Most solid duo for Kunark and Velious

[Tseng]

Originally Posted by Alleusion [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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

[Weekapaug]

Originally Posted by Tseng [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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]

Originally Posted by Weekapaug [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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]

Originally Posted by Weekapaug [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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. ^.~

[Stickyfingers]

Originally Posted by Hiragawa [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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.