeching halt once t10 comes around too so keep that in mind.

Regarding no zerk in your group 3, Dead.....two words: Cry Havoc.

Yes adding more UW's is good but this is just because yo have nothing else to do.

I am almost done with my second UW and I will add a third after that and so on...

its not because I have to ...its because I have nothing else to do.