Returning to the land of Evercrack
 

It's been a while...I'm glad someone has taken the time to create this project, and I'm looking forward to getting started.

I'm introducing my woman to the land of Norath. From the class descriptions, she's leaning towards playing a monk. My main was a cleric in EQ, but I want something with a bit more versatility this time around. I know that we'll need a healer in the duo to be effective, so that leaves druid and shaman. Just curious about everyone's opinion on what the better choice would be for a partner for a monk. Again, I know it's all up to personal preference, but since it's been a while, I want to make sure I'm not overlooking a distinct advantage one of these 2 classes has...

Monk, druid, shaman and cleric are the most played classes on the server.

A Paladin, Cleric duo may be a better choice.

paladins are pretty shitty nowadays, id say stick to a monk for her or have her go shadowknight


as for you id say go with a shaman or cleric, druids get pretty shitty at high levels but shamans and clerics always stay useful

A paladin/cleric duo seems pretty repetitive to me...I'd rather complement one another than have the same line of spells.

I think the xp penalty turned her off the sk...that was my top choice for her though haha...she insists on not being a healer, so it's left to me. I think the shaman would probably be more interesting to me than a cleric, plus the constant sow would be nice for us both.

I guess the main reason the druid seems attractive is because of the ports...traveling around can be such a pain. There's always the option to pay for ports too though...hmmmm...maybe shaman it is. Now troll or ogre...My gut says troll because of the regen.

troll is nice for the regen, but ogre is really top choice for the frontal stun immunity, because at high levels you will solo/farm stuff by tanking with torpor/slows and not being interrupted so easily while casting and doing this is a big plus

troll regen is really great for a long time, but by the time you get yourself a fungi tunic and have your regen line of spells the extra regen will be kind of negligible

you cant go wrong with either one though, but for the long term id say ogre is the better choice

make sure though that whichever you start as, you make sure you have at least 75 agility, otherwise you will suffer a big ac penalty


and yeah shaman/monk is an amazing combo, considering all the crazy buffs, regen, sow, slows, haste, etc makes it way better then a druid/monk combo

Roll a shaman. This topic has been beaten to death in thread, after thread, after thread, do a forum search if you want more detail, but here's the scoop:

Druids do have some perks, but in the vast majority of situations shamans are a far more powerful class, and that power brings versatility-- particularly when you are planning on duoing with a monk. The ability to slow a mob and utterly neuter its damage output just makes life too easy, the spell alone is arguably more powerful than the entire druid class.

Though the spell choices to druids and shamans are comparable, shamans have the ability to cannibalize health into mana, greatly increasing the rate of mana recovery and therefore the healing/utility potential of the class.

A druid and monk will bump along just fine, especially if you're geared, well into the 30's and maybe early 40's. But after that the viability of the duo to xp at a decent rate will just fall apart. Shamans and monks synergize exceptionally well, as the shaman has excellent melee buffs and haste.

(Don't forget, at level 29 a shaman is able to charm animals! If you decide to duo outdoors, this can be a HUGE bonus until the mid 30's when you kind of lose the ability to charm)

Also, do not make a paladin/cleric duo, that is just terrible.

Ogres tend to be the favored choice among players who want the best shaman. As the above post said, frontal stun immunity is a big bonus while the benefits of regen will be watered down over time.

Don't make an sk to be part of a duo with a shaman, it's just worse than monk/shaman in almost every way.

If you a) expect your wife to quit quickly and b) plan to spend the majority of your time soloing at level 60 then you can make an argument for Ogre. Otherwise pick Troll.

Thanks for all the input guys :) Shaman it is...also, looking at the base stats for shaman on troll v. ogre, it seems like the ogre pwns there. I'll make sure to increase the agility to 75, and then their higher wis and stam should pay off.

Because of the troll's regen? Or am I overlooking something?