Mage + mage or mage + necro?
 

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?

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

If you disagree you are wrong.

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

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.

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.