Best 4 Box Combo for Everquest TLP/Truebox Servers

Herein lies my preferred and recommended 4 boxing combos for playing on the Everquest Progression Servers.
00:00 Introduction
01:25 #1 Core Group Options
04:48 #2 The Semi Core Group Options
06:34 #3 The I'm Just Here for the Party Group Options

[@salvatorearbassio3609]

Love to hear what others box. Thanks for the vid.

[@liverwurstsammies6451]

As a main Druid I fully agree with all these setups

[@vanman2099]

ooooo a main druid, that's awesome, hats off to you !

[@jeffreyrayborn1871]

i remember the orc area in the beginning, and how much fun it was to pull two or three of them and snare them then dot them till they dropped. duos with my friends ranger was a blast, he would range them and i would slow then snare them, then as my mana recharged he would use his root or snare and both of us would range them till they were low then finish them with melee. erics ranger had a little more range capability and my snare root combo usually held them fast long enough tomake them easy kills. cant remember how many times we died trying to get to the next mob area where we could get a few more levels. and then having to go get our bodies back with lesser gear was great fun.

[@michaelwescott8064]

Shad War Sham Clr. The good thing about these four is you can reliably group (puller, tank, slow/DPS, heal/rez) AND reliably raid, because in the first expac Shads are great, but soon as Defensive discipline hits, War outshine all classes for raid tanks. The shad can also Rage tank while the war main tanks, and you have added A lot of value to the raid. Sham has suprising DPS in groups, and when u start taking full advantage of potions, helps with mana as well. If u get to luclin, yo can substitute the sham for bst, still get slows, and awesome mana regen/dps, but lose some slows in raid as they dont land spells on raid targets as well as a shaman would.

[@brianross9926]

Mercs just became available on Mischief. And I run Bard (driver) Mage Mage Mage plus 2x healer merc. It's a literal blast. Mage pets tank REALLY well. They do so even better in numbers with more iceflame proc damage immunity and more stunlocking. And throw 3 gargoyles into the mix for even more tanking capability. The AI of healer mercs works well with the mage pets bouncing aggro around (better than humans) and can offtank a little since mage pets have no AE threat. Run double pet proc augments in your bards weapons and he spits out tons of pets adding to the already high pet count # which makes the mages shock of many line absolutely melt things. It's a strange combo and it isn't going to work with anything raid tagged but it's really fun and powerful otherwise. Enchanter works well in place of bard and is more safer at handling adds but bard is overall better and more dmg IMO. This is definitely not as all-around good/proven as the standard builds you listed but it is massive dmg and a lot of fun.

[@vanman2099]

You should record a clip so I can see that in action, that sounds pretty fun, I like when people do unique things for the sake of fun.

[@brianross9926]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGW7d6KhaZ5pbac

[@brianross9926]

That was in secrets before mercs.

[@Staysa001]

With shm main, I box monk/bard/warrior alts on Mischief. imo the best boxing setups are high powered mains with easy to use alts. My shaman does basically everything while my boxes are front towards enemy with attack on.

[@jasonbergmann]

I just found your content and have really enjoyed it. Yelinak is the first server on which I have tried to box more than three, and I'm not particularly good at it. My core has been built around SK, ENC, CLR -- with MAG, MAG, DRU as the rest of my crew in classic, and then adding a few other DPS (RNG, RNG, MNK) as I found a couple of cheap laptops to add to my setup later. I can manage the core three reasonably well -- the extras are much harder for me to control effectively. The mages are relatively easy with a pet attack macro and a nuke macro, and the rangers are easy with an auto fire macro -- once I can get everyone into a camp where we don't have to move. The monk is a little harder since the tank has to pull the enemy within his melee range, which can be a little tricky. SK pulls and tanks. But I'm still very much a novice at this. It looks like your core four essentially splits my enchanter's role between a BRD and SHM. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what the SHM hotkeys will be. The BRD seems more of a mystery to me. In your twelve-box setup video, I think you have your bard as one of four characters that are controlled with a keypad. If you're using him just for resists and melee buffs, then I think that would probably work, but if the toon will be pulling and crowd controlling, I'm not sure how you could do that without the character one one your two primary computers. I'd be curious if you'd explain how you would set up and use the bard in the four box explained in your video.

[@vanman2099]

The bard is rarely used for anything other than cheap melee and weaving 4 situational songs depending on what I'm doing. In my 12 box, I run one bard per group, it's kind of become a mandatory thing for me every 6 person group I add just to sheer amount of various buffs and resists it can provide. I have 13 accounts atm so I rotate what is in the 12 box, usually the enchanter sits out as the 13th man unless I really need him there for tash, but if I am 12 boxing and actually going to fight big mobs my first group is: Paladin, Warrior, Cleric, Bard, Wizard, Druid, the 2nd group is Shaman, Berserker, Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Bard. The druid sometimes moves from first group to the second group depending on heal requirements for the fight, and the enchanter can swap in for anyone of them but sometimes I bring 13. The Wizard/Druid are actually completely replaceable but the reason they are usually put in separate groups just for ports sake because I'm lazy. The structure also changes based on Era, for example, Enchanter would be considered a high form of DPS and a priority in PoP and below content for charmed pet. My independently controlled computers feature Warrior, Paladin, Cleric, Cleric normally. On Yelinak I think you're in Planes of Power so Enchanters are really prime DPS right now. PoP is also when I used to have 4 Rangers in my group for the same reason you said, Autofire, it was my kill squad but Mischief is on Prophecy now and I only have 1 ranger left.

[@jasonbergmann]

Thanks. This is helpful. Perhaps with all of your firepower, you don't need to selectively pull or do much crowd control, since the Bard, Enchanter, and Monk are not in your four independently controlled computers. I guess you do have pacify, but no FD. If I were sub Bard and Shaman for my enchanter, then I would need to use the bard for crowd control, and maybe to pull, which would mean I would need to control it. My current approach is for my SK to pulls and tank, and my ENC joins him on one of my most accessible laptops to deal with crowd control and to manage charm breaks. I did blow the AAs on Dire Charm on both the ENC and DRU so that I could get some extra charm DPS without having to constantly be on guard, which I use sometimes when there is an appropriate mob and when Id rather not have to be constantly on guard. But, as I said, I'm still not particularly good at this, and may play with some different class combinations to see if I can find a mix I like better -- which is why I've enjoyed your stuff. Thanks for putting it up there.

[@vanman2099]

@@jasonbergmann so just to be clear, you can control each of the boxes independently if you want by pressing a button 3x that disables global control over all 4 at once on the other setups. But even without disabling that I have my hotkeys setup to assist / ae mezz, so I do tend to pull in mass and if I need CC its usually done with an AE Mezz off a hotkey on the enchanter. If I need to go individually, I will disable global hotkeys and take control of just the one screen off to the side and do the mezzes manually if I have to. SK Pulling is absolutely awesome, as you pointed out having so many, I can take on a lot of stuff at one time but for like raid mobs I will individually take control of a bard for fading memories and do the pull that way and then once the pull is under control and I'm tanking I will bring everyone back on globally on the sides. I just don't want you to think you can't take independent control of the boxes if you need to, but I have all the hotkeys setup pretty decent for that type of stuff, I maintain individual control of those 4 characters (tanks / clerics) because there is never a scenario where they really go to lazy mode, they're always needing something done on them.

[@jeffreyrayborn1871]

i really missed the challenge of the original EQ. where you could and did die trying to kill the level one and two and 3 mobs. i sold my accounts to erics friend when i had to quit for financial reasons. and 2 years later when i was ready to restart, eric told me my original druid was nearing lvl 60 and my original beastlord was right behind at level 55. so when i restarted, my first character was a druid. and the beginning was so easy!!! they had tweaked everything so much in the 2 years i ws gone that i leveled up my new druid so quickly and relearned all the specializations (sewing, potions, arrows, bows, and smithing. that with in the first month of returning i was searching for the pieces and parts i needed for the special scimitar. and i got lucky and found many of the things i needed in the selling areas. so i would put all my silver into bags potions arrows and such then leave her in the selling area till the next day after work and my bags were nearly empty every day i got home from work. so i could go out gather the stuff for bags potions and kill mobs for silver and drops and gear sometimes, then make all the bags potions arrows and sell them again overnight and that way i always had silver for new spells and buying things in the market, and slowly doting larger and larger mobs whereever i could find enough room to run and slow and dot them. but this was also when i learned that groups were hard to make or find. and i started boxing 2 then 3 characters. using my druid to power level first the beatlord when i could finally get to the main area after Lucilin. my 3rd character was a cleric, and my friend eric now living across the atlantic helped me get his special gear . that was a rough weekend. but we did it and after that i had what i thought was a great 3 box, druid -heals /travel/ gear - beastlord for pulling tanking and dps, and then the cleric as both a second tank and healer. then i made 2 dwarves - a paladin and a shaman. they were fun to 2 box together. then i used the darkelves as a mage and then an SK that was another interesting 2 box . then when those 6 were all around level 45 i filled out my 3 accounts with characters i had yet to try out , the bard was almost as fun as my druid and it was fairly easy to find people wanting his skills in their groups. so that leveled up easily. the beserker monk and enchanter were so different from the rest i had played it was difficult to find nitches to use them in . those classes were everywhere so groups were scarce, and they were difficult to find good matches to 2 box with them, because my other characters did everything they did better LOL then the new face of eq came - those second skin things and the new beginning area, and stuff wasnt working right and areas were breaking or off limits, then i started making more accounts and putting certain character in certain accounts so i could always make 3 or 4 box groups alone. because now everyone was leveling up those things that let your berserker be a mage ????i never liked that addition and didn't persue it much, i was trying to get the special gear for each character i had , and my daughter was hogging the game on weekends with her playing. so leveling up during the week was difficult with less players around . but i was so engrossed in learning how each type worked with the others that i didn't notice the lack of people until my guild started recruiting my characters for raids , i had to use certain charaters in certain ways i was not familiar with. and trying to read those tiny chats whizzing by was a headache in itself. LOL and i never got much from the raids i was dragged into because the guild leaders took all the good stuff for "the guild" and thats where i perty much quit . i came back every winter and fooled around in the beginning area , making characters level up to 15 or 20 then selling them off to people who didn't want to go thru the beginning levels. sold 10 characters in 4 months and financed alot of good gear for my characters for awhile , until they started clamping down on squatters and miners ( people or groups of hired people who ran a definitive route to gain gold at certain GPM rates. cant remember how many times i was leveling a solo character when a what were they called DM would ask me if i was mining or or what. i remember i had a one week frozen account until they figured out i was not a miner. then they gifted me some nice equipment for 2 of the characters on that account. for the misunderstanding. but i had had enough and practically didnt touch my computers for lie a year. and when i came back was when eq went free. i didn't need all my DVD's anymore - everything was now downloadable from the internet. which was nice actually , i had used my year away to build an almost all new tower and faster everything . and i could run all 6 accounts on one tower and 3 screens. ihad 3 huge vacume tube monitors LOL fastest thing i could get. well then all the new program changes starting happening and it was like every other month i would have to search for new drivers and different patches and fixes to make this work with that and then the flat screens came out and my home built computer wasn't able to keep up to the game requirements , so all these newer games i had to run at really low graphics, and finally my monitors started dieing, so i took another hiatus , got a better job, moved. and then when i tried to run eq my system couldnt handl it so it was trashed, and i spent another year saving up money, and when i tried to build a system nobody had parts anymore, it was all fix it shops and premaid towers and new smaller this and that and technical jargon had passed me by. six months later i found this tower within my budget, and i asked if it as scaleable ? could i upgrade it, sure ure its all upgradeable. they said, hrumpf! 3 wekks after i bought the new tower and flatscreens a new version of operating system rolled out and it wreaked havoc on the stuff in my NEW tower, took the guys at best buy a full week to make it run right (geeksquad) and cost me almost as much as the tower did! but it was never the same and best buy had lied to me, i couldnt upgrade anything, only the ram! well this is too long now so i'll say good night and thanks for all the interesting EQ boxing info. I'll make sure to watch what i do.

[@paul4pres08]

Once mercs become available, I’ve found monk, chanter, druid, and wizard to be extremely effective. Max out your mercs and you can drop from 6 boxing down to 4 boxing. This also assumes you’ve enough time to max aa’s and keep good gear on your toons. There are not many nameds that you cannot molo camp for several expansions. Just my 2¢

[@novyxl9672]

Thanks for the content

[@jeanmichelexactitude9362]

Boxing full group proposal : (Working from start to Gate of Discord at least) SK, Cler, Shm, Ench, Druid, Mage. SK + SHM (THE versatyl duo, any exp) Cleric + Ench (THE DPS duo, from start to GoD) Druid for ports + track. Some will prefer a Wiz for dps. I don't, even after GoD. Mage or Monk or any top tier dps. (Mage with Coth can save the game, also easier to box than a melee). After GoD you will want to drop ench, maybe druid too. Pros : Very easy to box with only one melee, and SK is the best taunter to immobilize any mobs. That is the main point : not having to replace 3 or 4 toons every moments. Very easy to lvl up with ench dps from lvl 20 to 70. Majority of players stop playing EQ at around level 70, that is a fact. Very safe with the 3 healer classes + FD puller. Convenient with ports and track + mana regen and rezz. Best game changers for not losing time. Druid + Ench charming with malo and cleric + ench stuns backup : just try once ... Having a cleric turns the shaman and druid into dps, not amazing but it is decent ! Easy to gear : you don't have for exemple 4 toons wearing plate armors. Cons : Charming dependant for very high dps. Not a 100% relax mode for playing : you will have to pay attention while charming. When charming is not possible your dps will goes down, but it will be decent dps and very safe : you can group kill easily any named in BoT Towers at 65 for exemple with no raid gear. You MUST know how to play enchanter : runes, pacify, blurr, AEpb stuns are not options. You can not play with only tash and charm. Learn soloing with the ench, then duoing with the cleric.

[@Greldek]

I used to three box sk/shm/rog, once you get the hang of it you can reliably pull with your shm so your rogue is set up to start backstabbing without having to move them around. It's really no different than boxing any other melee, you still need to pull right to where the melee are standing, or else you need to move the melee into range. I would have added a bard to the group, but i was on a 3box max private server.

[@FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

Shaman, Pally, Ranger, monk. Mixes melee buffs, less mana intensive, track, heals long term. Can add mercs of rogue and cleric.. it fucks. I have 30 max level characters and trying to bard in just downgrads melee groups imo. the haste simply isnt enough FOR 4 Boxing.

[@kinzer69]

My paly, mag, chant, ranger, wiz works well. Toss a healing merc in last slot. Mez, slows, haste, run speed, ports, evac, and so on

[@ruffnarbobnar5960]

Usually 3 box tlp, been tempted to do 4. May do that this year. My favorite combo has always been chanter, druid , mage/or cleric in last spot. If I was to add a fourth I think I would go with a necro. Only reason I say that is in all these years I have always said I would get a necro up to high level and never have.. if it wasn't tlp start, I would like to try ikky monk with shaman warrior and ranger.. just for a different flavor of boxes.

[@ruffnarbobnar5960]

I say warrior. I personally would much rather Sk but have played many sks so screw it change to warrior I say

[@vanman2099]

That's an interesting caster setup you have for sure. Probably a lot of fun.

[@ruffnarbobnar5960]

@Thomas Van I love dual charming when possible with chanter/druid but when I feel like just relaxing I use chanter charm pet for tank/dps.. cleric is the safer 3rd box but it's noticeable how much slower killing goes. Mage has support items for charm plus snap tank when needed. Not to mention dps. Necro opens up a second charm of a different style, more pet weapons/geared charm pet. So I think necro would be neat. Plus as stated back in the day I wanna say highest necro I ever had was low 40s? That was og days of kunark

[@vanman2099]

@@ruffnarbobnar5960 I think you should go for the triple charm with a necro enchanter druid then add a mage for pet items and see if you can move quick enough to manage all that haha

[@ruffnarbobnar5960]

@Thomas Van that may be pushing it a bit with Gina triggers doing druid chanter isn't bad unless rng starts not seeming very rng. I'm down to try thought. I used to only play melee for the longest time but I fi d enchanter for first handful of xpacs is very fun

[@paladine6]

I like having lots of buffs and class roles fulfilled so I run a Paladin, Druid, Chanter, and Mage. It works for me....but I am currently taking a break from game. I play on TLP though. If I was on live I'd have different line-up and only use 3 boxes. Merc's do majority of the work there.

[@vanman2099]

Live is such a different beast altogether. I like that setup, the last TLP I leveled a druid with my first setup and got yelled at the whole way by the guild, but I like ports and evac too much.

[@KingKoopah]

@@vanman2099 Druid's are so convenient, but they really lack the power of cleric healing or shaman slows. It would be hard for me to justify a Druid box unless I was 12 boxing, where I already had 1 shaman and a cleric for each group.

[@vanman2099]

@@KingKoopah Believe me it's very hard to justify it even in a 12 box, I've come to accept one evacer / porter per group which still is meh, wizard one druid in another, the Druid obsession came from my days of soloing or two boxing and the druid had a lot of port / run speed / buff / heal utility that I enjoyed

[@redfox7739]

1 mage 3 necros Didn't even have to watch

[@JON_CORE]

Cleric ench sk wiz

[@JON_CORE]

Can swap wiz with bard. But sk can also pull ench has so much DPS and caster buffs and the best slow

[@jeffreyrayborn1871]

wow you really don't like druids! my main character is a druid. my 2nd choice for a main character was a beast lord. when i was starting out - soloing - i loved to play open areas and dot kill mobs by running in circles and slowing and dotting. using my druid. when i started aquiring the portals i was always asked to join groups as either the healer of the group or for the time saving portals. when i started boxing i had my druid and my beastlord, using the pet for pulling unless the druid could do it with a bow or spell. many times i was the only healer in the group and i kept every heal spell on the bar for that purpose and carried mana potions . my druid was also the sewing lead (making weight dropping bags and until i got a shaman my druid also did potions. I know the druid is a fill in character (as so many people hate them) but because my main character was a druid i specialized in dots, heals, portals and potions . and by doing that i was always asked to either transfer groups for a price, or join them for a healer when clerics were scarce. my actual first build was a ranger , but my friend chose that also and as a 2 person group we needed heals so i liked the ranged and melee capabilities of the druid, which kept getting better and better with the addition of her slow spells snare or root spells , and being able to do dmg at a distance. my druid was the maker of everything, arrows bows potions bags. and with strength buffs given freely by solo larger people running thru the areas sometimes she even tanked for smaller friends characters, helping them power level by dotting mobs once and snaring them until the smaller character killed them. and thats how my druid was and is still my favorite character i choose to play. followed closely by the beastlord for the pet dynamics.