Help choosing builds for Trio

[PurpleTimb]

Posted this in the Class Discussion forum yesterday, but realized it more correctly fits here and rather than bump it there I'm reposting it here. Sorry if you're reading it twice.

I'm looking for some build advice for my static group of 3 players. We've been playing exclusively together about 3-4 times a week for around 9 months. We want to restart our characters now that we all have 32 point builds and more experience with the game. I want to plan out or party to get some good synergy and try to cover all the requirements. We're fairly casual players, so our focus will be more on quality of experience while leveling and not on how to be the best uber raid gods once we reach cap. I'm not a fan of using hirelings, as our first party got addicted to us each having our own dedicated hireling heal-bot, and it became a liability as we got to higher levels.

I was considering a wizard/rogue, a battle cleric and a melee DPSer, but we're open to any options that would make a good balanced party. One of our players is slightly less experienced than the others, so I was hoping to find a DPS build for him that is a little more basic, so he doesn't have to juggle too many clickies, cool-down timers and the like. Not necessarily a beginner build, but something that is not too complicated to play.

I understand the synergies of an all WF party, but that wouldn't be my first choice as 2 of 3 haven't purchased it and my anti-WF bias makes it hard for me to spend TPs on that.

I'm open to any suggestions on how to make our party.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[jeremyt]

the vibrant yet similarly shaded purple against grey background hurts eyes. Change it up and ill try to help some

[protokon]

18/2 wizard/rogue. cover's a strong arcane for buffs/crowd control/traps.
20 barbarian. Raw DPS for when it is necessary.
20 favored soul/20 cleric.

That would make a solid TRIO for almost any skill level group.

[PurpleTimb]

the vibrant yet similarly shaded purple against grey background hurts eyes. Change it up and ill try to help some

How about violet instead? :-)

Hmmmm... or violet without the bold.

[jeremyt]

There are trio themes that can work very well together if planned and played to a specific plan. IE 3 ranged toons all running around kiting things between eachother. Nearly unstoppable in most content and a pretty fun break from regular chase them down and beat them down play.

A wiz/rog arcane is always a good cornerstone to a static shortman group due to all the utility it brings. Warforge is easiest/best but with the advent of palemaster human or durf can also be solid choices.

The trapping could be taken up by the DPS toon as well. Exploiter builds are great all rounders, and can do their share of buffing as well. Set one up as a tempest. This does add more complexity to the guy you said you want less complexity for though. On other hand its really not clickie dependant while fighting, just hit rams might and few other basics and swing.

Third being a divine is a no-brainer unless the other two can sufficiently self heal through all the content you desire to tackle.

[Kriogen]

I answered before. But will again with some new ideas.

Just about any build combo will work as long as you 3 play as a team and not like some blob of solo primadonas like an average PUG. Good team play wins.

...IE 3 ranged toons all running around kiting things between eachother. ...

This actualy works very good. And not just 3 archers, can be 3 wizard/sorcerer for example.

By pure chance, rare, a couple of times I was in all-the-same-build group. It works as good as mixed group and even better. It was more fun as mixed group. So good and fun.

As I like blue-bar, I'd go with 3x Archmage (evoc, force) or 3x Pale Masters. One could be /rogue2 for extra utility/skills.

[Grieve]

Here's an idea. Hopefully, it's not too advanced for your group.

DPS - 20 Paladin (TWF Spec'd), Human
Caster - 18/2 Wizard/Rogue (Archmage Necro/Evoc Spec'd), Human or Warforged
Support - 18/2 Bard/Fighter (Warchanter Spec'd) or 20 Bard (Spellsinger Spec'd), Halfling or Dwarf

The Paladin will not be the most amazing DPS but should be quite self-reliant.
The Wizard should be able to cover the caster's job for damage while getting traps as well. If Warforged, should be self-sufficient as well.
The Bard will be grat to add buffs to the party and keep the Wizard as a primary damage dealer. Also, the bard should be able to UMD most scrolls so Healing will be done via scrolls & bard spells.

The Support role, the Bard, can be flexible. Warchanter brings good melee buffs and will allow the bard to participate in the combat. Spellsinger will help with SP regen for both the Paladin & Wizard if the Wizard is not Warforged. If the bard is halfling, grab Hero's Companion & possibly the Dragonmark if you feel the urge. If Dwarf, plan to spec for Greataxes and be swinging in Melee. (Spellsinger Halfling or Warchanter Dwarf are probably the more synergistic combinations.)

If you like this combination and would like to discuss some more specifics, just let me know.

[Ilklr]

The Paladin will not be the most amazing DPS

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Sorry, where were we? I'm guessing a twf paladin might be beyond what they're looking for. They are tome dependent, clicky-based, and just all around a bit complex. But you definitely get your money's worth in pure awesome.

[Loromir]

18/2 Wiz / Rogue (Max Intel...) Buffing, Crowd Control, Nuker, Traps and Lock.

20 Pure Fighter (Max Str/Max Con) THF with all THF Feats. This is (IMO) the absoulte easiest toon to play. Near impossible to mess this one up and can do massive DPS (Carnifex).

20 Cleric (Max Wis, 14 Con, the rest in Str and Chr) The Cleric can deal out damage almost as well as your Wizard and can take care of your healing duties.

Since you say 2 don't have WF, I assume no one has FVS either. If you do have FVS available, then that would be a good alternative to your Cleric.

[Dartwick]

2 warforged wiz and one warforged rogue/fighter

[PurpleTimb]

Thanks for all your comments.

I really don't want to go all WF, just because of my own personal bias. We like the idea of an 18/2 Wiz/Rog, and I understand this character would be great as a WF for the self healing, but does that blend well when the rest of the party is going to be fleshies? Especially as he'll be called on to CC and nuke.

No FVS yet, so I'd steer away from that as well.

In the other thread several people mentioned a bard, either a pure bard as a healer and buffer or a bardbarian for buffs and DPS. That seems like a stretch to me in a party this small but I'm open to other opinions.

I'm interested to hear any other, different ideas.

[PurpleTimb]

Here's an idea. Hopefully, it's not too advanced for your group.

DPS - 20 Paladin (TWF Spec'd), Human
Caster - 18/2 Wizard/Rogue (Archmage Necro/Evoc Spec'd), Human or Warforged
Support - 18/2 Bard/Fighter (Warchanter Spec'd) or 20 Bard (Spellsinger Spec'd), Halfling or Dwarf

The Paladin will not be the most amazing DPS but should be quite self-reliant.
The Wizard should be able to cover the caster's job for damage while getting traps as well. If Warforged, should be self-sufficient as well.
The Bard will be grat to add buffs to the party and keep the Wizard as a primary damage dealer. Also, the bard should be able to UMD most scrolls so Healing will be done via scrolls & bard spells.

The Support role, the Bard, can be flexible. Warchanter brings good melee buffs and will allow the bard to participate in the combat. Spellsinger will help with SP regen for both the Paladin & Wizard if the Wizard is not Warforged. If the bard is halfling, grab Hero's Companion & possibly the Dragonmark if you feel the urge. If Dwarf, plan to spec for Greataxes and be swinging in Melee. (Spellsinger Halfling or Warchanter Dwarf are probably the more synergistic combinations.)

If you like this combination and would like to discuss some more specifics, just let me know.

I like your ideas. I had written off bard as I thought they would be a bit too squishy for the DPS role and not able to be the only party healer. But I could see pulling that off here, as both other characters would have self-healing. Hmmmm... interesting thought. I was thinking of a dwarven 18/2 battle cleric for this role, but a dwarven warchanter would be an interesting option.

[jeremyt]

I like your ideas. I had written off bard as I thought they would be a bit too squishy for the DPS role and not able to be the only party healer. But I could see pulling that off here, as both other characters would have self-healing. Hmmmm... interesting thought. I was thinking of a dwarven 18/2 battle cleric for this role, but a dwarven warchanter would be an interesting option.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=304591

still on front page to this section of the forum actually Penciled out a 14 bard warchanter 6 barb with supportive past lives. Barb PL is critical, fighter PLs let it go from ho-hum stunning blow DC of 44 to 47. Lotsa grind...but anywho. it has 863 to 873hp buffed and raged depending on enhancement allocation.

[tekkentroop]

A different idea:

skip the caster

1 battle cleric (19/1 or 18/2) providing heals, buffs and some dps
1 ranger/fighter/rogue (18/1/1 or 13/6/1) providing dps, ranged options and rogue skills
1 Warchanter bard (not sure about build, I thing adding fighter levels is popular) providing buffs, haste, and cc while still having ok dps

this setup is completely free to play, might even go 3 dwarves. Maybe Im biased here since I dont like to play offensive casters and prefer melee-oriented builds. Its possible to add a rogue splash on a warchanter which would leave the DPS slot in the party free for a different build (paladin or barb).

[jeremyt]

1x 12wiz/6 fighter/2 monk human palemaster w/ heavy picks
1x pure wiz human palemaster w/ SF/GSF enchant.
1x 18wiz/2rog human palemaster w/ evoker orientated enhancements.

All able to heal all (extremely effectively and SP efficiently) deal insta death where possible, Epic CC DCs on enchantment avail. Semi wimpy, but still effective heavy pick DPS to stunned targets.

What content do you feel you want to spend most your time in?

[herzkos]

my suggestion follows from one of the above posters.

dps: exploiter ranger (18/1/1 ranger/rogue/monk) if monk is available,
if not, a tempest ranger 18/2 rogue or 18/1/1 rogue/fighter for an extra feat.
just take the rogue level first, have a decent int, max out your rogue skills every level (except for open
lock), and carry the best gear you can find for search/disable. (use a hotbar to switch to it when you
need it).

a 20 wiz cc/enchanter type with max int to help limit hostile exposure.
I suggest wiz over sorc because of the versatility of spell selections.

and, gasp, a battle cleric .
I'd go str based because the arcane spells are going to be more beneficial to the party
than the offensive divine ones for the most part.
the battle cleric can help out with melee as well as heal.

all 3 party members should be able to self heal pretty well.
the ranger because they can use wands (clw at 1, cmw at 3, and csw at level 5) even before
they can cast the spell.
the wizzy should be able to umd wands by the time it becomes necessary.

[unbongwah]

1x 12wiz/6 fighter/2 monk human palemaster w/ heavy picks
1x pure wiz human palemaster w/ SF/GSF enchant.
1x 18wiz/2rog human palemaster w/ evoker orientated enhancements.

Ummm, you do realize fleshie PMs can't self-heal until they hit PM II (wiz 12), right? Considering the OP specifically asked for a combo which did not need to rely on cleric hirelings, it seems...odd to recommend a combo which has no healing for the first dozen levels or so.

OP: wizard 18 / rogue 2 works best as WF, but as long as there's a dedicated healer in the party, it can work with any race. Almost any combo can be made to work with the right players, but it's hard to go wrong with the classics: DPS (ftr, pally, barb), healer (cleric or FvS, either melee-specced or caster-specced), arcane (pure sorc or rogue / wizard to cover traps as well).

[jeremyt]

Ummm, you do realize fleshie PMs can't self-heal until they hit PM II (wiz 12), right? Considering the OP specifically asked for a combo which did not need to rely on cleric hirelings, it seems...odd to recommend a combo which has no healing for the first dozen levels or so.

OP: wizard 18 / rogue 2 works best as WF, but as long as there's a dedicated healer in the party, it can work with any race. Almost any combo can be made to work with the right players, but it's hard to go wrong with the classics: DPS (ftr, pally, barb), healer (cleric or FvS, either melee-specced or caster-specced), arcane (pure sorc or rogue / wizard to cover traps as well).

Guess it stems from me not knowing the exact level of play these folks have. I assumed they got 32 point builds by unlocking, meaning they also all have vet status. The first 1-3 levels can be rough on a wiz and rog/wizzies if they are going by strict rules of no hirelings AND try for hard/elite completes. Sure, agreed. Lev 4 to 7 can be slightly annoying, but as long as you start with 14 str, dont mind casting master touch and dont try to squeeze too many hard/elite runs in before FW=should be fine/easy. Id say a stack of cure serious pots each, maybe 2 stacks. stack or four of haste pots=should get them into PM 2 range if they are competent players.

[Alektronic]

Another idea would be 3 monks: one light pure, one dark pure, and one trapper monk... maybe 13/7 (acro/SA type) or 19/1 (mostly monk w/ traps dealt w/) depending on how u want to split it. The light monk would be CC/party buffs/heals/"tanking"; the rogue/monk and dark monk would prolly compete for aggro. Everyone should have enuf UMD to rez/scroll each other as necessary in higher lvl content, but this type of team should need little to no healing from consumables.

[PurpleTimb]

Ummm, you do realize fleshie PMs can't self-heal until they hit PM II (wiz 12), right? Considering the OP specifically asked for a combo which did not need to rely on cleric hirelings, it seems...odd to recommend a combo which has no healing for the first dozen levels or so.

OP: wizard 18 / rogue 2 works best as WF, but as long as there's a dedicated healer in the party, it can work with any race. Almost any combo can be made to work with the right players, but it's hard to go wrong with the classics: DPS (ftr, pally, barb), healer (cleric or FvS, either melee-specced or caster-specced), arcane (pure sorc or rogue / wizard to cover traps as well).

While I think the all PM is a cool idea, it's not really what I'm looking for just for this reason. While I'm okay with deviating from the traditional party norms, the self sufficiency thing is a deal breaker. We're more casual players, so the trip to 12th level would likely be measured in weeks.

On the 18/2 Wiz/Rog, my question was how effective will he be as a WF in a party with a fleshy divine and melee? Will the fact that he'll have to do all his own healing limit him too much in his CC and nuking role? All WF is pretty much off the table, but making this one character be WF is an option as long as that would work in mixed company.