Building a group around your ShadowKnight.

[Blackadder]

<p>Say you want to make the most entertaining, survivable single group for the widest variety of content from T1-9.  The only hard and fast rule is the tank is an SK (thus the point for asking this here).</p><p>What would you choose and why?</p><p>I've been playing with a team that started as:</p><p>SKNecroWarlockDefilerCoercerTroubador.</p><p>It was fun, but while the necro's DPS (combined with pet) was often in the top 2 to 3, if things went bad, the necro's pet was the first to go down and everything crumbled after that.</p><p>We dropped the necro and added a fury to the group thinking the extra healing would be nice in places where we went squish.</p><p>Most of the time the healing wasn't needed and in the places we did go squish.... We still kind of went squish.</p><p>As the group leveled I've noticed that the troub's damage output blows, but he adds quite a bit to everyone else.  The coercer tends to outdamage the warlock and the buffs to the tank add a huge amount of damage output, not to mention the lower damage consider the mobs are perpetually stunned.</p><p>I'm seriously considering dropping the fury and looking for an Illusionist.  If it's fighter buffs are anything like the coercer's.  Well.....</p><p>So what would you put together, and why?</p>

[Blackadder]

<p>*calls coroner to report a dead forum*</p>

[Maamadex]

<p>As a paladin, I prefer an illusionist over a coercer. Nothing wrong with having 2 chanters in a group tho. Time compression (40% recovery, 20% casting speed, 10% reuse) is a great buff for your lock, IA (25% DA) is handy too for melee. Illusionists give haste, a spell proc, and in general just make a mage group happy. The spell proc alone that they can give people is pretty awesome. I prefer more melee heavy groups myself, with a dirge and a illy.</p>

[Catacl]

<p>i've found that unless you're doing guk, pof, almost any competent healer will do.</p><p>apart from that i tend to go with</p><p>wiz, coercer, dirge, troub</p>

[Blackadder]

<p>Ok, so you like two bards vs two chanters.  I haven't stopped to see how they compare.</p><p>What I've seen from personal experience is that the troub in our group (who is not well geared by any means), tends to add a LOT to the group, but himself does very little.</p><p>The Coercer, on the other hand adds a LOT to the group (especially me), and trades parses with the Warlock (and often wins them).  So, since I already have two casters in group, my thinking was add the third, hopefully get them to spread out the stuns/stifles (which makes the healer happy), and have three solid DPS characters in the group.</p>

[Maamadex]

<p>One reason I prefer an illusionist to a coercer is, they parse as well, and they buff casters well in addition to having some decent buffs like IA and haste for melee dps. And I don't always use a troub, I prefer a dirge since they are way better at buffing a tank and melee than a coercer ever could. You might try an illy. They might work out good for your group.</p>

[AziBam]

<p>I'd probably go something like</p><p>SK</p><p>Swash/Brig/Assassin</p><p>Warlock/Wizard</p><p>Illy</p><p>Dirge</p><p>Healer (any healer class that has a good player at the keyboard) If I was really forced to choose I suppose I'd go Templar although I do love my warden too.</p><p>I just don't like seeing a group that is nearly all one type of dps (melee/caster) exclusively so I'd rather mix it up a bit.  While I am in the process of levelling a troub and love them dearly when I'm playing one of my casters, a dirge is the better choice from a tank and survivability perspective.  The Illy can TC the sorceror and IA either you or the melee scout (whichever didn't get Battle Cry from the dirge.)  Hate should be a non-issue in the group as you have one or more hate transfers still from the dirge or assassin/swash.  The assassin would bring more single target dps while a swash would add more AE.  You probably know that's true of locks doing more AE and wizards more single target too.</p>

[Rahatmattata]

<p>I would go either</p><p>Shadowknight</p><p>Warlock</p><p>Coercer (hate mod, dps mod, charm [caster mob like sorcerer or enchanter, or dirge mob for "dirge songs" which stacks with other bard bufs], coercive healing, channel, thought snap, tash, good dps)</p><p>Illusionist (illusory arm, time compression [on healer if needed... healer with time compression and coercive healing is pretty beast], haste, good dps)</p><p>Troubador</p><p>Templar (I prefer templar because they are awesome healers, stoneskin, shield ally, sanctuary, good HP buffs, and the almighty hammer pull).</p><p>or</p><p>Shadowknight</p><p>Dirge</p><p>Inquisitor</p><p>Assassin</p><p>Brigand</p><p>Illusionist</p><p>This is sorely lacking aoe dps, but your group single target dps will be ridiculous. Personally, I'd prefer the first group.</p>

[Maamadex]

<p>A cleric would be great for many reasons, you forgot divine recovery heh. That aa is awesome. Increases Casting Speed of group members (AE) by 50% for 24 seconds. A templar would be sick for that first group.</p>

[Alazarz]

<p>Greedy sk group : sk ,dirge,troub,illy,coercer, cleric or druid (pref good fury) </p><p>Good dps group : sk, troub,illy,lock or brig,conj or necro, cleric or druid (pref good fury)</p><p>Good survivability group : sk, dirge,coercer,swash,temp,defiler</p><p>Never die group : <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Pally</span> sk, dirge,coercer,temp,defiler,warden</p><p>These listed groups are all good - mabey some more exciting then others , but hey.. there's a time and place for certain groups =)</p><p>regards,</p><p>   xav</p>