Recommended 3 man setup

[KitCross]

2 of my friends and I were about to start the game.  I was wondering which 3 classes would you recommend if our focus will mainly on PvE.  Thanks in advance for the information.

[Rinehart]

I'll first say that any class combination CAN be fine.  If you know your class you can still perform well no matter the set up.  

 

But of course, there are optimal set ups.  I would recommend one tank and at least one dps.  The third person can really be anything they want.

 

Tanks: Blade Master, Kung Fu Master

These classes aren't meant to deal the highest DPS but they are good at holding aggro and keeping a boss in place.  Technically any class can "tank" but these are simply the better ones.  Blade Masters have party defense skills while Kung Fu Masters have party offense skills.

 

DPS: Force Master, Summoner, Warlock, Assassin

I believe Force Master has the highest sustained DPS and Warlock has the highest burst DPS.  Summoners also offer very good party utility as they can party stealth, party heal, take aggro with the cat should the tank need a breather, and other useful things.  If played right, Assassins have the highest sustained DPS but it isn't as practical simply because they have to constantly relocate themselves while Force Masters can just sit a distance and pew pew everything.  Force Masters offer party defense skills, Warlocks offer party offense skills, Summoners offer overall party utility, Assassins also offer overall party utility (and they can also pull dead/near death teammates to safety)

 

Others: Destroyer, Blade Dancer

These are more of support classes because of their ability to grab bosses, allowing teammates to fit in a lot of damage and their multitude of cc skills.  I hear that a Destroyer who can ani cancel well has very high single target DPS but Blade Dancers fall short on the DPS ladder.

 

An example 3 man team could look like this: Blade Master, Force Master, Warlock.  The BM will be the tank for the team and both the FM and WL will have very high DPS at a safe distance.  The FM can easily pop some party defensive stuff like nullify projectiles and give full immunity to the team for a couple of seconds and the Warlock can bump up the attack power of the entire team and "awaken" the entire team for a couple of seconds where they can deal a massive amount of damage.

[Duh Harro]

Maximizing your DPS pt: Force Master, Assassin, Warlock

FM- insane DPS ( most mage in mmo) provide somewhat pt support

Sin- 2nd in class in term of single target DPS, infinity stealth, provide crit buff to pt

WL- High enough DPS, Range with high self-healing skill, pt buff (Soulburn) - transform pt into superman-mode

If you want better survivability, change WL into Summoner. Got cat taunt that hold argo, relatively easy to play, many pt utilities including pt heal

[InstantDeath]

Force Master
Kung Fu Master
Warlock

Why?

Force Master is a must, in every dungeon after 45, FM's ice shield will makes things easier for you and your party members. Seriously, FM is a must.
Warlock has 2nd high dps and a great party buff which allows you to use your locked skills. A party with Warlock can finish a dungeon 2 times faster than a regular party.
Kung Fu Master can be a good tank + it also has a party buff which increases your critical damage & critical rate.

[Stensatsu]

26 minutes ago, InstantDeath said:

Force Master
Kung Fu Master
Warlock

Why?

Force Master is a must, in every dungeon after 45, FM's ice shield will makes things easier for you and your party members. Seriously, FM is a must.
Warlock has 2nd high dps and a great party buff which allows you to use your locked skills. A party with Warlock can finish a dungeon 2 times faster than a regular party.
Kung Fu Master can be a good tank + it also has a party buff which increases your critical damage & critical rate.

This is basically the answer, but whoever gets stuck with KFM is going to feel bad with how melee gets treated so you might try summoner/force master/warlock. Won't have quite the party buff but summoner is one of the highest dps classes so you'll still have good group dps.

[Shadovvv]

9 hours ago, Rinehart said:

 Summoners also offer very good party utility as they can party stealth

Summoner's Party Stealth is only meant to protect party members from harm, not guide party members past trash mobs that nobody wants to fight. An Assassin can accomplish both.

4 hours ago, Duh Harro said:

Sin- 2nd in class in term of single target DPS

An Assassin is arguably even with Force Master in the top tier of DPS, although KR tends to rate them miles higher even before they got massive buffs (literally 2x more damage) in the latest balance patch that NA received. Assassins also have far more assisting skills than a Force Master would have.

 

----

 

Every class has their own form of contribution:

• Force Master: Damage, Frost Sheath and anti-projectile shield to protect the party, pull downed party mates within 8 meters.
• Summoner: Damage, sub-tank, healing, anti-projectile shield and Dandelion to protect the party, shield downed party mates, grab.
• Warlock: Damage, Soulburn (critical damage buff + Awakened skill availability).
• Kung Fu Master: Tank, Grab or Fighting Spirit (critical chance and damage buff, life drain on attack), some additional party critical damage buff.
• Blade Master: Tank, Winged Protector to protect the party.
• Destroyer: Damage, grab to keep the target in place for party members to attack, rescue and shield one downed party mate.
• Blade Dancer: Grab, some party shield.
• Soul Fighter (currently unreleased in NA): Force and Kung Fu Master fusion with only healing and resurrection, but completely incapable of tanking (lack of any aggro generation) or dealing high damage.
• Assassin: Damage, evasion sub-tank, party stealth past mobs, anti-projectile smokescreen and Decoy to protect the party, downed party pull within 100 meters or Fighting Spirit, grab.

 

I'd say pick which class suits you the most.

[Tykea]

2 hours ago, Duh Harro said:

Maximizing your DPS pt: Force Master, Assassin, Warlock

FM- insane DPS ( most mage in mmo) provide somewhat pt support

Sin- 2nd in class in term of single target DPS, infinity stealth, provide crit buff to pt

WL- High enough DPS, Range with high self-healing skill, pt buff (Soulburn) - transform pt into superman-mode

If you want better survivability, change WL into Summoner. Got cat taunt that hold argo, relatively easy to play, many pt utilities including pt heal

This guy got it right. Don't bother picking a tank, you don't need one and a KFM sucks at tanking anyway.

[SweetJust]

2 hours ago, InstantDeath said:

Force Master
Kung Fu Master
Warlock

Why?

Force Master is a must, in every dungeon after 45, FM's ice shield will makes things easier for you and your party members. Seriously, FM is a must.
Warlock has 2nd high dps and a great party buff which allows you to use your locked skills. A party with Warlock can finish a dungeon 2 times faster than a regular party.
Kung Fu Master can be a good tank + it also has a party buff which increases your critical damage & critical rate.

stop saying fm is a must in everything, its not..... thats just your opinion

 

I have done every dungeon without them with ease.

 

For OP:

There are some things you also need to figure out about what you want, I know u say pve and there is a place called soulplains in silverfrost, where its open world pvp, but this place if you join the faction that has the biggest player base, its basically pve. Running around killing mobs for soul stones and moonstones, which is the essential mats for gear upgrades in the long run. Melee classes has it really hard here, do to massive aoe damage from the mobs. Which makes it harder to do the dps needed to get loot and earn prestige.

 

For group dynamic if you only go for 3: most dungeons is either 4 or 6 players.

 

I would recommend:

Forcemaster:

Still like many say, but the assumption of fm being a tank is not really right, its the damage dealer of the game, which means it gets agro most of the time, due to bad blademasters and kungfu players that cant either hold agro, or the fm starts the fight before these real tanks can get agro, blademaster needs 5 secs with boss in order to get bosses to hit him, since the block of blademaster gives the taunt to get agro.

 

Warlock or Summoner:

Warlock: It has great damage as well, and the best party burst for all classes, soulburn. Which incressed the dps of every one in party for like 10 secs or so, cant remember. But its awesome.

Summoner: Is a personal favorite for me, I love this class as its my main as well, for solo pve its pure fun and easy to do everything with it. For group pve, small healing, can help tank if needed, with the cat agro. Cat resses if people in party dies, and you wont lose your own dps, since you can continue fighting the bosses while cat resses. Seed Shroud can be used to reflect Azuras fireballs as well, but that just info.

 

Kungfu:

I rather have a kungfu tank over a blademaster any day, for me it feels like when I have a kungfu tanking in the group, its more relaxed for everyone else, kungfu has group buff as well, great virarity of stun capability which is needed on some of the tactical endgame bosses/adds.

 

 

 

 

 

[InstantDeath]

20 hours ago, SweetJust said:

stop saying fm is a must in everything, its not..... thats just your opinion

 

I have done every dungeon without them with ease.

 

For OP:

There are some things you also need to figure out about what you want, I know u say pve and there is a place called soulplains in silverfrost, where its open world pvp, but this place if you join the faction that has the biggest player base, its basically pve. Running around killing mobs for soul stones and moonstones, which is the essential mats for gear upgrades in the long run. Melee classes has it really hard here, do to massive aoe damage from the mobs. Which makes it harder to do the dps needed to get loot and earn prestige.

 

For group dynamic if you only go for 3: most dungeons is either 4 or 6 players.

 

I would recommend:

Forcemaster:

Still like many say, but the assumption of fm being a tank is not really right, its the damage dealer of the game, which means it gets agro most of the time, due to bad blademasters and kungfu players that cant either hold agro, or the fm starts the fight before these real tanks can get agro, blademaster needs 5 secs with boss in order to get bosses to hit him, since the block of blademaster gives the taunt to get agro.

 

Warlock or Summoner:

Warlock: It has great damage as well, and the best party burst for all classes, soulburn. Which incressed the dps of every one in party for like 10 secs or so, cant remember. But its awesome.

Summoner: Is a personal favorite for me, I love this class as its my main as well, for solo pve its pure fun and easy to do everything with it. For group pve, small healing, can help tank if needed, with the cat agro. Cat resses if people in party dies, and you wont lose your own dps, since you can continue fighting the bosses while cat resses. Seed Shroud can be used to reflect Azuras fireballs as well, but that just info.

 

Kungfu:

I rather have a kungfu tank over a blademaster any day, for me it feels like when I have a kungfu tanking in the group, its more relaxed for everyone else, kungfu has group buff as well, great virarity of stun capability which is needed on some of the tactical endgame bosses/adds.

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder how you killed Slashimi in Blackram Supply Chain (4 man) back then. Plus, FM is a must and it'll make things easier.

[Duh Harro]

38 minutes ago, InstantDeath said:

I wonder how you killed Slashimi in Blackram Supply Chain (4 man) back then. Plus, FM is a must and it'll make things easier.

Take it like a man XD. Jk i never try but I hear standing on the rock helps. Not really sure tho

[SweetJust]

I have done blackram with 4 summoners

[821031_1452549945]

Take whatever isnt melee so you can evade the shit situation that is happening for example in soulstone plains.

[Ceralune]

2 hours ago, InstantDeath said:

I wonder how you killed Slashimi in Blackram Supply Chain (4 man) back then. Plus, FM is a must and it'll make things easier.

Other classes also have range protect (Sin, BM, Summ) and you can easily backstep to iframe the first two steam attacks and tank the 3rd, or use the resist damage drink, or use other iframes depending on your class... A FM in this situation (and, in fact, in many situations) is not so much a must as just a person to crutch on. A really, really good crutch in some cases (looking at you yeti), but a crutch nevertheless and not irreplaceable. There is not a single dungeon in this game at the moment where you HAVE to have a FM and no other class will do, so while you should consider a FM for what they bring to the table, don't act like they're the only ones who can do those jobs.

 

Tbh, OP, there are so many team comps that work well. I would recommend picking a mix of dps/tank/support, as Rinehart suggested, and possibly considering a mix of melee and range. If difficulty isn't a factor for you guys, there are really no limits. Like people above me mentioned, some people in this game are kinda obsessed with range and will make that clear in their party recruitment, but personally I've -never- gotten kicked or had trouble finding parties for playing melee (and a sin at that) so long as I avoided the few party recruiters who proclaim "FM/WL/Summ only." What's more important than how "OP" your class is is how well you play it, so whatever you pick just take the time to learn their tools and you guys will be golden.

[Shadovvv]

3 hours ago, InstantDeath said:

  I wonder how you killed Slashimi in Blackram Supply Chain (4 man) back then.  Plus, FM is a must and it'll make things easier.

Spare the adds, Q/E/whatever target iframe on them or drink that damage immunity soju.

 

Force Masters aren't a *must*. They're helpful, sure, but Frost Sheath isn't a mandatory defense, plus Assassins, Summoners, Blade Masters, and Blade Dancers all have party shields too to cover for those who can't iframe. Frost Sheath also doesn't work against Yeti's ground pound if the party messes up heat phase and gets frozen, but every other class's party shields work on frozen people. Also...

 

 

 

Sorry Force Masters, but your Frost Sheath isn't much of a saving grace in future dungeons. Assassin and Summoner Party Stealth is absolutely mandatory in boss fights like these, whereas Frost Sheath simply won't work.

[Teffy]

FM,Summ +KFM or FM,Summ BM or FM,Sin BM. FM + Sin + KFM it will have crazy dps but may lack some deffensive abillities.

I'm playing mostly in trio too and our setup is fm summ destro.However in our setup I have to tank most of the time and FM is maybe the hardest class to tank without kiting.

[InstantDeath]

1 hour ago, Ceralune said:

Other classes also have range protect (Sin, BM, Summ) and you can easily backstep to iframe the first two steam attacks and tank the 3rd, or use the resist damage drink, or use other iframes depending on your class... A FM in this situation (and, in fact, in many situations) is not so much a must as just a person to crutch on. A really, really good crutch in some cases (looking at you yeti), but a crutch nevertheless and not irreplaceable. There is not a single dungeon in this game at the moment where you HAVE to have a FM and no other class will do, so while you should consider a FM for what they bring to the table, don't act like they're the only ones who can do those jobs.

 

Tbh, OP, there are so many team comps that work well. I would recommend picking a mix of dps/tank/support, as Rinehart suggested, and possibly considering a mix of melee and range. If difficulty isn't a factor for you guys, there are really no limits. Like people above me mentioned, some people in this game are kinda obsessed with range and will make that clear in their party recruitment, but personally I've -never- gotten kicked or had trouble finding parties for playing melee (and a sin at that) so long as I avoided the few party recruiters who proclaim "FM/WL/Summ only." What's more important than how "OP" your class is is how well you play it, so whatever you pick just take the time to learn their tools and you guys will be golden.

Range protect buffs don't work against some aoes, in this case Slashimi's steam. You can sure backstep first attack, what about 2nd and 3rd one? Well, if you prefer resist potions & revive charms, what's the meaning of playing BnS. As i said before, FM makes things easier. I regredt that i didn't switch to FM when they brought NSH patch.

22 minutes ago, Shadovvv said:

Spare the adds, Q/E/whatever target iframe on them or drink that damage immunity soju.

 

Force Masters aren't a *must*. They're helpful, sure, but Frost Sheath isn't a mandatory defense, plus Assassins, Summoners, Blade Masters, and Blade Dancers all have party shields too to cover for those who can't iframe. Frost Sheath also doesn't work against Yeti's ground pound if the party messes up heat phase and gets frozen, but every other class's party shields work on frozen people. Also...

 

 

 

Sorry Force Masters, but your Frost Sheath isn't much of a saving grace in future dungeons. Assassin and Summoner Party Stealth is absolutely mandatory in boss fights like these, whereas Frost Sheath simply won't work.

Yes; Assassin, BD and BM have party shield ONLY IF you have 300g to unlock your hongmoon skill. Of course there is a million way to finish a dungeon; you can waste 100x revival charms, you can drink resist potions etc. But not everyone have those. But a FM naturally has a shield to counter everything :)

[Shadovvv]

34 minutes ago, InstantDeath said:

Yes; Assassin, BD and BM have party shield ONLY IF you have 300g to unlock your hongmoon skill. Of course there is a million way to finish a dungeon; you can waste 100x revival charms, you can drink resist potions etc. But not everyone have those. But a FM naturally has a shield to counter everything :)

Nope, Assassin has it by default; Hongmoon gives a second iframe. Also future dungeons have mechanics that Frost Sheath can't counter.

[Shiune]

Speaking of our current patch the best trio would be:

 

FM: best dps, can double stun and double kd with 1 skill (pretty much the only class with such ability) which is daaaamn nice at 2nd boss of soguns lament, divine vail and frost shield party protection 

 

SIN: 2nd best dps class (can be on top with V HM skill but in our current version it's not), smokescreen (similar to divine vail), decoy party protection, fighting spirit (offensive support), also good cc skills (double stun and double kd) 

 

3rd class is completely optional but I would suggest taking either a KFM or BM with you so the sin can dish out the maximum of its potential (he can't if a FM needs to kite the boss). 

 

KFM advantages are that you can us fighting spirit every minute (means massive dps) 

BMs advantage is that you have more defense support (HM shield etc.). 

 

Warlock is no must because soulburn most likely can only be used once or maximum twice in a fight (in the same time a sin/kfm can use fighting spirit 3 or 6 times which is better offensive support in the end). 

 

So for maximum dps I'd say FM+SIN+KFM is the best trio followed by FM+SIN+WL. 

If you need some defensive utility take a BM instead of KFM/WL. 

 

 

 

 

[Dlacik]

I think it depends what playstyle are you looking for. If you want to powerzerg through all content you can probably go with something like summoner+force master+warlock. Being ranged will make your life easier at open world bosses.

If you want to enjoy the game mechanics more i would recommend something like blade master + assassin / destroyer + force master.

Blade master will tank for you + they have awesome group shield if they have hongmoon block. Also they can spec for some KDs/stuns if you choose assassin as second.

Assassin can help you skip some annoying mob groups or he can use stealth to skip annoying mechanics like tunnels with snowballs in avalanche den. He can solo some mini-boss while rest of group is doing another one. They have nice dmg and they also have nice dmg buff.

Destroyer have enough CC to handle CCing wihtout BM`s help so if you have him in group your BM can spec for more iframes/focus recovery instead of CC. Also he has nice dmg buff for others when he grabs the boss.

FM protecting whole group with frost sheath rly makes life easier (especialy at yeti where FS overrides yeti`s freeze). They also can help with CC and they have nice single target dmg and best AoE clear.

 

You don`t rly need warlock in your core group since their main benefit is the soulburn buff and you can always get that from LFG warlock too.

Summoners are great to carry LFG groups but i don`t think they have much to offer for experienced group. The enhanced seed shroud is inferior to frost sheath/winged protector. Cat can tank but the fight is more messy because of agro changes when taunt ends. As for cat`s grapple - Destro`s grab/BD`s phantom grip last longer and gives better buff.

Blade Dancer - somehow i don`t like these little ones but you can probably choose him instead of destro as he can fullfil simmilar role in group (CCing boss + grabing him).

KFM - i don`t know much about him, but if you prefer his playstyle more you can take him as tank instead of BM. I think he doesn`t have group protection as BM but he has same dmg buff as assasins.

 

[Ceralune]

2 hours ago, InstantDeath said:

Range protect buffs don't work against some aoes, in this case Slashimi's steam. You can sure backstep first attack, what about 2nd and 3rd one? Well, if you prefer resist potions & revive charms, what's the meaning of playing BnS. As i said before, FM makes things easier. I regredt that i didn't switch to FM when they brought NSH patch

The range protect buffs' mention was in reference to Slashimi's 4 projectiles, not the steam. I misspoke a little earlier about backstep resisting 2 attacks, I remember using some skill a while ago to resist two of them myself without a FM's help, and in the late hours or night looking back thought it was backstep because its iframes are slightly longer than the animation. Though even resisting one steam attack is enough of a help I think (Not sure what level 45s are using these days in terms of soul shields, but with Moonwater Arena shield that still left quite a bit of my HP, and healing pots do exist - and they exist to be used). Depending on your class, you could use other skills to iframe like sin Lotus of Escape (which I know for sure DOES save me from 2 attacks) or just save an add to iframe around like Shadovvv said. That's a little less neat than sheath, and so yes, in some cases FM makes things easier. But "easier" is a big difference from FM being a "must," which is what you seemed to be claiming before. Saying that you -need- a FM and only a FM to protect you implies that you cannot learn how to do it yourself, and/or that other classes cannot fill those roles, and that you can't complete content without a FM, which is simply untrue.

 

But I digress. I'm not saying that a FM isn't a good choice in a team, and there is value is easiness. But OP should keep in mind that other classes can fill those roles, rather than overlook them or, even worse, not bother to learn their own tools simply because FM can protect you. I stand by my point; I can't think of any life-threatening attack from bosses that only FM can defend from.

[OniOfTheSword]

4 hours ago, InstantDeath said:

Yes; Assassin, BD and BM have party shield ONLY IF you have 300g to unlock your hongmoon skill. Of course there is a million way to finish a dungeon; you can waste 100x revival charms, you can drink resist potions etc. But not everyone have those. But a FM naturally has a shield to counter everything :)

Actually, this isn't quite accurate for a BM. A BM has 2 party shields. HM block (complete immunity to all skills allowing free dps), and Warding spirit (X during blade call/flock of blades, which is similar to divine veil of FM).

 

@OP

It's true that a tank class like BM/KFM isn't absolutely required for dungeons we have now (and I wouldn't know about future content), but having a tank can make life easier for the entire party. If one of you is going to try a tank class, I'd suggest that they try both BM and KFM. KFM has more forgiving i-frames(for unblockable aoes) and an offensive party buff, and BM has a more forgiving block/parry (for multi hit attacks) and a lot of defensive utility. Both can dish out good dps and hold aggro really well.

 

As for dps, FM arguably has the highest dps now, but Sin can probably match that depending on how well they play. Both have some defensive utility against ranged attacks (Divine veil/Smoke screen). Summoner also has high dps, and the cat can be a standby tank that can override aggro temporarily. They also have a lot of party healing. Warlock has high dps but their cooldowns are also high. They have the best party buff that lets the entire party use awakened skills and resets the cooldown of all other skills, though the buff is also also on a long cooldown.

[Charly]

I do 3 man dung with SUMM+FM+BD pretty fine, aslo SUMM+BM+BD, lair 3, yeti 3, necro 3, didnt try asura 3 yet. Our BM got this wonderful party block, BD not, our summ know when to do party iframe, i would say that fm is only useful for yeti, but we can do it without him (non stop at 33%) so FM is not really a must. Just play what you want and enjoy

 

[babeln]

Lol fm were least played class in all bns, and is now quite broken buffed dps wise. It is absolute worst tank, making boss running or worse jumping around all room, making meele almost useles. Its good tank when you have full ranged party.

Its laughable that na ppl consider them mandatory.

I mained FM, rerolled to WL cuz its way more fun to play. Sheath is not bad, but it allways overwrites my own protection and breaks casting of skills, which is pretty dumb.

3manned asura WL+BM+SUMM, wasnt even hard.

[KitCross]

Thank you, all for the info.  Very helpful.  As a update, I tried Warlock, Summoner and Force Master up to level 8 each -- brought an extra character slot.

 

Since one of my friends chose  Warlock, I chose Force Master.  I was tempted to play a Warlock as well but felt best to diversify our class mix.  The 3rd person tried KFM and BM but didn't like the melee play style so ended up going with Summoner.