What's your opinion on a Warden/Swashy duo?

[Villany]

<DIV>My wife and I are both new to EQ2. She has a Fury and I have a swashy (both level 24). Now we are making our first alts. She made a swashy and I would like make a healer that would compliment her well, but I'm having trouble deciding on which one.<BR><BR>Even though a Fury can do good damage, I would prefer to try something else since my wife already has a Fury.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Raiding is not important. My wife and I play only because we enjoy the quality time together. We also prefer to duo most of the time.<BR><BR>A good looking character that is fun to play and rewarding to level is important.</DIV> <DIV><BR>I've been interested in playing a warden because the extra healing (compared to a Fury) and the melee buffs sound like a good match for a Swashy. Having a bit less DPS than a Fury wouldn't be a big deal if I was increasing the DPS and survivability of the swashy.<BR><BR>How big of a difference is there between a Fury and a Warden? So far I've read that a Warden heals only a little bit better than a Fury while a Fury does nearly double the damage of a Warden. Is this true? Can anyone post some numbers or opinions? <BR><BR>Procs = fun. I've heard that Wardens can get some heal or DPS procs. Can anyone provide more information about this.<BR><BR>I've seen a lot of negative posts about Wardens on this board. Are there any good reasons to play a Warden? Does anyone have anything good to say about the class? It would be really nice to see something positive about Wardens.</DIV> <DIV><BR>I'm wondering what kind of damage the average level 70 Warden (with average gear, not gear that requires regular raiding) can do. Can anyone share some DPS numbers? I understand that a Fury can expect to do about 1200-1600 DPS. How does the Warden compare?<BR><BR><BR>Sanreo / 24 Swashy / Butcherblock<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV>

[Bozidar]

<P>in my experience with my warden, i find that the wisdom buff that i can put on my brig buddy (as opposed to the int buff of a fury) really improves his survivablity.  My attacks aren't as good.. but that's not my job.  My job is to keep us alive, and as a warden it works great.</P> <P>Plus, i'm not sure what level you get it at, but you get a fun spell that lets you take the form of one of the fairies that you see in the Enchanted Lands.. and it's cool <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Dragonreal]

the 1.2-1.6k dps numbers for furies are also from raiding and raid-equipped furies.. they're not doing that in average gear except in very special situations (if at all). In non-raid situations, there really isn't much wrong with wardens imo.. just like for any healer. The problems for the healers really only crop up in raid situations, but outside raids, they all can do their job and there's only some preference options you have to make like do you want more dps or more defense? do you want better rooting capability or some proc buffs? evac or group invis (doesn't matter in your case really since swashy can do both anyway)? If I were you I'd give the warden a shot.. it really is a good class (just has some raid issues and that's what a lot of us are doing with our time so you're seeing a lot of complaints about the class).<div></div>

[GinFan]

<P>From personal experience, a Swashy/Warden combo is fun and effective, but I'm thinking you will find either druid combo rather similar, especially at the earlier levels.  If you are looking for an alternative, you might want to consider a Defiler or Mystic.  Warding damage before it hits matches well with an avoidance tank, which is what your wife's Swashy will be functioning as.  Also, down the road, if you start grouping with others and both want to bring healers, a Druid Shammy healing combo is more effective than 2 Druids imo.  Additionally, Defiler debuffs will match well with a poison user and Mystics have better life buffs.  The only downside I see is that a Shammy and a Swashy will argue over chain drops <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  </P>

[MullenSkywatcher]

The core part of the Warden (healing) is still rock solid, we tend to argue about things outside of the core like dps, debuffs, utility, etc.  You wont see any problems with a warden solo or in groups, and its definately fun to play (in my opinion).  The complaints revolve around our AA lines, where most people feel that only a select few lines (out of the 5 in KoS and 5 in EoF) are useful.  I don't have any major issues with the core of the class, certainly not enough to betray to a Fury.<div></div>

[quetzaqotl]

<P>Also to get big dps as a fury the fury prolly uses energy vortex reducing his healing by 50% (incr damage by 50%) and powercost goes up by 50% too.</P> <P> </P>

[Thundy]

Better half and I have been doing Warden/Swashy from 1-70, it's fantastic. <div></div>

[Kaku99]

What you should be asking is which duo would be more effecticve, a warden/swashy or a fury/swashy.  The answer is simple.  Furies will do significantly more damage than a warden while providing the same amount of healing.  In a duo, how much damage you do often determines what kind of mobs you can take on.  To me, as a 70 warden, the answer is a no-brainer.  Play a fury.

[Luk]

Honestly,if you need the extra DPS from the Fury, your Swashy is slacking.Personally I prefer duoing with a Warden, give me + attack skills any day, in defensive stance I am still well over 400 for both slashing and piercing (not that I go defensive often.<div></div>