Good Duo

[Crypto]

Hey all.

My wife and I are planning to start p1999 and I'd like to have some feedback about what two classes to select for the strongest duo. We plan to group as well, but I'd say at least half of the time we'll probably duo.

We're leaning toward a Druid as one of the members just because of the utility and ports.

My skill level is pretty high with EQ and my wife has just a bit of experience with the game (few months on EQ Live).

Thanks!

[Waedawen]

druid and enchanter yo, especially if you're going for 1) strength and 2) ease of access to the world. double charm, damage shield, mind buffs, health buffs, speed buffs, snare, mez, unresistable outdoor paci, indoor paci. each class compliments the other to the T.

take the lead on the enchanter and have her play support on the druid

it's seriously fucking great up to and including level 60. you may very well never group with anyone else. you can hit any and all of the cash or xp camps. you can grab a melee or 2 and form a straight up group as well.

[Nimmanu]

There are a lot of factors involved in this decision.

Druids aren't that wanted at high levels. There are also tons of them.

Whichever of you makes the druid will end up being the achilles tendon of the duo. The enchanter (if you went that route) would be asked nonstop to go to groups, but the "I have a druid with me" will turn it into "Oh, never mind", especially since there are a LOT of enchanters on the server.

If you want to raid, that will become only more of a problem.

So while the druid seems great on the surface due to the great many benefits it has for the process of leveling up... you have to look at the long-term life of your characters. What is your high game plan?


Now, all of that babble being said... if you go with a warrior over an enchanter, you'll have the weight of necessity behind you, "You want me, you take druid" is a whole new value when you're playing a warrior. They are, at high levels, the hands-down premier tank. Tanks as an over-all, are hard to come by, as well. And people actually prefer a warrior over a hybrid because hybrids alter group exp in a negative fashion.

Unfortunately, if you went with, say, a warrior and cleric... this is a painful duo consisting of low DPS and little additional utility. However, the cleric later comes by the ability to rez, which in and of itself is a pretty magical quality (pun intended).

There's no cut-and-dried answer to your question, because so much of it relies upon multitudes of factors. There were servers in the past that used paladin tanks and just added another 5 clerics to the rotation because clerics were a dime a dozen and paladins allowed others to instantly go full-frontal DPS with no-holds-barred.

Ultimately, it's a combination of factors.


My bottom line advice? Find classes you will each ENJOY. Because if you play a warrior because you "should" in order to complete a "optimum duo", but hate it... you'll eventually quit playing due to sheer boredom or unhappiness.

The BEST classes are the ones you'll enjoy and stick with.

[maskedmelon]

If Druid is definitive, I would suggest:

Druid/Necro - Second most powerful companion for Druid, significantly easier to play effectively than chanter.
Duid/Chanter - most powerful companion for Druid, high skill required
Druid/Monk - best choice if you want a melee + Druid
Druid/Rogue - would rely on animal fear, not ideal.

Could also give Druid/Shaman a whirl. Shaman are very powerful soloers. I am not sure how synergistic the duo would be, but could sure be fun and offer stronger survivability with the second healer than the others above.

[Lyrith]

If Druid is definitive, I would suggest:

Druid/Necro - Second most powerful companion for Druid, significantly easier to play effectively than chanter.
Duid/Chanter - most powerful companion for Druid, high skill required
Druid/Monk - best choice if you want a melee + Druid
Druid/Rogue - would rely on animal fear, not ideal.


Great information here! For my first Duo on the server it was a Warrior/Cleric which worked out great for us, because we NEVER had a problem finding monks/rogues/etc for dps. Only hard to find an enchanter at times. Second Duo was a Monk/Shaman, same deal... DPS is almost always easy to find! If you play the Tank/Healer setup you will have an easy slow ride to 60. The good thing, is each level you get the faster it speeds up.

[Crypto]

Thanks for all the great feedback.

Having played a Druid in the Kunark era, I can understand the low grouping/raiding desirability; it's a problem I had on my main (druid at the time) a lot. I ended up soloing up the levels.

I'm not 100% sure that we'll ever get to raiding status as we have pretty busy lives, but I'd like to raid if we do reach that level.

Having thought a great deal about this, I'm currently thinking of rolling a Druid to play mostly in the event that my wife doesn't want to play at a given time, as I get a little more into these things than she does. That would give me something to play when she's not around and eventually provide us a source of income (farming, ports, etc.). My thought is that starting from the ground up, we'll need a way to make money and gear up.

I think I like the idea of tank/Cleric + whatever pickups we can find. My wife wants to "heal and buff" so Cleric would be a pretty good fit. The class I've played most in my EQ history is SK, which is what I'd want to pick as a tank (over Warrior). I haven't really played SK though in classic/Kunark era (mainly POP era), so my knowledge there is weak. I do recall a lot of people saying that SK was a bad choice in the early days.

Thoughts?

[Waedawen]

Playing Everquest in a 'linear' fashion (like tank, spank, pull, repeat, or root rotting) is really boring. And you're going to be playing the game for a long time in order to get any adequate amount of money or experience.

Playing a double caster setup or more rounded classes in general really allows you to make fun out of any thing. In EQ, 'fun' is exploration, killing mobs, getting loot, gaining levels. Pigeon holing yourself into very narrow classes doesn't help that. Tank classes aren't pliable enough to adapt a given situation. Priest classes in general are all great, so if your wife wants to 'buff and heal' (although I'm of the opinion people never know what they truly want) any and all of them are great for doing just that and much more.

[maskedmelon]

If you want to go cleric + tank then I think SK is probably your best choice. They offer slightly higher DPS than a Paladin, with comparable aggro management and no spell overlap that you get with the Paladin. She can lull and root to help with splits/cc ^^

Paladin is also a great tank despite the spell overlap, though outside of battling undead, they probably excel more in a group setting than a duo due to their low dps. They are capable of some fantastic crowd control if played properly, are great pullers, decent back-up healers and can effectively double their dps for short burns if needed on undead.

Warrior is desirable for raids and there are many who love them just because, but they have terrible Afro management until they obtain some decent proc weapons at later levels and cannot single pull their way out of a wet paper bag ^^. On the upside, they offer superior dps ^^

Cleric/chanter is an excellent choice as well, but requires some cha gear to be effective (charm dependent) making things slow starting off, but very fast once that requirement has been satisfied.

[Nimmanu]

Well, honestly, given what you've said, I would personally suggest Warrior or SK and a shamaness. (EDIT: If you go shamaness, I'd lean towards the SK for single pulls to offset the decrease in healing capabilities. SK can pull singles, warrior can tank multiple targets but not pull singles for the life of us :p ).

You'll have enough healing. You'll have great buffs and utility such a invis and levi and the like.

If you don't think you'll raid all that much, then you don't need to worry about warrior tanking as much, and an SK can be an equitable choice for a secondary (off) tank.

On the other hand, you do have two classes that at least have viable things to bring to a raid. Shaman will be very wanted, and SK can offtank well enough to offer something worth having them for.

That being said, at the high end, there's nothing and no one who heals like a cleric. Shaman buffs, however, will be more popular on the low end, and if your wife is like me and just really loves to stop and throw a buff at nooblets as she passes... sow is the answer and that puts shaman at the top.



Just my personal opinion. I would MYSELF pick a cleric because I LOVE cleric, despite the lack of versatility. But your wife will have a lot more to offer to the group as a whole as far as travel and the like (levi, sow, invis, see invis). She has more to offer in the early levels as far as stopping to buff up a nooblet. And later on she gets regen which makes the nooblets unstoppable in its own right (comparison to cleric heroic bond, for example).


Anyway, hope that helps and doesn't confuse the issue more!

[Crypto]

All excellent feedback. Thanks again folks. I knew I had a ton to consider and all of this commentary just adds to it :) Good stuff.

[Nimmanu]

When you decide, let us know. And if it wouldn't be an imposition, share your logic, too. I'm always so curious about threads like this and I don't want to be left hanging again. :D

[Crypto]

Cleric/chanter is an excellent choice as well, but requires some cha gear to be effective (charm dependent) making things slow starting off, but very fast once that requirement has been satisfied.

Never seen this duo. Could you summarize what makes it strong? I can deduce the charming and cleric healing charmed mobs; not to mention rez when things go south. What beyond that? I've never played Chanter or Cleric, though. I do think I could play a hard character like Chanter pretty well.

[Crypto]

When you decide, let us know. And if it wouldn't be an imposition, share your logic, too. I'm always so curious about threads like this and I don't want to be left hanging again. :D

You bet!

[maskedmelon]

Never seen this duo. Could you summarize what makes it strong? I can deduce the charming and cleric healing charmed mobs; not to mention rez when things go south. What beyond that? I've never played Chanter or Cleric, though. I do think I could play a hard character like Chanter pretty well.

That is about it. The chanter does not need to waste mana on crappy nukes to finish pet. cleric augments the chanter's ability to charm solo, by offering stuns on charm breaks (in addition to be chanter's own) and less mana spent on buffing pet (or providing the option to buff it where it otherwise wouldn't exist) via heals on the pet. Healing efficiency goes through the roof with complete heal and cleric hp buffs + heals nullify any errors on the chanter's part. Basically, the chanter can kill non stop and at a faster rate with the cleric.

High cha is required for this to work effectively (cha is one of 3 checks for charm break). The lower your your cha is, the lower your average charm duration will be. Cha gear is not that expensive though and as a high elf you could get around 170 for less than 1kpp (that is 3 or 4 stein of moggok sales, which you can quest at level 8 as a high elf).

[Nimmanu]

To add to what MM said, from my own perspective...

There are a lot of benefits to this duo.

Many of cleric's stuns don't damage, and neither does our root. So when I root off of the enchanter, or stun off of them, I don't have to worry that I'll damage the mob and wake them up.

Furthermore, I'd point out that if you're feeling necessarily rushed for levels, you can find an undead area and roll through it like a hot knife through butter with this duo.

The enchanter augments the mana regen of the cleric and the cleric keeps the enchanter alive through pretty much anything. With high charisma, your enchanter is going to be charming everything in sight.

It's a fantastic duo, and easy to get groups. However, I will say this. Whoever is playing the enchanter is going to have to be ready and willing to do the lion's share of the work. It's one of those cases in which hyperactive disorder is a bonus. :p

However, that's to say, a good cleric is busy, too. Contrary to popular opinion, a well-played cleric must be hyper alert and ready to use all of her abilities at the drop of a hat.

[Crypto]

Both toons would also be high value for grouping/raiding/etc. Seems like a grade A option to consider. As noted, I'll likely be playing more than my wife, so I'd still want to fire up a secondary character to play when she's not around. Is Druid a decent option for that or are there other suggestions?

Things I really like about Druid:
- Ports. I love the mobility.
- Solo ability. I don't always like to group.
- Farming plat. This may or may not work out as well as I'm hoping. If I end up leveling the Chanter faster, this would almost certainly become moot.

[Nimmanu]

With those criteria, wizard would work just as well. The two porting classes aren't huge on grouping lists, though. The good news of a wizard is that they stack, whereas druids are everywhere and don't stack well.

Farming plat isn't going to be "easy" for any class over another, really, as long as they can solo efficiently. This is more about where you fight and the like.

[Crypto]

With those criteria, wizard would work just as well. The two porting classes aren't huge on grouping lists, though. The good news of a wizard is that they stack, whereas druids are everywhere and don't stack well.

Farming plat isn't going to be "easy" for any class over another, really, as long as they can solo efficiently. This is more about where you fight and the like.

Yeah. Thought about Wizard. I have actually played a Wizard up to 30 or so. Just did not enjoy it, so it's probably out.

[Nimmanu]

I personally enjoy my druid greatly. I get groups no problem, and I group up with other druids, too. We can heal, nuke, support, whatever. I believe it's in who you choose to be friends with, rather than what class you elect. That's been my personal experience. People bring me along because they want ME along. We make the rest of it work. 3 druids? Well... figure it out. 3x the charmed animals, GO! :D

[maskedmelon]

Both toons would also be high value for grouping/raiding/etc. Seems like a grade A option to consider. As noted, I'll likely be playing more than my wife, so I'd still want to fire up a secondary character to play when she's not around. Is Druid a decent option for that or are there other suggestions?

Things I really like about Druid:
- Ports. I love the mobility.
- Solo ability. I don't always like to group.
- Farming plat. This may or may not work out as well as I'm hoping. If I end up leveling the Chanter faster, this would almost certainly become moot.

Druid is a great solo character. If ports are requisite then I don't see any other options beyond the already suggested and rejected Wizard. I'd go Druid over wizard anyways because it fits your other points better. The three other solo powerhouses are: chanter, shaman and necro. I would rank Druid as fourth in terms of overall solo effectiveness due to indoor limitations, behind necro. The ports and sow sure make travel easier though. Add track (of limited use due to range) to that and you can bounce around zones for rare spawn cycles.

Overall I think Druid gameplay is less intensive and more forgiving for what they can accomplish. Plus, if you do level it faster than your chanter/cleric duo, you can make money on ports / power level and if you or your wit fancies making Alfa in the future you can use it to plvl each other ^^

[Feathers]

I play a necromancer and I grouped with a bard a while back and it was a lot of fun. We just did fear kiting, which a lot of people find boring, but I had a blast.

We'd selos (weeeeeeee) on off to our monster. I'd dot um up and fear, pet would melee it, bard would sing and melee it.
Really short down time. I don't have call of bones yet, but the bard heal song could heal over allure of death.

I try to marry every bard I see now!

[DrKvothe]

Druid/enchanter. If you ask people "Where's the best place to level for level X to Y?" they'll list an indoor dungeon with a high ZEM. Druids are worse than shaman or cleric with an enchanter duo partner in those places. However, in terms of pure leveling speed, go to places where the druid can charm and pulls are non-stop, and just fear-kite with two charmed pets. Add in more pet classes or melee to act as dots =D. If you're killing animals, the druid can do the fearing, otherwise the enchanter can do it.

A high level druid will make more plat per hour porting/plvling than most enchanters/shaman in dungeons. They can't slow, but slowing for groups is boring anyways. They also don't require 100k platinum for a class defining spell.

Other than VP, the key for which requires a raid drop, there's no class discrimination on raids; the more the merrier.

[Salahdin]

Go ent+dru.....at first. Hit 60 farm items for another duo.... Alternatively power level the alts with druid.

[Meeas]

I've found this thread really helpful! Me and a friend will hopefully be joining soon and was considering classes that best compliment each other.

For fun, how would two pally's or Sk's fare?

[maskedmelon]

I've found this thread really helpful! Me and a friend will hopefully be joining soon and was considering classes that best compliment each other.

For fun, how would two pally's or Sk's fare?

Two pallies would do fine against undead. A pally and an sk might have less downtime early on and more options due to so ability to fear anything instead of just undead. Of course at 45 DW helm is pretty sweet and could top off hp lost from one fight in 30-40s between both, basically rendering the downtime savings of fear moot.

Neither would be a powerful duo though. Pally solo is slow ^^

[DrKvothe]

There's other players in the game. You can always invite them along. Add an enchanter to pally/SK duo and you can level as fast as almost any trio by fear kiting with a charmed pet. SK snares, both knights melee dps, enchanter charms/fears, pally heals when necessary.

On the red server, there's very little class discrimination, since the exp bonus means the more the merrier for most content. My druid is just 32 atm, but I've been in some silly groups:
4 druids, 1 warrior, 1 ranger in unrest
2 wiz, 1 druid, 1 necro, 1 pally in SolA
druid, necro, monk in LoIO

just play what you want