Pally/Druid duo or Druid/SK duo?

[Abraxos]

So I'm waiting on my wife to get an IP exemption and she is going to play her Druid from EQlive (Yes, I do have a wife who played original EQ). I have made a Troll SK and while waiting on the exemption made a Dwarf Pally. Which would work better with a Druid? Is the benefits of the Troll/SK enough to make up for the experience hit? Will Paladins become the red headed step-child in Kunark? I know most of this is objective but while waiting on her to play I am having time to dread the Hell levels with the Troll/SK hit (level 9 was pretty rough LOL)?
I imagine the healing and buffs from the Pally might mean the Druid could focus more on dotting/dmg but the SK might do more dmg meaning less healing as well?

[guineapig]

I would say that Paly has slightly more utility than SK but SK has a panic button.
Depends on your preference.

Damage difference isn't all that big, especially once the Paladin has a Ghoulbane.

[karsten]

I played an SK on live and I play a Paladin here --

when you're considering the rankings, I'd use the "which one is more fun" factor as your first. If you still can't decide, then I recommend the shadowknight -- I respectfully disagree with my good pal guineapig; I find shadowknights to have much more utility through their snares, (good, druids can too) their lifetaps, (easier in clutch situations and due to their damage component also higher utility) their invisibility (consider that in kunark with a prenerf CoS you can stand up from being FDed, immediately hit the cos, and not aggro), and most importantly their FD skill (allowing pulls that a paladin, even with their lull line, simply cannot do).

Feel free to PM me or shoot me a tell ingame (once i get internet at home, blah) and I'd be happy to help answer your questions in a more thorough manner.

[Abraxos]

Thanks for the info.
I played a SK before but not a Pally. FD and snare is a big deal I wasn't thinking about yet at lvl 9. Snare saved my rump alot in Live and Invis was awesome for corpse runs. Not gotten approval yet so will play some more with the Pally while I wait and see how it goes. Rezz would be sweet also?

[Maurk]

Druid/Paladin was great to duo with my friend until they implemented "Shared group exp penalty" (will be removed velious)
Lol now my friend gets much more exp just soloing ever since..
None-the-less it is a great duo, and lots of fun. You will be able to power kite many many things.. Like cyclops' at lvl 22 no problem.
The down time isn't as bad as well, being that you can throw some heals for yourself.

and then all you need is an enchanter. :P
Because an enchanter, druid and paladin can pretty much do anything.

[Maurk]

To add to the above, as long as your druid can land a snare and dot to keep agro, (and the mob isn't a caster) you can literally take anything.
Hell I remember all we looked for was yellow or red conning mobs.

[guineapig]

Because an enchanter, druid and paladin can pretty much do anything.

Couldn't agree more. In fact the only thing missing is FD but the gains far outweigh the loss.

You get a little less overlap with the paladin/druid combo. You don't really need 2 classes that can snare, so the SK having snare is redundant.

Paladin also provides the rez option(as previously mentioned), comes in huge if you don't want to be reliant on others.

Paladin has multiple stuns combined with bash that should not be overlooked when duoing against caster mobs where as an SK only has bash or slam to rely on.

Lay hands is more useful than harm touch because it can save anyone in the group as opposed to help kill a single mob. Staying alive will always outweigh how quickly you kill a mob. Sure the SK can FD but that doesn't help the druid much now does it? In order for the druid to successfully evac the group, the tank needs to be able to stay alive, not pretend to be dead.

[Badmartigan]

Wow guineapig.. Very good points... And I agree about the stuns.. When you guys are raking i'n major exp i'n kedge your gonna want those stuns and rezzes.. As usual it Also comes down to player preference..

Damn now I hella want to roll a pally after the last post!!

[Maurk]

Yeah guineapig did a great job of summing up why Paladins/Druids duo so well.
The amount of times you will both be saved by lay on hands and evac will amaze you.
Being an SK would have sad moments because you would just watch your druid friend die as you pretend to be dead. =(
(and this is after your HT gets resisted of course)

[quellren]

One minor thing to consider as a positive for Pal/Dru is the faction issues.
There are several places an SK is not welcome, minor inconveniences like banking in FP, or more so, like having to overlook Crushbone due to wrecking Indigo Bros faction.
This is more pronounced in Kunark, when Kaesora, KC, and Charasis are off limits because the SK needs to not be KoS at the only outpost available without major faction work.

This alone makes me reconsider continuing my Troll Shaman.

[Winobot]

HT resisted? lol....

All I can say is, there's more than 1 way to xp and both of these comps have their pros and cons. Blanket statements like "LoH is always better than HT" are pretty silly, because a number of variables have been ignored (mana of druid and knight, hps of mob, difficulty of mob, etc).

[Maurk]

LoH is more useful in a Druid/Paladin duo in my opinion, being that keeping your druid alive will save you.
(and not based on HT having a chance at being resisted. That was a joke sorta.)
HT really wont save you if you have multiple adds on your tail is what I'm getting at.

[Abraxos]

One minor thing to consider as a positive for Pal/Dru is the faction issues.
There are several places an SK is not welcome, minor inconveniences like banking in FP, or more so, like having to overlook Crushbone due to wrecking Indigo Bros faction.
This is more pronounced in Kunark, when Kaesora, KC, and Charasis are off limits because the SK needs to not be KoS at the only outpost available without major faction work.

This alone makes me reconsider continuing my Troll Shaman.

I've already died twice with the SK only to come back into EC and get punched in the head by that wench Rinna Lightshadow(?) for 183pts and add two more deaths to the ones I did myself. I lost lvl 8 and lvl 9 respectively to her. So definitely a consideration. My dwarf pally could moon her and keep going.

[guineapig]

HT resisted? lol....

All I can say is, there's more than 1 way to xp and both of these comps have their pros and cons. Blanket statements like "LoH is always better than HT" are pretty silly, because a number of variables have been ignored (mana of druid and knight, hps of mob, difficulty of mob, etc).

I might be silly but I never said it's always better. :p
I also started out with depends on your preference. There are certainly times where top priority is to down a single mob ASAP, there is no denying that at all! :)

My play-style simply prefers the reset hitpoint button because I feel it's useful in MORE situations. I would never say all situations. ;)

Everyone had brought up very good points about both classes.
My opinions are my own.

[quellren]

I've already died twice with the SK only to come back into EC and get punched in the head by that wench Rinna Lightshadow(?) for 183pts and add two more deaths to the ones I did myself. I lost lvl 8 and lvl 9 respectively to her. So definitely a consideration. My dwarf pally could moon her and keep going.

Yeah, for this reason alone, I always zone into EC at the edges, way up against the walls, it seems like every time I've seen her trained to the line, its near the middle.

[Dr4z3r]

Forget pally and SK. Make a monk.

[Abraxos]

Forget pally and SK. Make a monk.

Unfortunately I am a visual Loot-Ho. I want the big sword, the armor, the sheilds, etc.
I got a Mage now who is doing well with no equipment except his ugly pink robe but I can't play him. Same for a monk. I always dig the armored tank types.

[karsten]

yeah drazer also makes a good point


I will also reiterate that a druid/sk combo is superior to a druid/paladin combo, speaking from years of experience in nuanced situations.