SK + Shaman

[Allaanna]

My wife and I are starting a duo of two characters. I have a shaman already, and she tends to like tankier melee toons. She played a shadowknight in EQ2, I played a cleric in EQ1 and Inquisitor in EQ2.

I originally started a cleric to run with her SK, but I felt like the shaman would be a better partner, having slow, haste, ect which would vastly improve our ability to kill quickly and stronger mobs in duo situations.
Am I on track here? Should I stick with the shaman? Both are equally viable to me when it comes to preference.

As far as the SK, should I try to sway her toward playing a Monk? Some people say it is more viable, but I think she might prefer the SK and the utility it provides. It the monk worth the trade-off when it comes to viability, and will it really be much better at being able to duo tough content?

Thanks all

[Ronnie328]

Hi. Welcome back. You have a great duo. Stick with it. Monk/shm is better for lower levels. At higher levels it will take a much stronger (read expensive) commitment to gear to be as effective as a duo.

What races are y'all leaning?

[Pyrion]

If you only want to duo all the time monk is better. But with SK you have the start of a nice group and can take any other class.

[Issar]

The duo is actually pretty good. If your wife wants to play an SK, then she should do so. They have some nice tools like, invis vs. undead, snare, and fear. It makes them a good compliment for a shaman. Not to mention, it's important that your wife plays the class that she wants to play. Getting 30 levels into the game and deciding that she's been playing a class that she didn't really want to play can have some fairly negative results for both involved parties.

[hammbone]

SK+SHM duo is one of the most powerful in game
SK+MNK isnt necessarily better, offers more mitigation

[thufir]

SK+SHM is great. I have duo'd with both shm and clr and I think the shm is superior. Slow mitigates to the point of not needing CH, and the shm buffs (including haste) make killing faster.

Monk would probably be slightly better if you were duoing all the time, but the SK will allow groups to coalesce around you wherever you go, even in less populated areas.

So I'd stick with the SK, but reroll the clr to shm.

[Allaanna]

Thanks for the advice. The cleric is now a shaman and we have been doing pretty well. We don't play a ton between this and H1Z1, but we are up to 21 now. She is starting to get the hang of the game. She seems to like it now that she has gotten over graphics (she is used to modern games).
In some ways I wish we had gone cleric/enchanter because regen is our biggest hurdle, but I suppose as I get canni it will probably make up for it, maybe she will even be able to help with her reverse lifetaps

[Raev]

Thanks for the advice. The cleric is now a shaman and we have been doing pretty well. We don't play a ton between this and H1Z1, but we are up to 21 now. She is starting to get the hang of the game. She seems to like it now that she has gotten over graphics (she is used to modern games).
In some ways I wish we had gone cleric/enchanter because regen is our biggest hurdle, but I suppose as I get canni it will probably make up for it, maybe she will even be able to help with her reverse lifetaps

Shaman are very back loaded. A 30% attack speed slow on a fight that lasts 30 seconds is pretty mediocre. A 75% attack speed slow on a fight that lasts 3 minutes is amazing. So things will get better. However, you should also look to trio, my favorite group size. The perfect third wheel would be an enchanter (it's always enchanter). A good Necro (one that charms and heals) would be superb as well, but Rogues, Rangers, or Magicians will do just fine.

[Jfertal]

Go ogre sk and ogre shaman! you guys will love it. Perfect match!

The knights ability to pull/tank/snap agro, rest the dead etc will be great with your ability to dot, slow, heal and buff and so on. Rough first 20 levels as the same for most classes, but its fun when you slowly come into your own.
Fun times ahead

[Muggens]

Pick the race/class you get the most fun/roleplay/immersion value from. In classic I made an ogre and played 40 levels before I rerolled as an Iksar. Max level though, I was never really infatuated with the lizard, but my dwarf on Fv server had the most fun. Had to re-trace my steps back here to realize it, ogre tank to ikky monk to ogre shaman to finally Dwarf Paladin - classic stuff like hobbit,human,dwarf etc are fun and less mindboggling perhaps to roleplay than the exotic iksar and stupid ogre.
Remember you can have your character here for a long time to develop, just like a DnD char mate, make sure you love him!

[Fanguru]

From a min/max point of view, shaman/monk would have been more efficient.

To hell with min/max though, SKs have more versatility and it's fun having some spells: as others said, it's all about enjoying the ride :)

[Swish]

Plenty of mitigation if you're fear kiting in open areas :)

I endorse this duo 100%, sounds fun.

[Allaanna]

Thanks again for the input. We have our duo up to 32 now. As far as going monk over SK, I think that considering our gear currently, it would have been by far preferable. We don't mind the lower dps because we don't have anything to compare it to, so it doesn't seem low to us. However, with the longer kill times and poor defensive gear the SK tends to take a real beating on some mobs.
That said though... for the most part we are doing pretty well. We have been able to solo through upper guk, got a few drops and left for some better cash cow mobs that we have farmed from 29-32.
I think our biggest disappointment has been pvp (we are red) against a player that had us far outgeared. We didn't mind taking the death, no big deal, but it does make it obvious that we are so far behind the gear curve that our chances of being competitive is low. We are still trying, but the pvp server is very developed and the economy is a tough one for a new player. Not much you have/farm is of value, and everything being sold has high prices.
We are pressing on...

[Swish]

The economy isn't as bad on red as you think, the killer (especially for a SK, and the reason I haven't rolled one there yet) is their gear to buy is very overpriced because every man and his dog wants in on the SK action for alts etc.

If I could log in (library internet is all I have, and it won't let me) I would make you both up some JC slot items (HP rings, +wis ears for the shaman, +sta stuff for the SK, and +MR bracers for the pair of you).

If you're not guilded it might be worth trying to find one to help you out with bigger groups, but if you're definitely happy as a duo I'd pick some quiet cash camps.

If the shaman is evil (most are), consider these spots:-

32-37ish - Halfling guards in Misty Thicket (watch out for Ella Foodcrafter roaming out of the gate)

or 32-35(?) - Ocean of Tears named sisters. You might need one person to run a vendor mule out there to sell the swords they drop but after that short inconvenience it's a good camp. There's a lot of pvp in this zone but not at your level, mostly at seafuries.

38-48 - Spectres in Feerott (less traffic there compared to Oasis, and if evil you can likely sell outside Oggok)..."Scythe" sells for about 12pp, "Bronze Scythe" for 3-4pp

48-54 - Highkeep nobles/bard NPCs/Isabella Cellus (will trash your Freeport guard faction in West/East if you had any to begin with), they drop gems and such...and you can snack on green guards for FS weapons if you're waiting between the 6 minute noble respawns. Sell at Tarn Visilin (next to Justin Rhymes the bard vendor).

54+ - the shaman will be in his/her element now and could probably solo, but I'd consider extending your duo to a trio with some dps (monk/rogue/mage/etc) and hitting up somewhere like Velks. KC is doable but be prepared for a lot of pvp, same for seafuries in OOT :)


Hope that helps some, wish I could log in to be of more assistance.

[Allaanna]

Thanks for the response Swish, and for the recommended zones.

I do have a guild but most of them are in the 50-60 range. I'm sure once we get ourselves up there we will have some grouping options. I think thus far we have invites people into our duo twice.

I think as we level up more our biggest concern is going to pvp as we get in range to more people (seems like the population is sparse around our level).
I have been trying to buy some lower end gear for us both now as we have farmed up close to 2k plat but it hasn't been successful. I'm not sure if people aren't willing to sell, or if they just vendor all their low end stuff.

If anyone has any suggestions in the range of 2-4k (still farming) budget for some critical pieces for the SK, and to a lesser extend the shaman, I am all ears so I know what to look for.

[Swish]

No problem, and the issue with "buying" SK gear is you're going to get a bad deal because everyone wants it.

Things like a noctavigant blade (from KC), mace of the shadowed soul/axe of lost souls (from CoM, hard stuff) tend to sell very quick. What's he/she using at the moment?

Have a look on the wiki at the SK class page...check the "Primary" slot on suggested gearing options for pre-planar, planar, and Kunark - see if you can spot something that's either farmable or would be cheap.

In the meantime, keep your eyes on the pvp trade forum and ooc and you might spot something - just remember who the "traders" are and know they're not going to give you a good price (you can often find them standing in NFP bank).

[Allaanna]

She is using a 12/36 1hs at the moment.
We have been watching the global chat and making inquiries when we see something that would be a decent item for her. I'm more interested in her gear at the moment, and maybe a weapon for my shaman. Allowing us to do more damage with better weapons and her to take more hits.
We will get there.

[Grombar]

At 32 you could comfortably move into the temple of CT, close to Oggok to vendor, lots of cash and you can work on dark forge armor for the SK.

[Allaanna]

We will probably go back to CT at some point for the quest drops. We were there around 30 and the kills were annoying. More than 1 mob was problematic but doable, and the constant dispels + healing got old fast.

Maybe we will spend some of our hard earned cash on new weapons and possibly jewelry, then see about getting some quest armor pieces.

[jcr4990]

If you are both evil you may want to consider Treants in South Karana in your low 30's. I did a few levels there on my shaman while leveling and they drop LOTS of coin for their lvl. You can bind at the gypsy camp in NK to unload your wares or I think there's a vendor at the centaur camp nearby the treants you can use.

[solduios]

SK/SHM in the end is better then Mnk/SHM for utlity and the amount of absurd things you can do. Mnk has a much harder time grabbing agro off a shm and well shm piss things off pretty easy. But having fear, fd, snares, slows, and more in a two person group is amazing. Hang in there with time and gear it will out shine mnk/shm combo for many crazy situations. I second adding a 3rd person if possible Rogue or Mage both bring great sustained dmg but really sk/shm leave you very flexable for trioing.