Duo + magician in trio advice

[Boffinboy]

Thanks all. Will mull it over, seems like cleric-chanter could be a good option too, with cleric potentially more straightforward than shaman, though potentially more boring for someone not used to the old EQ ways.... Does have the advantage that we can just roll HE then.

[Bodybagger]

Shaman heals are fine... inner fire sitting/dancing med ticks is like a pocket fungi 1-20, and efficient enough with an enchanter slowing, plus with pet tank you are wanting the tank to take lots of damage anyways. Enchanter also provides supreme CC so no real need for tons of healing like with other combos. Between slow and CC, and pets, you're golden on dmg mitigation and healing needs really.

If you love necro play a necro and it'll synergize with shaman great... so much root rot ability, and fear kiting with sham and mage would be fun too, 3 pets wailing on feared mobs

Picking based on velious is stupid, pick based on what you enjoy not end game. All race/classes played every single expansion in the game. Hardly anyone min/maxed, and we all got by just fine. Ignore the nerds.

Troll is best shaman with an easy quest for clinging darkness clicky necklace, and innate regen though, if she'll enjoy playing one. Alternatively, Barbarian get spiritist hammer for an affordable hard hitting melee weapon to joust with between slow and pet tanks, and get free armor drops when rotting if you hang around KC with Jarsath set... iksar can wear too though and still get regen.

Troll>iksar>Barb>Ogre imo... troll gets better armor and regen, iksar regen and quest gear is nice plus innate ac bonus if you care, barb looks awesome and lastly ogre has the super overated frontal stun immunity, which hardly matters with slowed mobs. Also if you have an enchanter and shaman you have not only slowed mobs but stuns... you take a combat round like ever other minute lol, hands down best mitigation in the game!

Sword and board + cleric is boring as fack but if that's all your girl wants to do is play a healbot, it definitely works. It can be fun in full group... but with trio you envisioned, it won't be much fun I reckon

[Malone88]

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

Seems like ench, magician and shaman could work well. Though I do worry I'll miss my old necro fear-kite ways. Now to think about races... what's the easiest shaman to get near chanter?

Ogre or Troll Shaman close enough to DE Chanter (Neriak).
Chanter + any healer class is excellent.
Mage great addition to chanter/shaman duo.

Good luck!

[Fishbait]

From personal experience, if you want to go a melee/heal class I would definitely say Monk/Shaman would be the way to go, mage with you would be icing on the cake for extra damage. My friend and I duo'd a Monk/Cleric fresh to the server to 35, but that started to take it's toll, not being able to slow mobs later on should not be under estimated. Also became mind numbingly boring.

Will re-iterate to choose a monk if you go the melee route, they are extremely inexpensive to gear, you could get by with only spending 500 platinum on gear for the first 40+ levels and the Shaman takes care of the haste/slow later on.

That said, we ended up rolling a Necro/Mage combo which has been very strong, the issue we eventually ran into is not if we can kill mobs, it's can we find a spot where we can chain pull mobs non-stop efficiently. Post 34 it has been a blur of xp, we have zero down time and constantly have a graveyard of mobs at our spot.

These characters also are extremely inexpensive to gear, we basically did 1-45 each wearing under 1k platinum worth of gear. This combo has a lot of diversity for pet tanking or fear kiting.

Grouping...eh, not the best characters to plug and play into any group situation, but to be honest, it's more hassle and less xp to form or join a group if you have a strong duo/trio.

[Bodybagger]

DE chanter+troll sham = glorious combo imo, and if the mage can join in even better. Could level in uguk form 5-30 quick and easy and even beyond with LGuk, and nice items abound as well. With mage in tow, you'd be a powerhouse trio, and SoW'ed runs to FP for spells aren't bad for casters... plus Uguk one of richest loot whore newb areas in game, easily afford spells for everyone just from troll looting and selling with full inventory of backpacks full of vender fodder. My SK solo did probably 2.5k plat in junk loot to vendors only. DE can also bank in grobb, so can just buy all spells and keep in bank or bags to save on running.

[Bodybagger]

and as for the tag end of fishbaits comment, mage is one of the most efficient constant DPS sources for grouping around, and necro is solid dps and great utility class when played to full effect with ability to charge mana, spot heal, help with CC, etc. They can do almost anything in game... Necro, Bard, and Ench are probably the 3 most versatile classes in game and Ench and Shaman and Bard probably 3 best utility classes unless you count porting

[Boffinboy]

Hmm, so much to think through! Will discuss and then give it a go [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I think I'll try enchanter and then if I am not keen on it go for necro, since it's mostly about the nostalgia!

Now to get the game sorted and request a multi-login for my IP!

[maskedmelon]

Yep, that is what it all comes down to: fun ^^ good luck Boffs!

[Bodybagger]

Be sure you select Red P99 at server select not blue, maximum fun mode and speedy leveling blast for yall.... seriously, the 2-3 of you with 2-3 hours played 4-5 days a week could do lvl 5-30+ in the first week easy =)