3 man group question

[Neroth]

Hello,

Some friends and I played back around launch until the cat people showed up. I found this site reading the wiki for nostalgia. Anyway on to my question. I've got 2 friends that want to all level together as a 3 man squad and then group up with others at higher level. Not sure if we would raid much because of the time commitment. What classes would you suggest for the best 3 man squad to level without a too much downtime?

Thanks!

[Legidias]

Cleric & enchanter is just stupid OP for their power / survivability ability to kill almost anything. Just add another class in there that doesnt have to melee and you'll be set for no downtime.

Third player:

Another enchanter = more killing power and CC. Cleric will have to pay more attention to charm breaks as a double break can ruin group even more easily than single charm break.

Another Cleric = basically you realy wont have to worry about ever wiping on content with extra heals. Doesn't add much besides more insurance

Bard = even more regen (hp / mana) with extra dot damage, snare kiting, fear kiting, charming, mez, etc. Won't directly impact how fast you kill really (85%+ of damage would be from charm pet) but will make everything else run smoother or better.

Druid = ez transportation, sow, extra heals / dmg / charm (animals).

Magician = extra dps

Necromancer = Basically the same as having an extra enchanter (with option of just using normal pet vs charm) and later on having options to give some heals and mana if needed.

Shaman = Extra damage, lower resists, can deal with slows so enchanter doesnt have to. Very useful to malo mobs prior to charm. Supplements heals

Wizard = ez transportation (no sow though) and lots of damage. Possible longer downtime for med.

IMO Cleric / Ench / Neco or Shaman is the strongest youll get with least downtime.

[Zipity]

Shaman / monk / rogue
Shaman / monk / ench
Cleric / ench / ench
Cleric / ench / necro
Mage / mage / bard
Ench /necro / bard
Shaman / ench / bard

All of these groups will have plenty of DPS and like zero downtime well except for probably waiting for respawns at whatever camp you decide to murder

[Danth]

Future-proof yourselves by choosing classes that can duo with each other if any one member quits, or even solo (at least some) if two of you quit. Many players under-estimate P1999's lengthy leveling curve, and quite a few get discouraged and stop playing. Don't make yourself reliant upon people who might not be here in three months' time.

Danth

[aaezil]

Cat people?

[loramin]

Cat people?

The Kerrans, which were added in Luclin. This means this server should be perfect for the OP, because it goes exactly from launch until just before Luclin.

As for the best trio, I'd just recommend having a Druid as one of the three, especially if you don't have a Shaman as one of the other two. SoW and ports are easy to dismiss since neither helps you kill faster, but they'll make a huge difference in your group's ability/willingness to explore. And animal charming, damage shields, heals, nukes, DoTs, etc. don't hurt either.

As for the other two Shaman + Monk and Enchanter + Cleric are both very powerful.

[bomaroast]

Odd groups are a lot of fun. You guys should play the classes that interest you. Don't force any particular setup.

[White_knight]

Odd groups are a lot of fun. You guys should play the classes that interest you. Don't force any particular setup.

This.

You're trio will quit quicker than you could say easy as a.b.c 1.2.3 if everyone is playing classes they dont enjoy.

[NextToTheGods]

CLR/ENC/MNK

thank me later

[alsa]

If all 3 are just starting with no plat and no gear, another possible way to have fun together is mage/mage/mage. it's super fun to see 3 fire pets eat up mobs with damage shield and all 3 mages can focus nuke on a single mob to break camps. with 3 mages, you can get to 50s naked.

Earn some level and some plat and then mini twink the above trio as new twinks!

[Nagoya]

you guys shoud individually pick any of the 73 race/class combination, then show each other what you picked, and there is a 95% chance it will work just fine. Tweak a tiny bit if necessary (like Rogue x3, or Warrior-SK-Wizard (even that sounds potentially fun ^^)) but honestly it will work. it's ok.

I mean, do you guys plan to take one month off your respective lives and want to get to 60 in within that month in the most optimal way possible ?

If the answer is no, then play whatever you want; it will work wonders <3

If the answer is yes... maybe do a little sanity check with your life, call your mom ^^

[Neroth]

Thank you for all the great information! The main concerns we had were spending a lot of time waiting for Mana or getting to a certain level where there was content we could not do because we didn't have a tank for example.

[Raev]

I would say:

1. Probably one of you should to play a priest. EQ is not a very forgiving game, and if you don't have some healing ability you'll spend half your time looking for your corpse. All three are viable; Clerics and Shamans are the standard choices but Druids are tremendously underrated here and make up in utility what they lack in raw power.

2. Probably one of you should play a control class. It's difficult to do dungeons with only root. If your priest picked Druid or Cleric, you'll want the control class to be Enchanter or Bard or you'll spend all your time waiting on mana. If you picked Shaman, you can go with an FD splitting class (Monk, Necromancer, or Shadowknight).

Other than that, it really doesn't matter so much. Late Velious balanced the classes fairly well, with the exception of Wizards who are garbage leveling in normal groups and charming Enchanters who crush XP content from Classic all the way through Planes of Power. If you are willing to charm, the single best trio is probably SK/CLR/ENC. If not, MNK/SHM/NEC is worth trying, although this doesn't have the same level of endgame firepower.

[Ortnit]

I would also consider making classes that use different types of armor.
That way you can gear up most efficiently.
For example Cleric (Plate), Enchanter (Cloth) and Shaman (Chain).

[Legidias]

Alternatively, if they use same armor type you dont have to move camps.

[Amyas]

Hello,

Some friends and I played back around launch until the cat people showed up. I found this site reading the wiki for nostalgia. Anyway on to my question. I've got 2 friends that want to all level together as a 3 man squad and then group up with others at higher level. Not sure if we would raid much because of the time commitment. What classes would you suggest for the best 3 man squad to level without a too much downtime?

Thanks!

If you want a end game power house combo go War,cleric,enc......

/friend Amyas and send me a tell ingame i'll port you guys around and get you grouped up =)

[kjs86z]

Some good advice here so far. I'll put my 2c in...

First and foremost, don't play a class you're not interested in just because someone tells you its the best. Almost any mix of melee / caster / support will work, but there are definitely some META choices.

As Amyas mentioned, if you're focused on what you can do in the end game you simply cannot go wrong with Warrior, Cleric, Enchanter. While the warrior won't contribute much until late, they are super strong tanks and will allow the enchanter to use backstabbing pets (found in quite a few zones, just have to do your research).

If all 3 of you are completely uninterested in the enchanter class (they are probably the highest skill cap / most demanding class there is), then my recommendation is Iksar Necro, Monk, and Shaman. All 3 of you will start in the same zone, which is a great leveling experience as it came out in Kunark and is much more refined and logical as far as character progression. The 3 classes mesh extremely well together, and any of the two make fantastic duos as well if one of your buddies opts out or just isn't online. The monk and necro can FD while the shaman can gate if things get out of control, so with careful play you should rarely wipe. Lastly, Iksar is simply the best race for monk and necro....and some would argue shaman as well. It really is an ideal 3 man composition. I may be biased as I have played both a monk and a shaman in this exact setup. Its a ton of fun capable of going anywhere in your journey to 60.

So yeah, if you guys are looking allllllllll the way down the road at 60 and the end game and want to be as strong as possible, you'll want an enchanter and a cleric in that trio. However, if you want a more forgiving composition that is going to be super efficient right from level 1, go Iksar monk / necro / shaman. Don't get me wrong, this trio can tackle pretty much everything that an enchanter + cleric can do, just enchanters just bring this insanely strong side game of pets that do way too much damage (but a necro can do much of the same, it just has to be an undead mob and they don't quite have the same ability to survive a hasted + weaponized pet beating the hell out of them like an enchanter with their stuns, etc). The monk and shaman will have plenty of end game things to go after (2x fungi tunics, epics, torpor, etc) that will make the composition insanely strong and wanting the three of you to keep grinding for upgrades.

The only real "learning curve" here will be how to get around the faction woes of the lizard people (literally everyone outside of your hometown hates you, but this isn't nearly as bad as it sounds).

[fzzzt]

Odd groups are a lot of fun. You guys should play the classes that interest you. Don't force any particular setup.

[Bardp1999]

As long as one of you plays an enchanter the rest will work itself out. Chanters are so OP on P99 it makes you wonder what the hell is happening.

[Sicc]

Iksar Necro
Iksar Monk
Iksar Shaman

Very fun combo with no downtime, any combination of the 2 make a great leveling duo, start together, master race, great noob zone.

[Topgunben]

Iksar Necro
Iksar Monk
Iksar Shaman

Very fun combo with no downtime, any combination of the 2 make a great leveling duo, start together, master race, great noob zone.

This is a really great trio. And duo works well with these 3 as well