Another Duo recommendation thread!

[kentaris]

Hello all,

My buddy and I have started back EQ after quitting live about 2004 or so..

We have narrowed down what each of us want to play to a few races/classes. I thought I would get opinions on which would be the best duo. Our main goal is to have fun and level without too much downtime. I am married with kids so my play time is limited to 2-3 hour sessions after the kids are in bed.

Player 1 (Me) will be playing one of the following:
Half-Elf Bard (I had a bard on live at about 56th level.)
Troll Shaman
Hafling Druid

Player 2 will be one of the following:
Iksar Necro
Wood elf Bard
Dark elf Enchanter
Halfling Druid

We are new to the server so don't have money for twinking.

Thanks for any suggestions... I would appreciate theories on what type of hunting we would do... (charming,, root rotting, etc.)

[Lhancelot]

Hello all,

My buddy and I have started back EQ after quitting live about 2004 or so..

We have narrowed down what each of us want to play to a few races/classes. I thought I would get opinions on which would be the best duo. Our main goal is to have fun and level without too much downtime. I am married with kids so my play time is limited to 2-3 hour sessions after the kids are in bed.

Player 1 (Me) will be playing one of the following:
Half-Elf Bard (I had a bard on live at about 56th level.)
Troll Shaman
Hafling Druid

Player 2 will be one of the following:
Iksar Necro
Wood elf Bard
Dark elf Enchanter
Halfling Druid

We are new to the server so don't have money for twinking.

Thanks for any suggestions... I would appreciate theories on what type of hunting we would do... (charming,, root rotting, etc.)

Troll Shaman for you, Iksar Necro for him. Slows from shaman will make you able to duo anything and with necro dps will kill nicely. Necro can summon corpses, rez, FD if the shit hits the fan, etc.

OR...

Troll Shaman you and Enchanter him. Pretty much same as above, only even more powerful with the CC enchanter gets but no summon corpses etc. Enchanter with charms can do anything, with shaman heals and slows/offtank when needed, would work great.

***Too bad neither of you want to do cleric. A cleric with enchanter is simply unstoppable tbh.

****Good thing about enchanter is it's very powerful spells mean you do not need huge twink gears to do well. Can really be nearly naked, and enchanter will do great, just will die a lot due to lack of hps and dumb people breaking mezzes when in groups.

[Endorra]

So easy. You play shaman, he plays enc.

Welcome to the (arguably) strongest duo in the game. Tag team your way around nektulos/ec tunnel early on for the buffs from higher levels. Once you've gotten him up to charming level, you can basically pick your spots. You guys pool your money for spells and cheap CHA gear to power his charm up, and proceed to wipe the floor with pretty much all content up to 60.

[Taiku]

Necro + shaman is one of my favorite duos.

Getting a regeneration spell to counteract necro lich makes grouping much more relaxing, allows necro to throw heals out to counteract the shaman canni, slows are huge, HP buffs in case your necro charm breaks. Shamans are pretty tanky which gives you a bit more time to react and CC with roots / necro mez if things go bad. Just feels really safe.

Edit: But the "best" from your options is probably enchanter + shaman, probably only bested by enchanter + cleric, though I am a fan of necromancer!

[Vexenu]

You: Halfling Druid
Him: Dark Elf Enchanter

They both start within two zones of each other, require very little gear to level, and the two classes synergize incredibly well. Dru/Ench is one of the best leveling duos in the game. Double charm outdoors for massive DPS, Clarity, mez, haste, slow, fear, snare, heals, ports, nukes, DoTs, regen...you've got everything.

Shaman/Ench is also a good duo, but is only better at level 60 vs. high end targets. Dru/Ench wipes the floor with them 1-59 for leveling speed and is overall the much friendlier choice for new players (mostly due to ports and the fact you can adequately gear/spell a Druid for 1/10th the cost of a Shaman or less).

[Qtip]

Shm and ench and no other combo comes close.

[Topgunben]

If you want to have the time of your life and have zero down time, roll monk necro. I know monk isn't on your list, but being able to wipe aggro for the both of you will be invaluable. A monk necro duo will be able to go into the depths of dungeons most other duos wouldn't even consider.

[Baler]

Top three duos on p99. These are proven time and time again. People will argue about their order and positioning but this is how it is..

#1 - Cleric + Enchanter - Strongest duo in the game. Complete Heal is just so strong especially combined with a charmed monster pet. Cleric has an invulnerability spell and a cheat death spell. Enchanter's clarity will keep the cleric nice on mana. Enchanter also has rune(damage absorb) spells for the duo.

#2 - Shaman + Echanter - Similar to the first one but replace complete heal with torpor and more buffing spells. These two have a lot of overlapping spells but that is most certainly not a bad thing. Where they don't overlap is what makes these two shine together so well.

#3 - Shaman + Monk - Arguably one of the strongest duos these two classes play off each other superbly and allow them to tackle very challenging content. Monk's feign death combined with shaman buffage is some serious melee killing power.

I'm not asking I am telling. These are the three strongest duos in terms of min/max meta.

---
However if you're not planning on being a duo god taking down the biggest baddest targets. Play what ever you think is fun! Seriously there is no reason to be unhappy in the long run.

From your list.
I'll give another +1 for troll shaman + iksar necro though don't expect to feel unique as you traverse the world. These two are very popular classes. at ~lvl 12 you both can do very well in kurns tower. be sure to bring necessary shaman spells with you before you leave the swamp. Necro and Shaman can feed each other life/mana.

I strongly encourage one of you to level a druid so you can port your duo around. One person logs on druid to port and the other logs on char 1 gets ported, logs off, logs on char 2 and gets ported. It's extremely useful, Or if one of the characters needs to go turn in a quest or just needs a ride before the other player goes afk. Having an alt druid in a friendship is super, super helpful.

Ignore Lhancelot

[Shodo]

Really any combination of those classes (including 2 druids or 2 bards) will let you keep the grind moving steadily with little downtime, so if that's all you're worried about then don't sweat it. But if you would like to also be able to tackle some nice cash camps later on (very helpful for new players) I'd go with shm/enc or shm/nec as recommended above.

[Barlu]

As most have already said already Shaman and Enchanter would be by far the strongest combo. With that being said I found an untwinked Shaman to be a bit underwhelming at low levels. They are also the most expensive class in the game to gear up at 60.

Two classes that are very cheap to gear up and still would be effective would be the Enchanter and Druid duo. Charisma Gear is very cheap and easy to come by for the Chanter. I've done this duo a good amount of time and found it very effective at lower levels but will become less powerful as you get 40+.

Also your play time schedules and wanting to group with your buddy sounds a lot like what I try to do. Having the Druid being able to port is huge when you only have a short period of time to play. If something is camped you can just port out and go somewhere else and you both don't have to keep your toons parked in the same spot.

[Swish]

We are new to the server don't have money for twinking.

An untwinked enchanter is going to have a bad time imo. I did it on red as my first character and it was particularly rough (even with high elf charisma) pre-charm. If your healer is good and attentive you might scrape by til you get some gear at least ^^

"Shaman" is a common pick so assuming one of you does pick a shaman, learn to "canni dance" with cannibalization.

Essentially your mana goes up in ticks every few seconds. To canni "dance" you wait for the tick, then stand, cast canni, then sit, then wait for the tick...then do it again, and again. You'll be surprised how much mana you'll regain versus just standing and spamming it/having to heal.

[kentaris]

Thanks for the input guys... It is appreciated.

[Lhancelot]

An untwinked enchanter is going to have a bad time imo.
This is fairly false.

It ain't hard to buy two 55hp/5ac rings, with those and scant gearing your chanter is set to dominate once you 20+ and charm gets consistent to use.

IMO I would go with a high elf or erudite for great starting INT/CHA, if you go with either I'd also recommend putting all points into CHA for INT is extremely easy to gear.

Just remember if you went Erudite, stick 5 points into AGI as they start with 70 iirc.

Dark elves do get the hide ability granting you the ability to break charm with the innate ability but it's not 100%, and for me not worth using as it's highly inconsistent regarding success rate.

[Swish]

This is fairly false.

It ain't hard to buy two 55hp/5ac rings, with those and scant gearing your chanter is set to dominate once you 20+ and charm gets consistent to use.

IMO I would go with a high elf or erudite for great starting INT/CHA, if you go with either I'd also recommend putting all points into CHA for INT is extremely easy to gear.

Just remember if you went Erudite, stick 5 points into AGI as they start with 70 iirc.

Dark elves do get the hide ability granting you the ability to break charm with the innate ability but it's not 100%, and for me not worth using as it's highly inconsistent regarding success rate.

How do you buy 2 55hp earrings when you're new to a server. I'm going on the basis that they're starting from scratch completely. Good luck getting all your spells ar 4/8/12 let alone nice JC items.

[Lhancelot]

How do you buy 2 55hp earrings when you're new to a server. I'm going on the basis that they're starting from scratch completely. Good luck getting all your spells ar 4/8/12 let alone nice JC items.

It's not that hard to get 450pp for a pair of rings by level 20.

Stack of bone chips sells for 10pp, greater lightstones 10-12pp to players.

You make it sound impossible to get plats as a lowbie on p99 when in reality it's very easy.

If he were soloing, a lack of gears might be harder for a brand new enchanter, but he will be duoing, so starting brand new wont be too bad.

Regardless, enchanter is not nearly gear dependent as many other classes.

[Izmael]

Level in Kurn's to about level 20, get bags and bags of bone chips, sell them all, then spend a day or two in EC driving the hardest bargain you can on +CHA items. Profit.

[Baler]

If you do Kurns Tower don't kill burynai in FoB or inside the tower. That way you can do kurns tower basement at later levels.

[Spyder73]

Since both of you will be untwinked and low on money the choices don't really matter. Just from what you have listed I would pick Druid and Enchanter.

This way when you start getting higher level the druid can port to get you guys some cash and you can also both charm kill sh!t as long as you stick to animal camps (Oasis crocs/Karanas/Ect). Shamans and Necros both come into their own at higher levels for sure, but Druid/Enchanter would allow you to 1) make money porting for the both of you 2) easy groups because everyone loves enchanters for clarity 3) can charm together if you pick your camps correctly.

[maskedmelonpai]

You: Halfling Druid
Him: Dark Elf Enchanter

They both start within two zones of each other, require very little gear to level, and the two classes synergize incredibly well. Dru/Ench is one of the best leveling duos in the game. Double charm outdoors for massive DPS, Clarity, mez, haste, slow, fear, snare, heals, ports, nukes, DoTs, regen...you've got everything.

Shaman/Ench is also a good duo, but is only better at level 60 vs. high end targets. Dru/Ench wipes the floor with them 1-59 for leveling speed and is overall the much friendlier choice for new players (mostly due to ports and the fact you can adequately gear/spell a Druid for 1/10th the cost of a Shaman or less).

something bout the way you structured you intro make me think of:




Me: petite, round and shy
You: thin, dark and charming

i had stopped by the commonlands on my way downtown when you caught my eye. you weren't wearing much and neither was i. it was obvious we both had a love for solo play in how we handled ourselves and the resonance was profound. i wasn't very far from home, so decided to stay a while. i dunno what I was thinking. I guess i was hoping you'd see me, maybe we'd share some Jum Jum and things would go from there...

but it didn't happen that way :c i just KNOW we would make great partners though and would like the chance to show you. please contact me if you match the above description and were in the commonlands recently.

<3

[Lhancelot]

something bout the way you structured you intro make me think of:

Always the romantic.

[Crede]

If those classes listed are your only options for classes, then definitely go Druid/enchanter. They will complement each other nicely either by charm killing or charm fear kiting, etc. however I say "if" because enc/cleric is way more powerful 40+ when mobs hp start to skyrocket and you really want cheal to keep up with the heals. And huge hp buffs/rezzes are great to have.

Also, I wouldn't bother with shaman/enc unless you have to play a shaman. Reason being you guys seem pretty casual and shaman/enc will really only pass/equal the power of enc/cleric at 60 with torpor which is so hard to obtain for casual people.pre 60 I'd take a Druid partner over shaman if I'm the enchanter just for more versatility especially travel. People speak of shaman tanking but realistically not necessary unless you're both 60 trying to take down crazy stuff.

[kentaris]

We are not brand new to the server... We have played for about a month getting the various options I listed to the low to mid-teens.. Now we have given all the possibilities on what each of us would like to play a try and came down to those toons listed in the original post.

As we have limited time and resources (plat) based on advise regarding the Shaman and equip costs we took him out of the running.

Due to the short play sessions we decided one of us would play a druid for ports..the other is either Enchanted or Bard.

From the suggestions it seems the enchanter is considered better than the bard but no one really had much to say about the bard.. Does anyone have any thoughts on a Druid /Bard duo?

We are leaning toward Druid / Enchanted but just thought I would ask.

Some people were discussing plat - we have managed to bonechip/lightstone/bandedmail our way to over 500 pp to equip each.. We have a pair of the 4 ac/+45 hp rings for each on top of that.

Thanks again for all the replies and input.

[Jimjam]

If you are under level 20 it might be fun to head to Lake of Ill Omen for xp.

Go to the field between the windmill, the goblin ruins and the lake. Lots of xp mobs spawn there. Occasionally you will see sarnak couriers spawn there. These are good to kill; very rarely they drop a ring which is instant cast invis vs animals. This can be used as a method to 'instabreak' charm, useful for both the druid and the enchanter.

Suggestion: if you go bard/druid you could have the bard aggro kite huge swarms of mobs while the druid uses his point blank area of effect direct damage spell to quickly kill them all.

[kentaris]

We tried the PBAE with a bard/ wizard duo. The bard isn't 18 yet so doesn't have the better range dot. I was still using the 2nd level one. We could do it but running the razor edge of insta death was a bit too tight. I didn't realize the druid had PBAE. That would be a nice option to have.

[Triiz]

Enchanter is obvious choice for one of you, but what hasn't been mentioned is bard is arguably the least gear dependent class in the game and has a ton to offer in a duo situation while leveling.

Regen, mana regen, snare (great for fear kiting with charmed rogue pet), slows, DOT's, super speed, lull's, mez, charm, some melee DPS, great ability to get aggro, track, and obvious AOE's. Bard can do all of this fairly well butt ass naked with 100pp-ish in instruments.

Since Enchanter's don't get any PBAOE DD's if you wanted to bust through some hell levels in 1 hour with swarming you'd need a PBAOE class but you'd have no problem finding someone to fill that role.

Enchanter + cleric or enchanter + shaman with a few hundred thousand plat in gear is obviously going to be far stronger at 60 farming whatever, but for 1-60 the enchanter + bard combo would be smooth sailing imo, especially outdoors. Druids are in abundance on p99 and ports are never hard to find, having selo's to get you to and from druid rings makes travel a non-issue.

[Vexenu]

Bards are a good class. But you have to really, really enjoy playing a Bard to get the most out of them. If you aren't totally in love with the class I wouldn't recommend playing one. Twisting songs for hours at a time becomes drudgery and often physically painful, so it's not for the faint of heart.

Bard/Druid would be an unorthodox duo...you could probably find a way to make the kiting + PBAOE work. That would unquestionably be your best XP, but locations for that would be limited and it would very much be a one-trick pony.

Enchanter/Druid is much more versatile...you absolutely destroy anywhere with animals where you can double charm, and even in non-animal zones the Druid's support (SoW, snare, heals, nukes, DS) makes Enchanter charming extremely safe. Snare is very powerful combined with charm - it allows you to safely keep pets hasted even in tight quarters like dungeons. A snared pet turns a charm break from a catastrophic, potentially fatal event into a mere inconvenience.

Druids just pair very well with Enchanters all the way from 1-60. Clerics and Shaman also duo well with Enchanters, but really only from 50-60 and at 60, respectively.

[kentaris]

I played a bard main in live. I cant remember what level, high 50's if not 60th. I had my epic..I generally received a lot of compliments. The only reason I didn't just go bard again was wanting to pair well and I hadn't really experienced the other classes beyond 20th. I may end up hating anything else and going that way eventually.

[Lhancelot]

I played a bard main in live. I cant remember what level, high 50's if not 60th. I had my epic..I generally received a lot of compliments. The only reason I didn't just go bard again was wanting to pair well and I hadn't really experienced the other classes beyond 20th. I may end up hating anything else and going that way eventually.

I think you will find the opposite actually.

If anything, I find nearly every class extremely interesting and fun to play.

Comparing to newer MMOs, EQ1 really has a niche for each and every class, making them rely even more on one another for success.

I like that and find each different class fun to play. Except for monks and bards. :D

[Jimjam]

The PBaoe druid/bard combo will be come stronger once you can spam slow/snare on the bard to keep aggro / control of the train.

I think bard / druid would hardly be a one trick pony though. Both classes have a lot of abilities for which to create some interesting synergies from.

[kentaris]

Thanks for the input guys. We are going to go with Druid / enchanter and give it a try.. They are both in their mid teens. So we already have a nice start to them.

Any suggestions on must have druid gear to save up for? I know start out with +mana +hp then wisdom but was wondering about specific items. It looks like I will eventually want a luminecent staff and some of the elder spiritist armor pieces. Any other must haves?

[Izmael]

Your #1 priority is going to be +CHA gear on the enchanter in every single slot.

#2 priority I suppose +WIS gear for the druid.

[Lhancelot]

Your #1 priority is going to be +CHA gear on the enchanter in every single slot.

#2 priority I suppose +WIS gear for the druid.

I find on characters the most important and useful thing to have on them is hp rings. 55hp/5ac rings can be bought from Stockmarket (the player in EC) for 225pp each. The raw hps is a huge help adding to your survivability. Stats are great, but they are useless if you die easily and raw hps give you toughness.

Any raw mana or hp items tend to benefit you greatly over main stat items for a very long time, and typically they can be found to be cheaper.

Don't hesitate to buy raw mana or hp items when you see them for sale.

*When you can do it, Testament of Vanear for the druid, it's a quest gives +10wis book for offhand.

**For druid, I would strongly consider any race other than half elf, I started my first character on P99 as a half elf druid, and it took years to really get him to a point where his awful starting wisdom wasn't gimping him.

starting out 15 wisdom less than humans and 20 less than woodelves and halflings may not sound like a big deal but if you are undergeared, 15 wisdom points really can make a big difference when you starting out.

Tunare druids have more quests available, more items to work on like the deity root necklace. Humans, woodelves and half elves can be Tunarean druids.

Halflings cannot be Tunare druids, but level significantly faster than other races and get hide/sneak which can prove to be useful.

[kentaris]

Yeah we both have 4AC / 45HP rings. They were half the price of the 5/55 and thought them a better investment at this time to save money for other equipment.

The enchanter we have double fisting it with steins (Moggok and Crude). We also killed the cursed guy in NK and got a gypsy medallion and bought a Oracle robe for him. From memory I think his CHA is about 150.

The druid is a halfling.. He is mostly using found items or really cheap stuff except for the rings. He still has a lot of the low skill tailoring stuff... Patched leather I think. I do have a shark bone warhammer and was able to loot a cracked dark wood shield and spent 80 on a pair of +3 wis earrings. A nice high level druid caught me running by and gave me split paw gloves and chest. We killed a named wolf in NK and got some arms.

So have some reasonable starting equipment. We plan on doing NRo then heading to lake of ill omen to try to get a invis ring or two for charming.

[Spyder73]

None of the good clickies are usable before at least level 45 so don't worry about it too much. The big item you want for charming is a Goblin Gazughi Ring and both of you will need one (arguably the enchanter needs it more) so that you can insta break your charm pets with invis - they cost a pretty penny (7k). Other than that just +mana items. I wouldn't worry about it to much - just grab gear as you level.

[Lhancelot]

Yeah we both have 4AC / 45HP rings. They were half the price of the 5/55 and thought them a better investment at this time to save money for other equipment.

The enchanter we have double fisting it with steins (Moggok and Crude). We also killed the cursed guy in NK and got a gypsy medallion and bought a Oracle robe for him. From memory I think his CHA is about 150.

The druid is a halfling.. He is mostly using found items or really cheap stuff except for the rings. He still has a lot of the low skill tailoring stuff... Patched leather I think. I do have a shark bone warhammer and was able to loot a cracked dark wood shield and spent 80 on a pair of +3 wis earrings. A nice high level druid caught me running by and gave me split paw gloves and chest. We killed a named wolf in NK and got some arms.

So have some reasonable starting equipment. We plan on doing NRo then heading to lake of ill omen to try to get a invis ring or two for charming.

Sounds great you guys got a good plan and you progressing perfectly. :)