The best class to duo with a paladin?

[Zipity]

What is the best duo partner for (insert class here) Almost always = Skilled Enchanter. The most OP class by far.

[Danth]

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

My RL friend picked up the game and rolled a Dwarf paladin. He doesn't play as often as I do so I'd like to roll a toon to level up with him when he's on. What is your best suggestion for class to duo/group with a paladin and why?

Make a Druid (if you don't already have one) if you think your buddy is likely to quit before reaching the highest levels. It's a perfectly adequate duo partner through mid levels and once said buddy quits that'll leave you with a useful utility character. Cleric is second place for this purpose in the event you already have a Druid and don't have a Cleric. Cleric/Paladin doesn't set any speeds records but it forms a nice basis for building larger groups if you like doing that. Either of these duos starts to weaken noticeably past about 50 or so once slow starts becoming much more important.

Enchanter or Shaman will give you the most power if you expect to stick it out long enough to do tougher stuff at level 60. Enchanter is cheaper to equip although the duo with the Shaman will feel better at middle levels due to the Paladin not gaining some of its most important spells until rather late.

Most any other duo can be made to work at varying levels of effectiveness if you really want to play some specific class.

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Zipity: Often true, certainly true with a Paladin, but on my Shadow Knight I never found a means of effectively duo'ing with an Enchanter, at least not where both of us wouldn't have rather had a different class as a partner. Those two classes don't have much synergy.

Danth

[pokishi]

I agree with other posters to play a class that will allow your friend not to do majority of the work, where he can ease into the class and game.
My thought:
Shaman - most logical and best fit. Reasons are obvious.

Druid - this could really be fun. Heals, CC, DS, ports if you both get that far and charm in a allowable zone can make an enjoyable duo.

Enchanter - will be great with your buddy acting as heals. Mana regen will keep him up to keep up with healing. Rest of kit is self explanatory.

Bard - DPS will be an issue but can work if you want to put in the work. Downtime wouldn't be bad and allows you to do pulling if he will not like it.

Cleric - if the roleplay aspect appeals to him then role one and hit up undead zones. That aspect of the game may appeal to him to keep going even more.

Mage - DPS will not be the issue. It's going to be the downtime but could be fun.

Necro - another roleplay duo that can be pretty good. Again, hit up undead zones for maximum efficiency. This one can allow for a bit on chain pulling until you need to med.

[kjs86z]

People saying enchanter are being kinda silly for this specific situation.

The guy is brand new to the game and he wants to play a tank. He's not going to enjoy just sitting there watching the enchanter do all the work (assuming OP can even play an enchanter to near full efficiency...if he can't it'll just be a lesson in futility).

Shaman is the clear choice for bringing a noob into the game that wants to play a paladin. Sure, duo xp will be slow....but the experience of learning the class and how its "meant" to be played will be most efficient with a shaman. If they stick to just-barely-blue con mobs they'll be fine.

All they have to do is find a rogue, necro, bard, enchanter, or a mage and they'll have a much more potent trio. Grouping with different people / classes (social, learning how other classes are played, etc) is the best way to experience EQ on the first go anyway.

[Baler]

Paladin + Shaman duo is quite fun and can actually be very powerful in dungeons.

Paladins can calm/lul to pull singles & then proceeds to face tank with a oh shit button (lay on hands) just in case something goes wrong.
Shaman buffs the paladin, slows the mob and tosses an occasional dot.

It's a pretty sweet duo, even for a pre-torpor shaman.

[Jorvaar]

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. I should have initially mentioned that we're playing on Green for those who were asking. My existing toons are a mage and rogue so I won't want to play either of those classes in this duo situation (unless my Pally friend catches one of them).

Seems like Druid/Shaman/Enchanter are suggested the most. Out of those options I'd leaning more toward Shaman (or perhaps druid) but I worry about DPS. I assume a druid would be a little better from a DPS perspective? Can anybody speak to that?

Honestly I'm just not really interested in an enchanter. I love them in a group but not sure I'd want to play one.

[Izmael]

I missed where the OP said he was new. I take back what I said about the enchanter. Shaman becomes the obvious choice.

Dps should be allright. Paly melee + shaman dots + shaman pet, should be decent, especially considering you can slow mobs and killing them really fast becomes less of a concern.

[Raev]

In the abstract, it's definitely Enchanter. Paladin and Enchanter have tremendous synergy: the Enchanter's charmed pet counters the Paladin's low DPS, Clarity lets the paladin cast more than 1 spell every 5 minutes, the Paladin's HP buffs, stuns, and LoH keep the Enchanter alive on charm breaks, and Flash of Light means that the Enchanter can tash/slow at will. PAL/ENC as a duo is pretty mediocre, but it's a fantastic group core as long as you can find a priest with a pulse.

Because the classes are designed to be incomplete, there really aren't that many great general purpose duos in EQ. Most of them are built around either a Shaman (the one stop shop for buffs, heals, and slow, as long as you don't mind a lot of canni dancing) or a charming Enchanter and his babysitter. On the other hand, full groups tend to be a little overpowered. Maybe on Green with the lower level of gear they aren't as bad, but usually I find the most interesting part of a full group is the camp dispute in OOC because there just weren't enough NPCs around. So 3-4 players is my optimum group size, and as long as you don't play another tank class (or, god forbid, Wizard) you can pick just about anything and build towards a solid trio or quartet.

Most of the advice being given here applies more at Level 40+. It sounds like your friend will never make it there, so I'd pick a class that is strong 1-20 without a lot of gear, and that set includes neither Shaman nor Enchanter. I think in your situation I'd go Druid. PAL/DRU is a fairly terrible duo, but at least you can putz around at the zone in while LFG. Druid is weak (though not as bad as people think) at higher levels, but at least you can port around to escape the crowding.

[Keebz]

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

Seems like Druid/Shaman/Enchanter are suggested the most. Out of those options I'd leaning more toward Shaman (or perhaps druid) but I worry about DPS. I assume a druid would be a little better from a DPS perspective? Can anybody speak to that?

Honestly I'm just not really interested in an enchanter. I love them in a group but not sure I'd want to play one.

Shaman is an awesome choice. I would not worry about DPS relative to Druids. Do it!

[Nexii]

Anything healer (cleric/dru/sham) or CC (bard/ench) really. DPS are the easiest to find to complete your group. And you can duo mobs at a slower rate with any of those 5 classes if you have to.