Guardian or Berserker for two boxing? (plus a friend trio)

[Sar]

Hi there!I just upgraded my second Station account with EQ2 because I want to two-box my Warden with a Tank.I play with a friend who has a Swashbuckler. So it will be a trio.What I want is a tank that holds aggro very well and can suck up LOTS of dmg <span>:smileywink:</span>I think a berserker would generally be better for a trio (not sure now though with EoF AAs??), but I also think about how much work it is to hold aggro with both of these classes.Maybe I would have a easier time playing the Guardian because he generates a lot of aggro automatically with the "Hold the Line" buff line he has.I'll probably have a lot of work with the Warden and may not be able to play the tank perfectly at all times. Since the berserker generates a lot of his hate with dps, I think I would have to concentrate on the tank more then I would have to with a Guardian.Maybe I can manage both characters well anyway, I haven't started the tank yet. I'll have to see.I did well with two chars in EQ1 but I think its more work in EQ2.And what are your AA suggestions (KoS and EoF) for this group setup?Thanks!<div></div>

[zormik]

<DIV>I'd roll a guardian now if i were you.  Guardians have better eof aa's and are more suited for the new combat system. As a zerker you'll have a harder time to hold aggro in defensive stance if you don't have some specific classes buffing those offensive skills (being able to hit a mob is kinda critical for a zerker :smileywink: ).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A guardian can buff those skills by himself...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Only if you want to contribute with your tank to dps and give up defensive abilities for it i'd say go for a zerker...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When it comes to aa's you have a lot of choices and it's just what you like most.  you can go fully defensive or a little inbetween off. and def. and full offensive aa's.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There are tons of topics about aa's so i suggest you search a bit in the guard/zerk forums and you'll be sweet for a week if you wanna read them all :smileywink:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>edit: on the other hand a warden is THE offensive skill buffer so you might aswell go for a zerker, just be aware that a warden will greatly increase your zerker's ability to hit mobs. It works in both ways though,  you won't want to tank without one :smileywink:</DIV><p>Message Edited by zormik on <span class=date_text>12-27-2006</span> <span class=time_text>01:47 PM</span>

[Domiuk]

<P>If your not going to raid , why not consider a bruiser.</P> <P>Much better dps and the combination of feign death and group invis will make your 3 some very powerful in dungeons.</P> <P>Im pretty confident a bruiser ,swashie, warden group will be able to kill anything the same group with a guardian or berzerker in it could and almost certainly a fair bit faster.</P> <P>Its worth noting that an option that would also be very succesful is using the swashie as your tank and being another dps , not a tank.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Aven Elonis]

I agreed, from a non-raid, trio only perspective, a Monk or Brusier might make a good choice.

[Judist]

<P>If your looking for a class to just stand there and take beatings, go guard.</P> <P>When 2 boxing a guard, it's a lot less hassle in holding aggro due to the reactive taunt. Combined with buckler/double attack/haste AA's your guard could hold aggro with relative ease just in autoattack. The swashy has deaggro's, so no real problem there if you throw him in the mix.</P> <P>However like said above, a better utility tank for dual boxing would be a brawler.</P> <P> </P>

[Skeptycal]

Have to agree ... for 2 boxing I would consider a monk or bruiser. Coupled with a druid it would be a fearsome duo and with a swash part time .. deadly.If you are set on warriors .. zerkers would probably put out more damage. In the duo situation, it's very unlikely you will be using defensive stance. That is usually reserved for very hard encounters in full groups in my experience. A zerker in offensive stance .. perhaps with buckler AAs also .. would do extremely well for most duo content.<div></div>

[kagge]

<div></div>From what i have seen as combos - Defiler/Bruiser is the best 2box combo. You can farm places easily with FD through, Bruiser gets self-heal, while defiler runes the big hits, buffs/debuffs are amazing. I've boxed Zerk-Temp, Zerk-Wiz, Guard-Wiz, Guard-Fury and these duos don't come even close to what a my Bruiser/Defiler friend showed me. And as 3rd, just add a massive dps class for speed killing <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <div></div><p>Message Edited by kaggers on <span class=date_text>12-28-2006</span> <span class=time_text>01:16 AM</span>

[Sir_Halbarad]

I think an SK would be a nice addition to that trio.<div></div>

[aislynn00]

<DIV>If you aren't going to raid, I'd say monk or bruiser.  The monk has better hate generation as well as Tsunami, but I would probably go with bruiser anyhow due to the higher DPS, better mitigation, and more potent self-heals.</DIV>

[Fleaba]

<P>I recently made a guardian and I'll tell you the biggest thing I miss. Feign Death and Group Feign Death when duel or tri boxing. </P> <P>"What you mean we gotta fight our way to the mob?" hehe....with my monk I just train my way to what I want to kill....Fd and then get up right away and kill it. Just remember to take all reactive buffs, ticks etc off the monk or training and FD won't do diddly squat.</P> <P>It's also nice to /shout Train coming thru....don't get caught in a bad spot when I feign death.</P> <P>As for raiding, usually you have your guild MT guardian and thats all you'll really need unless he don't play often. He'll get all the best upgrades, he'll tank 99% of the raids etc. Where as a monk can be dps, has a nice emergency heal, has the brawler AA line FD buff that comes in handy once in a while in a raid....tsunami and a really nice short duration UBBAH ward that he can throw up and do some emergency tanking in a raid for short bursts. Matter of fact when some noob steals agro on the eyes in DT my monk seems to do an awesome job of tanking them if I buff up my elemental resist and go in defensive stance before the fight starts.</P> <P>Back on subject, don't Swashies have a hate transfer buff they can throw on a groupmate? If so...hate won't be much of an issue. With a zerker or brawler you'll have 2 dps in your trio where as with the guardian you'll have ubbah hate generation and better all around mitigation....but the dps just won't be there. Your trio won't be able to take on the hardest instances no matter what class you choose IMHO..unless you are the l33t sauce.</P><p>Message Edited by vcjester on <span class=date_text>12-28-2006</span> <span class=time_text>11:52 AM</span>

[Sar]

Thanks everyone for helping me out with this.I have started a Guardian and he's 19 now, but I am coming to the point where I am thinking about an enchanter. In fact I have a lvl 21 enchanter.So Swashbuckler (tanking/STA - AAs), Warden (maybe with charmed pet) plus an enchanter? How does that sound?In the end, when fighting group encounters, it just seems to be a waste of mana healing lots of damage that could be completely prevented in the first place by mezzing stuff. The enchanter has decent dps as well (in the lower levels at least from what I saw).Overall I can see this working better than the other combo, but since my highest char in this game is my 33 warden, I have no clue how things work in the upper levelrange.<div></div>

[Domiuk]

<DIV>"So Swashbuckler (tanking/STA - AAs), Warden (maybe with charmed pet) plus an enchanter? How does that sound?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Still sounds low dps , with 3 peeps you do not need crowd control and what the chanter helps you kill could probably be easier simply soloed by the chanter.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Seriously keep the swashie as tank and go straight dps, any of brigand , assassin, necro , conjurer will give you an awesome little group.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oh and a well played strong trio will be able to take most 6 man instances , might be slower but will be challenging and fun.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One thing you will soon realise is its the healer that ends up being the under played of the 2 box most of the time, what counts is how fast you can kill the mobs.</DIV>

[DarkMirrax]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Domiuk wrote:<BR> <DIV>"So Swashbuckler (tanking/STA - AAs), Warden (maybe with charmed pet) plus an enchanter? How does that sound?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Still sounds low dps , with 3 peeps you do not need crowd control and what the chanter helps you kill could probably be easier simply soloed by the chanter.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Seriously keep the swashie as tank and go straight dps, any of brigand , assassin, necro , conjurer will give you an awesome little group.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oh and a well played strong trio will be able to take most 6 man instances , might be slower but will be challenging and fun.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One thing you will soon realise is its the healer that ends up being the under played of the 2 box most of the time, what counts is how fast you can kill the mobs.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>i would agree ,  though i would tend to trio with</P> <P>brusier , brigand + defiler ... nothing else needs to be said tbh <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Sar]

We ended up with an additional friend starting to play (enchanter).So the final group is:<ul><li>Guardian</li><li>Warden</li><li>Swashbuckler</li><li>Illusionist</li></ul>thx all<div></div>