6 Boxing in EQ2 and effectiveness of class setup

[Candorel]

I have been gone from EQ2 for a while, I am taking a break from Rift, where I was boxing a 5 cleric group got to level 42 or so. Before that I was playing Everquest , where I was 6 boxing a group of 3 mages, a bard, a shaman, and a necromancer and got them to level 90. So now I am taking advantage of the free 85 heroic character deal going on and have already made 6 characters. I actually already claimed (mistakenly, I should have used the try before you buy option first) the heroic characters on 6 of my accounts and I have a Paladin, Dirge, Berserker, Warden, Inquisitor, and a Mystic . I can make one more Heroic character on another account, but am not sure what I would go with or even if I should make one and replace what I have so far. Right now the group is melee centric and fairly easy to box I think (using isboxer) with lots of heals. I am not quite sure how horrible the dps will be though (I don't like any of the scout classes other than the bards) and am wondering if I should create that extra character now and what the class should be, and/or perhaps betray the Paladin to an SK down the road. I was also considering later betraying the paladin, dirge and warden, (to sk, troubadour and fury), and then adding a illusionist, wizard and necro to the group and converting it to a caster group, but am not sure which group would be more effective ( at group content, dungeons, etc).

[pox67]

I would definitely replace one of the healers with a DPS. My preference would be for a scout as you have a melee group going (dirge and Warden are good for that). You could add a mage but doesn't really fit buff wise.

I have a bruiser who was a DPS for a while and his output was pretty awesome when in the Recklessness buff. I think a monk/bruiser specced as DPS could also work.

Personally I 3 box and pull out Mercs (healer, dirge and ranger) when needed for Epics.

[Meeo]

Is there a benefit to 3 boxing over 6 boxing or was that just a preference?

[Candorel]

I was thinking about replacing the berserker with a scout, maybe a swashbuckler since they do not require much in the way of positioning for attacks. Also replacing the inquisitor with a coercer or illusionist (who will be melee specced). But would a monk/bruiser in recklessness parse higher than a swashbuckler though? (would they also be squishier than a swashbuckler)?

[pox67]

Is there a benefit to 3 boxing over 6 boxing or was that just a preference?

It is a preference and the benefit for me is half the time of housekeeping.
I find with more players there is too much housekeeping to do. For each character I have three sets of macros - standard DPS, Heroic DPS and Epic DPS. Keeping them all update for 6 chars would be too time consuming. Then there is gearing and making sure spells are up to date. With 3 good mercs I can call them up at any time. EQ2 chars are very overpowered at the moment until the 90's or so. I can easily take on two group encounters above my level with the mercs and I can come back a bit later for the four group encounters.

I was thinking about replacing the berserker with a scout, maybe a swashbuckler since they do not require much in the way of positioning for attacks. Also replacing the inquisitor with a coercer or illusionist (who will be melee specced). But would a monk/bruiser in recklessness parse higher than a swashbuckler though? (would they also be squishier than a swashbuckler)?

I haven't had a chance to do any parsing yet. I typically only do it if I notice I can't do content that others in a group can.
I have a Swash and Bruiser in my group along with a Warden. I couldn't tell you who does more damage but I was surprised at the damage done by the Bruiser in Recklessness. I would say there isn't much in it and with the flick of an AA switch your Bruiser can be back in tank mode. But then a a piratey Swashbuckler has always been my personal favourite EQ2 class.