Ok I know the Enc/Dru combo is the stronger duo, but how is Monk/Dru? Can monk do just fine without named mobs being slowed? Like lvl 50-52 named mobs?
You really need slow for later mobs and the druid is gonna go oom fast just keeping the monk healed. Enc/Dru isn't as strong as Enc/Clr but it still works, just be ready to let charm pets die instead of healing them.
Maybe, but the issue isn't the monk so much as the fact that druids don't get their debuff until the 60s, whereas shaman slow is in classic (and stays better than druid debuff for a while). Neither monk nor mage pet is going to be as good a tank as a charmed pet or a real tank, so the lack of slow will really hurt. Enc/Dru is powerful because Enc/anything is powerful. Enc is broken in early expansions, whereas Druid is the weakest healer basically at all levels of play (such is the price of having all the utility other than slow and rezz).
Mage/Druid is pretty good, yes. The druid will do most of the legwork kiting mobs that the mage pet beats on while the mage nukes. The earth pet is relatively tanky but not worth using without slow so stick with water pets. Necro/Druid is a similar but stronger combo.
Monk/Druid is a duo you can level to live if you really wanted to. Especially on the upcoming servers, given what kind of gear you could potentially be in. A geared monk is no slouch as a tank. Your ability to do tougher mobs on that combo is going to be highly tied to what gear you are in. It's also a bit of a temporary problem, as it's a combo that just gets better with expansion releases. Druid debuffs are no joke, and they start getting substantially better healing to boot. Monk/Druid is one of my favorite 2 box combos in the game, because of the ease of use. Chanter is strong, but it gets to be a tremendous pain in the rear always having to charm. Monk/Druid is really easy mode, and you have almost all the bases covered. Harmony pull outdoors, FD pull indoors, and having snares and ports is a huge quality of life upgrade, especially in earlier expansions. Damage shields are also highly under rated, the single most mana efficient damage there is. Easy to test for yourself.....go on test server, use /testbuff to buff two characters to level 25, go forth and try.
I see monk/dru as a combo that can easily travel and jump into groups. Both classes are flexible in group roles. In Classic/Kunark/Velious monk can tank, dps, pull. Druid can dps or heal and provide nice escape routes deep in dungeons. Not a great combo to isolate yourself in a duo. You'd be better off with a shaman in place of the druid, or the enchanter in place of the monk.
Mage/Druid works extremely well almost as good as Enchanter/Druid If you can single pull mobs, Mage Druid is very quick at leveling. Here is my list for the top 10 combos from greatest to least. This is for overall utility/kill speed/downtime. Not the best in each category but overall between the three. 1. Enc/Clr 2. Enc/Dru 3. Mag/Dru 4. Mag/Shm 5. Mnk/Shm 6. Nec/Dru 7. Nec/Shm 8. Sk/Shm 9. Mnk/Dru 10. Brd/Dru
And yes I listed Bard, because if you are very good at playing EQ, Bard/Druid can easily be number 1 in regards to those categories.
