Hi, Spent a couple days reading all the latest duo/molo/best-this-and-that threads. Googled and read some stuff from the past year as well. My specific question. My buddy is a 95 SK who wants me to catch up to him and play more often. I have a 73 Cleric (and a 73 Bard on a separate box) so we make a nice group of 6 with mercs. I think I may level up a Shaman real quick instead and have already begun the molo powerlevel process of a baby Shaman. My question: Which class would serve my friend's SK better? He said cleric is probably overhealing and Shaman brings all the obvious buffs/debuffs, most notably slows and unity. Is the Shaman going to be enough healing? Or should I stick with the Cleric? The bard is just a melody bot to provide a 6th merc. Thanks!
I think it all depends on your SK is as far as experience. If you are still building him/her up and struggle to stay alive against current content I would go with j5 healing merc, Shaman and you might need the J5 tank. Once your SK is hulked up you can go Cleric or Shaman with 2 Wiz merc on burn.
Thank you. He's fully geared and max AA, but not raid geared. Sounds like a Shaman would be best then.
Shaman or cleric either one will work. The shaman will add some dps that the cleric won't have, but the cleric is going to have a much easier time healing. The thing is yes, a cleric does over heal some.. but he also has a lot of those 'oh crap' buttons that make it much less likely for the sk to die on a bad round. Shamans have some, but no one heals like a cleric. Either work, shaman is probably more synergistic, but it's according also to what you want to play.
Hmm. Well I'm the healer, so easier time healing sounds appealing to me. I would hate for him to die. On the other hand, I don't want to sit there being bored as a cleric if he won't require much healing.
I think both would be fine. The only time I had an issue is with a few named where slow would have been nice. But you can also use your bard to slow for those situations. Id say Cleric may be nice for your set up.
I would look at this from a 'what are you going to be doing most of the time' angle. In the min/max worst case scenario world, sure, a cleric will have an easier time healing, but how often does that happen? If that's every pull you're doing something wrong lol. A J5 healer merc + a shaman, if you can't live with that going well....I doubt a cleric would have made the difference, and once again, how often? A shaman will bring you a *lot* more diversity in your playstyle, and will give you much more to do on easy pulls or grinding things (which in my experience is 95% of EQ). On those rare times when the crud hits the fan, the worst thing that's going to happen is you die.....well..big deal? So you die once in a while as a worst case....I'd take the more interesting playstyle, but that's just me. To me it's just a question of what are you going to be doing most of the time, and try and have the most fun setup for that. If you find healing a cleric to be fun, then awesome, go for it. I just find shamans a more interesting class to play, and they are certainly competent healers for the majority of content. The other thing to think about, is how many characters you are actually controlling yourself, if you want to play the bard more actively, then a cleric is probably easier to macro bot than a shaman, as they are typically a bit less active than a shammy. If the healing class is going to be your primary focus, and the bard is going to be a puller /afk /mel bot, then shammy is a more interesting choice. I hate to say 'play what you enjoy' but it really is true. They will both get the job done most of the time.
Neither are necessary with an SK as the tank Roll another DPS or a Bard/Chanter depending on what said friend plays If your friend is a Wizard/Mage go chanter Necro or basically any other DPS class go bard Hell with that sort of group most group content is doable with just SK/Enc/DPS + 3 dps mercs at the high end Although I do agree with Code Zero: If your going to play at the high end a cleric "is overkill" on heals. your doing it wrong, and need to learn to push your group harder However if your going to play cautiously a cleric or shaman is completely unnecessary, because an SK can easily outheal either of them on typical group content.
Chick kin, I think the first question to ask is what do you like to do in game? Heal? Damage? Utility? I think it is important to find a class you want to play so you are as happy as your friend. If you are a healer type, all three classes are viable. Clerics are the supreme healer class but give little damage and things you can do solo. Shaman are good healers and give you some crowd control and a good damage aect with damage over time spells for soloing. Druids are really good single target healers with a good direct damage spells, porting, attack debuffs, and tracking. I play all three classes and feel the Druid and shaman provide more things that "you" can do with the need of another class. If a damage type, merc healer class can do a pretty dark good job so, both you and your friend will be able to experience a lot without death. There are a lot of options caster types and melee. There are so many that I think you feed back would help to cut down the options. Which do you prefer..caster..melee? Do you like straight out I can do this much damage or some utility like tracking...PC summoning with coth, ...etc. If a tank type, I believe that you would look at the utility which is what knight classes bring. SK and SK could do a lot as would a SK and paladin. I personally think the paladin would bring the best combo to match with a SK if a tank class is desired because he has heal options. Rykear
Ill actually agree with the later statement Rykear made, My Fiancee plays a Paladin and for 90% of group content she is the sole healer of the group (+ SK self heals). Outside of that we have duoed alot of older raid content that would be unfeasible to solo alone for either of us. Sk/Paladin is an interesting duo... worth giving a try if it interests you.
As others have said, make sure to play what you enjoy and not just what works best with a SK. That said, some classes that will have strong synergy with a SK include beastlord, shaman, bard and enchanter. Pretty much any class will work considering you have mercs to round things out.
