A friend and I are looking to come play, we are NA time and trying to find a good DUO to start. I asked over on the Mid forums but after a bit more reading it looks like a lot of Mid is EU time so we might have trouble finding a group. Were trying to find a decent Duo to play (a million years ago we played Bard/Druid on Kay). Were 100% fresh I'm not sure if people suggest just making some farming setup to start or if there's another combo that might still be able to make some money but not be a pariah in RVR groups? So that is the question -- 2 fresh players, never played Alb before looking for a good duo to start out.

Make a cabby/necro duo. Cabby can debuff for necro and life will be easy. Same can be done with a wizard/sorc duo. This option will be better for end game as well, but not as fast.

For viability in both RvR and PvE:
-Sorc/Cab
-Sorc/Cler

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but here goes-

Level two Necros to 43-44. There are guides (viewtopic.php?f=106&t=41070) on these forums on where to grind out the levels on spirit weak mobs. If you guys do it efficiently enough, it'll be insanely fast and you can even duo level to make it stupid quick. Not to mention, it's the easiest.

Once you're around 43-44, Danaoin Clerks will con blue to you and they will give a low level toon cap xp until roughly 37-38. Trade powerlevels with your duo partner and get your mains up to 37-38 or higher if you so chose.

During this process SAVE. EVERY. SINGLE. ARMOR/WEPAON. DROP. At around level 25-30 on your Necro, you should have enough money saved up (or beg in Camelot for 10 mins) to level Tailoring to roughly 500-600. Salvage all of your drops and make money for your templates and gear. EDIT: With a focus on *one* of you capping tailoring out for salvaging

This may sound complicated and you may not want to do it, but it's certainly the easier, most convenient way of doing things. As the population on the server dwindles, so does the chances for people to get groups.

As far as duos go, Sorc/Cleric or Minst/Cleric. Sorc and Minst players have to be somewhat decent. Can always go Pally/Tank, Friar/Minst, etc.

I think what novoal said is the most pragmatic for the long run as you will need an economic machine to keep you going.

We were thinking something like this, but with cabby/(friar/cleric) its been too many years tho and I'm not even sure if that duo is really going to be able to hold a candle to the nec/nec

I think your idea of Caby/Friar sounds cool. I know it may not be the most popular but with a matter cabby and buff friar ..up to 40 should be a breeze ..then re-spec for end game and still be able to level up /rvr with ease..but thats just my opinion.

The duos mentioned here already are very good, but I would like to expand on two very good choices.

The strongest duo on Alb is probably Sorc/Cleric. They will inevitably be run down by 8mans and zergs every once and awhile, since they only have speed 3 + sprint, but this duo has good damage, great heals, full buffs, and all CC (roots, mezzes, and stuns). If played right, you can expect to take down much larger groups of enemies, and it has many "quality of life" advantages over duos mentioned below. If one of you has more time than the other, you could level Necro/Cleric together, while one solo's on the Sorc (Or trade PL's with someone). Or you could just level as Sorc/Cleric, if you don't want extra characters, but this might not save time in the long run.

If getting around quickly, and being able to pick your fights is a big concern for you, then having a Minstrel is a must, but you better know if you enjoy twisting before you get too invested. There are plenty of good options, with Minst/Pally, Minst/Friar Minst/Cleric all being great. Which you pick comes down to personal preference, IMO. Having the second as a Pally gives you a ton a melee capability and easy speed 6, while Clerics give great heals and full buffs, and Friars land in between the two. Minstrel pets can also have a large influence on what you pick, since they can either grab a low-level healing/buffing pet, like an Empyrean Elder, or they can grab a high level pet to deal out tons of damage. If you go with this duo, starting with a Necro/Necro or Necro/Cleric is a good idea, especially if you want to Autotrain.

Something very important to consider at this patch level is costs. Sorc/Cleric will be relatively cheap to template, and once you are RvR ready, your costs are limited to Power, Health, and Endurance Pots, as well as Acuity Charges for the Sorc (The Cleric can buff acuity, but it is significantly worse, stat-wise). A Minst/Pally duo will be very expensive to template, and their running costs can also be much higher. To maximize their strength you can expect to use Power, Endurance, Health, AND buffs pots, as well as AF, Haste, and Dex/Qui Charges.

Both of those duos are very easy to build larger groups on, and they are both very important for late game PvE and RvR. Sorc/Cleric quickly becomes insane if you trio with a Cab, giving incredible killing potential. Meanwhile a trio of Minst/Pally/Friar or Minst/Pally/Cleric is a ton of fun, very competitive, and will hardly ever be caught in a bad fight.

Very nice summary Aelred ! I second everything he said except the sorc/cleric duo I rather switch cleric for mins since sorc can have healing pet and mins have speed + instant stun + single mezz but is just a different point of view

mccluskm wrote:We were thinking something like this, but with cabby/(friar/cleric) its been too many years tho and I'm not even sure if that duo is really going to be able to hold a candle to the nec/nec

Necro/Cabby isn't terrible either.

Necro's are just such a PvE powerhouse it's hard to outdo them.
Cabalists can AoE pull a bunch of camps which can be quite good too. You level decently fast in the upper 40's once you get your final AoE dots - just have somebody body pull pygmy camps for you.

Cabalists have a good strong role in RvR groups as well. Necro's are useful for more PvE raids and to have in general BG's.

level necros first, then pick your duo and PL each other. luckily for you, good timing, because they just implemented large XP bonuses in battlegrounds, which will help break up the grind.

cabs are good in pve, but the camps you AOE pull will be camped by necros lol. join the party, don't fight it. GL

djegu wrote:Very nice summary Aelred ! I second everything he said except the sorc/cleric duo I rather switch cleric for mins since sorc can have healing pet and mins have speed + instant stun + single mezz but is just a different point of view

I certainly agree that Sorc/Minst is a great duo I didn't mention it specifically because I don't feel they synergize well (as most of their abilities overlap), but they are both such amazing classes that they'll do great as a duo anyways. Be aware though, Mccluskm, that they are arguably the two highest skillcap (*competing with Pac Healer and Bard*) classes in the game, and have to be played quite well to be as good as everyone says they are.

Thanks all for the great suggestions -- Sorc / Cleric does sound super fun so I think I'm going to roll up a Sorc and see how I do! I've been trying a necro but oh my goodness they are boring ;p

Necros being boring should be outweighed by the cash flow and potential to PL each other. Especially if you use the guide I provided, you should be going so fast that you have trouble getting bored.

IMO Friar's are much more entertaining to farm with (not sure how gold per hour is, comparatively), but you'll have to get the Friar to 3L8 before you can solo reds and maybe early purps effectively. With Dodger 3, and MoP 3 you will solo high level DM giants, and get pretty deep in DF.

Necro's are great to kill Danaoin Farmers, Soldiers, Cyreathes, etc. right away, but while getting them to 3L4 for Wild Power 3 and Mastery of Magery 3 is good, it doesn't help nearly as much to kill higher level stuff reliably, simply because of how resists are. You'll probably be sticking to yellows and oranges no matter how many RA's you have.

Sorcs can also farm fairly effectively in Lynn Barfog, though. Grab an Ellyl Windchaser pet and nuke Diamondback Toads (also a great way to solo to lvl 50, once you can charm them at lvl 47).