Best duo?

[toby]

I know this has probably come up 100 times but I had only seen a couple threads before and the search term "duo" is too short so I'm going to ask again. :P

What are good duo combos if I want to play with a friend and we may play at odd times / no group.

CLR + ENC?
SHM + ENC instead?
SHM + MNK?

Any combos really good that I might not be thinking about?

Thanks!

[diplo]

druid + mage.

[Malone88]

CLR + ENC
SHM + ENC

These are both great.

[Estu]

Bard + wizard. Bard grabs up an entire zone and gets low HP aggro, trains monsters through wizard. Wizard times PBAEs to hit the train just as it passes through him. Massive EXP for both, and less annoying/dangerous for the bard than normal bard kiting.

[indiscriminate_hater]

bard/enchanter or bard/shaman. a well-equipped enchanter or shaman can solo some insane stuff. imagine if you had a hp/mana battery to go along with one.

[Splorf22]

enc/enc!

[Sgt1stClassPerkerwood]

Enc/Enc is win ^

Enc/Pal is a lot of fun ( once pally is 57 and can do superior heal at least :P )

[toby]

Bard + wizard. Bard grabs up an entire zone and gets low HP aggro, trains monsters through wizard. Wizard times PBAEs to hit the train just as it passes through him. Massive EXP for both, and less annoying/dangerous for the bard than normal bard kiting.

I can see how that would be really efficient, but that's maybe not my play style -- I avoided soloing a Bard because I didn't want to just swarm kite all day! :P I guess I should have clarified that I'd like to go into places with confined quarters and stuff, not be limited to open zones.

bard/enchanter or bard/shaman. a well-equipped enchanter or shaman can solo some insane stuff. imagine if you had a hp/mana battery to go along with one.

You think BRD/ENC or BRD/SHM is better than ENC/SHM? If the Enchanter and Shaman can be super powerful individually, wouldn't it be good to have both? You'd have mind buffs from Enchanter and regen from Shaman, so wouldn't it be like having a Bard anyway?

[toby]

Enc/Pal is a lot of fun ( once pally is 57 and can do superior heal at least :P )

What would the strategy be for ENC/PAL? Would you tank with the PAL and just have charmed pet for DPS instead of tanking with charmed pet?

[Something'Witty]

Bard + wizard. Bard grabs up an entire zone and gets low HP aggro, trains monsters through wizard. Wizard times PBAEs to hit the train just as it passes through him. Massive EXP for both, and less annoying/dangerous for the bard than normal bard kiting.

You can do this with other classes too, a bard just makes it trivial.

[indiscriminate_hater]

You think BRD/ENC or BRD/SHM is better than ENC/SHM? If the Enchanter and Shaman can be super powerful individually, wouldn't it be good to have both? You'd have mind buffs from Enchanter and regen from Shaman, so wouldn't it be like having a Bard anyway?

I think that's a pretty solid duo as well. It could be better than enc/bard since bards do a lot of the same stuff as enchanters. But, bards would provide another source of mesmerizing if things went wrong. They can also snare, charm, lull, fear, hide, track, provide insane resist buffs, and are the undisputed kings of outdoor fighting. Lots of utility as well - song of highsun, corpse location, etc. Plus, occlusion of sound once velious drops.

[falkun]

Enc/Dru. Less overlap than Enc/Sham. More mobility.

[toby]

Enc/Dru. Less overlap than Enc/Sham. More mobility.

Anyone else have input on this? It sounds interesting.

I thought Druids tapered off a bit towards the end, but I do see the travel benefit and the Enchanter/Shaman overlap... it would be trading some stat buffs on charmed pets for thorns, but that seems better if charm breaks since you wouldn't hit mob anyway.

[mgellan]

I've found CLR/SHM to be fun, Shammy gets unlimited mana pool through heals and hp buffs so he (and pet) can unload DOTs and DD on mobs freely while both are CCing with root, cleric gets a chance to get in on some xp without needing a full group, very nice.

Regards,
Mg

[Samoht]

but what does that have that enc/clr wouldn't have or better? cleric would have much more mana, too

oh, and you spelled your guild name wrong in your sig

[lecompte]

At 60, enc/sham. Real Heals + damage :) Maybe Monk / Sham

Leveling up, Sham + anything except for bard or Enc + anything except for bard.

2 bards.

[Elizabetha]

Me and a friend!

/sappy ON
/apologize SLIGHTLY

[Sgt1stClassPerkerwood]

When I play with my brother, hes a pally with Runed Blade (http://wiki.project1999.org/Runed_Blade) which is a nice damage absorber. As an Enchanter, after I hit mob with Forlorn Deeds, the runed blade is a nice addition, not to mention decent ratio after FBSS and VoG.

[teija]

Mage+Druid.

You get mobility(ports),pets,kiting ability, tanking/small quarters ability,heals,buffs


only thing this combo lacks is a Slow ability.

[Sarius]

Mage+Druid.

You get mobility(ports),pets,kiting ability, tanking/small quarters ability,heals,buffs


only thing this combo lacks is a Slow ability.

And CC

[xayrath]

Shaman/shadow knight was my favorite. Could duo lots of named camps

[toby]

Shaman/shadow knight was my favorite. Could duo lots of named camps

You seemed to have enough DPS with that?

I don't remember how good SKs were in Kunark era...

[nerdengineering]

What about Necro + Mage?

[toby]

What about Necro + Mage?

I don't know if I could deal with no healing in a duo.

[Verenity]

SHM/ENC and it's not even close. The 50s will fly by because you both become incredibly powerful, and once you both hit 60 you can kill just about anything short of a raid target

[SwordNboard]

Again. Cleric+Enc.

[Auchae]

Ench and druid complete eachother.

[Kobie]

Druid + Paladin

Paladin brings tanking, stun lock, and the lull series

Druid brings heals, buffs, snare, and teleports

[Mazeri]

My wife and I play Druid + Ench.... its amazing in out door zones and some indoor zones.

They both kind of complete each other in a duo.

SoW, Heals, Snare, Charm (animal charm for double fun), Fear, Haste, Slow, Crack!

We can hunt non-stop and often faster than groups can pull/kill.

[Malone88]

Again. Cleric+Enc.
Again. AGREED!

Having hasted ENC pet is OP. Like having a rogue as the third member of the group.

Cleric buffs, heals, and REZ are second to none. Better than any travel
options. Shaman too much overlap with ENC.

This duo can go ANYWHERE and tear it up!

[pasi]

I never understood the overlapping abilities argument for Enc/Shm being weaker than another duo. We're basically talking about slow and haste here. For targets that actually require a duo, landing slow is very difficult without malo and tash. Having 2 people trying to slow a malo/tash 60+ target is much better than an enc potentially tanking and trying to slow a 60+ target.

With that said, the list of targets that can be duo'd but can't be solo'd is very small.

[Stinkum]

In terms of pure power?

Cleric + Enchanter is hands-down the best duo in the game, completely shits on everything else.

- A hasted, charmed pet will out-DPS any other duo in the game literally 5 times over.
- The Cleric has complete heal for the Enchanter pet.
- A charmed pet will tank like a bulldog, higher AC, more HP than any player.
- Cleric can spot heal the Enchanter when charm breaks.
- Clarity 1 or 2 for the Cleric.

It's not even a question.

[melkortshea]

Awesome my wife and myself had made a chanter / shaman duo without knowing all this. I am very excited to experience all that we can accomplish together.

[toby]

With Enchanter:

Cleric - complete heal, best HP buffs, rez, stuns
Shaman - SoW, extra malo + slows, stat buffs, faster mana regen, better DPS if needed

Anything I am missing?

It seems like Cleric/Enchanter is better, but Shaman/Enchanter might be more fun to play?

I'd hate to make my friend just sit around and heal my charmed pet all day. :P

[kaev]

Druid + Paladin

Paladin brings tanking, stun lock, and the lull series

Druid brings heals, buffs, snare, and teleports

You've never played a pre-Luclin Paladin, have you? There is no "stun lock" for a lone Paladin, nor anything close to it really. Paladin gets one stun at 30, another at 49, and one more at 52. Mana costs for the higher level stuns are quite noticeable without Bard or Enchanter in group.

Paladin+Druid is a very fun duo, incredibly survivable and can get into and back out of an awful lot of interesting places. Downsides are limited damage output and, well, limited damage output (stock up on DS potions, they stack with Druid DS buffs.) Also, if you're fighting a lot of casters that need to be kept interrupted (healers, for example) you'll have significant downtime to regain mana and your damage output will drop because mobs aren't taking DS damage when they are stunned and/or casting.

Great duo really, but I dunno about calling it "best".

[Widan]

With Enchanter:

Cleric - complete heal, best HP buffs, rez, stuns
Shaman - SoW, extra malo + slows, stat buffs, faster mana regen, better DPS if needed

Anything I am missing?

It seems like Cleric/Enchanter is better, but Shaman/Enchanter might be more fun to play?

I'd hate to make my friend just sit around and heal my charmed pet all day. :P

Shaman can tank while Enchanter gets a rogue pet to backstab mobs. Shamans better slows means he will take less damage than a cleric trying to tank, and malo means charms will last longer. Plus shaman pet and epic dps when you get it. Nothing quicker for straight exping at least.

[Malone88]

Shaman can tank while Enchanter gets a rogue pet to backstab mobs. Shamans better slows means he will take less damage than a cleric trying to tank, and malo means charms will last longer. Plus shaman pet and epic dps when you get it. Nothing quicker for straight exping at least.

Always better to have HP-buffed pet tank instead of healer, IMO. Charm breaks while healer is tanking = possibility of wipe. Then, there's serious downtime because Shaman/Chanter duo has to find a rez...

[Widan]

None of that is remotely true unless your enchanter is a bad player or your shaman has no gear.

[Sarius]

None of that is remotely true unless your enchanter is a bad player or your shaman has no gear.

Lol beautiful retort!

[Widan]

Lol beautiful retort!

I see you continue to follow my posts in every thread, it's getting pretty creepy

[webrunner5]

I would not go with a Bard unless one of you is VERY DAMN good at one. There are like 400 Bards on here and 300 of them are tunnel mules. 50 of the other 100 sing one song in groups and go afk half the time. A well played Bard is a great addition in a group. All 30 of them on here. Most people just can't hack the twisting and not being able to scratch your ass or type in chat. It is a HARD class to play to level 60. I would do the Cleric Chanter route.

When and if Velious ever comes out you will be a happy bastard to have a Cleric in any group. Mobs hit like hell and Tanks with better drops in Velious will have a lot more HP to heal.

[JonathanHancock]

Anyone else have input on this? It sounds interesting.

I thought Druids tapered off a bit towards the end, but I do see the travel benefit and the Enchanter/Shaman overlap... it would be trading some stat buffs on charmed pets for thorns, but that seems better if charm breaks since you wouldn't hit mob anyway.



Well the MAJOR benefit would be snare, actually. Long-Duration-snaring mobs pre-charm in dungeons is VERY handy.

[webrunner5]

A Druid with C2 is really not that bad at healing high level. They do get a better heal in Velious. And as he said Snare is a nice thing. Not getting hit at all from like the last 18% or so on a mob is a huge savings healing wise. And you can Fear kite also. Not the worse thing for sure.

[Malone88]

None of that is remotely true unless your enchanter is a bad player or your shaman has no gear.
It's absolutely true because its my opinion...:)
For you to say that having the group's healer tank instead of a pet is better
and safer for the group is mistaken....IMO! Good luck trying to find
a rogue pet in zones like CoM/KC/Sebilis. Even if your shaman/chanter duo
wipes only once a week...it's a lot of lost time either finding a rez or making
up the lost XP. Then again, maybe your duos never wipe...because you
are THAT good of a player.

[Atmas]

I have always viewed Monk/Shaman as a pretty awesome combo. People have made good points for Cleric/Enchanter. So I guess it might depend on your play style.

[Something'Witty]

A Druid with C2 is really not that bad at healing high level. They do get a better heal in Velious. And as he said Snare is a nice thing. Not getting hit at all from like the last 18% or so on a mob is a huge savings healing wise. And you can Fear kite also. Not the worse thing for sure.

My wife and I duo a chanter (me) and druid (her) and it has been great imo, however, my wife is super bored at lvl 55. She feels like I do all the work, or rather my charmed pet does, leaving her to just snare / nuke. We also duo a monk (me) and shm (her), which she enjoys a lot more, but melee just isn't my cup of tea. So ya, play what you like, otherwise one of you might end up bored.

Oh, and fear kiting as a chanter / druid duo is great. Extremely low risk, fast kills, and fun if you are the chanter :D!

[Langrisser]

Anyone else have input on this? It sounds interesting.

I thought Druids tapered off a bit towards the end, but I do see the travel benefit and the Enchanter/Shaman overlap... it would be trading some stat buffs on charmed pets for thorns, but that seems better if charm breaks since you wouldn't hit mob anyway.

This is the ultimate duo. Different fears, snares, stuns, charms... ports, heals, clarity, run speed, hp buffs, mez, memwipe, nukes, agro keeping, slow, haste...

really the best duo. lol at someone saying shm and ench... why slow and haste twice and no ports... go druid you freaks.

fuckin a.


mage and cleric are ok too but really, enc/dru will rape face and do it all over the world.

[Langrisser]

wtf you play a cleric enchanter? if you die the druid can port you to body... yea you can get agro back off cleric but a druid can nuke and snare.

USE YOUR BRAIN MORANS

[Vaildez]

#1 Cleric/Enchanter
#2 Shaman/Enchanter

[Langrisser]

above post is not thinking clearly, why double slows and hastes and no ports? druid can do everything shaman does and more. cleric is not needed because exp is so fast why res? and no snares.

THINK

[lecompte]

#1 Cleric/Enchanter
#2 Shaman/Enchanter

Seconded. True all the way until level 60 when it comes #1 Shaman/Enchanter and #2 Cleric/Enchanter.

I'm willing to prove it too, I'll play a level 60 shaman with a 60 enchanter :). Splorf22/Lorean! You're an authority on this. Best duo partner with Enchanter?

Hey OP, if Splorf22 doesn't post in this thread and hasn't yet, send him a PM - the guy has cred. (find the Solo Artist Challenge thread)

[Widan]

Listen...Mistress Anna or a Spiroc Proven, there is no pet that will level you quicker from 39-54/55, and if you want to whine about the shaman tanking, then just have the shaman's pet tank, either will do on a slowed mob. When your charmed pet does more than double his dps from the back it's pretty easy to see which way is quicker. I mean even if you are running cleric/enc just have your cleric face tank, it will still be faster than CH'ing charmed pets.

Obviously there's other rogue mobs like the ones in MM for lower leveling, but since people keep bringing up CH being useful or something I'll just post this

Druid/Enc doesn't start to be super efficient for leveling until 52-60 imo, when you can go to SolB and double charm.

[toby]

Seconded. True all the way until level 60 when it comes #1 Shaman/Enchanter and #2 Cleric/Enchanter.

I'm willing to prove it too, I'll play a level 60 shaman with a 60 enchanter :). Splorf22/Lorean! You're an authority on this. Best duo partner with Enchanter?

Hey OP, if Splorf22 doesn't post in this thread and hasn't yet, send him a PM - the guy has cred. (find the Solo Artist Challenge thread)

I would do Shaman/Enchanter over Cleric/Enchanter, even if Cleric/Enchanter is better at 60, because:

- If I ever stop doing the duo with my friend, the Shaman can do more on his own (good point: the solo artist challenge thread you mentioned)

- The Shaman gameplay is going to be more interesting than just healing the Enchanter's pet the whole time, since they can provide a little extra DPS, do canni, etc. Just a little more dynamic. I'm not going to convince my friend to come play a Cleric and just follow me around and heal my pet, nor do I know if I'd want to take the Cleric role. I would take the Shaman role in a heartbeat, though, if he wanted the Enchanter.

[Vaildez]

above post is not thinking clearly, why double slows and hastes and no ports? druid can do everything shaman does and more. cleric is not needed because exp is so fast why res? and no snares.

THINK

FAIL

[Splorf22]

Lorean! You're an authority on this. Best duo partner with Enchanter?

For leveling up? Probably either another Enchanter or a Necromancer. Either way you double charm, give torches, and kill the pets as they die. Having someone else to mez the charmed pet that is beating on you is excellent as well.

For killing real top bosses? Probably the number one consideration is 'do they have puppet strings?' :p After that I'd probably say BP cleric > shaman > normal cleric, especially if memblur is ever fixed. Also the people saying that because the enchanter has slow the shaman is worthless have obviously never tried to kill anything over L55. Pasi has it right: double MR debuffs and double slows are absolutely key on high-level mobs that can easily resist slow 5x in a row. Unless of course you have a Donal's BP and you don't care how much damage you take.

Really though, what matters is the skill of the players more than the class optimization. I'd much rather have Good Enchanter/Rogue than Shitty Enchanter/Cleric.

[Tecmos Deception]

I know this has probably come up 100 times but I had only seen a couple threads before and the search term "duo" is too short so I'm going to ask again. :P

What are good duo combos if I want to play with a friend and we may play at odd times / no group.

CLR + ENC?
SHM + ENC instead?
SHM + MNK?

Any combos really good that I might not be thinking about?

Thanks!

Whether leveling up or at 60, there are TONS of effective combos. Try using google search instead of the forum search... something like "p1999 best (leveling/60/loot/farming/whatever term you like) duo".

[Langrisser]

yea agro kite with a cleric fukin THINK

[Malone88]

Listen...Mistress Anna or a Spiroc Proven, there is no pet that will level you quicker from 39-54/55, and if you want to whine about the shaman tanking, then just have the shaman's pet tank, either will do on a slowed mob. When your charmed pet does more than double his dps from the back it's pretty easy to see which way is quicker. I mean even if you are running cleric/enc just have your cleric face tank, it will still be faster than CH'ing charmed pets.

DogDog as tank -- LMAO. He's like 12 levels lower than the shaman.
Keep in mind that ENC can slow mobs too, so CH'ing won't be happening all that often,
especially if pet is buffed by cleric.

[Jete]

Unless I missed someone say it... My favorite duo is Bard/Necro.

I am a bit biased being a bard but between the two classes you have access to almost every spell in the game. You mentioned not enjoying the "swarm kiting" aspect of bards and I think this duo is way better for someone that doesn't enjoy that play style. It's a very dungeon friendly duo that will still challenge you a bit, but the team will be able to take down many high-end mobs.

[Dirtytony]

Rogue/ charmed fire beetle

[toby]

Unless I missed someone say it... My favorite duo is Bard/Necro.

I am a bit biased being a bard but between the two classes you have access to almost every spell in the game. You mentioned not enjoying the "swarm kiting" aspect of bards and I think this duo is way better for someone that doesn't enjoy that play style. It's a very dungeon friendly duo that will still challenge you a bit, but the team will be able to take down many high-end mobs.

This one actually sounds interesting/fun, thanks for the idea! Ya, I don't think I want to do swarm kiting, but if you already have a class that is good at soloing, I could see how adding a bard even if just for things like travel song, mana/hp regen, some CC would be cool and helpful.

[Widan]

DogDog as tank -- LMAO. He's like 12 levels lower than the shaman.
Keep in mind that ENC can slow mobs too, so CH'ing won't be happening all that often,
especially if pet is buffed by cleric.

Shaman pet can tank slowed nobles and spirocs fine for the few rounds they live. Have you ever actually played this duo or are you just going to continue to shit post?

When mobs are backstabbing for 300 at level 40 nothing is going to live for very long, so it literally doesn't matter who is tanking either, as long as someone is doing it it's still faster exp than having a charmed pet tank.

[Langrisser]

so can enchanter plus the druid can evac and snare. fuggin ho-mo's

[Ryba]

Splorf22 said it: skill matters way more than classes. How much fun you have with your class is a better predictor of your eventual skill with that class than that class' theoretical maximum efficiency. So, as long as your duo involves a class that has some way to heal itself and some way to snare or slow, you can accomplish a lot.

If you want to kill dungeon targets you shouldn't be able to kill, part of the duo should be an enchanter, which would mean the other half should probably be a priest class.

If someone in the duo wants to play a melee, they should roll a monk because nothing else will have the same level of manaless, front-on dps and survivability. This doesn't leave much room for the other player to be anything but a shaman.

There are specific circumstances where other combinations will be "better," but generally speaking, everything else is less awesome.

[Malone88]

Shaman pet can tank slowed nobles and spirocs fine for the few rounds they live. Have you ever actually played this duo or are you just going to continue to shit post?
When mobs are backstabbing for 300 at level 40 nothing is going to live for very long, so it literally doesn't matter who is tanking either, as long as someone is doing it it's still faster exp than having a charmed pet tank.
Absolutely. I duo'd with a cleric in CoM Moat camp (/wave Rubby) just a few days ago with my chanter. Was pretty gravy XP.

When I've duo'd with Shamans, most of them don't even have their pet out, because it gets in the way of my mezzes most of the time...:)

How about you? You seem to think there are rogue mobs in every zone. I've haven't had a rogue pet since Mistmoore.

When I played a Shaman on Live, DogDog was pretty squishy.

[Widan]

How about you? You seem to think there are rogue mobs in every zone. I've haven't had a rogue pet since Mistmoore.


You should try reading my posts since I gave you two rogue pets to level from 39-55 with.


When I've duo'd with Shamans, most of them don't even have their pet out, because it gets in the way of my mezzes most of the time...:)


The only mez you should be casting while leveling up is the level 4 mez when you need to recharm. There is no other mezzing necessary for quick leveling.

[Malone88]

You should try reading my posts since I gave you two rogue pets to level from 39-55 with.
Yep, let me run out to Timorous and hope there's a shaman out there who wants to group with me. No Thanks.


The only mez you should be casting while leveling up is the level 4 mez when you need to recharm. There is no other mezzing necessary for quick leveling.Yep, a 12-second mezz is the only one I need...thanks for the great tip. Maybe you should write your own Enchanter's Guide and post on the Wiki....

[Splorf22]

The only mez you should be casting while leveling up is the level 4 mez when you need to recharm. There is no other mezzing necessary for quick leveling.

wut

[Sgt1stClassPerkerwood]

All of these posts are horrible.

Enchanters should be casting no spells other than rune + haste on themselves, and stick primarily to tanking.

[Gadwen]

Ranger + Rogue

But seriously, google can also see these forums

[Widan]

Yep, let me run out to Timorous and hope there's a shaman out there who wants to group with me. No Thanks.

I'm just listing the most efficient ways to duo level, it's not my job to also make friends for you.


Yep, a 12-second mezz is the only one I need...thanks for the great tip. Maybe you should write your own Enchanter's Guide and post on the Wiki....
wut

Please tell me while duo leveling with a shaman where you will ever need to mez a mob before level 55. In the leveling examples I listed from 39-55 neither of those camps require mez ever, and there are no camps that will provide more efficient exp. I'm especially interested in hearing when you think mez will come into play at HHK nobles or spirocs.

[Malone88]

Widan,

I don't doubt that your shaman/ench duo, that has spent the last 20 or so levels in
two zones (HHK and TD), is EXTREMELY efficient by now and can easily get by
without a mez that lasts longer than 12 seconds, but the purpose of this thread is to
discuss the best duo, and in my humble opinion, one of the criteria should be that the
duo can be effective in almost ANY zone.

Now, you take your uber shaman/ench duo deep into Karnor's or Sebilis and see how
well it works there with just a 12-second mezz. And, if perchance, you make
a small mistake somewhere along the line and your little duo wipes, then you
get to spend LOTS of time either making up for that yellow of exp you just lost
or finding a cleric to rez you. With a cleric partner, this downtime is minimized,
unless you've got friends/guildies who will drop what they are doing to come
and rez you.

I don't disagree with a lot of what you are saying. I think a chanter + any healer
is a great duo and that the best duo ultimately depends on the players behind them.
I just don't think you need to put down everything I say to try to get your point
across...

[xassis]

I'd vote Shaman+Monk, with Shaman+Enchanter as a second best. Note, I haven't tried a great number of duos, but from what I have tried, Shaman+Monk worked best. Remember though, it's also important to factor in who your playing with.

[Splorf22]

Please tell me while duo leveling with a shaman where you will ever need to mez a mob before level 55. In the leveling examples I listed from 39-55 neither of those camps require mez ever, and there are no camps that will provide more efficient exp. I'm especially interested in hearing when you think mez will come into play at HHK nobles or spirocs.

Leveling 39-55 at precisely two camps would make me want to stab a pencil through my eye before ever logging on to EQ again.