Necro/Mage Duo

[Stoggieman]

Ok, I'm starting up next week with my old friend from Rodcet Nife server years ago. We both have had high level toons, him, necro, ranger, sk, and myself wizard, monk... I've enjoyed it all, and really enjoyed being an iksar. That being said, looking to level from first kill all the way up together, and were hoping to do so in a reasonable way. I think from what I've gathered we're down to two main options we'd like to pursue....

Him iksar sham/ me iksar monk
(yes I'd be rolling another one but hey it's a strong combo for the era)
Him DE Mage / me DE Necro

we've kicked around a few others but he's unwilling to go Bard/Bard for serious dot kiting/swarm kiting action because he also refuses to twist... And while we both like the idea of porting, he doesn't want to roll a druid or wizzy, and i'm not so keen on the wizard again, though most of my experience there was solo and thus boring...

So for the TWO pairs listed above, I'm looking for input. Thanks in advance.

[Ephirith]

Both of those options are very strong duos and you will move along pretty smoothly.

One thing that's nice about necro/mage is this duo requires no gear investment to be effective. Since you two are new that's pretty sweet,

The shaman and monk are not only one of the best duos in the game, but together you form the core of an effective group for almost anything. Monks are exceptional tanks/dps, and shamans are exceptional healers if you take slow into account. If you ever get tired of duoing or want to grab more people to do something fun, it will be much easier for a shaman and monk to find something compatible.

Ultimately I would suggest you simply pick what you feel like you would enjoy, even if that means trekking your level 1 across the world to share that first kill.

Just a little tip if one of you decides to play the shaman: use the inner fire spell as a heal, it is incredibly efficient. With inner fire you're the best healer, even better than clerics, until 14 or so. If you sit down and only stand to cast inner fire between mana ticks, you can heal almost indefinitely at noob levels.

[phobus]

Originally Posted by Stoggieman [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Ok, I'm starting up next week with my old friend from Rodcet Nife server years ago. We both have had high level toons, him, necro, ranger, sk, and myself wizard, monk... I've enjoyed it all, and really enjoyed being an iksar. That being said, looking to level from first kill all the way up together, and were hoping to do so in a reasonable way. I think from what I've gathered we're down to two main options we'd like to pursue....

Him iksar sham/ me iksar monk
(yes I'd be rolling another one but hey it's a strong combo for the era)
Him DE Mage / me DE Necro

Of the two, I think Shaman/Monk is going to be stronger come Velious. Both are pretty strong now, though. One thing you may want to consider is that if one of you plays a melee class, you won't be able to easily bind/gate when and where you please, so some dungeons will be a little less appealing. For example, Howling Stones is awesome for a Monk/Shaman duo, but without a way to get the Monk out it's a non-starter. The Worker Sledgemallet can be quested and works at level 50, but as an Iksar it'll require the use of someone's Puppet Strings.

we've kicked around a few others but he's unwilling to go Bard/Bard for serious dot kiting/swarm kiting action because he also refuses to twist... And while we both like the idea of porting, he doesn't want to roll a druid or wizzy, and i'm not so keen on the wizard again, though most of my experience there was solo and thus boring...

Porting is not that important a factor in choosing a class for me. It's usually not that hard to commission one of the thousands of Druids on this server for a port/evac when you need it.

Also, although you only asked about two specific combos, you could switch the classes around a little and end up with some other great duos:

Shaman/Mage
Shaman/Necro

Lots of good choices here for you, it's hard to go wrong. Welcome, and enjoy! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Lorraine]

The sham/monk duo will probably come on top in the long run (imo), but still it's going to take a while until it takes off. The fact that it will be your first chars here, and both being Iksars will limit your vendor/banking options so to speak. Also, melee are a lot more gear dependent than the mage/necro combo.

Then again, you already know these things, so it's really upto you, and what you want to accomplish. Will you level slowly and take your time, or you want to blow through levels asap? Are you going to look into heavy raiding as well?

Still, if I were you, I'd take some time and think about the de cleric / de enchanter duo too. It might struggle a bit early/mid levels, but after a while it just turbo-boosts into stardome.

[Slave]

I would counsel to go the route of the Iksar Necromancer if Iksars are your thing. They are a powerful race for the class, and it's the work of an hour or two max to get your characters together.

[Elements]

I think most people here will agree that monk/shaman will end up being the more powerful duo in the end of the two you are considering. The issue of not being able to gate is irrelavent once you both get WC gate caps and the shaman can just help the monk recharge every use. Monk shaman can also level with almost no gear investment but weapons and a haste item for the monk will speed things up tremendously.

Another thing to consider is your end game goals. Although monk and shaman are extremely powerful solo and duo for that exact reason the server is flooded with them , especially bad ones. At this point in the game I encounter far fewer mages and necros than monks and shamans. You practically cant go anywhere without seeing monks and shamans. Anything you play will be viable on raids though you may have an easier time finding a raiding guild as necro/mage than you will as monk/shaman.

As someone stated earlier cleric/enchanter is also something to consider although I see you arent interested in other combos. Not only would this combo likely have the easiest time finding a raid guild together, you also have two of the three classes of the EQ trinity (cleric, enchanter, warrior) for forming groups and argueably be the strongest duo of the three listed depending on what targets you plan on hitting.

[LizardNecro]

As a mage, I love duoing with necros, and necros love duoing with me. Very fun and very powerful. Highly recommend.

[Stoggieman]

Thanks for all the help here. I'm after hearing this cleric/enchanter duo twice, my interest is piqued. I know that later on, you have those two you have the basis for a strong group. Especially with players who know how to play. Aside from Insta group, I'm sure there are other benefits to this duo.

Right now I'd have to say so I don't have to reroll a monk (that will definitely be an alt however) I think we'd lean towards necro/mage. But Might have to see if he'd be interested in the ench/cleric.

[-Catherin-]

I would argue that the ench/clr duo is the most powerful and safest in the game.

Chanter has crowd control, slow, haste, and charm.
Cleric has buffs and heals


The chanter charms a pet, gives it two weapons and hastes it and just tears through mobs, the cleric just needs to CH the pet occasionally, and most importantly help the chanter stay alive and recharm during charm breaks.

The only combo i would argue that could be better is x2 ench. though its a bit more risky without the heals

obviously play what you WANT to play though. you wont last unless you do something you enjoy

[Splorf22]

100% agree with Catherin with the small exception that for killing really high level stuff (>55) I think shm/enc is better, mainly because getting mobs slowed at that level is so important, and malo + two players chaining slow really helps.

Mage/Necro is ridiculously OP 1-50 because of the insane strength of the classic pets. The Kunark level pets are much more balanced.