Good duo?

[Auridan]

Hello all,

I tried searching for this but the search option wasn't very good at turning up results. A friend and I are about to join (him totally new to EQ, me coming back after years and years away) and I'm trying to think of a good duo for us to be able to play together up to 60 if we can't get groups or whatever.

He wants to be a druid, and I have an affinity for bards having played one in live, but I'm open to trying something new if it's a better combo for synergy (I can't imagine swarm kiting works with a second person).

Thoughts?

[Daywolf]

You shouldn't have much of a problem finding groups here in popular spots. My personal fav for duo is drui + drui. Also drui + nec can be good. That way you don't just turn your friend into a heal-bot 24/7 yet be very efficient.

[Brynnag]

bard/wiz?

[phacemeltar]

shadowknight

[Laugher]

Tranny/tranny is pretty versatile, but druid+druid or druid+bard would be cool

being new to a druid quadding can look intimidating, but between a druid+bard with the amount of mana the druid would be able to keep on hand you guys could easily do an efficient quad kite.

imo wizard+dru would also be good because when the druid was lom they could lay down solid snares/sows and the wizard could do the damage

[SyanideGas]

Rogue/Druid
Wiz/Druid doesnt sound horrible either.

[Clark]

Rogue/Druid
Wiz/Druid doesnt sound horrible either.

This or druid/ench, druid/sham, druid/mage, druid/monk. Anything that's strong farming wise in addition.

[appariti0n]

Ench + shaman is extremely powerful later in the game, and still pretty decent early in the game too.

[tanknspank]

Balance group desirability with the duo strength if you want to primarily group. As such avoid dru+dru because it'll be tough to find 2 dru spots in the same group. Avoid dru+wiz because neither is particularly loved for groups.

Dru/enc is a good one imo. Different group jobs, they don't overlap abilities, and together can duo in a variety of ways (charms, snare+fear, dot, etc). The druid brings mobility and ports while the enchanter brings mana regen and CC, making for a very safe / flexible combo.

[Daywolf]

As such avoid dru+dru because it'll be tough to find 2 dru spots in the same group. For groups? One is healing while the other is doing DD's, DS' ,buffs and heal assists. It only sucks when one drui refuses to team with the second in pugs to split duties (I've seen this happen). Otherwise in duo's, it works very well imo. Better if there were dot stacking here, but still doable with the right tactics. On early live I knew a lot of drui's that did this, working together etc, but not so much here :(

[Cyph]

Druid/Enc, ports + sow + nukes + cc + clarity = bliss

[Aveenia]

My most fun duo as a druid probably dru/enc, easiest dru/necro, most effective for also grouping dru/clr. There is nothing like having a healer & secondary healer with great communication who know each other well for handling those bad pulls & other brown pants moments.

[M.J.]

Magician / Healer.

I have 2 mages in their 20s that I used to boost friends playing healers by spam healing fire pets. I have another 52 mage that I leveled to farm with. Magician is not a very thrilling class to play, but it's very safe and very potent. Fire pets will carry you 1-33ish, then you have to get creative in duos to get to 39 and the next bad ass fire pet. In your mid 40s you'd have access to very cheap Burnt Wood Stave, which is a 333 dmg fire bolt clicky. After you get the nuke clicky your class becomes pet attack, spam clicky, get experience, resummon pet once it gets low health.

Mag / Dru has SoW, Harmony for out door pulls, root, snare, animal charm, regen, hp buffs, and track. 1-30 the mage carries this duo, 30-39 the druid, 39-49 the mage carries again, then 50-60 the druid can probably do better xp solo.

Mag / Shm has SoW, Regen, Slow (for the levels when you use earth pet + dots), HP buffs, healer with way to boost mana (Cannibalize line of spells), root, and shaman spirit pet. Shamans can get their epics without too much difficulty, and 50+ it gives a very nice mana free dot. Combined with jaundiced bone bracer mana free nuke spam with Earth pet tanking you can kill very efficiently.

Mag / Clr has root, indoor & outdoor aggro reduction radius spells, best heals and HP buffs, atone (memblur) eventually (combined with lull line of spells can be used to root, reduce aggro radius, mem blur as ghetto mez), very good undead nukes & fear. Mid 40s clerics get mana free clicky hp buff / 200hp heal from Donal's Vambraces.

[mtb tripper]

monk/sham is great, also, necro/cleric

[Daywolf]

Yeah but it's Druid + _____, since his friend already chose Druid as mentioned in the OP.
easiest dru/necroDOT stacking. For a drui conj spec root-rotter (what I role as) this is why I mentioned this combo. After all, spec is also a factor for the combo. With drui/drui I suggest one in alteration and the other either conj or evo. Conj for magic dot, evo for DD (and fire dot), alter for heals and roots. Groups probably alter/evo. But more often duo conj/alter. With necro I'd go with conj on the drui and alter on the nec. For nec, alter is the common choice anyway, though drui could add to that with any of the three specs and do fine, though alteration the lesser in the duo. There are some dots that won't stack, especially around lvl cap, but for the most part it's all good.

This has nothing to do with charms or kiting etc (meh to both imo) No real limitation of where you hunt as a duo only depending on your pull amounts (pref big mean singles, use harmony).

[Daldaen]

Druid + Bard would work for swarm kiting. Bard kites, gets train down to about 70%, Druid comes in and casts PBAEs like Tremor/Earthquake.

Druid + Enchanter is fabulous. Enchanter solo is great in dungeons -at high levels, with a healer partner they are great in dungeons at all levels. When animals are present you have 2 charmed pets. When they aren't Druids can aggro kite with snare/flame lick, while a chanters charmed pet attacks from the back (especially great with a rogue mob)

Druid + Necro is great as well. For dungeons you're more limited to undead ones, but outdoor zones you can crush everything.

Druid + Cleric is quite a potent combo as well. Especially if the Druid is good at charming. I duoed high 40s to low 50s with my brother in kedge with this duo. Quite fast exp, very safe since you have 2 healers and 2 rooters. Cleric is great when duoing with a charming Druid since they can root the mob the pet is fighting and stun the charmed pet on breaks to prevent Druid interrupts, and split the mana use (so that Druid isn't using mana for all roots and heals, just charms and some roots)

I'd personally opt for Druid cleric if I were you. It requires your friend become comfortable with charming in order to be a useful means of duoing when no groups are present. At lower levels that combo is still great without charm. Like in unrest at 24-34/39. Wolf form + Harmony makes pulling unrest an ease, and cleric undead nukes + Druid DS/Regen/Nukes works great.

[Kritimus]

Necro + Necro = Win

[rgostic]

Your best bet is convincing your friend to not play a druid. They're pretty awful, and there isn't anything unique they bring to the table.


Great Duo:

Cleric/Enchanter or Shaman/Monk


Good Duo:

Bard/Wizard or Rogue/Necromancer


If your friend really wont have fun playing one of these other 8 classes, roll an enchanter to play with him. Druids need the extra mana regen and you will be his ticket into groups that nobody wants a druid for.

[ManticSquee]

I like shaman/monk. As a shaman you really don't need that great of gear so you can put your money together for a good monk weapon. Once the shaman gets into haste/slow spells it doesn't take long for the monk to take care of business.

[lecompte]

Druid goes with most things outdoors. Best duo with bard is another bard, sadly. If your friend wants to be a druid, I would do what they want cause they are new to the game and... ya... hard for people who have never played before. Druid can duo with anything with a little thought put into it.

With a melee, druid snares, animal fear, dot.
With a caster, kite and nuke.
Weakest would probably be a paladin because of low DPS and high tanky but the weak druid heals maybe make it hard?

[Daywolf]

Weakest would probably be a paladin because of low DPS and high tanky but the weak druid heals maybe make it hard?
Nah they do fine with a drui actually. I mean compared to like what, ranger??? hahahaa.... er but um not bad especially with DS added, str buff, heals seem to go a long way if fighting undead etc. Then shared wolf form helps too for those certain undead locals, makes you no longer KOS etc. Pally/Drui works well enough. Just remember, pally has the hybrid penalty, so can be slow going if not killing like crazy.

[Clark]

Ench + shaman is extremely powerful later in the game, and still pretty decent early in the game too.

[jarlerop]

Druid + Ench. Nothing like two charmed pets and fearkiting with breeze :)
As a druid i havent really found any bad class to duo with. Best that comes to mind is enchanter and necro. Any melee really with animals.

[tanknspank]

For groups? One is healing while the other is doing DD's, DS' ,buffs and heal assists. It only sucks when one drui refuses to team with the second in pugs to split duties (I've seen this happen).(
Sure they can work together and split duties but it's a lot harder to get into groups because you need to find a group with 2+ spots that are can/want to take 2 druids. From a group's pov they can get a lot more from clr+dru or shm+dru. Also they may have 2 openings but require/want specific abilities (tank, CC, mana regen, lockpick, etc). A dru + something else will fit in with a lot more groups.

Your best bet is convincing your friend to not play a druid. They're pretty awful, and there isn't anything unique they bring to the table.
While I agree with you about rolling an enc (probably my top pairing for dru), I think druids are excellent first-timer characters. They can let you experience very many ways to play (healing, caster DPS, root-rot, fear-kite, charming, quad-kite) and have a lot of tools that make life easier for a new player (sow, ports, invis, forage, track) combined with low gear needs.

Nah they do fine with a drui actually. I mean compared to like what, ranger??? hahahaa.... er but um not bad especially with DS added, str buff, heals seem to go a long way if fighting undead etc.
I would say dru/pal is the bottom choice as far as dru + tank duos unless you're planning to stick solely to undead. Dru+SK takes less damage as they can fear-kite, so druid can apply more DPS (pet and dots help a little too). Dru+War benefits from higher DPS, can fear-kite animals or can aggro-kite with the warrior zerking for extra DPS.

[Amyas]

Druid/Necro

[Daywolf]

Sure they can work together and split duties but it's a lot harder to get into groups because you need to find a group with 2+ spots that are can/want to take 2 druids. From a group's pov they can get a lot more from clr+dru or shm+dru. Also they may have 2 openings but require/want specific abilities (tank, CC, mana regen, lockpick, etc). A dru + something else will fit in with a lot more groups.Hmmm... I've never had an issue with having two healers in a group, one on main healing and the other a backup healer. Three healers, no, but two, depends on who and where. In a game where groups are begging to have just even one healer. Well... maybe two clerics if not fighting undead, that's probably not so good. But I've been in plenty of groups with two druids, as well as two clerics in other groups, wouldn't be hard to get into my group.

Yeah, Pally's fight undead. Just like my cleric, pretty much I just hunt undead especially when soloing. Plenty of undead around in this game lol. Post PoP this could be a problem, but not in this era nor the expansion to come. Pally + Drui, in so many ways an excellent match such as for tower of frozen shadow.

But still, like I mentioned, drui does well in most any duo. And I don't see any serious problem with two in a group, though depending on the group and local and if the drui's are actually working together. After all, this isn't live where you could have 1000 people just in one zone let alone just 1000 at peak in the whole game. Be happy if you have a full group.

[tanknspank]

Hmmm... I've never had an issue with having two healers in a group, one on main healing and the other a backup healer. Three healers, no, but two, depends on who and where. In a game where groups are begging to have just even one healer. Well... maybe two clerics if not fighting undead, that's probably not so good. But I've been in plenty of groups with two druids, as well as two clerics in other groups, wouldn't be hard to get into my group.
Me either, I've had plenty of 2 healer groups (even 2 clerics). If you're making the group from scratch, that's easy. But that depends on having a free popular camp or people willing to travel to some out of the way place.

When it comes down to getting into existing groups it limits the likelihood. An existing group might have some extra spots (they've been 3-4 manning), but is likely to already have 1 healer in there (and not want 3). Otherwise you need a group that's losing either their solo healer + 1 non-specific slot or one losing both of their healers at the same time.

[lecompte]

I've run a 3 cleric, 1 shaman, 1 enc, 1 bard group before. Don't underestimate them cleric nukes.

[Daywolf]

Me either, I've had plenty of 2 healer groups (even 2 clerics). If you're making the group from scratch, that's easy. But that depends on having a free popular camp or people willing to travel to some out of the way place.

When it comes down to getting into existing groups it limits the likelihood. An existing group might have some extra spots (they've been 3-4 manning), but is likely to already have 1 healer in there (and not want 3). Otherwise you need a group that's losing either their solo healer + 1 non-specific slot or one losing both of their healers at the same time.
Yeah, but you do know (and I'm sure you do) druids and clerics are not just healer slaves, right? ;)
I know it may be a shock to some people... well, quite a few, but they [druids] sometimes specialize in other things rather than healz or petz. I don't see them as generic and interchangeable, myself, but recognize that druids have strengths and weaknesses depending on their specializations (I've experimented with two side-by-side before - on a different server of course).

But, I covered that in a previous post in this thread. If going this rout, there are ways to match specialization depending on whether you prefer to add more to groups or more to the duo.

For clerics, I'd be fine with the whole group being clerics, depending on the situation and if they are not geared to be your typical heal-bot. Could work for druids too, but most being evo druids.

[Zeaol]

Yeah, but you do know (and I'm sure you do) druids and clerics are not just healer slaves, right? ;)
I know it may be a shock to some people... well, quite a few, but they [druids] sometimes specialize in other things rather than healz or petz. I don't see them as generic and interchangeable, myself, but recognize that druids have strengths and weaknesses depending on their specializations (I've experimented with two side-by-side before - on a different server of course).

But, I covered that in a previous post in this thread. If going this rout, there are ways to match specialization depending on whether you prefer to add more to groups or more to the duo.

For clerics, I'd be fine with the whole group being clerics, depending on the situation and if they are not geared to be your typical heal-bot. Could work for druids too, but most being evo druids.

What druids? ...
What other things do druids specialize in? ...
Grrrr, stupid broken quest text! :p

[Juntsie]

Juntsie + Female Troll Warrior; Juntsie + Female Human Monk; Juntsie + Female Chanta using Troll Illusion.

Well settled best combos.

If set on friend and you, and someone want to be druid, Juntsie recommend Druid and Chanta. Powa combo. Juntsie bill [.01] for this advice at standard rate. Send tell in-game to arrange payment.

[Daywolf]

Juntsie + Female Troll Warrior; Juntsie + Female Human Monk; Juntsie + Female Troll Chanta using Troll Illusion.

Well settled best combos.
Yeah but that's not what he is asking ;)

What druids? ...
What other things do druids specialize in? ...
http://wiki.project1999.com/Druid#Specialization

[iruinedyourday]

Really want to see a picture of juntsie siting on a stone slab with his female human monk slave entourage draped all over him ... something like this, but painted in oils.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25736152/EQ/juntsie.JPG

[Kritimus]

Fuck it

[Daywolf]

related question.
What yall think?Related answer: That when making iced coffee, it's better to slow brew it for 24hrs in a pressurized can and using only cold water.

[Kritimus]

Related answer: That when making iced coffee, it's better to slow brew it for 24hrs in a pressurized can and using only cold water.


Hilarious

[Jaleth]

This coming from a shadowknight community (EvilGamerz), I hear one of the best combos was a shadowknight and shaman. Haste, slow, a lot of dots(from both), FD, fear, heals, damage mitigation from armor, lousy weakling pets (for small added dps) and you have a solid mini group. Only issue would be some downtime for SK mana regen in all levels, though shaman will be better off with their canni-dance later on.

[Bacon9855]

how about Mage / Cleric combo?

[Synthlol]

how about Mage / Cleric combo?

A solid duo, but will never come close to touching Enchanter / Cleric. The Cleric plays similar roles in both, but Enchanters have stronger pets, mez, and provides the cleric with clarity.

[tanknspank]

Yeah, but you do know (and I'm sure you do) druids and clerics are not just healer slaves, right? ;)
I know it may be a shock to some people... well, quite a few, but they [druids] sometimes specialize in other things rather than healz or petz.
That is not the general attitude of pick-up groups, however. And I've yet to see one that cared to ask beforehand about specialization or if a druid intends to charm or any such thing.

Getting into an existing group generally comes down to it needing healing, DPS or utility (sow/ports/harmony). If it needs a lot of healing it'll favor a cleric+other or generally 2 different priests. For DPS other classes are far more favored than druids (rogue, mage, etc). And for utility there's no need of the second druid.

Am I saying a 2 druid duo can't ever get in groups? No. But they'll have a harder time of it than most other pairings.

[Daywolf]

That is not the general attitude of pick-up groups, however. And I've yet to see one that cared to ask beforehand about specialization or if a druid intends to charm or any such thing.

Getting into an existing group generally comes down to it needing healing, DPS or utility (sow/ports/harmony). If it needs a lot of healing it'll favor a cleric+other or generally 2 different priests. For DPS other classes are far more favored than druids (rogue, mage, etc). And for utility there's no need of the second druid.

Am I saying a 2 druid duo can't ever get in groups? No. But they'll have a harder time of it than most other pairings.
Which is why I suggested alteration for working with a duo or group. I already have that covered if you read my posts. As for other classes, read the OP, he is asking what would work with "druid". Choice should be whatever he wants to play, every class works with a druid in a duo, even if a second druid. And depending on playstyle, that can as well be a really nice duo, as well as for working in groups, especially when bringing a duo into a group as opposed to a straight random pug. Really, for leveling, they would level faster mostly sticking to such a duo, many groups would just slow them down. Same with druid + nec imo.

Anyway, like I mentioned from the start, it may not be a good idea to just turn his friend into a pure heal-bot. Pugs can suck for the druid class. Wind up doing way too much healing while brainless pugs let the healer get killed from heal aggro. Even in a duo, imo it's just not nice to make someone med and heal day after day, endlessly. And I doubt that is what his friend has in mind for why he wants to play a druid. And that is why I favor drui + drui, very nice duo without someone getting stuck with boring labor. Even with my cleric in a duo, or even solo, I much rather gear to go toe to toe with mobs, lay out serious hurt. If you've leveled up a druid before, then you know you can play pretty offensively with them, a few ways to do so actually. Put two of them together, well then they can play like druids. Best part of the class. Want a heal-bot? Roll a high elf cleric.

edit: I mean really, anything will work with a druid in a duo, but it's really going to come down to play tactics/style. It's more than just "my buddy picked druid and now I pick whatever I want and he'll be happy". Picking certain classes will lock his friend into a play style he may not really like. And having never played a druid, he may not even know what he will like to do with a druid, but he probably has some idea which is why he picked the class... and that class not being a high elf cleric so he's probably not just looking to heal. So after capping a couple druids and yet another, I'd say look for a duo that allows freedom to play the class in different ways. I'd consider that choice more important to what will work with solo or duo rather than a pug since in a lot of cases pugs remain pugs and take what they can get. And even if they have trouble at times depending on their choices, they will probably get faster exp as a duo anyway. The only real caution I would submit is if they plan to do a lot of raiding, though casual raiding they probably won't have any serious issues if they remain flexible and splitting into groups or what not.