Best class to duo with necro

[TheBlob]

Ok so I know there's already plenty of threads about good duo combinations, but I didn't find any that answered my question, which is:

Right now my main is a mage. My GF wants to start playing with me, so I'll start another character just to duo with her. I would like to start a melee type, (preferably a monk or shadowknight), since my main is a caster, and she absolutely wants to start a necromancer. So now we have a bit of a problem, I think, since the only good duo possibilities with necros are casters (I heard mages duo pretty good with necros). I was thinking maybe SK would be possible with necro, relying mostly on fear-kite.

What do you guys think?

[Shiftin]

It depends how limited you want your tactics to be. Some of the best exp I ever got was duoing with a necro fear kiting (i am a rogue) because i always had access to the back of the mob, plus the pets DPS. That's pretty much the only tactic that works well.

SK or to slightly lesser degree monk would allow you to tank when fear kiting got old, but your DPS will be lower as a SK and slightly lower as a monk.

[Awwalike]

shaman, hands down.

[knottyb0y]

If you are going to be fear kiting most any melee would work well with a necro. It will be rough for the first series of levels, but once the necro get's they pact heals and if they play smart they can keep you alive long enough to kill a lot of creatures. I wouldn't rely too hard of duoing hard dungeons, but easier blue conning stuff shouldn't be a problem. Fearkiting outside should be a piece of cake if you can get used to following feared mobs.

With that said I think a monk or a shadowknight would both be good duo with a necro. Monks have the high dps, mend and feign death to stay alive when things go bad. SK's eventually will be able t Feign death as well. You'll find as an SK most of your spells will be overwritten by the necro (except for lifetap and probably disease cloud), but the SK should have no problem holding aggro over the necro if it came to that. Another advantage that the SK would have is self invis. With invis the necro and Sk will be able to travel into dungeons or through dangerous areas with little problem.

Monk
High DPS
Feign Death
Mend (combined with necro heals can kick downtime's ass)

SK
High HP
Feign Death (level 30?)
invis and other spells but many offensive spells will be overwritten by necro

A smart necro can pretty much duo effectively with any class, so hopefully your girlfriend reads up on necros and learns the class well. They aren't outrightly overpowered(not to say they are under powered in any way) but played well there isn't much a necro can't kill.

[Kabilos]

Shaman for haste, heals, slow, sow, dots, ... yeah that would be the route I would take myself.

[TheBlob]

Well yeah fear kite would be pretty good outdoors, but it's not possible to use this strategy in dungeons, right?

And I didn't know necros could heal, would the heal be enough to heal a monk or SK trying to fight in a dungeon?

If not I might consider starting a shaman, even if its not a melee.

If I can convince her to start a shaman or cleric, would I be better with a SK or monk, in your opinion?

[TheBlob]

Or perhaps even bard?

[casdegere]

Well Rangers have Snare, Tracking, DPS, Ranged, Buffs and Sow as well. Shouldn't be overlooked. Also one of the cheaper classes to twink nicely.

[pickled_heretic]

there's no melee that will allow a necro to do what he couldn't do on his own. you can fear kite outdoors but a necro can do that on his own. if you play any melee in this duo, just know that it's for fun and not to add any effectiveness to the combo.

shaman is an effective duoer with pretty much any class, necro is no exception. some people might disagree but i consider necro/enchanter to be another formidable combination. they may have a lot of overlap - but they really help each others weaknesses. necros have some CC, but it's not their strong suit. Enchanters have some self-protection (rune) but they really are able to benefit from the necro pacts, especially when charming. both of them can charm (necros can only charm undead, of course) and that makes the combo incredibly potent where both of them can charm and protect each other when charms break. enchanters can provide half of the fear kiting combo by casting fear, and they can help darkness stick with tash. even if you're not charming and/or fear kiting, both classes have pets and the enchanter can slow, which makes pet tanking a piece of cake. i really can't talk highly enough about this combo.

[Kabilos]

Or perhaps even bard?

Bard would be nice, completely depends on the race that the Necro is going to be. Iksar is going to be a fun level with any bard.. since the whole good / evil cities.

The reason I mentioned Shaman and blindly did it was I just created a Shaman Ikky of my own to go along with some guildies of mine who are creating a lizard power team .. Sham / Necro / Monk / Warrior just to goof around with when we get our mains up high enough to have alts to screw with.

Bards are a blast to play if done right. They can effectively solo their way to 65 and make very good group mates for all the buffs / songs they put out.

[Awwalike]

shaman, hands down.


Well Rangers have Snare, Tracking, DPS, Ranged, Buffs and Sow as well. Shouldn't be overlooked. Also one of the cheaper classes to twink nicely.

to have a great ranger he or she has to have piles of money invested in their gear.

[Clever]

And I didn't know necros could heal, would the heal be enough to heal a monk or SK trying to fight in a dungeon?

Necros can heal, but not in a manner that will allow you to rely on it as a tactic under more than a few specific circumstances, and certainly not well enough to keep a monk or SK running as a dedicated tank.

NEC/SHM is definitely the most versatile choice, and arguably the most powerful NEC duo. Unlike NEC/anything else, the NEC/SHM duo isn't limited to only one or two very select styles, working equally well indoors as well as outdoors, and capable of handling large solo mobs or masses of grind mobs. Played even remotely well, very few duos offer the versatility found in a NEC/SHM combo.

[Kassel]

I have a 32 necro and my duo partner is a wizard. Its working very well so far.

[TheBlob]

Hmm will be a tough one deciding :P

Now she says she might start a shaman, but we're not sure yet.

By the way thanks a lot everyone for all the info :O

[pickled_heretic]

Necros can heal, but not in a manner that will allow you to rely on it as a tactic under more than a few specific circumstances, and certainly not well enough to keep a monk or SK running as a dedicated tank.

NEC/SHM is definitely the most versatile choice, and arguably the most powerful NEC duo. Unlike NEC/anything else, the NEC/SHM duo isn't limited to only one or two very select styles, working equally well indoors as well as outdoors, and capable of handling large solo mobs or masses of grind mobs. Played even remotely well, very few duos offer the versatility found in a NEC/SHM combo.

if anything, nec/shm is more outdoor oriented than nec/enc if only due to sow. root parking and slowing a mob while letting your pets or charmed mobs beat on it requires the same amount of space as root parking a mob while letting it rot with dots. they are both great combos. i won't argue. but i feel like nec/enc can break and hold harder camps than nec/shm can due to the additional CC.

[Snaggles]

I think a bard/mage could do some very impressive things whether dungeon crawling or outdoors. Obviously a mage/sham or mage/necro would be stronger but there are some perks you could enjoy while rolling a melee of sorts.

Plus you have travel speed :).

[Unfun]

try necro/cleric. Clerics can heal (never have to lifetap, unlimited lich) and fear. When used with a charmed undead pet you can take on anything. Otherwise, necro/shaman ftw

[TheBlob]

When playing games, I tend to pick unusual choices just for the sake of it, and I must admit that right now necro/enc seems pretty fun.

So let's suppose we're going to chose the necro/enc duo. Mostly the necro will do his job, and I will be there mostly for support? Hasting pet, additional damage, stuns, crowd control and the like, right?

[Snaggles]

So let's suppose we're going to chose the necro/enc duo. Mostly the necro will do his job, and I will be there mostly for support? Hasting pet, additional damage, stuns, crowd control and the like, right?

You can charm fight and the necro can help save you when it breaks. :)

[vageta31]

So let's suppose we're going to chose the necro/enc duo. Mostly the necro will do his job, and I will be there mostly for support? Hasting pet, additional damage, stuns, crowd control and the like, right?

More you the necro should support you... I've played necro and enchanter and my chanter by far outleveled my necro in pure speed due to charm. Want to rake in the exp? Charm a high dps pet then fear kite with necro. You can both fear and until invoke fear, you will have the better fear earlier.

[TheBlob]

Ok, can't wait to try it :P