Breakfast Topic: The perfect group

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 3rd 2008 at 8:00AM

You've been trying for days to get a group together to run an instance so you can clear out your quest log. Your guild isn't interested in whatever you're up to, and you've wound up in the looking for group channel, where you find three rogues and a hunter who are interested in joining you. Hopefully at this point you wake up from your nightmare... at which point you may be compelled to spend some time considering the ideal group configuration. So what classes would you put in your ideal group? For a 5-man, a 10-man, a 25-man?

Tags: 5-man, group, ideal-group, instance, perfect-group, world-of-warcraft, wow

Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Instances

Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)

Hagar Jan 3rd 2008 10:07AM

Ideal group?

Tank that knows what he's doing
Healer that knows what he's doing
DPS/CC knows what they are doing

knowledge > skill > gear

especially in 5 mans (even heroics)

peaglemancer Jan 3rd 2008 11:50AM

Win.

dbowie Jan 3rd 2008 5:11PM

Prot paladin.
Mage.
Warlock.
Shadow priest.
Holy paladin.

I actually have run this group before, and it is probably the most overpowered, smooth running 5 man you can possibly have in this game. Prot paladin - no need for CC. Mage and warlock-plenty of fast, easy aoe, and heck, even some CC and snaring if the paladin isn't enough. (rofl!) Mage, 2 pallies, and priest-awesome buffs for mana users. And finally, the shadow priest never, ever lets the tank OR the dps run out of mana, and provides the missing "HoTs" (with VE) and backup rez and shield for the pally healer in the rare, rare case that something goes wrong there. Literally, the paladin healer backed up by the shadow priest is one of the notoriously overpowered healing dynamics in the game, and I love it.

The downside? Huge gear squabbles between the DPS!

To more realistically get a better gear combo, replace one of the cloth dps with a hunter. Hunters are a great addition to most groups WHEN they are played well, I have found. Assuming the pallies don't fight over gear, there should be no need to bring in another healer. (I ran with a fantastic holy pally/prot pally duo most of the time in heroics)

mekanik Jan 3rd 2008 9:52AM

For speed runs (ie Kara attuning, Badges farming, gearing alts and new guild members) - Usually we have 3+ with tier 4 (or equiv) or better gear... We run fast and in control (Shattered halls in 40 min... Heroic Mech in 60)... We have a core group of maybe 10 people each with multiple toons but this would be the "ideal" party...

Pally healer - Some say the best 5-man healer... Salvation makes this almost a must (unless Pally tank i guess)... Should have 11 points in prot to put BOK on tank... Should never go OOM may only need to drink after boss fights... I guess Tree Druid is next best healer...

Shadow Priest - PW:FORT... Mana regen for all casters (which is all the DPS)... Passive Healing(when needed)... Steady consistant good DPS.. PW:Shield (emergency use only)... MC if needed...

Affliction Lock - Blood Pact... Soul Stone (Wipes happen)... More of a Boss killer than a trash sweeper... Dots are great for multi mob pulls... Benifits from Shadow Priest Debuff... Lock and Shadow priest are made to go together...

Mage (Fire or Frost) - Arcane Brilliance... AOE... High DPS... Sheep if needed... This I would call the FIFTH spot in our groups, this is where a rogue/hunter etc would go although a Moonkin or Elemetal Shammy benifits more from this group (and benifit the group).

Druid Tank - Tanking ability is more important than class... I like running with Druid for a few reasons... High hit points help when tanking multiple mobs... MOW is a nice buff (Alone this doesnt make them a better tank)... Favorite thing is that between pulls (not every pull), tank dropping feral and throwing a few small heals around to stop down time eating (or wasting healers mana)... Even though Pallies are great tanks - they drink too much... A good Warrior tank can be just as good/fast as a druid (I just like the bear)...

The 5 Specs I have listed all benifit each other... This is a "MANA 5 MAN BUILD" and phyiscal DPS classes dont benifit from mana users and are no benifit for mana users (IE a Mage and a rogue may work well with each other but nether benifits from the other)... Our goal is mainly speed (we all know the encounters)... That means almost no CC and lots of time in combat... The only other real concern is survivability and dealing with the odd "OH SHIT"... Shadow priests can heal if they need to, Holy pally can "Tank" a mob if needed, Mages have Frost nova and locks bring the Soulstone...

All classes and builds (even ret pally lol) are viable if played and geared well.

I am either the pally, priest or frost mage.

The only other comment I can make is that 2 hunters is usually trouble... When traps release, there are often hunters kiting mobs around (one example that healers and tanks hate)... Hunters are one of the best solo classes and have many bad habits that are bad in instances... That said, I know many great hunters.

N_Stoupe Jan 4th 2008 11:24AM

For 5-man,

Holy Paladin
Shadow Priest
Prot Paladin
Mage
DPS Warrior

Lancen Jan 3rd 2008 10:03AM

5-man:
Prot Paladin (for the AoE tanking and blessings)
Elemental Shaman (for interrupts and totems)
Shadow Priest (for mana regen out the wazoo)
Holy Priest (most versatile heals, they have a heal for every five man situation)/ Holy Paladin (since the Tankadin should be the only one taking damage single target healing should be really good here and double blessings is ftw)
Warlock (synergy with SPriest and has some CC if needed)

10-man:
Prot Warrior (most versatile and well built tank)
Feral Druid (great for tankin and dpsin with the same build)
Holy Paladin (for MT healing and blessings)
Resto Shaman (for raid healing and totems)
Holy Priest (for whatever other healing needs to be picked up)
Shadow Priest (for mana regen)
Rogue (great dps and interrupts)
Hunter (which groups he's in depends on spec)
Mage (sheep, mana biscuits, int)
Warlock (soulstone, healthstones, health buff to tanks, synergy with Spriest)
With one less healer I'd probably take out the Holy Priest or Resto Shaman and throw in an Enhancement Shaman in the meleeish group for added buffs.

25 mans are way too complex to really get into for a comment for me.

Kanuris Jan 3rd 2008 9:58AM

Ohh perfect group? God knows.

Me (Protadin)
Mage (I always love the Int buff and table, plus Sheep > sap)
Lock (Stam buff and hstones)
Any healing class who can do the job

I then tend to allow for a random DPS of any kind, Ele shammys and ret paladins buff my threat, moonkins help judgements and spell crit for more threat. Really it's just the same makeup as always:

Tank
Healer
3x DPS (CC preffered)

Shelby Jan 3rd 2008 9:59AM

The usual group I run 5-mans with from my guild is:

Prot Warrior (me)
Feral Druid
Holy Priest
Shadow priest
Hunter

which has been a great group for most everything we've done so far.

par larsson Jan 3rd 2008 10:56AM

Tank - me (feral druid), or a good warrior or a good prot pally

/who XX-YY - see how many priests, shammies or pallies are online - one of them, well played, or decently played and with the right spec.

Can't find a sha/pri/pal healer - check for resto druids or well played/geared-for-healing druids - lack of wipe recovery is just too much of an issue to put a good druid on par with a decent sha/pri/pal. You don't know what the rest of the group is gonna do.

Next: CC and dps

1. Mage - can't beat sheep, resheep, re-resheep, AoE out the ...
2. Can't get a mage, get any random dps but the following is nice to have, in that order:

- someone to offheal in a pinch
- more CC (sheep, rogues who give good sap - riskier than sheep, but don't discount druid sleep, lock banish, priest shackle, frost nova for oh crap)
- Soulstones
- Hunters with good trapping skills (rare find)
- someone to offtank in a pinch

Ravenholdt-Alli side is low low pop, so by the time I find a healer I've usually gotten a fair amount of 'Hell No, I'm [Ret/Prot/Feral/Shadow/Enh/Ele] and I'm tanking/dpsing or not coming'.

Mages are still first choice after I find a healer, though. I rarely run with warriors since I generally assemble groups for me to tank, and more druids or hunters are generally last on my list, though for some reason I seem to run with tons of druids.

Platnex Jan 3rd 2008 10:23AM

The group I have all my heroics for is

Me (Prot Pally)
Paladin healer
Combat spec Rogue
Destrucion Warlock
And for the last we usually swap between a Fire mage and MM Hunter (with Imp traps)

JohnC Jan 3rd 2008 10:28AM

im confused because judging by the posts most people have no want for a hunter in a group, i dont see why not:S we can pull easily control some with traps use our pet to tank a guy to many. also hunters seem to be unwanted in arena aswell, from this is seems as though hunters need some sort of nerf( i dont see how though because i think theyre fine) but nobody seems to want them, why is this?:S

Usu Jan 3rd 2008 10:44AM

I don't like taking hunters because too often, they become a liability - traps breaking early or resisted twice in a row, pet on the loose, not knowing where the FD button is etc. Unless they are a very well-played and geared hunter, but those are rare and to be treasured.

Anyway, my ideal group composition would be:
- feral druid tank (quick aggro generation)
- kitty dps (battle rez, innervate, can offtank / offheal if needed)
- 2x mage (sheep & biscuits) or mage & lock (for soulstone / healthstone / fear / mad dps)
- priest or pally healer

Carolyn Jan 3rd 2008 10:31AM

When I started reading the comments I was screaming PRIESTS NEED MORE LOVE!
But as I continued to read, I saw the love.
Thanks for including my toon! :)

Hokuto Jan 3rd 2008 11:25AM

You priests QQ too much... Do you see anybody but me mentioning trees? =/

Makros Jan 3rd 2008 10:40AM

1 bear, 2 cats, a boomkin, and a tree.

Kayruby Jan 3rd 2008 11:12AM

And I bet you love the 10 druid Karazhan video. :-)

For any instance my favorite group depends on the instance, I'd take different people to Mech than to SH (Lock for Mech, Mage for SH) but in general
5 Man
Tank (Bear, or prot warrior - tankadins are a pain to heal unless they have great gear)
Resto Shammy, Holy Priest, Tree, or Pally (I'm a tree and resto shammy so....)
Rogue
Shadow Priest or Hunter
'lock or Mage

10 Man
Prot Warrior
Feral Druid (OT and DPS on single tank fights)
Melee DPS (Rogue preferred, DPS Warrior, Enh Shammy)
Shadow Priest
Warlock
Pally (or Resto Shammy)
Priest (or Tree)
Mage
Hunter (Misdirects/traps)
Ranged DPS (Elemental Shammy, Mage, Shadow Priest, Warlock)

25 Man
Uhh it depends which one? As our guild raid leader I'm looking for specific things for specific raids. I don't have a favorite 25 man setup. For Mag I need 5 tanks (2 real tanks and 3 DPS warriors/bears) for Gruul I need 2, for Tk.... you get the idea.

Makros Jan 3rd 2008 12:19PM

I love the 10 Druid WSG video too!

scd Jan 3rd 2008 10:47AM

Feral druid tank,
Shadow priest,
Arcane/fire mage,
Affliction lock,
Holy pala/Resto shaman

Heike Jan 3rd 2008 10:48AM

It's not the class makeup, it's the people playing the class. People knowing what they're doing is key. Experience working together is a major plus. My friends and guildies and I will flip between characters and combos all the time and come up with some pretty goofy groups, but they *work*.

Give me one tank, 1-2 healers and 2-3 DPS (based on who wants to go, rather than dungeon difficulty) and I'm happy.

room with a moose Jan 3rd 2008 10:53AM

all hunters

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