Mage + mage or mage + necro?

[Tallenn]

Starting a new duo with my wife soon, and am considering the two combinations above. At first, I was just going to go with 2 mages, but then considered that a second mage may not be all that helpful, since a lot of the damage comes from the fire pet's DS. Thus, the question.

Can a second mage add as much or more to a duo than a necro? If so, which pet should second mage use? fire or air?

[HippoNipple]

mage, enchanter - buff pet, clarity, crowd control, debuff mob
mage, necro - all the utility added that the mage lacks. Also if the necro pet isn't taking the hits the damage will rival the 2nd mages pet
mage, wizard - good damage, plus can port you.

Having two mages might be cool in a few instances but you will wish you had the utility that you could have had by diversifying.

[Qaedain]

Mage/Mage is quite powerful, but Mage/Necro is much more versatile.

Enchanter and Necro both make up for the utter lack of defensive spells that plagues the Mage class.

[azeth]

Mage/Mage has obvious potential for corpse runs. No handy root, no cc, no lull. Relying on earth pet to drop a root while you scoot is dangerous!

[Hakkon]

Of those options, easily Mage + Necro. The necro can even add some healing on the mage pet, in addition to all the other versatility listed above. And extra healing on a fire pet will go a LONG ways!

[Nocte]

Necro + Necro.

Both of you can FD when things go bad, and you can split the dots to save mana. If you're duoing with your wife you're going to want to regen mana at the same rate and be able to avoid death with the same tools. If you FD and she dies, she may not want to play long.

[Harrison]

Mage/Enchanter destroys every other option hands-down, no contest whatsoever.

If you disagree you are wrong.

[nalkin]

^
mage + ench or mage + shaman is the best.

[Noleafclover]

I like mage-cleric over mage shammy, but agree those are the best two choices. Necro or 2nd mage is superfluous, you just want the pet always at full health and killing. cleric vs. shammy - lull, more mana efficient heals, DA, more wiggle room w cleric buffs ... vs. canni and melee buffs.

[krforrester]

I agree with mage + utility. However, for pure power, two mages could take down some tough mobs. Mage pet with ds and air pet for stuns. Two mages are a great combo for camping names, but the other options are much more efficient and useful for every day playing.

[azeth]

49 earth + 49 air w/ double lariats is pretty much a win button


when shit hits the fan however, ya better have Gate up.

[Tork]

Depends on the goal - if they are just going to group with each other all the time, I don't think you can top nec/nec for pure ease of play.

Of course, if you just like a mag, then pair the mage with an enc for maximum versatility - mag has the hardest time breaking spawns, and that the enc can do that in addition to all the buffs? Again, ease of play.

But hey - if you like nec and you like mag, then pairing them together is also pretty good.

It's like asking which do you want, the BMW or the Mercedes? Either way, you've got a nice car~

[Messianic]

Mage+Necro, if those are the only choices. Fear kiting + snare + pet beatdown with no need to heal the pet (since the mob is feared) = awesome.

[Noraa3903]

I like mage-cleric over mage shammy, but agree those are the best two choices. Necro or 2nd mage is superfluous, you just want the pet always at full health and killing. cleric vs. shammy - lull, more mana efficient heals, DA, more wiggle room w cleric buffs ... vs. canni and melee buffs.

Will have to disagree. The shaman would bring more to the table having slows and tossing on poison dots to help burn down the mob quicker. Not to mention at later levels the addition of the pet would allow for much speedier kills then what the cleric would bring. Faster the mob dies less you have to heal anyway not to mention the slow decreases the damage the mage pet would sustain tremendously. I think shaman is a complete better partner for a mage over a cleric.

[Tallenn]

Here's the main issue:

I really want to play a mage. I've never played one to very high level before. I already have a necro, and will probably make another one when Kunark is out (love Iksar necros). I REALLY don't need 3 necros. My wife is a true EQ newbie. She's played a few times over the years, but never gotten any characters over about level 10 or so. I'm pretty sure she will want to play a pet class, but who knows? Enchanter may be a bit tough for a real newbie (hell, it can be tough for a veteran- I know I'm still learning how to do it). Shaman? maybe. That would give us SoW, and the buffs would really help the pet to be even more of a monster. It is technically a pet class, though they don't get the pet for many levels. I think she'd really enjoy necro or mage, either one. She enjoyed playing a wizard the last time we played on live, but let's face it, the low-level wizard of 2010 live and P99 are not even close to being the same class. She was getting nukes that would take half or more of an even-con mob's health there.

As far as fear kiting- wouldn't that negate the biggest reason for using a fire pet: the damage shield? (and probably the biggest reason mages are so good at soloing)

So that's the thing. I REALLY want to play a mage. What would be the best partner for a mage that a true EQ newbie that likes pet classes would enjoy, and would make for a good duo? We will probably also join other groups from time to time, but they would have to be willing to take both of us. Also, given how little she is likely to play, we are probably NOT going to level very fast- so we'll be in the lower levels for quite some time.

[Overcast]

I agree with mage + utility. However, for pure power, two mages could take down some tough mobs. Mage pet with ds and air pet for stuns. Two mages are a great combo for camping names, but the other options are much more efficient and useful for every day playing.

Necro / Wizard for instance.

I 'boxed' on EQLive - many different combos. That one frankly amazed me. Wizard just meds... Necro kites it down. Wizard just makes it into Ashes.

Can evac if you need to, can port too. If the wizard wants a more active role, they can get a good quad ready, the necro can dot them all up and FD while the Wizard quads them down the rest of the way.

For XP grinding, have the Necro Agro-kite it, Wizard just tosses a couple nukes to speed DPS and meds up.

Plus - that combo, has the distinct advantage of being able to Kite Hate, lol

[Overcast]

So that's the thing. I REALLY want to play a mage. What would be the best partner for a mage that a true EQ newbie that likes pet classes would enjoy, and would make for a good duo? We will probably also join other groups from time to time, but they would have to be willing to take both of us. Also, given how little she is likely to play, we are probably NOT going to level very fast- so we'll be in the lower levels for quite some time.

I'd think in that case... Mage/Mage. EQ Mage is really an awesome Pet class, I'm surprised it hasn't been 'copied' more by other MMO's.

Necro's good, but there is a bit more of a learning curve to kiting excellence, managing health vs mana, weaker pet, and such.

[Skope]

I'd think in that case... Mage/Mage. EQ Mage is really an awesome Pet class, I'm surprised it hasn't been 'copied' more by other MMO's.

Necro's good, but there is a bit more of a learning curve to kiting excellence, managing health vs mana, weaker pet, and such.

Mage/mage has a tendency to have trouble in later expansions. Assuming you're playing this combo for leveling purposes in classic only, then go for the mage/mage (though i frankly think necros may have it a bit easier). If you're looking for longevity i would highly discourage going for that combination. Mages have issues with indoor mobs (pet chaining is actually worse off in kunark/velious than a necro indoors, and you have hard hitting mobs to boot).

lvl 57 earth pet is level 49 3350 HP and hits for 72. This is WITH the earth staff from innoruuk. only a handful of mages on the server have this staff, and the revamp comes mid-way thru kunark where the loot table changes (innoruuk quits dropping it, it then drops from trash iirc). your 49 earth pet actually has MORE hp than your lvl 57 earth pet with the innoruuk staff. What i'm getting at is that pets aren't near as good during kunark/velious until you can manage to get your epic, which is probably the hardest epic in the game to acquire. And pets in general are nowhere near as viable as tanks and DPS in kunark/velious as they are now -- necro/shaman included.

Necros will get progressively better because other pet classes have to rely less on their pets as tanks (shaman and mage, though more so mage b/c of torpor/slow), where a necro can choose to root rot and fear kite and aggro kite, none of which require the pet to take a beating. Better mana conversion rates and the best DoTs in the game make them the fastest soloers by far. To boot, nearly all of the loot in kunark will be indoors, thus necro/shaman have it far easier than a mage would in tight situations.

[Starklen]

Necros are stronger in kunark. Mages are stronger now. I play both classes atm.

[guineapig]

I have to agree with Skope. Mages are going to get a rude awakening when they realize they are going to have to chain cast a pet like 3-4 times on your average dark blue trash mob post level 50 in Kunark. You will see a lot of frustrated mages /LFG.

2 mages would seriously cripple your duo.

Enchanter is a great choice but not newbie friendly.

Slightly lee versatile but still great is necro but again not the easiest to play. Not difficult... but not the easiest.

Shaman buffs will end up being useless (on the pet at least) in Kunark teamed up with a mage since buffing the mage pet would be a waste. If anything the shaman would be tanking while the page pet is spanking. In other words you are loosing a great deal of what the shaman has to offer.

Druid is a very newbie friendly class to play. They can port, snare, heal... the only downside I see to it is that the druid damage shield becomes useless in favor of the mage damage shield. Just thinking about having 2 classes that can bind, one with ports and the other with CoH in Kunark dungeons makes me drool.

[Messianic]

^^

Kunark 40ish mobs hit like a ton of bricks compared to old world. It really stiffs tank or melee solo abilities 51-60 as well. As a Monk, I found obscure places to solo in the old world instead of braving groups in Kunark where I was just more DPS when a tank/cleric/chanter was needed or killing trash for hours trying to get Seb groups :P

[Tork]

Well, in fairness, melee only solo well between 1-5 or so - when everyone is forced to melee.

Sometimes we might be over thinking it - he said they were going to level slowly, so RoK/SoV concerns aren't that pressing. He said he wants a mag, and that his wife is new to EQ.

Given those requirements, druid isn't bad at all, even with the 'loss' of thorns, but necro is looking better and better.

[Noleafclover]

Will have to disagree. The shaman would bring more to the table having slows and tossing on poison dots to help burn down the mob quicker. Not to mention at later levels the addition of the pet would allow for much speedier kills then what the cleric would bring. Faster the mob dies less you have to heal anyway not to mention the slow decreases the damage the mage pet would sustain tremendously. I think shaman is a complete better partner for a mage over a cleric.

Noooo don't slow ~ The damage shield... noooooo

You may be right though, never tried it. Just love lull, prolly too much.

unrelated

Lots of people are like - mages are great, why not have two! 2 mages still = 1 fire pet taking hits.

Mage is the worst duo class for mage other than a melee. Other classes bring other utility, 2nd mage just brings greatly weakened dps. If you want that, take a wizzie. You at least get root/snare/ports there.