Most solid duo for Kunark and Velious

[Weekapaug]

Search yields a bunch of threads about what class duos best with X class, etc. A couple of weeks ago there was a thread about the best solo class for beyond classic. I brought up my question there, but didn't want to jack the thread for my similar but different question:

For the expansions that will be the scople of this server beyond classic (Kunark and Velious) what is the best duo?

I leave "best" open to interpretation. For my own part, I would tend to define that as a duo that can efficiently kill for both experience and camping named mobs, particularly in dungeons.

The reason I ask is, my GF and I play here together....Our mains are a Warrior and Cleric. We are having fun and plan to stick with those toons as our mains, but there are times that we just dont feel like grouping or dealing with the limitations of those specialized classes...We would like to be able to just go blow off some steam together as a duo, be it for exp or camping items, etc. And we would like the duo to continue to have legs in future content here.

She has been leaning towards a Mage, in which case I would probably go with a Shaman, Necro or Enchanter (in that order), but from what I've been reading there may be more effective combos that don't include Mages after Kunark comes out and beyond. We are flexible, really, and have the advantage of being able to run a perma-duo together...We just want to hear some thoughts about class selection before we make a choice.

I was around from release on, but never really soloed or duoed much with any class in those eras, so I would be interested to hear what others' experiences were like. If you and a friend were going to make a duo specificly for kunark and velious content, what classes would you choose?

[Phallax]

Monk / Shaman is probably the best combo for duoing imo.

You get the versatility of shamsn dots/DDs, heals, buffs, slow, SoW, pet dmg, Free JBB and epic dmg.

Monks have high DPS, can tank fairly well non raid targets especially when target is slowed. single pull named.

[Zordana]

mage / cleric
the mage pet is damn uber (especially the epic pet), the mage has sick DPS too, the cleric has a nice regen and still his complete heal, and can lull and root and stuff..
imho the best combo outthere, classic kunark and velious!

necro / shamy can be neat too, but still not as good as mage / cleric (and im a necro myself! :))

my opinion

[LazyFuj]

tbh I don't think mage/cleric would be best. The DPS would lack for grinding vs necro/shaman or shaman/monk. Also mana would be an issue.

[Kiwaukee]

Mage + Shaman and SK + Shaman are both excellent. You pretty much always want a shaman because of their versatility and mages are excellent DPS and a tank (the pet) at the same time, plus a damage shield and all sort of summoned utility items. Mage + Shaman offers great dps, slow, efficient heals, buffs, and CC (root or pet offtanking).

I /veto the cleric combos because Clerics are too one dimensional. Outside of root and lull, they don't offer much beyond their core features.

[ArkhamCifre]

argh

[Cheech]

Monk/Shaman is a power house i can't wait to duo with one!

[Uaellaen]

tbh I don't think mage/cleric would be best. The DPS would lack for grinding vs necro/shaman or shaman/monk. Also mana would be an issue.

i disagree ...

mage cleric is insane combo, i played it on live ... with mod rods and lvl 60 mana is no issue at all, you can mod rod both chars to 70%+ mana quite quickly ...

[Lyssia]

Hands down Enchanter / Druid

[LazyFuj]

i disagree ...

mage cleric is insane combo, i played it on live ... with mod rods and lvl 60 mana is no issue at all, you can mod rod both chars to 70%+ mana quite quickly ...

ok but you still lack the dps..

[Uaellaen]

lol? do you even realize mage is one of the best DPS classes up to luclin?

[Thac0]

Mage Cleric is pretty decent (modrod + CH = manastone for your cleric and yourself)

Enchanter Paladin is nice CC & a tank that can heal with superior heal (woot Clarity)with the option of charm for extra dps (lull, slow, haste, yada yada)

Melee + shammy is nice too (even rogue works well with root + proper pet placement)

Honestly any combo does pretty decently with a healer and tank or dps

[Zordana]

ok but you still lack the dps..

what makes you think that?
i could never compete with a mage as necromancer..
there are some mobs a necro can solo which mages can only solo by chainpeting..
and a wizard has a great outburst, but the overall DPS isnt as high as mage + pet and also the epic pet tanks like shit, has a high DS and some really nice DPS..
how can you say lack of dps? :>

[Omnimorph]

Mage Cleric is pretty decent (modrod + CH = manastone for your cleric and yourself)

Enchanter Paladin is nice CC & a tank that can heal with superior heal (woot Clarity)with the option of charm for extra dps (lull, slow, haste, yada yada)

Melee + shammy is nice too (even rogue works well with root + proper pet placement)

Honestly any combo does pretty decently with a healer and tank or dps

I boxed a pally / enchanter duo on live... it was decent, until they brough out mercs which made my pally a waste. Should have rolled an SK instead for better dps + FD. Oh well.

Should be an okay duo on classic though.

[JaVeDK]

Hands down Enchanter / Druid

Please elaborate! :)

[Jify]

Mage + Shammy. End of thread.

Epic pet + Torpor.

4khp + tank, uber agro, uber damage + unlimited heals. (and slow!)

[Skope]

lol? do you even realize mage is one of the best DPS classes up to luclin?

one of the best DPS classes how exactly? And how far away from #1? it's quite a long ways away depending on the scenario. In velious you'll be used for CoH and mod rods, and that's pretty much it. The epic pet doesn't compare to rogue/monk or even necro DPS. If you plan to duo named mobs you'll have to resort to chain-casting, which is fine, but if the mob summons then it's a no-go. Not to mention you'll have no need for a cleric then anyway, because if you're chaining any spell cast (damage or heal) on the pet or mob will cause aggro and the pet won't get it back until it surpasses you on the hate list. There's quite simply no chance in hell you'll kill it if it summons. Necros have the same issue, but they can put in far more sustained DPS than a mage can because of the awesome DPS on the DoTs and health-funneling / lich-line spells. A necro can essentially stack all of their DoTs and get back to around 50 mana before they run their course.

The reason a shaman makes an excellent duo partner is because they're so versatile if played correctly. On live a lot of the shamans were two-boxed, and in doing so they didn't capitalize on the shammies' utility. Shaman is a class that's meant to be played like a bard: pressing so many keys that your keyboard's lettering will start to fade. With proc weapons, JBB and an epic the shammy can throw in some DPS without needing to burn a lot of mana (or any mana at all). Because slows and debuffs are so great during kunark/velious you can choose to tank a mob while a rogue/monk kicks or backstabs it from behind. Your heal spell (torpor) will force fights to be stationary and last a bit longer, but because it's so mana efficient it doesn't matter much.

The downsides to a shaman/monk or rogue combo are that you can't really chain-stun a caster. This may not seem like a big deal, but when it's nuking you for over 1k damage, your torpor + heals won't be able to keep up. With a rogue you can't split either, but the shammy can generate a lot of aggro with spells that can free up the rogue to backstab.

druid/enchanter combos are fantastic if you're willing to get geared for it. A druid snare + chanter charm are awesome and not too difficult. Just make sure to stack some +hp on the chanter with maxed out charisma and have the druid keep evac up with enough mana to cast it when things get ugly =D

[Jeah]

Necro / Druid, doesn't need much explanation. Or Mage/Druid since both pet classes are very powerful and Druid is just a good support class and provides ports and tracking.

[Hiragawa]

Shaman/Monk or Shaman/SK. I can see Shammy/Mage being rather good as well, but I'm fairly meh about mages.

Monk: Decent dps (compared to the mage), mend is nice in a pinch, and buffing him up with all the proc spells/regens before a pull means that if something goes wrong, FD is there to stop the pull and prevent your shammy from taking death aggro.

Shadowknight: Pretty much the same. FD is things go wrong, Lifetaps always help out, and I imagine the snare doesn't hurt. Plate armour is a nice bonus.

Shaman: The ultimate 'duo' healer. Haste, Slow, SoW, Proc, Tropor, DoT/DD, Pet (although not even close to a mage's dps from the pet). Not to mention chewing their legs and what not to get mana back :P

[spoolie]

so Skope you are compareing a mage to a rogue/monk in a raid setting compared to what the topic was about DUOING. Mage and shammy are redick together. duel pets, slow, rods, torpor blah blah etc... but on this server the way charm is crazy OP. i would go 2 necros...druid/chanter.

[Vyal]

Take my words on it,

Monk / Mage (Chaining Earth pets)

These two can pretty much get to anything in the game duo as is CoH just makes is so so so much more easier.

-Also for anyone saying necros are better DPS.. I know ya luv em man but it ain't true... Necro pets die in just a few hits to large mobs while mages can just chain pet and use the monk to single pull and hold agro during re-pets.
Necros also can't put anywhere near as much damage out per second as a mage not ever in the whole game.
Granted you can stick a necro out in the open and kill stuff easy or take down some stuff with half decent HP buts thats about it... Shammy ehhhhhh aside from the heals theres nothing to great about the shammy DPS.

Cleric / mage is another good combo but the monk / mage is by far the best duo.

[martigan1983]

chanter/wizzy as long as mobs are stunnable

[Skope]

so Skope you are compareing a mage to a rogue/monk in a raid setting compared to what the topic was about DUOING. Mage and shammy are redick together. duel pets, slow, rods, torpor blah blah etc... but on this server the way charm is crazy OP. i would go 2 necros...druid/chanter.

No, the raid setting was just thrown in.

I just see a mage differently than most. They're a fantastic solo class that has an uncanny ability to take down 4-5 blue mobs at a time and wasting very little mana to do so. This skill is heavily dependent on the mob's health and their damage output, but still is quite incredible. They also can take down some very nasty things that have incredibly high amounts of HP using the same tactic (think allizewsaur). But their utility shows itself only in a raid setting or grouped. A mage/shaman is fine, but there's still issues with that combo that you won't see with a rogue or monk, the latter in particular. You'd be better off with a mage/cleric. They can do surprisingly well together.

[Vyal]

Seein as this thread its about THEE best duo, is a mage / monk again and this holds true and even more so during Kunark.
I didn't really explain why - Monk single pulls, mage kills (chain pet style) So no wasted mana with focus items - - no need for heals (so no need for a cleric) mage can summon bandies for monk if needs be.

Cleric is ok if you have no monk, but honestly ide take a necro any day over the cleric - necros can single pull using their weak ass pet - send pet in nuke one mob off pet then the pet should just about die in a few seconds FD mage peels it away.

The shammy really plays no part in any of this it's just not that great in a duo situation, and a rouge is just going to die left and right.

[Omnimorph]

Necros are hella utility. Mez, pet, heal, FD, Rez etc. Sure they don't have the best of these, but altogether it works.

[Aeolwind]

Monk/Shaman. Get an Anklesmasher for the monk and you can even duo in dungeons.

[Phallax]

The shammy really plays no part in any of this it's just not that great in a duo situation, and a rouge is just going to die left and right.

You're obviously new to the game so Ill be nice.

And everyone talking about stuns, just get that out of your head right now. Anything 56+ is unstunnable other than mez.

[mitic]

Mage + Shaman and SK + Shaman are both excellent. You pretty much always want a shaman because of their versatility and mages are excellent DPS and a tank (the pet) at the same time, plus a damage shield and all sort of summoned utility items. Mage + Shaman offers great dps, slow, efficient heals, buffs, and CC (root or pet offtanking).

I /veto the cleric combos because Clerics are too one dimensional. Outside of root and lull, they don't offer much beyond their core features.

mage/cleric is in fact the best...especialy for highlvl summoning mobs

mage/shm or shk/shm wont work due to the lack of complete heal....works for grinding exp but certainly not for farming highend stuff

[Phallax]

mage/cleric is in fact the best...especialy for highlvl summoning mobs

mage/shm or shk/shm wont work due to the lack of complete heal....works for grinding exp but certainly not for farming highend stuff

Again another in-experienced kunark/velious player. Obviously most people here thats posting about "summoning" has never seen how shaman work. We tank the mob with slow and torpor. Its highly effective. While Im soloing or duoing Lodizal, Sebilis named and the dragons in WWastes and outside NToV(other than Sont) You can tell me how bad shamans suck against farming highend.

[Hiragawa]

Eh, from experience, Shaman and Cleric can both get the job done. While yes, Shaman are very lacking without Complete Heal, some of the Heals they get in Kunark make up for it when combined with Slow. I would imagine if we took the current state of the server and paired classes up, Clerics would naturally come out miles ahead of Shaman for mobs like that.

In the seven years I played my cleric on live, I often duo'd with a mage, so I will say that Mitic has a point on how well they work together. But even so, I'd say about 75% of the time playing my other classes (As far as duoing goes) I'd rather have a Shaman with me. For the farming of high end stuff Mitic, the Shaman would naturally have Torpor, along with Chloroblast is more then enough to make up for complete heal so long as the mob is slowable. And if it's not slowable, chances are it's of a ranking that even your Mage/Cleric combo wouldn't be duoing to farm.

And if you're going to be spending most of your time with just the two of you (IE, the TC and his Girlfriend) Shaman also bring SoW etc. Cleric does not.

[Vyal]

Well people used to box shammy monk all the time but it isn't good and if you ever played the mage monk duo you would know how it is, pretty much the only thing I can say.

To anyone who thinks a shammy is better then a mage is just dumb or has no idea how to use a mage properly or has never chain petted. The key to a mage is not to keep your pet healed but to be able to resummon on the fly.

I can solo plane mobs, can solo any named FG or FG in solb no probs, granted the yellow plane mobs take some time but I won't even have to move or go under 80 mana to kill em. The best thing is to just have a monk single mob whatever mob and just chain pet it down.

I have duo'd all the fgs in solb many times with a monk friend of mine easy. You won't EVER see a shammy do that. I'm also pretty sure a group of 6 mages could take anything in the game down chain petting, this includes gods.

I'm sorry you don't know the power of a mage it really isn't my problem and I could also careless about a shammy or a rouge they are just terribad classes to play when you know what a powerfull class really is.

I'm not saying they arn't good group wise luv them shammy buffs and rouge drags ;) but totally useless otherwise.

I'll put my money where my mouth is and challenge any shammy to duo with a monk and then i'll duo with that same monk and we can see how far each group will go into wherever you want to go.

Remember this isn't post pop shammy is not that great other then buffs and group wise and truely not a dungeon solo class and does not stand a chance versus the really badass mobs in the game.

[Phallax]

Well people used to box shammy monk all the time but it isn't good and if you ever played the mage monk duo you would know how it is, pretty much the only thing I can say.

To anyone who thinks a shammy is better then a mage is just dumb or has no idea how to use a mage properly or has never chain petted. The key to a mage is not to keep your pet healed but to be able to resummon on the fly.

I can solo plane mobs, can solo any named FG or FG in solb no probs, granted the yellow plane mobs take some time but I won't even have to move or go under 80 mana to kill em. The best thing is to just have a monk single mob whatever mob and just chain pet it down.

I have duo'd all the fgs in solb many times with a monk friend of mine easy. You won't EVER see a shammy do that. I'm also pretty sure a group of 6 mages could take anything in the game down chain petting, this includes gods.

I'm sorry you don't know the power of a mage it really isn't my problem and I could also careless about a shammy or a rouge they are just terribad classes to play when you know what a powerfull class really is.

I'm not saying they arn't good group wise luv them shammy buffs and rouge drags ;) but totally useless otherwise.

I'll put my money where my mouth is and challenge any shammy to duo with a monk and then i'll duo with that same monk and we can see how far each group will go into wherever you want to go.

Your post lost ALL of its credibility when you mentioned Plane mobs and FGs, This thread is about Kunark and Velious which brings a whole new element to the shaman class. Ill take your challenge come Kunark/Velious.

[Vyal]

like what? Kunark is sissy compared to the mobs I listed.

Shammy doesn't change and mage gets Call of the Hero, i'm not getting your logic.
I know you play a shammy and have probably never played a mage but i'll still wreck any mobs faster then any shammy in kunark as well, not to mention mages get the Voc pets = insane air pets plus some wicked dd spells + new burnouts...

Shammy gets what one nuke that still takes 35% mana to cast? I'm sorry I don't follow your thought that a shammy is better then a mage.

[Phallax]

like what? Kunark is sissy compared to the mobs I listed.

Shammy doesn't change and mage gets Call of the Hero, i'm not getting your logic.
I know you play a shammy and have probably never played a mage but i'll still wreck any mobs faster then any shammy in kunark as well, not to mention mages get the Voc pets = insane air pets plus some wicked dd spells + new burnouts...

Shammy gets what one nuke that still takes 35% mana to cast? I'm sorry I don't follow your thought that a shammy is better then a mage.

Ive played every class but bard. lvl 60+ in raid situations and for just soloing/duoing. Shamans arent about speed, theyre about efficiency. You have fun blowing thru mobs and sitting afk medding. Ill just move to the next once im done with the last. and WTF does CoTH have to do with anything? lol and planes and FGs harder than kunark...wow kid now i see why you rolled a mage

[Vyal]

What plane are you talking about? And why would I med just chain petting it never fails, also alot of people who play mages and have never played classic no nothing of chain petting....

I never sit afk and med, I never need to med to chain pet so still not following you. Still don't know how you get shammy can out dps a mage and in a duo situation coh has alot to do with things. What FG's are harder the ones in burning wood are not even lvl 50 and they arn't even called FG's....

You make no sense i'll roll your shammy and kill any mob faster then you, and do it without going under 80% mana....

Also please read my last post, I know your a shammy but you can't out DPS a mage sorry bud .

[Phallax]

What plane are you talking about? And why would I med just chain petting it never fails, also alot of people who play mages and have never played classic no nothing of chain petting....

I never sit afk and med, I never need to med to chain pet so still not following you. Still don't know how you get shammy can out dps a mage and in a duo situation coh has alot to do with things. What FG's are harder the ones in burning wood are not even lvl 50 and they arn't even called FG's....

You make no sense i'll roll your shammy and kill any mob faster then you, and do it without going under 80% mana....

Also please read my last post, I know your a shammy but you can't out DPS a mage sorry bud .

Your reading comprehension fails horribly.
I never said Id out DPS you, I said I was far more efficient. I never said anything about planes and FGs in kunark. You have fun thinking that your god, but when you start getting rolled dont come crying to the boards.
Ill just let you think what you want and let the facts proove themselves.

[Vyal]

awesome sounds good to me, just any time you want to duel let me know. Ya just bring it man i'm sitting in lava I would like to do this right now.

Come to Lavastorm so I can kill you, so tired of dumb idiots ooo shammys are way better then mages but doh you wanna duel me oo don't act scared now man and start pussing out telling me shammies can't out dps a mage now just 4 posts ago it was how badass shammies are now it's a whole nother thing.

Like the chanter that sent me a tell Vyal I want to duel you for blue diamonds - I respond of no charm exploit - he responds well I would come duel ya but i'm at a camp - Modus you suck man.

[Phallax]

awesome sounds good to me, just any time you want to duel let me know. Ya just bring it man i'm sitting in lava I would like to do this right now.

Come to Lavastorm so I can kill you, so tired of dumb idiots ooo shammys are way better then mages but doh you wanna duel me oo don't act scared now man and start pussing out telling me shammies can't out dps a mage now just 4 posts ago it was how badass shammies are now it's a whole nother thing.

Like the chanter that sent me a tell Vyal I want to duel you for blue diamonds - I respond of no charm exploit - he responds well I would come duel ya but i'm at a camp - Modus you suck man.

LOL, now youre pulling out the L337 PvP talk in a PvE discussion thread. For one PvP is busted as fuck on this server. And Id probably still roll you. I never once claimed shamans were better dps than mages....ever...i said we are for more utility and efficient than mages. and again this is kunark / velious talk and youre trying to proove shit now....GTFO of this thread youre jsut making yourself look more like a dumb ass every time you post.

[Vyal]

mages R better then shamans.
The only time I have ever grouped with a shaman was to power level it's ass - Shaman = Tool

[Gideon]

Man this place brings out the worst in people.

[Weekapaug]

Man this place brings out the worst in people.

I sincerely appreciate the feedback on my question, and look forward to hearing more, but let's keep it civil and constructive, please. We all are passionate about our favorite classes and that's what I would like to hear about in the context of a duo, but there's no need for a pissing match here, nor is there any need to run down other's choices of class....It's just a discussion.

Also, it would be most helpful if things like epics and JBBs aren't factored in since, being alts, it will likely be some time before we get those items, if ever. Unless we love them enough to make them mains, but that's to be seen. :)

Appreciate everyone's input and look forward to reading more.

[Phallax]

I sincerely appreciate the feedback on my question, and look forward to hearing more, but let's keep it civil and constructive, please. We all are passionate about our favorite classes and that's what I would like to hear about in the context of a duo, but there's no need for a pissing match here, nor is there any need to run down other's choices of class....It's just a discussion.

Also, it would be most helpful if things like epics and JBBs aren't factored in since, being alts, it will likely be some time before we get those items, if ever. Unless we love them enough to make them mains, but that's to be seen. :)

Appreciate everyone's input and look forward to reading more.

JBB is extremely easy to accquire

[ArkhamCifre]

n00b alert! what is JBB?

[Phallax]

n00b alert! what is JBB?

jaundiced bone bracer -

http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=4532

[Hiragawa]

/look left
/look right

Mage =/= Shaman

They're both totally different classes, with very different abilities and play styles. I'm not really sure how you're planning to compare them by 'dps' o.o

[Weekapaug]

I guess what concerns me the most are summoning mobs and the number of casters mobs to be found in Kunark and Velious. I never dealt with all of that during those eras outside of groups, so interested in what people experienced with all of that in particular.

I'm going to hazard a guess that a shammy/monk duo would probably handle summoning mobs than one that includes robed casters, but that's just a guess. Those of you who who played shammys and mages during live kunark and velious, how did you do with summoning mobs in particualr? Casters?

[Weekapaug]

/look left
/look right

Mage =/= Shaman

They're both totally different classes, with very different abilities and play styles. I'm not really sure how you're planning to compare them by 'dps' o.o

And that's why there's no need for a pissing match, beyond keeping the conversation civil, of course.

My question about the "best" duo comes from a standpoint of practicality, not breaking records or outputting the best dps alone necessarily. Any group, duo, trio, or solo for that matter, has to deal with getting to and from a dungeon, has to get safely to the camp/spawn within the dungeon, has to deal with breaking it properly, has to deal with those times when things get out of control with multiple mobs, casting/summoning mobs, etc. It's more a question of what duo best deals with all of it reliably than anything else, for us.

Thank you again for the input. I look forward to hearing more.

[Cogwell]

MAG/SHM: High DPS, No Snare, No CC, No Pulling ability.
substitute CLR: less DPS but some Pulling ability and rezes.

NEC/SHM: Slightly lower DPS than the above, but with snare, CC, and Pulling. If pet tanking, the pet is slightly less sturdy. Works best when Fear kiting.

RNG/SHM: Decent DPS, extra utility in snare, various ranger abilities.
substitute CLR for less DPS, add rezes. Both characters use mail, which can be a downside.

SK/SHM: Moderate DPS but the ability to be full functional in any location, and the ability to take down tough mobs the easiest of all combos.
-preluclin, you dont really want to substitute CLR for SHM here as the SK simply can't kick out enough dmg to make it worthwhile.
-substitute WAR for slightly more damage and tanking, less pulling ability, no snare.
-substitute PAL for more buffing, less DPS, moderate pulling ability, stuns instead of snare.

MNK/SHM: Decent DPS, pulling ability, no snare. MNK can mitigate well but can only produce threat through damage, and therefore SHM will have aggro a lot.
substitute CLR for less DPS and rezes.

WAR/CLR: Moderate DPS, decent starter group to build around. No Snare, CC. Relatively boring. Can Substitute DRU for CLR for added DPS, ports, snares, invis but less heals, no rezes.

SHM + any DPS can be effective but not as effective as those above.

Various combos with ENC can be effective, including CLR/ENC, DRU/ENC, PAL/ENC, but are higher risk and harder to pull off.

Various combos that include aggro or fear kiting with a NEC, DRU, or WIZ in addition to any other DPS can be effective but not as much as those above. They need space to operate which leaves out dungeons, primarily.

In essence - there is no *Best*. Each has pros and cons. Have fun!

[BuzWeaver]

Monk / Shaman is probably the best combo for duoing imo.

You get the versatility of shamsn dots/DDs, heals, buffs, slow, SoW, pet dmg, Free JBB and epic dmg.

Monks have high DPS, can tank fairly well non raid targets especially when target is slowed. single pull named.

I agree, its one of my favorites.

[Hiragawa]

In essence - there is no *Best*. Each has pros and cons. Have fun!

Yeah, this is the most important thing. You guys could even keep going with your Warrior/Cleric Duo (just bear in mind, total lack of dps is going to make things VERY slow, even with your cleric 'dpsing')

You said you were thinking of shaman as one of your choices. As various folks have said, you can pair a Shaman with just about anything. I prefer Shaman/Monk over Shaman/SK myself.. especially if you get your Shammy to worship Innoruuk.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=170

The end result from the full chain is that snare clicky for Inny Shamans and Clerics. So it solves the 'no snare' issue with the monk.

[Skope]

The guy gloating about mages being amazing has clearly never played a mage in kunark or velious, and most certainly didn't read the forums back on live. They were littered with people complaining about utility, DPS, and the overall fun-factor that quickly disappeared after classic for the much beloved class. I saw my friend play it for years and played his mage myself and can't help but to agree. It really does turn completely one-dimensional and the fun factor is leeched from the class.

Kunark and Velious bring us summoning mobs, and many of them are casters. Not a big deal right? Well, it is, because these tend to be the mobs that drop the great loot we all know and love. The only class that can solo these efficiently (or solo them at all really) is the shaman. This brings you the single rule to shaman solo/duos: If it can be slowed, it will die. Of course we're talking about duo here, so any sort of DPS (whether melee or DoT/DD) helps. Shammies aren't known for the speed at which they can drop a mob, but rather how efficiently and where/what that mob is. And this "WOW" factor that you see for mages in classic is really diminished during kunark/velious, and quickly replaced by shaman, bards, enchanters, and to a smaller extent necros as well.

If you're looking for efficiency and utility, with some speed leveling and killing involved i'd go druid/necro. Their DoTs don't bump heads and the druid snare/root/regen and necro DoTs/fear can quickly kill multiple mobs very, very quickly without taking too much time or mana.

Honestly, there's a lot of combinations out there that are very viable, it's just a matter of what you're looking for and how it is that you play them. One of my worries is that too many people will make shammies without a true love for the class and not quite know how to use them. I've seen way too many shamans with pearl kedge totems sitting in solb groups as the secondary healer. It just pisses me off...

[Hiragawa]

Skope has some great points. I think the only reason I didn't suggest Druid/Necro duos and the like is because I love duoing in tight dungeons and stuff. It just has that... Tabletop feel to it :P

I've always loved Swarm Kiting on my Bard, or Quad Kiting on my Druid (Or just kiting those giant red mobs on my necro) but that's always my "I don't want to be bothered today I'm gonna go solo!" thing.

Shaman are beastly, and I'll once again echo the 'If it can be slowed, it will die'.

Tsk Tsk... All this advocacy from me for Shaman, and there one of the few classes I can't stand playing. :P

[nalkin]

Skope, I am curious, was this with or without the epic pet? I heard mages were really bad without the epic pet, but once they had the epic pet they were one of the top DPS again. I never played a mage past level 12 in classic myself, nor did I play much kunark or velious.

[Taluvill]

ENC/DRU would definitely be my vote, but much harder to do. Very high risk High reward, the druid/chanter have to be good.

They can do MUCH more than anything else listed here, but are higher risk because the combo involves more skill. I dont know what your skill level is, but best combo is Dru/Enc. Hard to pull off tho

If it can be rooted/snared or mezzed it can be killed.

[Reiker]

JBBs suck.

Let's give a class with infinite mana and able to do a lot in a short amount of time a long cast low damage mana free clicky.

They're decent for powerleveling < 60 though.

[Skope]

Skope, I am curious, was this with or without the epic pet? I heard mages were really bad without the epic pet, but once they had the epic pet they were one of the top DPS again. I never played a mage past level 12 in classic myself, nor did I play much kunark or velious.

The epic pet was fantastic, unfortunately though it was also one of the hardest epics to acquire. It really is a fantastic and game-changing epic, but until that point it's pretty much earth pet all the way for solo, and air/water for groupage. Kunark and velious mobs hit harder and have more HP, so when chaining pets means you don't DD and makes you kill a bit slower and thus less effectively. The nukes take somewhat of a nosedive for a mage because of the great nukes that wizzies finally get in kunark/velious, not to mention the lure line. My gripe with the mage isn't that they're not great soloers. They are, and very much so. The issue i have is that it gets very boring and one-dimensional.

and JBB is awesome. Sick pet, malo, slow and root>Dot. click the JBB while waiting to reapply roots/dots.

[Phallax]

JBBs suck.

Let's give a class with infinite mana and able to do a lot in a short amount of time a long cast low damage mana free clicky.

They're decent for powerleveling < 60 though.

JBB is redonkulous. Someone doesnt know the power of a manaless nuke, the 8 sec cast is basically 8 secs of slight mana regen, and come velious with FT is another thing. A shaman, in theory, is going to be slow+torpor tanking thus neglecting chain cani. So the JBB click is $$. Trust me Ive played shaman since live classic all the way thru Omens, i love the class, pick shaman in any game that offers it because of thier versatility.

[azxten]

I would go SK/Shaman.. my current duo is Bard/Mage though.

[Olorin]

so Skope you are compareing a mage to a rogue/monk in a raid setting compared to what the topic was about DUOING. Mage and shammy are redick together. duel pets, slow, rods, torpor blah blah etc... but on this server the way charm is crazy OP. i would go 2 necros...druid/chanter.

Just remember though, with the exception of dictate, the max level that an enchanter will be able to charm is 53. They can go to 51 now so its VERY good, but 53 when max level is 60 isnt so great.

[Tumelin]

I played a necromancer and started shortly after Velious came out. While I don't know if this would be the best duo, I used to duo with a mage friend and we did quite well together. I don't remember many things that gave us trouble or that we couldn't handle. I also used to duo with an enchanter and that worked for us pretty well too.

[fohkure]

I think its pretty hard to beat SK/Shaman personally. I played a Shaman for many years, they are a great solo class by themselves, add a plate character with a decent amount of utility themselves and you have a nasty combo.

Monk/Shaman is good, but I think the SK's utilities would come in handy quite often... Nothing ever goes as planned. The only thing a monk has over a SK anyways would be higher DPS. So really you would just be weighing higher dps vs. more utility. Personally I would take the utility, and obviously others disagree.

Chris

[Omnimorph]

Agreed, SK is more useful than monk. Also plate class so better tank etc. Also should you decide to form a group, you have a tank in place, rather than having a dps and consequently needing to find a tank.

[Alleusion]

I don't think the OP was wanting to know what would be a good duo in the end game. I'm sure mages are amazing with their epic pet, but he's not starting out at level 1 with that beasty. There's a long road to go to get there. Branaddar and I have duo'd a monk / shaman fairly well. I think, regardless of the class combo, if you play what you like, and are good at what you do, you can find an acceptible duo with almost any combination.

[Tseng]

you can find an acceptible duo with almost any combination.

I think this is the truth, sure there's a question of just how omfg super leet you'll be, as always just play classes you both are going to find fun. Sure, look for some synergy, but play what you want first and foremost.

[Cogwell]

ITT: Classic MNK/SHM vs SK/SHM argument.

I <3 this server

[Tallenn]

Druid + druid

It's simple, one druid quads while the other is medding.. continuous xp!

(yes, that's a joke)

[Uaellaen]

I don't think the OP was wanting to know what would be a good duo in the end game. I'm sure mages are amazing with their epic pet, but he's not starting out at level 1 with that beasty. There's a long road to go to get there. Branaddar and I have duo'd a monk / shaman fairly well. I think, regardless of the class combo, if you play what you like, and are good at what you do, you can find an acceptible duo with almost any combination.

that is true, the first few levels would be hard .. up to lvl 4 until mage gets the fire pet, then you will just rip trought the content till lvl 20+ easily ...

and 20+ the clerics heal power increased significantly, supporting the mages fire pet even more ...

[Hatwer]

My EQ experience involved playing on a PvP server with small groups of friends, so we were always focused on getting the most out of duos and trios (because we literally couldn't group with other people, they would kill us).

Based on what you defined, I'd say your best bet is for Shadow Knight/Shaman.

Monk/Shaman is a lot of fun and very versatile as well, but going the Shadow Knight route gives you easy access to Snare and Fear. Snare is very important inside dungeons and gives you the ability to fear kite if needed outdoors which is great for exp.

Fear is important for breaking complete heals (in conjunction with the Shaman's Root, god damn you Old Seb fungus priests).

This combination has tanking, healing, slows, pulling (with FD), root mezzing, snares, fears and above average damage. If you are sure you can secure an Anklesmasher then Monk may be an option, but I wouldn't bet on that at first.

Plus, if other characters come along, you can typically add them to the SK/Shaman core just fine. DPS? No problem. Another healer? Let the Shaman DPS a little more, maybe the other healer can too. Enchanter or bard? Awesome too.

Mage chain petting is totally awesome but there are some dungeon situations it's going to struggle in due to its lack of versatility, and runners can be a pain in the ass even with Earth Root and mage nukes. It also restricts what the other person can play - they can't contribute as a melee to the fight really. A healer isn't going to help much with chain petting. A dps class is just going to rip aggro - they really have to be another Mage or just there to help pull and handle situations (monk, bard, enchanter).

If I was only focused on outdoor stuff and experience, I'd totally double DPS and fear kite.

[Weekapaug]

I think this is the truth, sure there's a question of just how omfg super leet you'll be, as always just play classes you both are going to find fun. Sure, look for some synergy, but play what you want first and foremost.

I appreciate what you are saying, but I've played every class in the game to at least 30ish at some point (except ranger, zerker and bst, I think, and I played one of each of those to around 20), and most classes to at least 50ish....They are all fun to me. Some more than others of course, but I'm entirely flexible with this. I'm really interested in hearing specifics about duos people had experience playing during the actual Kunark and Velious eras.

For the record, I played a shaman alt to 75ish with around 500 AA, but I did not really sink into it until around Luclin or PoP. I absolutely love the class and I'm fully aware of what shaman are capable of, just not in Kunark and Velious specificly. The comments here have been most helpful in that regard. I could see us going with a shammy/monk or shammy/mage duo. I play a Warrior main now, and had a SK main during the original Kunark and Velious eras live, so I'm probably going to stay away from an SK, honestly....Loved everything about the class at the time, but the lack of DPS when duoing back then drove me nuts....Just like duoing with our mains (cleric and warrior) does now. And we will likely avoid the cleric/mage combo because we already have a cleric. But that's just personal preference....We will take that under consideration though, of course, as we are trying to be completely open-minded about this.

I'm particularly interested in hearing people's specific thoughts about this on a practical level, because Kunark and Velious mobs tend to be a lot harder to deal with on a kill-by-kill basis, camps are harder to break, etc, primarily because of summoning and casting mobs. Because I was a SK then and had something of a perma-group, I never had to deal with any of it solo or duo on any significant level. I've experienced the groupable content of these expansions a lot, but any soloing or duoing I've done there has been in subsequent eras with everything that goes with that (gear, spells, aa, etc), which is an entirely different thing than actually tackling content when it is the current era.

So, again, I appreciate the sentiment behind what you are saying, but that's really not what this is about. I'm a surfer, for example, and lots of surfers subscribe to the old saying "the best surfer is the one having the most fun." In general, I agree with that. But the fact remains, that no matter how much fun I may be having on my best day, any really good surfer is still a better surfer than I am on his worst day having no fun. I may be having a blast trying to advance from a log to a shorter board, but while I'm just trying to get up on that, the more advanced surfer using every manuverable part of a wave to it's fullest makes him, hands down, the "better" surfer.

We have mains we love and plan to stick with. In this case, we are looking for the most effective and efficient duo for Kunark and Velious specificly, because what we will find "fun" is being able to tackle as much content reliably and sustainably as a duo.

Thank you all again for all of your input. I look forward to reading anything else anyone has to add and hope to read more fresh perspectives on this.

[Phallax]

I appreciate what you are saying, but I've played every class in the game to at least 30ish at some point (except ranger, zerker and bst, I think, and I played one of each of those to around 20), and most classes to at least 50ish....They are all fun to me. Some more than others of course, but I'm entirely flexible with this. I'm really interested in hearing specifics about duos people had experience playing during the actual Kunark and Velious eras.

For the record, I played a shaman alt to 75ish with around 500 AA, but I did not really sink into it until around Luclin or PoP. I absolutely love the class and I'm fully aware of what shaman are capable of, just not in Kunark and Velious specificly. The comments here have been most helpful in that regard. I could see us going with a shammy/monk or shammy/mage duo. I play a Warrior main now, and had a SK main during the original Kunark and Velious eras live, so I'm probably going to stay away from an SK, honestly....Loved everything about the class at the time, but the lack of DPS when duoing back then drove me nuts....Just like duoing with our mains (cleric and warrior) does now. And we will likely avoid the cleric/mage combo because we already have a cleric. But that's just personal preference....We will take that under consideration though, of course, as we are trying to be completely open-minded about this.

I'm particularly interested in hearing people's specific thoughts about this on a practical level, because Kunark and Velious mobs tend to be a lot harder to deal with on a kill-by-kill basis, camps are harder to break, etc, primarily because of summoning and casting mobs. Because I was a SK then and had something of a perma-group, I never had to deal with any of it solo or duo on any significant level. I've experienced the groupable content of these expansions a lot, but any soloing or duoing I've done there has been in subsequent eras with everything that goes with that (gear, spells, aa, etc), which is an entirely different thing than actually tackling content when it is the current era.

So, again, I appreciate the sentiment behind what you are saying, but that's really not what this is about. I'm a surfer, for example, and lots of surfers subscribe to the old saying "the best surfer is the one having the most fun." In general, I agree with that. But the fact remains, that no matter how much fun I may be having on my best day, any really good surfer is still a better surfer than I am on his worst day having no fun.

We have mains we love and plan to stick with. In this case, we are looking for the most effective and efficient duo for Kunark and Velious specificly, because what we will find "fun" is being able to tackle as much content reliably and sustainably as a duo.

Thank you all again for all of your input. I look forward to reading anything else anyone has to add and hope to read more fresh perspectives on this.

A few things to remember when duoing with a shaman.

1)Torpor descreases both movement and attack speed. So in theory you want to not be casting this on your DPS as much as you can avoid it. The main thing with a shaman is they have a decent AC paired with Slow and Torpor they usually take the brunt of the dmg in melee hits and dont lose the DPS from Torporing the monk/mage pet.

2)A thing to remember with summoning mobs. They dont summon untill 3% or 100hp is dealt which ever comes first. So breaking spawns isnt that bad as long as you dont do dmg first. Slow/Malo/Root agro is key here. Also summoning mobs are little problem with a slowable mob because of what I stated above.

[Hiragawa]

I appreciate what you are saying, but I've played every class in the game to at least 30ish at some point (except ranger, zerker and bst, I think, and I played one of each of those to around 20), and most classes to at least 50ish....They are all fun to me. Some more than others of course, but I'm entirely flexible with this. I'm really interested in hearing specifics about duos people had experience playing during the actual Kunark and Velious eras.

For the record, I played a shaman alt to 75ish with around 500 AA, but I did not really sink into it until around Luclin or PoP. I absolutely love the class and I'm fully aware of what shaman are capable of, just not in Kunark and Velious specificly. The comments here have been most helpful in that regard. I could see us going with a shammy/monk or shammy/mage duo. I play a Warrior main now, and had a SK main during the original Kunark and Velious eras live, so I'm probably going to stay away from an SK, honestly....Loved everything about the class at the time, but the lack of DPS when duoing back then drove me nuts....Just like duoing with our mains (cleric and warrior) does now. And we will likely avoid the cleric/mage combo because we already have a cleric. But that's just personal preference....We will take that under consideration though, of course, as we are trying to be completely open-minded about this.

I'm particularly interested in hearing people's specific thoughts about this on a practical level, because Kunark and Velious mobs tend to be a lot harder to deal with on a kill-by-kill basis, camps are harder to break, etc, primarily because of summoning and casting mobs. Because I was a SK then and had something of a perma-group, I never had to deal with any of it solo or duo on any significant level. I've experienced the groupable content of these expansions a lot, but any soloing or duoing I've done there has been in subsequent eras with everything that goes with that (gear, spells, aa, etc), which is an entirely different thing than actually tackling content when it is the current era.

So, again, I appreciate the sentiment behind what you are saying, but that's really not what this is about. I'm a surfer, for example, and lots of surfers subscribe to the old saying "the best surfer is the one having the most fun." In general, I agree with that. But the fact remains, that no matter how much fun I may be having on my best day, any really good surfer is still a better surfer than I am on his worst day having no fun. I may be having a blast trying to advance from a log to a shorter board, but while I'm just trying to get up on that, the more advanced surfer using every manuverable part of a wave to it's fullest makes him, hands down, the "better" surfer.

We have mains we love and plan to stick with. In this case, we are looking for the most effective and efficient duo for Kunark and Velious specificly, because what we will find "fun" is being able to tackle as much content reliably and sustainably as a duo.

Thank you all again for all of your input. I look forward to reading anything else anyone has to add and hope to read more fresh perspectives on this.

Then yes, from what you're saying (especially since you've played a Shammy before) I'd really say Shaman/Monk. Everything I've said so far in the thread has been about the Vel/Kun era classes. Don't get me wrong, I would be advocating Shaman even harder if this were PoP+

Pre-Luclin, you're going to find very few mobs immune to Slow that are in the scope of a duo. This is going to make just about everything, including splitting camps (or just 'tanking' the full camp) very much in your reach. As Phallax said, splitting summoning camps is easy with Root. Root them, Slow them, (snare them if able ie: Innoruuk Shammy) then leave them be while fighting the other mob. If root breaks, reroot. Malo is your friend.

Monks were also very good solo'ers back in Kunark. Combine that with what you can do with a shaman and it's very yummy. Between the two of them, you'll be able to split just about any camp, and if something goes wrong pre-shammy in the fight, you can feign it off and try again. Mend is a lifesaver if something happens to the shaman/for summoning mobs.

While this combo won't tear through things quite as fast as the double dps duos, it's much safer, and can take on just about anything you would look to tackle. And if you're curious, I was the Monk back then, and my guild leader was the Shaman. We duo'd quite a bit of the content. (Although sometimes I was wondering if he even needed me. :P)

Plus... Monks just look cooler doing the same stuff other classes would do in that duo. ^.~

[Reiker]

JBB is redonkulous. Someone doesnt know the power of a manaless nuke, the 8 sec cast is basically 8 secs of slight mana regen, and come velious with FT is another thing. A shaman, in theory, is going to be slow+torpor tanking thus neglecting chain cani. So the JBB click is $$. Trust me Ive played shaman since live classic all the way thru Omens, i love the class, pick shaman in any game that offers it because of thier versatility.
Not trying to turn this into a pissing match, but I've also played a shaman for years and you don't know what you're talking about. Why click a JBB when you can be doing so much other important shit? JBB is 263 damage iirc. You can cast a fucking gimp dot like Ebolt in half the time and do 3.75 times more damage for 200 mana.

[Taluvill]

I know i advocated enc/dru earlier, but If your doing shaman/monk, you can always do a ikky shaman/monk combo and be really badass

[Thoughtseize]

Magus stays the best class in the game. Epic does not come out till after Velious anyhow.

....

[Phallax]

Not trying to turn this into a pissing match, but I've also played a shaman for years and you don't know what you're talking about. Why click a JBB when you can be doing so much other important shit? JBB is 263 damage iirc. You can cast a fucking gimp dot like Ebolt in half the time and do 3.75 times more damage for 200 mana.

Thats mana that can be spent on a slow or torpor. Free casting is the best thing ever...Theres really no discussion about it. In kunark and velios JBB is near priceless. Ill admit with the way the game works post-Velious with AAs, gear, new spells etc that JBB starts to lose its worth but this is classic, not Luclin+

[martigan1983]

2 cleric dwarves is the best duo.


infinite free beer clicky !!!!

[Hiragawa]

2 cleric dwarves is the best duo.


infinite free beer clicky !!!!

I take back everything I've said in this thread. ^.~ :P

[Reiker]

Thats mana that can be spent on a slow or torpor. Free casting is the best thing ever...Theres really no discussion about it. In kunark and velios JBB is near priceless. Ill admit with the way the game works post-Velious with AAs, gear, new spells etc that JBB starts to lose its worth but this is classic, not Luclin+
Explain to me why it's beneficial to do minimal damage for no mana as opposed to much better damage for a small amount of mana that can easily be made up over a few seconds of torpor + canni spamming? I agree, a mana free nuke would be amazing to any other class but doesn't really benefit a class with virtually unlimited mana, with the fastest mana regen in the game by far.

[Phallax]

Explain to me why it's beneficial to do minimal damage for no mana as opposed to much better damage for a small amount of mana that can easily be made up over a few seconds of torpor + canni spamming? I agree, a mana free nuke would be amazing to any other class but doesn't really benefit a class with virtually unlimited mana, with the fastest mana regen in the game by far.

Even tho you claimed to have played a shaman, you obviously never soloed anything worth while...Its pointless trying to proove my point to someone thats only seeing things their way and refuse to open their mind to other aspect.

Shaman dots are far from being "small amounts of mana" atm our best dots cost 300 mana, thats pretty steep to a 2k mana pool which Im gonna guess is average for most shaman atm. When soloing stuff worth while, it takes awhile and youre getting your ass pounded in the process, chain cani isnt much of an otion, you cani when you can afford it but you dont chain cani. Even when DUOing shamans take a good portion of dmg and DoTing isnt efficient as healing your partner to do the dmg.

[Reiker]

Please tell me what you consider "worthwhile" ... and please don't say Yeldema.

[Phallax]

Please tell me what you consider "worthwhile" ... and please don't say Yeldema.

Lodizal, any of the nest dragons and 2 or 3 of the dragons outfront ToV, which ever ones didnt silence. Any named camp in sebilis once broken was easy to hold.

[Skope]

Explain to me why it's beneficial to do minimal damage for no mana as opposed to much better damage for a small amount of mana that can easily be made up over a few seconds of torpor + canni spamming? I agree, a mana free nuke would be amazing to any other class but doesn't really benefit a class with virtually unlimited mana, with the fastest mana regen in the game by far.

chain cannibalizing while soloing something difficult isn't a great idea. That in itself wastes time. The way a shaman soloed things that were high HP and an extreme level of difficulty usually resulted in them healing themselves with torpor, having a proc wep equipped and using the JBB while timing when it is that the mob has the next swing as to not be interrupted. DoT's, with perhaps exception of the plague line, weren't usually used. It was essentially a 15minute fight that's very safe, as opposed to making it a 5minute endeavor where you're not sure whether or not you'll have enough mana to finish it off.

JBB was mostly used when root rotting. if you didn't want to get hit by it's melee you can simply slow, DoT, root and click jbb - reapply root.

It was never necessary, and there were far better choices in equipment for a shaman, but it did allow a certain degree of freedom in a shammy's style of play. But keep in mind that shammies solo capabilities are heavily influenced by their gear. You're not a mage, where you can essentially do the same things with or without gear. It's a class that requires a LOT of plat to support and can be time-consuming and often very frustrating to level.

The reason shammies make great duo partners is because they're so dang versatile. Even in classic I can quad-root specs at lvl 44 (gotta have quite a bit of mana though -- around 190 wis not counting +mana gear). Just running around I've seen many different shammy playstyles, though I may not agree with some, it doesn't mean that it's flat-out wrong. With the various spells and roles you can pair them with almost any class and do quite well.

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around. By far the main reason they were so valuable was because they weren't overplayed. A single shaman in a group can fulfill many roles, but as soon as you have two it's a serious hindrance. On raid situations it was usually 2-3 shamans, with one taking care of buffs and the other(s) on slow/malise/debuffs, and that was with 40-50 people per raid.

[Weekapaug]

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around.

I agree with everything else you posted but, at the risk of jacking my own thread, I would worry more about other class twinks running around, honestly. LOL

There are loads of shaman on p99, but there are shitloads of enchanters and bards. "Bad" shaman are usually just lazy and a waste of a group slot. Bad bards and enchanters are a detriment to themselves and others, in and out of groups. I've encountered maybe two or three of each so far that weren't. I don't know how it is past 30, but if I see more than a piece or two of lambent on a bard when I get in a group with my warrior main, I literally cringe.

There are notable exceptions, of course, but in my 8-9 years of EQ since release on blue servers, red servers, new servers, old servers, etc, I've never seen a collection of so many shit bard twinks in one place as on this server, with enchanters right behind them.

[Kluren]

+1 to monk and mage (earth chain pet) duo. :)

[Reiker]

chain cannibalizing while soloing something difficult isn't a great idea. That in itself wastes time. The way a shaman soloed things that were high HP and an extreme level of difficulty usually resulted in them healing themselves with torpor, having a proc wep equipped and using the JBB while timing when it is that the mob has the next swing as to not be interrupted. DoT's, with perhaps exception of the plague line, weren't usually used. It was essentially a 15minute fight that's very safe, as opposed to making it a 5minute endeavor where you're not sure whether or not you'll have enough mana to finish it off.

JBB was mostly used when root rotting. if you didn't want to get hit by it's melee you can simply slow, DoT, root and click jbb - reapply root.

It was never necessary, and there were far better choices in equipment for a shaman, but it did allow a certain degree of freedom in a shammy's style of play. But keep in mind that shammies solo capabilities are heavily influenced by their gear. You're not a mage, where you can essentially do the same things with or without gear. It's a class that requires a LOT of plat to support and can be time-consuming and often very frustrating to level.

The reason shammies make great duo partners is because they're so dang versatile. Even in classic I can quad-root specs at lvl 44 (gotta have quite a bit of mana though -- around 190 wis not counting +mana gear). Just running around I've seen many different shammy playstyles, though I may not agree with some, it doesn't mean that it's flat-out wrong. With the various spells and roles you can pair them with almost any class and do quite well.

My one worry is to see an increase of shaman twinks running around. By far the main reason they were so valuable was because they weren't overplayed. A single shaman in a group can fulfill many roles, but as soon as you have two it's a serious hindrance. On raid situations it was usually 2-3 shamans, with one taking care of buffs and the other(s) on slow/malise/debuffs, and that was with 40-50 people per raid.

The reason you weren't canning while tanking was probably something to do with prioritizing wisdom and not hp. "Slow, root, JBB, reapply root" is probably one of the worst shaman strategies I've heard. And to Phallax, no point in really listing mobs you soloed without mentioning which expansion you did it in. Yes, I've soloed Lodizal, within the Velious expansion, but on The Sleeper where there was obvious advantages. Still, I've only heard of one other person doing this and that was another shaman in RoI. But I also had no problem holding all 4 spawns at Seb crypt during Kunark/Velious back in 2000. As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though :)

[Thac0]

As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though :)I do recall Shammys soloing some pretty hard content in Velious simply due to to the fact that slow + topor + click-able damage is pretty darn nice. Likewise I do understand your point about the shaman having many options so they don't have to waste time clicking something and just use mana to burn down a mob.

Really that the great thing about shammys. Many styles of gameplay and no 1 way is the right way. Anyone who says there is only 1 way in reguards to shammys is probably hardheaded and daft to boot.

In retrospec, anyone looking at the thread should seriously consider a shammy just due to the back and forth between you guys. You all bring up pretty great points.

The down side is that now there will be more shammys :p

[Phallax]

The reason you weren't canning while tanking was probably something to do with prioritizing wisdom and not hp. "Slow, root, JBB, reapply root" is probably one of the worst shaman strategies I've heard. And to Phallax, no point in really listing mobs you soloed without mentioning which expansion you did it in. Yes, I've soloed Lodizal, within the Velious expansion, but on The Sleeper where there was obvious advantages. Still, I've only heard of one other person doing this and that was another shaman in RoI. But I also had no problem holding all 4 spawns at Seb crypt during Kunark/Velious back in 2000. As difficult as it was keeping up with the spawns, I can't imagine wasting time relying on a JBB. I sure did make a lot of plat off selling them though :)

I did this when Velious was the latest expansion. And held down many sebilis camps solo/duo when RoK was. I soloed Lodizal many times. Hes not all that hard if you take your time and arent retarded.

[Cogwell]

Not that I'm calling you a liar, but how the hell did you solo crypt at 60? How long did it take to kill the guards since you couldnt interrupt CH reliably (slam isn't *that* nice)? I think that would be much more of an accomplishment than soloing lodizal.

[Reiker]

You avoid the guards.

[guineapig]

I've seen this question before..

Enchanter / Druid

Reason: (I'm repeating myself)

Clarity, pet, charm, haste, slow, sow, teleports, evac, snare, dots, nukes, healing, mez, stuns, root, invis, invis versus undead, damage shields, regen, indoor and outdoor lull, alliance, enchant metals, see invis etc, etc, etc...

The only in game ability (besides locate/summon corpse) this combo does not have access to is resurection. Add a paladin as the third member when a tank is needed and you can do anything in the game...

There is no other combo in the game that can do what an enchanter / druid can do.

[Stickyfingers]

Then yes, from what you're saying (especially since you've played a Shammy before) I'd really say Shaman/Monk. Everything I've said so far in the thread has been about the Vel/Kun era classes. Don't get me wrong, I would be advocating Shaman even harder if this were PoP+

Pre-Luclin, you're going to find very few mobs immune to Slow that are in the scope of a duo. This is going to make just about everything, including splitting camps (or just 'tanking' the full camp) very much in your reach. As Phallax said, splitting summoning camps is easy with Root. Root them, Slow them, (snare them if able ie: Innoruuk Shammy) then leave them be while fighting the other mob. If root breaks, reroot. Malo is your friend.

Monks were also very good solo'ers back in Kunark. Combine that with what you can do with a shaman and it's very yummy. Between the two of them, you'll be able to split just about any camp, and if something goes wrong pre-shammy in the fight, you can feign it off and try again. Mend is a lifesaver if something happens to the shaman/for summoning mobs.

While this combo won't tear through things quite as fast as the double dps duos, it's much safer, and can take on just about anything you would look to tackle. And if you're curious, I was the Monk back then, and my guild leader was the Shaman. We duo'd quite a bit of the content. (Although sometimes I was wondering if he even needed me. :P)

Plus... Monks just look cooler doing the same stuff other classes would do in that duo. ^.~



Nailed it. Shaman/Monk is amazing, you have a tank, puller, healer, dps, and the best buffs and debuffs.

[Noleafclover]

Ya'll seem to be forgetting how good monk bind wound is on a shammy (I didn't read the whole thread, but read a few posts advocating monk/shammy). At lv. 35, I bind wound for 46 hp/10 seconds. That's almost 28 hp a tick the shaman can turn into 12 or so mana a tick, better than clarity while you're doing it. And I've still got a little bind wound skill to raise, and Canni 2 gets a better ratio.

[setver]

ENC/DRU is very powerful. I was the druid in said combo. Once you get into a groove and trust each other, its really good. You do need a location with at least some room to be where its safe enough to xp though. With a snare on charmed mob, snare on mob dieing, enc can easily mez both if needed, or the dieing one while the druid resnares/sit to bounce agro back and forth till a recharm if that is what you want as well. Summoning mobs are more dangerous, but can be done if the enc isn't afraid to rune a decent amount.

Instead of a paladin, we used a mage sometimes for our 3rd, mainly for malo line on pets. This is also good in a zone where the druid is able to charm as well. Summoned weapons for both, and a pet to tank the mob if both charms happen to break at the same time.

This takes a lot of skill and reaction on when charm breaks. Can always evac while the enc mez's, incase you got trained, spawned on during breaks, whatever.

[Qaedain]

Chipping in another vote for SHM/MNK. Slows, heals, camp splitting, rapid regen, high DPS, DDs, SoW... The list goes on and on.

Another favorite of mine has always been SHM/MAG, because a Mage's pet is a pretty fantastic tank when slow is brought into the mix. Double caster has some inherent weaknesses, but I always had some pretty wild successes with this combo and a will to chain-cast.

[Ingrum]

It seems like the most tempting duos are Shaman/Monk and Shaman/Shadowknight.

Does the DPS from the monk outweigh the utility and tankability of the shadowknight since you have a shaman to slow, buff, and heal?

[Arkanjil]

It seems like the most tempting duos are Shaman/Monk and Shaman/Shadowknight.

Does the DPS from the monk outweigh the utility and tankability of the shadowknight since you have a shaman to slow, buff, and heal?

I played the monk in the shaman/monk duo and from memory I never had many issues tanking. Aggro could sometimes be an issue, but you just had to be cautious of it.

If you are going to play shadowknight, the lower dps will definitely be made up by the extra utility, even if the extra utility is just more consistent aggro. As a monk, I duo'd in dungeons, but with gating mobs, it made having that anklesmasher just that much more important.

I haven't seen a gating mob yet on P99, but it might be something they will add later.

[Phallax]

I played the monk in the shaman/monk duo and from memory I never had many issues tanking. Aggro could sometimes be an issue, but you just had to be cautious of it.

If you are going to play shadowknight, the lower dps will definitely be made up by the extra utility, even if the extra utility is just more consistent aggro. As a monk, I duo'd in dungeons, but with gating mobs, it made having that anklesmasher just that much more important.

I haven't seen a gating mob yet on P99, but it might be something they will add later.

Gating NPCs didnt happen untill Kunark.

[Arkanjil]

Gating NPCs didnt happen untill Kunark.

Yep and it falls right into what the OP was wanting to be considered. We will have to deal with it eventually, so might as well plan for it. I'd rather have a mob snared and run than rooted with the possibility of it gating.

[darkblade717]

Shaman/Necro or Shaman/Magician. With buffs the Necro pet will last long enough and has WAY more utility than the Magician. The only thing the Magician has over the Necro is a little more DPS and a little beefier of a pet, which doesn't matter if you have a good Shaman.

[Modus]

I've played most of these duos, usually as the shaman, both in hardcore pvp situations and casual pve. The answer to this question depends on the situation.

If one was grinding AAs or leveling from 55-60, a monk/shaman duo would be superior simply due to ease of use.

If one was inside a dungeon, going after a tough camp, an enchanter/shaman would be the most decisively powerful in close quarters.

If one was hunting outdoors, an enchanter/druid combo takes an edge over enchanter/shaman, depending on the skill level of the shaman (druid is easier to play).

Enchanter/cleric is very powerful and should be considered a rival of the above mentioned.

Replacing "enchanter" with "bard" will produce similar results, depending on the skill of the bard and the area of the camp.

It should be noted that in Kunark and onward PVP, both enchanters and druids I'd consider "weak" PVP classes, and neither would be in my ideal PVP duo.

EDIT: My ideal PVP combo for late kunark+ would be paladin/shadowknight.

[Skope]

Shaman/Necro or Shaman/Magician. With buffs the Necro pet will last long enough and has WAY more utility than the Magician. The only thing the Magician has over the Necro is a little more DPS and a little beefier of a pet, which doesn't matter if you have a good Shaman.

Necros top DPS charts when allowed to DoT and if the mob has enough health whereas magician takes a bit of a downturn in kunark. Also have to consider that necro DoTs will cause less aggro (depending on the dots, but think fire/splurt line). Though magician earth pet + plane's focus item is awesome and makes an incredible tank.

[Weekapaug]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. The conversation was most helpful and I really appreciate the meaningful debate.

Personally, as per my own experiences and what so many posted to confirm them, I really wanted to go with the Shaman/Monk duo. Plus I've been dying to play a monk since returning to EQ here.

But we decided to go with a Shaman/Necro duo for this project, at least for now. The GF is very into playing casters and doesn't have a full grasp on what the shaman does exactly, so I will be playing the shaman with her necro, which I will have a blast with too. A necro is a great class for her, I think, because it will afford her an opportunity to solo as well and to do it with a class that requires a bit of nuance since it's not as simple and direct as, say, a mage. She is still learning how everything works here so I think she will benefit most from this and we will still make for a potent duo. My only concern is being able to split camps and get single pulls because I've never really done all that with a necro myself, but we shall see, I guess.

I'm hoping that, since she will be sitting next to me as we play, I can get her up to speed on the ins and outs of the shaman and she will want to eventually play one with my monk. :)

Thank you again everyone. We both sincerely appreciate all of the responses and discussion about this.

[BuzWeaver]

Week, I'm glad the information was helpful. Ultimately its going to come down to what's fun for you or for you and your girlfriend. As I mentioned my favorite is the Shaman/Monk combo, best of luck to you with your choice.

[Overcast]

Rezzing this thread, because it's got some win in it - lots of good opinions and such.
Just looking for comments on what would duo well with a Bard...

Just looking for opinions and why.

Wife and I have been having a heck of a time coming up with a combo. Of course, she's not 100% set on which class she wants to play, I've been leaning heavily towards the SK, with Ranger as a potential second.

I've already played Wiz, Necro, Pally, Warrior, Cleric - as much as I care to :)

[Swishahouse]

Any of you classes wanna duo just pick up a shaman and put yourself in EZ mode....If you can somehow break us from soloing the same mobs QQ

[Cogwell]

Wife and I have been having a heck of a time coming up with a combo. Of course, she's not 100% set on which class she wants to play, I've been leaning heavily towards the SK, with Ranger as a potential second.

Ranger + Shaman or Cleric is decent. Ranger+Cleric is quite good after the ranger gets his epics and can slow.

SK + CLR/SHM/DRU is also fine. I've played a SK/ENC combo (obviously meant more for grouping with others) and it was quite fun.

SK+RNG would only really work fear kiting, which is pretty limiting in classic but opens up more in kunark.

[azeth]

Dru/Nec

Monk/Sham

Mage/Enc

Nec/Nec

Sham/Mage

Sham/Nec

Sk/Sham <-- favorite only because on Rodcet Nife we had a pretty famous duo making the mix seem unbeatable. They were very geared however.

[Overcast]

Was mostly looking for a good duo with a Bard - I think the wife's pretty settled on one

[Chicka]

Shaman and monk are a great duo, two classes that can solo, but compliment each other well in a duo. JBB for shaman, T-Staff for monk = epic. And fun.

In a mage/monk duo - well, even if the mage enjoyed it, I don't think I would want to be the monk.

[Nightblade]

I'm actually a little surprised people didn't mention more about bards. The duo I'm currently slotted up with is a druid/bard, and the only real limiting factor is that if we're indoors, it switches from kiting several mobs at once to simply root rotting with me standing nearby blasting the eardrums out of it.

Slow, better-than-SoW, healing (both over time, and instant), mana regen, resists for those pesky casters, stuns or mez for interrupting casting, pulling ability...

While they may not be the 'best' at any one thing, they do everything pretty damned well. Following around a druid whose quad-kiting to chant them to death? Can't get much more interesting or fun than that.

While many of you have brought up many good points about the mage, they lack in one thing : the oh-shit button. Yes, mages chaining their pets can do beastly dps, and can solo or duo a great many things, but when put on scale with a competent shaman all by his lonesome, he has far more survivability, utility, flexibility, and 'padding' for when things go south due to an add, poor timing, lag, or whathaveyou. Put a shaman with something like an SK, a monk, or the like, and you're talking about someone who literally has zero downtime, and thus, will far outclass a mage who is limited by his manabar, and whether or not he has clarity, or decides to chip away his own padding by mod-rodding.

As both bard and rogue, I've duo'd with a shaman for many years, with one of the best, knowledgeable ones on my server, and he could do shit that mages could never come close to.

[Overcast]

I'm actually a little surprised people didn't mention more about bards. The duo I'm currently slotted up with is a druid/bard, and the only real limiting factor is that if we're indoors, it switches from kiting several mobs at once to simply root rotting with me standing nearby blasting the eardrums out of it.



That's interesting. A druid is one class I have thought about... Of course, in a dungeon crawl - for a duo, the bard ends up being the tank too.

We are kinda leaning on the 'play what we want' concept and all - but like it was said earlier in the thread, part of the 'fun' is being able to deal with a large variety of content - indoors even more so than outdoors. We love to dungeon crawl.

We've been doing a Bard/SK combo - which works out fairly well, really. Might just end up sticking with that.

I can't think that a Ranger/Bard combo would be better - but I have always wanted to play a Ranger... hehe

[azeth]

Overcast I'm actually in the same boat, I solely group with my Wife and we've done so for every level so far. I hope the SK/Bard combo works, but I'm sure you understand you may *have to group in your 40's/Kunark.

I'd actually be interested to see Sk/Bard work together, the two classes I'm probably most ignorant of.


edit: just remembered I saw a Druid/Rogue duo killing Halls of Honor (right? PoP zone) ent trash in 2003ish. It was surprisingly effective and pretty fail safe given Snare sticks. Definitely *requires some room to kite though.

[guineapig]

Have to agree that druid bard combo is pretty bad ass. The downside is that you are overlapping many abilities such as snare and sow. However the dots stack, druid roots are pretty damn good, and having sow and levitate for a bard means being able to twist 4 detrimental songs when kiting and not having to worry about the travel songs.

Very efficient on down time for both classes since the bard does not need to meditate and can keep all the agro. This allows the druid to over dot/nuke and still be able to sit and med in place.

[guineapig]

SK/bard = fear kiting for sure. Both classes can spam fear till it lands and the bard snare is ungodly good.

All you have to really be aware of is the pathing of the mobs ahead of time.

This combo is also very mana efficient once the mob is feared, requiring very little (if any down time). You are only limited by what you can find outdoors.

[HippoNipple]

My fiance is going to play a mage.

Goal of group:
1) level efficiently
2) farm stuff at level cap
3) very rarely be in a raid if ever, most likely just 1 full group at max

I want us to be able to do as much as possible at end game in indoor zones with limited gear (no raid gear, epics, etc.)

I'm open to be whatever, shaman, monk, enchanter are the ones I see being the best with a mage. I know all of those would be fine but I want to make the best choice for kunark/velious like the original post said, and I'm stuck with a mage because I think its the easiest class to play and thats what my fiance will be.

[Droxx]

Swisha pretty much nailed it. Shaman and anything = game over.

[azeth]

My fiance is going to play a mage.

Goal of group:
1) level efficiently
2) farm stuff at level cap
3) very rarely be in a raid if ever, most likely just 1 full group at max

I want us to be able to do as much as possible at end game in indoor zones with limited gear (no raid gear, epics, etc.)

I'm open to be whatever, shaman, monk, enchanter are the ones I see being the best with a mage. I know all of those would be fine but I want to make the best choice for kunark/velious like the original post said, and I'm stuck with a mage because I think its the easiest class to play and thats what my fiance will be.

For what it's worth, from someone who like I mentioned previously, duos consistantly mage/enc :

Kashi (Enc) does the following for me - Mana Regen, Lull + CC, AC/Haste Pets, Rune for camp breaks, Slow, Nukes, and does all our Merchant visits.

If she was a Monk - Pros Pull, Tank Cons Die, mage can't heal

Shaman - Pros Slows (much safer than Enc), Heals, excellent buffs, good damage from DoT+Pet+possibly Melee. Cons Not a whole lot.. Mage mana may suffer though if the Shaman is healing your pet you should not have mana issues since our Nukes are decent mana/damage.

[Overcast]

Overcast I'm actually in the same boat, I solely group with my Wife and we've done so for every level so far. I hope the SK/Bard combo works, but I'm sure you understand you may *have to group in your 40's/Kunark.

I'd actually be interested to see Sk/Bard work together, the two classes I'm probably most ignorant of.


edit: just remembered I saw a Druid/Rogue duo killing Halls of Honor (right? PoP zone) ent trash in 2003ish. It was surprisingly effective and pretty fail safe given Snare sticks. Definitely *requires some room to kite though.

Oh I have ZERO issues grouping - we plan on it. We also want a duo that's group effective too. But a solid duo gives us options if we can't find a group or don't want to group at a particular time, or if we just want to go camp gear / quest items.

Thanks for the input~ the more the merrier.

[Theldios]

Well I have played everyclass in the game to 60+ and by far hook a shaman up with //? and you have a good combo.
Shaman are by far the most versitile class in the game they can do it all.
And for the guy who says he only grouped with a shaman was to PL him lol so how was it getting pled by a shaman lower level than you?

[Tappin]

I just now read over this entire thread and was very happy with the outcome.

A friend and mine had kind of decided to make Iksar Monk/Shaman duo team when Kunark came out. This pretty much really seals the deal for us I think!

Sorry to reopen this thread, hehe. But maybe it should be now that Kunark is getting closer... Or I assume it is, hehe.

[Kavanah]

Hands down Enchanter / Druid

This is by far the MOST EFFECIENT and EFFECTIVE when it comes to the right places. However those places aren't abundant.

I've put a lot of research and study into this topic, as well as using most of these combos at one point or another. So the info I give you, while generalized, is coming from a lot of background research. Since Alkabor has such a low population (live EQ MAC server) and frozen at PoP, a lot of people box on it and it was a common question... what is the best duo?

I personally did monk/shaman and I find it is a great combo. Just wait till those ikkys come out and it will be like woah! This is a heavy damage team with some utility, can group just about anywhere, and great travel!

Druid/Ench was popular on Alkabor for obvious reasons, especially when you could charm and snare! Great utility, great travel, and just a great all around caster team if thats your thing.

Shadowknight/shaman was probably what I would vote as being the "best" duo all around. If you want to go with the more tanky/healer approach this is the bread and butter of them all. You can do more, with great effeciency, than any other duo.

Warrior/Cleric a good all around duo, little low on the dps side, no slows unless you have some toys on your warrior. Trepids deeds anyone? With that in stock, this is a fairly good duo.

Ranger/Cleric when equipped with epic earthcaller, the ranger/cleric combo is pretty interesting. I know a guy on Alkabor who has GREAT success with this combo and is duo'ing mobs I didn't think were possible to duo during pre-PoP! Don't underestimate this awesome duo!

[Snigel]

I vouch for MAG/SHM, essentially raped entire sebilis w/ epic pet

[Wildas]

This thread is ridiculous.

In theory nothing can beat an enchanter/cleric for "hardest" mob - If the correct charmable mob is there. However, this scenario relies a lot on luck and is difficult to pull off.

Enc/Druid is certainly powerful, however relies a lot on charm. It benefits from snare/evac but is still reliant on charm for difficult mobs. Still it can pump out nice xp but requires a lot of focus. You can however duo nicely with enc illusion + slow and druid heals, but then it's not nearly the best.

For non-charm situations Shaman/sk or or monk is pretty much the best you're going to be able to do. Sham/sk having the edge for difficult mobs, and monks having the edge for kill speed. Shaman/mage is great when you don't need to chain pets or when you have epic. But you lose pulling ability, tanking (vocerates and g-vocerates absolutely suck vs level 60+ mobs, you'll need to chain and lose a lot of dps in the process, plus a chained pet will not have aggro.

A sk will beat a warrior for almost any hard mob due to the high health of difficult mobs. The sk wins for pulls, but assuming you get it solo - A sks taps on top of shaman heals will almost always prevail. War discs are nice, but if we're talking top end difficulty here, defensive won't last long enough to matter, or dps discs won't beat the self heals a sk can put out over the long term + HT (and don't discount 44 necro pet dps over the course of a fight).

Let's do a little math here - Cheal is 400 mana for full health. Torpor is 200 mana for 1200 healed. Slow reduces a mobs dps to 1/4. So it's equal to 200 mana for 4800 healed - much more than a tank can hit in Kunark. Let's assume you have to throw in Sup heals because the mob has such high dps. 540 for 250 = 2160 hp/250 mana spent if the cleric was casting it. That's much more mana efficient than nearly any CH, plus you have breathing room and more time to regen mana. There is simply no way a cleric can be better for hard mobs than a shaman in kunark - and due to mana regen, the same applies for velious.

The mana regen a shaman can get in Kurnark is unparalled by any class. Canni 3 + Regrowth/Fungal regrowth, VoB, and worn Fungal Regrowth (fungii tunic) is absurb mana regen throughout the course of a fight.

The idea of mage/monk or any other combo coming anywhere close is absolutely absurd.

[Wildas]

Also, a SK with pet will be very close to a monk at 60 for dps. Monk pulls ahead a bit as ToV weaponry comes into play.

[Blazed420]

Druid/Necro For open areas.

[Maurk]

I've seen this question before..

Enchanter / Druid

Reason: (I'm repeating myself)

Clarity, pet, charm, haste, slow, sow, teleports, evac, snare, dots, nukes, healing, mez, stuns, root, invis, invis versus undead, damage shields, regen, indoor and outdoor lull, alliance, enchant metals, see invis etc, etc, etc...

The only in game ability (besides locate/summon corpse) this combo does not have access to is resurection. Add a paladin as the third member when a tank is needed and you can do anything in the game...

There is no other combo in the game that can do what an enchanter / druid can do.

Straight up.

[audacity]

Friend and I had a monk/shm duo. It was pretty easy to level with that combo. Both were iksars w/ fungi tunics. Only bad thing is no JBB but everything else was solid...Had so much regen I could just nuke w/o fear of mana really.

[mimixownzall]

Chanter/Cleric. End of discussion.

Cleric: Great buffs, best heals and a decent nuke. Some CC with Root if need be. Crack means extra mana for some nukes.

Chanter: Charmed mob = best pet/tank ever and it does some crazy DPS. You have all the CC you need with a chanter and some help with a cleric. If you're feeling brave or you know you have a good cleric to save you, throw that pet some haste! You go through mobs like lol.

Oh and in b4 PORTS!! EVAC AND STUFF WHAT ABOUT THAT?!?!?!?!

Who cares... if you need that then you should just get a group. Add a mage or a necro to that duo and you have a stellar trio.

[azeth]

Necro / Druid.

[karsten]

paladin/paladin



pretty simple discussion really

[Teseer]

Bard + Audience.

[hedbonker]

Any halfler duo will own.

[guineapig]

Straight up.

I agree with Maurk. ;)

[Scrooge]

Ench/Necro....oh the possibilities...

[Kassel]

Druid/ench is insane.

WRT Cleric/ench

Why would you want your charmed mob to tank when you can fear kite it snared and only have heal when charm breaks? if you have a good ench you never have to heal

[citizen1080]

Bard + Audience.

^----This.


Some hp buffs are helpful to absorb a bad turn on a aoe kite...but really nothing can touch a bard for grinding xp outdoors. Inside is a different story

[Ennoia]

Most solid duo for Kunark is Bob and his wallet.

[Naerron]

monk/shammy hands down

[Fists]

Bard/Necro - I've been doing this duo for quite some time now and its beyond nasty with a selo's drum. You can either root and have the pet tank while the necro dots and the bard chants (205 a tick total at 57), and runs mana; Or the bard can snare/chant while the rogue pet backstabs.

[Kevlar]

Another vote for ench/druid.

Charm is really overpowered, combine it with ensnare, haste/slow, and in certain zones the druid can add a strong pet as well. Plus druid tracking and ports let you pick out a lot of different targets. Heck just leveling in overthere with a sabertooth tiger pet, give him a couple daggers and he quads for 400. I just have the level 20 pet haste and he still tears up anything in the zone without losing any noticeable health. Nothing chloro and sitting between pulls can't keep up with.

Sure, if it doesn't summon a bard can kite it to death, but it takes them a half hour doing what the enchanter can do in 30 seconds.

[Arrisard]

Another vote for ench/druid.

Charm is really overpowered, combine it with ensnare, haste/slow, and in certain zones the druid can add a strong pet as well. Plus druid tracking and ports let you pick out a lot of different targets. Heck just leveling in overthere with a sabertooth tiger pet, give him a couple daggers and he quads for 400. I just have the level 20 pet haste and he still tears up anything in the zone without losing any noticeable health. Nothing chloro and sitting between pulls can't keep up with.

Sure, if it doesn't summon a bard can kite it to death, but it takes them a half hour doing what the enchanter can do in 30 seconds.

An enchanter can kill over a hundred mobs in 30 seconds?

Don't get me wrong, AE kiting is really limited to specific zones at specific levels, but for pure exp grind on a 1-2 person basis nothing is even in the same realm when you get even decently good at it. It took me around an hour to do 45 in 2 or 3 pulls.

[Orruar]

Shamans are terrible guys. Nobody should be making them.

[Galanteer]

Don't get me wrong, AE kiting is really limited to specific zones at specific levels,

and this is why few people do it, if 20 more bards showed up looking for those spots....

Norath is big, and most of the combos suggested work well in the majority of the lands, not just a few zones with a few specific mobs.

But everyone enjoys the game for different reasons, if you get off on being fastest to 60 -good on ya.

[Kevlar]

An enchanter can kill over a hundred mobs in 30 seconds?

Don't get me wrong, AE kiting is really limited to specific zones at specific levels, but for pure exp grind on a 1-2 person basis nothing is even in the same realm when you get even decently good at it. It took me around an hour to do 45 in 2 or 3 pulls.

Charm killing can come pretty close, and is a lot less tedious. Took me about 90 minutes to blast through 40 with a hasted sabertooth tiger pet and flame lick.

I was glad to get through the "hell" level in one casting of greater wolf form.

And good luck AE chanting anything worth killing for loot, or anyplace there are casters.

[Envious]

Charm killing can come pretty close, and is a lot less tedious. Took me about 90 minutes to blast through 40 with a hasted sabertooth tiger pet and flame lick.

I was glad to get through the "hell" level in one casting of greater wolf form.

And good luck AE chanting anything worth killing for loot, or anyplace there are casters.

Sounds like your 2 boxing...

Fastest to lvl 60 is going to be bard + cleric / wiz / ench.

Best at 60 will be shm + monk.

[Envious]

And if you wanna do the charm + whatever routine...

NOTHING beats cleric / enchanter. Highest lvl imp in Sol B has 7500+ hps buffed. No druid can dent that with heals, you need complete heal + cleric buffs to really make the charm routine work.

[Kevlar]

Not 2 boxing. Druids > enchanter in outdoor zones with lots of dark blue animal mobs. I pull 4-5 at a time and the pet chews through them with 1 fear, 1 snare, and 1 flame lick. I regen the mana in 3 tics.

Druid chanter is still a better team for doing dungeons. Add a cleric friend for cheal and in the right zone you can kill raid targets.

[Fuzzi]

Rogue/Rogue

[Daldaen]

Enchanter / Cleric.

[Snaggles]

There are various combos for outside zones. If you have room things get easy, if you can snare and they don't summon it's childsplay.

A Shaman and a tank are hard to beat. Monk/Warrior kill faster but a SK can hold pull decent (compared to monk) and tank well with aggro spells. Plus that way you have a snaring Shaman ;).

[Knuckle]

Necro/Cleric for KC and HS

[Xanthias]

Ranger/Necro
Ranger/Chanter

Fear and Snare is a wonderful combo

[abedog]

chanter/shaman

[Zuranthium]

Chanter/Cleric. End of discussion.

Cleric: Great buffs, best heals and a decent nuke. Some CC with Root if need be. Crack means extra mana for some nukes.

Chanter: Charmed mob = best pet/tank ever and it does some crazy DPS. You have all the CC you need with a chanter and some help with a cleric. If you're feeling brave or you know you have a good cleric to save you, throw that pet some haste! You go through mobs like lol.

Oh and in b4 PORTS!! EVAC AND STUFF WHAT ABOUT THAT?!?!?!?!

Who cares... if you need that then you should just get a group.

That's not the point of the question being asked. If 2 people want to duo the game, then that means relying on just themselves. Enchanter + Druid > Enchanter + Cleric because the former combo has far more mobility. The latter combo may be able to take on some harder content way later in the game, but it's going to take far longer to get there because you're going to be spending far more time simply traveling and the former combo levels faster on top of it. SoW means you can pull faster outdoors and the Druid damage shield on the charmed pet means you kill faster.

Having snare makes it much safer to Charm in difficult situations as well; it's more dependable than root. When a hasted and dual-wielding Charmed pet breaks, you want security. The Cleric's ability to C-Heal is moot there and a Druid will often protect the Enchanter better because of their superior movement control. C-healing charmed pets is kinda of irrelevant as well because you should just charm a new pet when the current one is getting close to dying. Obviously this can't always be done, meaning the Enchanter + Cleric duo better for some specific areas (as I already said), but when you look at the overall picture that far from outweighs everything else.

So, yes, my vote is for Enchanter + Druid as the overall best duo. Shaman is very close; I'd definitely take that with an Enchanter before I'd take a Cleric. The Shaman's resist debuff makes Charm last longer, they have SoW to help travel and to pull faster + more security, and they have that amazing mana regeneration, which can be funneled into damage (PLUS damage from their pet) so the duo can level faster.

Of course, this thread does say Kunark + Velious, which makes it harder to answer. Velious adds in much more difficult content and so in that regard, Shaman (with an Enchanter) might be the best answer after all because Shaman are vastly more powerful than Druids at the high levels (especially Level 60) and if you do plan on wanting to play as much difficult content as possible with a duo, that's going to be best. In terms of the journey of getting to Level 60, though, you'll be better off as an Enchanter + Druid because of being able to go wherever you feel like more quickly. It really comes down to gauging how much time you think you are going to put into the game. If you only want to put a small or moderate amount of time in, then I'd say Enchanter + Druid.

[Calten]

Necro/Necro

Do it all, and NEVER die.

[Nirgon]

How about best for getting a group together? The scenario being you 2 + other people in zone to form a group. SK + shaman all day.


Necro/Cleric for KC and HS

This for HS.

[Zuranthium]

How about best for getting a group together? The scenario being you 2 + other people in zone to form a group. SK + shaman all day.

Enchanter + Cleric, easily. Those are the 2 key classes for a group. From that point you just need any tank and any 3 other damage dealers.

[Nirgon]

need tank

[Webwolf]

Paladin / Enchanter is also a good duo. Paladins can heal well with C2 and slowed mobs, chanter can haste and add extra dps with a pet or charm and of course CC if something goes wrong.

[Zuranthium]

@Nirgon 4 different classes can fulfill the tank role, whereas Cleric and Enchanter are the only classes that can fulfill each of those 2 roles. It's much easier to find a tank than it is a Cleric.

You actually don't even need a tank for some content anyway. You can just pet tank.

[Kevlar]

@Nirgon 4 different classes can fulfill the tank role, whereas Cleric and Enchanter are the only classes that can fulfill each of those 2 roles. It's much easier to find a tank than it is a Cleric.

You actually don't even need a tank for some content anyway. You can just pet tank.

If you just want to duo with a melee a shaman can fulfill both roles though. Granted duoing with a melee isn't a very efficient way for a caster to level, since so much mana is wasted on healing.