Oddball Group lineups and why they can rock

[Roo Stercogburn]

Standard farming line-up: 4 tanks, 2 healers , mage with pbt + misc damage dealer as the standard group lineup of choice (adjust classes as appropriate for each realm). Zzzzz

I wondered first of all what 2 peep team combo you think rocks and then what size of group you like to use when not simply camping the standard line-up, i.e. when you are doing something more interesting. Also wondered what you think the pros an cons are.

Berserker/shaman combo

Massive damage, heals for low downtime, shammy has long range pull and DoT. Mobs die so fast from zerk they don't get too much time to inflict much damage.

Pro: best buffs in Midgard. Con: low armour factor on zerk occasionally shammy can struggle to heal.

SM/Runie combo

Pet self bladeturns in addition to pbt. SM debuffs, runie nukes after pet has done enough damage to hold agro.

Pro: no pressure on casters. Con: dependence on power regen

4 peep group:

This oddball combo completely owned: 2 SMs, 1 hunter, 1 warrior. 1 SM does str/con debuffs and heals, 1 SM does dex/qui debuffs and nukes/backup heals. This group combo effectively has 3 tanks+hunter for melee, great cc and good heals when split between 2 SMs. 2 pets = mob often stunned for a lot of fight. Hunter can do long range pulls and mobs are completelly debuffed before they get to group.

Pro: all major skill areas for good group covered. Con: no buffs or power regen

 

[SilverHood]

Thane/sb combo

Thane pulls, sb does his thing, thane holds aggro and guards the sb

Pro: Orange mobs go down VERY fast
Con: Can be quite a bit of downtime

sb/sb/sb

Was a wierd group this one, wasn' sure whether it would work or not.... (3 lvl 12 sb's)

We all sneak up on a mob, 2 on one isde of a mob, one on the other side

The first one to strike holds aggo while the other 2 both backstab

Dropped oranges with very little DT

Pro: lots of damage inflicted quickly
Con: If backstab failed or we got a add, we we're in deep shit

 

[klavrynd]

from 1.53 shammy/zerk/skald is gonna rule

you get baf (group of 3), shammy roots the add, skald does backup mezzing, with damage add, shammy dot/buffs (end regen!!) and zerk pure damage.

 

[lakih]

Sword & shield Hero/Champ + Warden with pbt.

Pro. lots of defense, can take up to 3 mobs at the same time.
Con. long downtime if warden go oom


3 archers (from any realm).

Pro. 3x critshot if timed right... mob is usually dead before it knows its been pulled
Con. no heals, 3x missed critshot = downtime

 

[SilverHood]

A friar duo also rocks

 

[Uncle Sick(tm)]

Enchanter/Druid (with high nurture if possible for TEH buffs):
Druid buffs/heals Enchanter pet, can root pull baf-mobs for a nice group bonus, Enchanter pets does most of the damage + the occasional nuke.

Purple and a red at the same time? No problem really.


2 Wardens also make a nice team.

 

[-dewey-]

Thane/Hunter

I wouldn't say great but good.

Hunter pulls with crit, thane immediatly follows up with 2 lightning spells and then mob is meleed. Me and a Thane friend once took 2 oranges and a yellow this way. Pet is stuck on the second orange to keep it busy and the thane mjollners the yellow and orange once or twice while they are coming. We could usually finish the orange and yellow before the pet died and if it did I would just charm another.

 

[Blood]

6 hunters, a healer and a skald

6x timed crit shots can nail most redcon mobs, second salvo is certain to kill, that means it wont get more than a step or two, adds can be mezzed by healer/skald or tanked by the skald.

if a mob reaches the hunters, it can be stunned.

Downtime would come from end regen, and if the group is working well together, they can replace the healer with a aug/mending shammy

 

[mele-nko]

atm:
2 dark rm's --> damage 2k2
1 rc rm --> pbt + cold debuff ( darkness nukes are cold based)
1 pac healer --> purity buff and healing/stunning
A combo like this can output insane damage very fast, 2 red mobs at a time would go down without any probs.

Nearsight pull, Runecarver cold debuffs target#1, darkers start nuking for insane damage, healer mezzes add. --mob1,dead--
pull with cold debuff, healer stuns, rm's nuke some. --mob2,dead--
Low downtime due to Purity (power regen)
If the rm's stand a little spread out, in case mezzes / stun should fail, mobs will be running around between the mages.

after 1.52
1 sm (supression spec) --> most damaging pbaoe in the game
1 shieldwarrior --> taunter
1 shieldwarrior --> taunter
1 healer
(+skald for speed if 5 ppl group)
(+pbt rm if 6ppl group)
(+warrior / sm if 8 ppl group --> 3 mobs at the same time then)

Pull 2 red mobs, both warriors start taunting a mob, they bring them ontop of eachother asap. SM pbaoe's and u got 2 dead mobs in no time. Very low downtime since warriors will block a lot (dex buffed from healer), the sm has purity from the healer and since mobs go down so fast the healer doesn't need to heal alot ( esp. if he ae stunned) and sm didn't waste a lot of power

 

[cHodAX]

The Dragon Senate once ran the following group on a Llyn Barfog item hunt ;

3 Theurgists (all with synced 8 sec PBT)
3 Clerics (one smite spec'ed and two healers)
1 Minstrel
1 Paladin

Needless to say we owned the place, the healers had to heal maybe 10 times in a full hour and we were pulling deep reds and purples with zero downtime. The synced PBT is a godsend and the mana song running helped keep us all going with constantly over 50% power. Looking at the lineup you would think it was caster heavy and light on tanks but we dropped those mobs fast

 

[SFXman]

Originally posted by SilverHood
A friar duo also rocks

True, very very true.

Also I have found out today that for example 2-3 ~L35 infs, 1 ~L35 friar and 1 ~L35 theurgist can majorly kick pygmy asses. It was awesome exp and crap all downtime.
I mean all the infs evade and they can be easily healed by a friar compared to a usual tank and the theurg really does help with buffs/pbt. Plus even the friar is able to defend himself if he actually has to heal so much that he gets aggro (rare).

 

[old.Xarr]

How's this for an oddball group:

1 pac specced healer, 1 pbt runie, 1 tank with aggro style and 3-4 pbaoe spiritmasters.

They go about it like this:

Tank runs in to a pretty purple mob (or two) and builds aggro with aggro style while the pbaoe peeps run into position around the mob then the healer stuns while pbaoe-hell commences. Think it would work?

 

[SFXman]

Originally posted by old.Xarr
Tank runs in to a pretty purple mob (or two) and builds aggro with aggro style while the pbaoe peeps run into position around the mob then the healer stuns while pbaoe-hell commences. Think it would work?

Someone actually recommended this today in albion at the pygmys... every tank supposed to take a mob (2 or 3) then the mobs get the pbaoe hell on them. Didn't try it though.
On strange group was friar+cleric+scout+scout+armsman... the thing was that one scout pulls while another is in stealth near the pygmy hill. As the pygmys get aggro on teh first scout running back the other in stealth comes out and shoots the crap out of them. Worked quite well...

 

[old.SadonTheGrey]

Theurg + wiz + smite cleric.

All lvl 45 +

Take em to tangs and rock... or one theurg and 2 ice wizzies <cough cough>

 

[old.linnet]

Originally posted by old.Xarr
How's this for an oddball group:

1 pac specced healer, 1 pbt runie, 1 tank with aggro style and 3-4 pbaoe spiritmasters.

They go about it like this:

Tank runs in to a pretty purple mob (or two) and builds aggro with aggro style while the pbaoe peeps run into position around the mob then the healer stuns while pbaoe-hell commences. Think it would work?

Willl work better if you try it on BAF reds or oranges, due to the number of resists on purples. A tank can easily aggro two of them (three if she is quick), and drag them back to the PBAE people.

Minstrel + theurgist is a good duo, so is sorcerer and fire wizard (confuse is a great spell).

 

[Motowntheta]

I have always wondered what a group of 8 cabalists would be like

Quite fun I assume ....

 

[lakih]

Originally posted by old.linnet


Willl work better if you try it on BAF reds or oranges, due to the number of resists on purples. A tank can easily aggro two of them (three if she is quick), and drag them back to the PBAE people.

This is a very much ordinary PBAoE group in hib... we take purps without a problem.

2 Tanks
2 PBAoE casters
1 Warden
1 Druid
Rest of grp can be anything, but a mentalist and/or bard is really nice and speeds up things alot.
A grp like this dont have any problem with a purple mob, can take loads of adds (stun, root, pets).

 

[rynnor]

Best odd group I was in recently was 2 kobold defensive specced Warriors and one Heal Specced Shaman (me).

Firstly mobs could barely hit the kobolds - even the purples we killed barely hit them.

Every pull I stuck a regen on the main tank (or both if adds) and sat back medding while they fought on.

Against purples I might need to cast another small heal or two.

Advs - only downtime was for Endurance (tho in later patches there could be no downtime - I fully buffed both tanks and kept dam add on em. Plus I was always very close to full mana so if things really went to hell I had plenty of reserve.

Another advantage is that regen produces no aggro - only time I had a mob on me was when it spawned on me.

 

[Ottar]

Well.. 2man groups chaining high yellows low oranges would be the best I think, if it wasnt for no BaF. If a team or two could recruit someone who is solo exping far enough to not steal exp, that would solve the problem I think. Haven’t tried it with exp, works well for cashfarming.

Best 2 man team.. I started a spiritmaster yesterday. 12 hours - 12 levels. Then 5 more levels in a bit slower rate. That was with a shammie buffbot, but actually, healer with a good PoM almost as good stat buffs and combat haste would be much more useful. Higher than oranges the SM will get too many resists and there is danger of pet not getting a hit in before the mob kills the caster. Thats why healer’s combat haste is good.

With a good PoM, oranges are easily chainable, giving cap exp each pull. If there is no healer bot, teaming with a healer would be next best thing. If done rightly, bafing oranges could be done with no downtime. Also, with a small team, coordination is easier and likelyhood someone messing up alot smaller.

So, darkness spirimaster and a balanced healer would be a rather good combo I think. Compared to zerk/healer combo, it would be close I think, dunno which would win.

Spiritmasters do rock. They can cast, they can tank (with a pet), they can heal, mez and debuff. As far as I can see, their only problem is abundance of predators in RvR. Then again, in certain situations they are unsurpassable. First time I saw what a good SM can do in milegate camp I could not believe my eyes.

Ottar

 

[blain]

Dark Spec Runey and Healer.

Pros: Best CC in game with huge amounts of Spell Damage, low downtime.
Cons: If CC goes wrong it ca be nasty.

Blain

 

[Ottar]

> Dark Spec Runey and Healer.

One question: who tanks?

Can runie cast-kill high oranges before they get to him? Don't think so. So you need something to absorb hits.

Ok, healer could pull aggro from runie with heals and then tank until runie finishes off with DD's.. Could actually work.

Ottar

 

[the_smurflord]

Best tangler group I've ever been in:
1 infil, 1 paladin, 1 cleric, 1 theurgist, 4 scouts.

The theurg pet pulls, runs back and AE roots, then the scouts let rip with their bows one target at a time. The infil (me) and the paladin just sat there.

 

[old.Kladen]

1 PBT theurg +7 paladins.

theurg for buffs and BT

Paladins for heals.

pros: invincible
cons: ummm bad against melee immue mobs? or legion or dragon?

pulling can be a problem now but with patch 1.52 paladins get shout

 

[old.Lianuchta]

I had some good fast xp with an eld, mana chanter duo. Stick in the tank pet to get agro, debuff for energy, chanter debuffs for heat, blast away.

 

[diamonds]

Originally posted by Ottar
> Dark Spec Runey and Healer.

One question: who tanks?

Can runie cast-kill high oranges before they get to him? Don't think so. So you need something to absorb hits.

Ok, healer could pull aggro from runie with heals and then tank until runie finishes off with DD's.. Could actually work.

Ottar

Stun ?

 

[old.Normengast]

Don't really got an idea on two man teams but this sounds nice:

Eight runemasters specced 47 RC 26 Supp.

One bubble eacht 1.25 seconds, root, debuffs, massive DD, AOE.

If you keep distance between casters and you're equal level you can make the mob switch aggro between casters, making it lose time to get from one caster to another.

Imagine that in RvR where you don't get aggro related to done damage...

Ociri Havocweaver
Prywden/Midgard
Fedaykin.

 

[diamonds]

Originally posted by old.Normengast
Don't really got an idea on two man teams but this sounds nice:

Eight runemasters specced 47 RC 26 Supp.

One bubble eacht 1.25 seconds, root, debuffs, massive DD, AOE.

If you keep distance between casters and you're equal level you can make the mob switch aggro between casters, making it lose time to get from one caster to another.

Imagine that in RvR where you don't get aggro related to done damage...

Ociri Havocweaver
Prywden/Midgard
Fedaykin.

Just use the 100% confuse and have the mob in the center, then nuke until dead

 

[SFXman]

2 even level friars can really rock... you will zoom through the levels 20 up to 30 or so... naturally the earlier levels too but let's just say up to 30.
If you want to start a friar get another person to do so too and level at equal intervals together as a duo.
Both with high staff spec and decent (max 14) rej and rest in enh (maybe few in parry) will be able to whoop yellow->red cons since both may heal and whoop serious butt. Recommend it highly.

 

[LunarDarkShadow]

My most fun pygmy auto group ever was...


1 sorceror
4 infiltrators

All four infiltrators stealthed in front of me, and as each pygmy ran down (adds mezzed), they were debuffed and then... 4 x PA.
Pygmies down in one hit most of the time. And an awesome sight to see 4 infiltrators working together as a team.

Funniest thing about this group though was that I kept getting invitations to join other groups, as I looked as though I was on my own, until the infs destealthed to strike.

Shame the auto's dead

 

[Gef]

Originally posted by the_smurflord
Best tangler group I've ever been in:
1 infil, 1 paladin, 1 cleric, 1 theurgist, 4 scouts.

The theurg pet pulls, runs back and AE roots, then the scouts let rip with their bows one target at a time. The infil (me) and the paladin just sat there.

I was gonna say the same thing Visit, in fact I think it was probably the same group

Small firing squad at the back and a few melee classes to mop up. A lvl 42 Scout can easily kill a gobbo before it gets to melee range, 4 cut through them like butter.

Other combo is 3 Scouts and a Smite Cleric, Smite Cleric stuns and Scouts lets rip nobody gets hit! With timed Crits you can plough through purps with ease.