Shaman or Cleric?
 

Looking to create an alt with a friend who is playing Paladin. Which do you guys think would be a better fit? Barb Shaman or DElf/Elf Cleric?

Either will work fine. Play what interests you more.

Shaman will have far more tools in the kit as you progress. Cleric is going to always be healing.

If you guys are going to strictly only duo, the answer is shaman. Slow is the most efficient "heal" in the game.

A shaman is your #1 best pick to duo with any melee class.

Either WILL work. Shams WILL have more tools as you progress. But the other lines from kjs oversimplify things imo.

Clerics aren't simply healers; they have the best hp and ac buffs in the game, good undead nukes and respectable (better than shaman) normal nukes, rez, divine aura and barrier for funny business. Slow is the most efficient heal in the game... but not until like 40+ (or especially in kunark; at 50 chanters have a better slow than shamans). There isn't a "best" answer to the question unless you have more specifics about your interests. Both are great classes and "fit" fine overall with a paladin.

If you really JUST want to duo, you'll probably get more mileage out of a shaman. If your friend wants to do any grouping though, it's a wash probably on which is strictly better, since shamans are kinda a dime a dozen on green and teal but clerics are more rare and as/more important for groups.

Just keep in mind slows are not very efficient until much later in Kunark. Shamans will struggle healing in most groups since they get their heals 1 full spell circle later than clerics (i.e. lvl24 Greater healing for cleric comes at level 29 for shammy). Also clerics get 10% bonus on the very same heals shamans use.

In other words, slowing 99% mobs in Classic is a waste of time, you're better off with stronger heals. In early 40's clerics begin to use Complete heal, which is very efficient on tanks, and completely outclasses all other heal spells in the game.

Shaman might look a little better in duo, but add one damage dealer into your group, and cleric becomes a much better choice.

Shamans can haste, regen, stat buff, slow, heal, SoW, summon a pet, make potions, DoT, nuke, and canni for very efficient mana regen.

Clerics can heal, rez and nuke undead with poor mana regeneration.

Outside raiding or working with a charmed pet where complete heal becomes ridiculously mana efficient, a shaman is almost always the better partner.

Plus Shaman is a LOT more fun to play than a cleric (in my humble opinion) - Plus you have the option to solo. The downside is Shamans are quite possiblyt the worst raiding class in all of EQ - you need 1 and anything over that is basically dead weight.

Lol whuuuut? Kunark doesn't add a slow spell line till 51. So you're saying slows are not effective till 51....ya again whut?

@OP shaman and it's not even close. Slow and regen will allow you to do encounters a cleric-paladin combo cant touch. Which is the ruler by which all combos are measured- how much of the content can they do compared to another combo

As a duo partner? Shaman. Not even close.

Drowsy is a 20% slow at 50, for 20 mana.

Walking sleep is a 30% slow at 50, for 30 mana.

At level 50 a shaman is able to keep a tank alive far longer against a mob then a cleric is. The cleric will heal until OOM, the shaman will let the tank mitigate damage through buffs, slow, provides passive healing through chloroplast, and can canni to regen his mana.

Finally, CH on classic geared tanks is pretty poor.

A CH for 2000 hp is 5hp/mana healed
Superior healing (for shm) is 2.32hp/mana healed

Since Togors insects slows for 49% at level 39, a 39 shms superior heal is really close to the clerics CH, and at 50 the shm is ahead quite a lot when it comes to mana efficiency.

Clerics have very low efficiency, this is why they can't solo well. A shaman can tank and sustain himself against mobs that run a cleric OOM, despite the cleric being a plate class. That in itself says enough about the efficiency of both classes.

Has a cleric ever soloed Yeldema? Serious question.

Seriously dumb question you mean? Has a shaman ever rezzed a dead corpse or partipated in a complete heal chain? Clerics lack the tools to trophy solo a dragon. Shamans lack the tools to do the things which make a cleric a requirement for hard content.

Back on topic: for strictly duo shaman will win hands down. More than healing/slowing it’s the sum total package of all that on top of haste. A properly geared cleric can handle the job of healing without slows or clarity. It’s not fun, but neither is being the sole healing shaman in a group where you’re also expected to slow, buff, and haste to boot. I’ve played both classes.

In terms of global desirability (groups and raids) it’s near impossible to beat cleric.

I’ve never seen a group break for lack of finding a shaman. I’ve seen raids struggle because we had 7-8 shamans and not enough clerics.

Both classes are great. You can’t go wrong with either.