Ranger partner?

[jbk]

<DIV>Hey guys I just got the game last thursday and after reading over the abilities of all the classes, I decided a ranger was best suited towards me, and after reading through the ranger message boards, it seems like I have made the right choice...everyone is so nice!  Well I've been playing since thursday and I'm about to be level 24 :smileyhappy:  and I noticed that I can almost never find groups!  I've been in maybe 4 groups thus far and only 2 have been any good (wow there are a lot of new people starting up the game..I thought i'd be the new guy since the game is a year old..guess not!).  Well I got a rl friend to get the game and we plan on duoing together and I was wondering as to what would be the best class suited to level up with my little ranger!  Your replies will be much appreciated..thanks!</DIV>

[Turtle]

<DIV> <P><SPAN>First off...Welcome to Everquest II :smileyhappy:</SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>My RL friend plays a Templar which seems to work well when the two of us are grouped together.  I try and play the tank, but he tends to pull the agro off of me when we fight grouped mobs since I don't have any agro spells.  This isn’t too much of a problem, because he usually is able to still get his spells of without interrupts and since he can use heavy armor can take hits.</SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>But, I think the better choice for your friend is probably a tank maybe a Paladin.  I believe they get heal type spells and they also have agro spells.  The agro spells will allow you to get behind the enemy and tear them up, allowing you to inflict the deadly damage (DPS) that a ranger can put out while he takes the hits and heals (if needed).</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN>My friend is actually working on leveling a Paladin at the moment!</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN></SPAN> </P></DIV>

[Fennir]

Paladins are awesome duo partner. Rangers are pretty versatile, though.  Have your friend read the class descriptions and pick a few he likes first, because you can probably figure out a fighting style that works well with almost any other class in the game. <div></div>

[HanktheDwarf]

I find that I work pretty good with a coercer.  I tank, and with the stuns the coercer gets, I can back up and use my ranged attacks still.  Works pretty nicely since you can't stun anything with an arrow above its head.<div></div>

[AdiX__Styxx__]

<DIV>get a defiler hands down! Healing with wards is best for a low mitigation class you can tank mobs to a certain extent and with the defiler fear abilties it allows ya to shoot the mobs while they running away! Its great fun working stuff out togeter..... Try it its great altough the previous poster stated Coercer which is a nice choice too but on the long run you will lose yer coercer friend cause they are so broken (me a 57 coercer me dissapointed).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyways If yer friend likes the defiler class and the description speaks toward his imagination then thats the way to go hands down!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oh and dont go paladin they are utterly useless for a duo! mobs go down too fast anyways to be needing a tank class at all!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A different choice for yer friend is another ranger tho rangers OWN!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tha cwazy Styxxey </DIV>

[Sirlutt]

Paladin, hands down.He heals,He wards,He can siphon your hate (keeps agro real well)He TauntsHe has good mit/healthHe does good AE dps, and good single target DPS.my favorite duo partner is a Pally... he allows me to go all out.<div></div>

[Taeolen]

I primarily duo with my girlfriend's Monk.  We both hit level 30 last night and been having a blast.  However we are always getting tells for groups as well.  Haven't had any problems finding groups at all.

[Jay]

<P>Interesting, I duo with a sexy monk as well. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> We have a blast, she can tank like a champ but her damage is decent, and at later levels monks get a bit of healing as well. Plus, we both get Safe Fall, which is mighty convenient when I leap off cliffs and she's on AF. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </P> <P>Pally would be another good choice, too. I like the tank / scout duo. I haven't had as much experience duoing with healers, but duoing with mages can be interesting, if a little riskier. </P>

[jbk]

<DIV>alright cool thanks for the advice!  he looked over the monk description and instantly fell in love with them, so I think we're gonna go monk and ranger, thanks again everyone!</DIV>

[brandi7920]

<P>Swashies and Rangers rock together. :smileyvery-happy: I've pretty much duo'd my way to 60 with my boyfriend's Swashie. </P> <P>Just thought I'd throw that out there, though he's already going with the Monk (btw - Monks rock also). </P> <P>Welcome to Norrath - Happy Hunting!!!</P> <P> </P>

[Crychtonn]

Monks are great fun to duo with.  Especially once they get group feign death (not sure when they get this).  You can go crazy and try real difficult things and if it starts to go bad - group feign death and try again <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Blackin_DeMast]

I duo with our guild leader a lot he is a Paladin about 3 levels ahead of me.  52 Ranger and 55 Pally.  We seem to do our jobs well.  he keeps agro off me and I do rediculous amounts of DPS.  He also has heals when needed and can put some damage out also.  I would definately say to duo with a tank because Rangers were made to stand back and just put out a lot of damage and we do that best when someone else is taking the hits.  My DPS drops quick when I am not using my ranged attacks.

[jarlaxle8]

<div></div><div></div><div></div>welcome to norrath. <span>:smileyhappy: </span>seems the choice is made. and it's probably a good choice<span>.</span> just wanted to throw in my experience and thoughts. i duoed last week with a paladin and the last 2 days with a paladin and a templar. went great. it's good to have someone tanking, and paladins can siffon off hate and heal if necessary. duoed with a templar once, but it was tough, because i had to tank and couldn't get out dps well. and couldn't taunt if we faced a group. i think in general a ranger duos well with someone who can give you the opurtunity to do the high hitting bow/positional attacks. so a tank in general is quite good, or some classes which can stun/root/mez <span>-------------------------- <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=383113204" target="_blank">Ryilan Nightbreeze</a> --------------------------</span> <div></div><p>Message Edited by jarlaxle888 on <span class=date_text>12-28-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:10 AM</span>

[AdiX__Styxx__]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> jarlaxle888 wrote:<BR> welcome to norrath. <SPAN>:smileyhappy: </SPAN>seems the choice is made. and it's probably a good choice<SPAN>.</SPAN> just wanted to throw in my experience and thoughts.<BR><BR>i duoed last week with a paladin and the last 2 days with a paladin and a templar. went great. it's good to have someone tanking, and paladins can siffon off hate and heal if necessary.<BR>duoed with a templar once, but it was tough, because i had to tank and couldn't get out dps well. and couldn't taunt if we faced a group.<BR><BR>i think in general a ranger duos well with someone who can give you the opurtunity to do the high hitting bow/positional attacks. so a tank in general is quite good, or some classes which can stun/root/mez<BR><BR><SPAN>--------------------------<BR><A href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/pplayer.vm?characterId=383113204" target=_blank>Ryilan Nightbreeze</A><BR>--------------------------</SPAN><BR> <P>Message Edited by jarlaxle888 on <SPAN class=date_text>12-28-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>12:10 AM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Actually if the templar or any other healer in my case a defiler gets agroe swop targets to the peeled mob and unload some arrows that should get it either dead or right back on ya!</P> <P>so vs groups just try to one shot the hardest mob (which ussually is possible) then turn to the minor mobs that should be hitting yer healer and can easily one shot these too!</P> <P>Oh and a defiler can ward ya so they get instant hate form the mobs that you arent attacking!</P> <P>DEFILERS OWN! if ya want a tank / ranger duo thats fine but to me that just seems way too boring! Tank pulls grabs mobs you unload!</P> <P>Ranger / defiler = Ranger one shots a mob rest peels off and ya one shot those after or if its a named then ya shoot the weaker ones first defiler fears the named and ya dont touch it till adds are down then ya keep shooting the named in the back everytime defiler fear is up! Works like a charm and its pretty much mroe fun then just stand still and fire yer DPS off .... I prefer to do different stuff and think about actions and try to accomplish stuff with combos that arent too obvious.</P>

[kille]

<DIV>I've been having fun 2-boxing a Ranger and a Conj lately.  I would say it's been the funnest combo I've played to date.  It's not as easy as say 2-boxing a wizzy (just punch a couple buttons for nukes), but very fun.  The pet seems to hold aggro very well while my Ranger sits back and does his thing.  They're only in their mid 20's, so I don't know if this trend will persist all the way to 60, but I expect it should.</DIV>

[Jay]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Crychtonn wrote:<BR>Monks are great fun to duo with.  Especially once they get group feign death (not sure when they get this).  You can go crazy and try real difficult things and if it starts to go bad - group feign death and try again <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>That's their level 58 Ancient Teachings spell, Fall of the Phoenix. We're looking forward to trying that one out. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <waves to Amalia></DIV>

[killema]

I have had tons of fun dualing with another Ranger all the way up to my current low 40's.  We both do ranged attacks and whoever does not get aggro gets to let loose.  Especially fun when the mob has no idea which one to go after and we kill him as he turns back and forth.  Did I mention that they usually die really fast.  I do admit that we have not attempted too many ^^^, just not what we are into when duoing. <div></div>

[NovacaineExpre]

<P>Wait a minute... if your a ranger why do you need a partner? :smileytongue:</P> <P>(Thorny Trap is my best friend!)</P> <P> </P> <P>Askol ~ 60 Ranger</P> <P>Lucan D'Lere</P>

[TaleraRis]

My sweetie plays a mystic. It works rather well. <div></div>

[roblinb]

<P>I guess it depends what you're hunting.</P> <P>For heroic mobs you need someone that can take damage because we rangers go down from a few hits against strong mobs.  I prefer a Shadow Knight or a Monk.  I disagree with a lot of you about Paladins.  First, a Paladins healing spells are on the weak side and their overall damage is less than a Shadow Knight.  A Shadow Knight can actually draw health from the mob to replenish their own.  As the ranger you are essentially the big hitter that allows the tank to go all out.  Monks are good too, because they do the most damage of all the fighter classes and have great stuns, etc.  Guardians are okay, but they don't hit for [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] and a Berserker taunts better which is what's needed.  </P> <P>For groups of mobs you want a nuker of some sort.  I don't like enchanter classes because they mez a lot, and I have to be careful not to break said spells.  I personally prefer grouping with a necromancer, because they have a pet that I can assist.</P> <P>Two scouts just don't make good groups from what I have seen.  Swashbucklers are one of the lowest DPS classes in the game, so they are pretty much useless.  Assassins do excellent damage, but they need to be behind mobs or in stealth for almost all of their good CA's.  Bards are just a buff class with utilities.  Also scouts may interrupt each others HO's at times, which can be frustrating.  </P>

[Gareorn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> killerc wrote:<BR> <DIV>It's not as easy as say 2-boxing a wizzy (just punch a couple buttons for nukes)<BR> <HR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>You had to go there.</P> <P>ROFLMAO</P> <P><BR> </P>

[Sokolov]

<div></div><div></div>To the OP, depending on your style of play, your choices will vary.  I should note that before I start I am speaking from the point of view of duoing heoric encounters.  I am not sure what the others intended with their suggestions as against solo mobs, basically anythng works fine, so your friend should just play whatever interests him/her. Okay, onto my ideas: I myself would not go with a healing partner.  I like to play to the strengths of the classes, and a ranger is a ranged attacker, capable of dealing high amounts of damage while staying out of melee rnage.  Rangers do not tank well, so why bring a healer and put that inefficiency to use? (Since Wards now do take mitigation into account I find no advantage in using a Shaman healer with a low mitigation tank.  The Ward will go down faster.  However, higher avoidance still counts for something when paired up with Wards.) My first suggestion is to take a second ranger.  The double damage output of two rangers will give you a significant edge.  Again, playing to the strength of the ranger class' damage ability.  You also have 2 Cheap Shots (for stuns), and potentially 6 Snares (3 each) between the two rangers.  Add in stun poisons as well and you should be able to kill a lot of heroic encounters without them taking too many steps towards you. My second suggestion is a Sorcerer - either flavor, tho a slight advantage to the wizard, I think.  Both classes can root and stun, and play a very similiar role to the ranger.  The disadvantage here is that neither class can fire on the run like a Ranger can, making kiting difficult.  But, with proper planning and knowing how to work together, keeping the mob in range  of the caster but out of range of the ranger is not impossible.  When played well, this duo is quite rewarding. My third suggestion would be to take the a Summoner pet class - either flavor.  This has the advantage of not having to kite and may be the safest route.  The pet is an expendable tank that can keep the mob occupied, allowing the ranger to utilize her full arsenal.  The drawback is that pets have limited taunting abilities so you will have to hold back or resort to kiting.  Again, you play to your strengths here by not forcing a non-tank class to tank and placing the burden on an expendable, but renewable resource. <div></div><p>Lastly, I will talk about the Enchanter duo.  Someone mentioned one earlier.  The Enchanter duo has one HUGE advantage for a duo wanting to take on heroics and that is their ability to lock down the entire encounter with Group Mez.  Given the way SoE has designed group encounters, each single mob has fairly low hp, which a ranger should have little problem offing.  Since the Chanter has the others locked down, you can basically pick them off one by one at your leisure.  The problem comes when you face a single mob encounter, in which case the Enchanter plays the role of a weaker Sorcerer. <span class="time_text"></span></p><p>Message Edited by Sokolov on <span class=date_text>12-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>02:33 AM</span>

[AdiX__Styxx__]

<P>actually sokolov if ya face a heroic +++ mob an enchanter makes it that much easier since he can parma root/stun stifle the mob so it might be a weak wizzy but it allows the ranger to just stand in place target the mob and just shoot all he got at it while the chanter keeps the stuns flowing!</P> <P>I play a 57 Coercer and a 60 ranger so i know what i am talking about! Chanter > Sorc</P> <P>but Defiler > THEN ALL other options </P> <P>but then again in the end its all about yer preference!</P>

[nimbus2kgold]

<P>I duo with a Paladin and we own just about everything.  With the amends on me i never pull aggro, keeps them taunted and at a distance so i can fire the bow shots no problem, and if things get close, they can heal.   </P> <P>No matter what you chose though, the key is to know eachothers play styles.  Knowing how to work together is the biggest hurdle/strength you have.  My pally and I are at the point now where we  dont even have to talk to eachother, we just know ( starting to share a brain i think..hehe )</P>

[Sokolov]

<span><blockquote><hr>AdiX__Styxx__ wrote:<p>actually sokolov if ya face a heroic +++ mob an enchanter makes it that much easier since he can parma root/stun stifle the mob so it might be a weak wizzy but it allows the ranger to just stand in place target the mob and just shoot all he got at it while the chanter keeps the stuns flowing!</p> <p>I play a 57 Coercer and a 60 ranger so i know what i am talking about! Chanter > Sorc</p> <p>but Defiler > THEN ALL other options </p> <p>but then again in the end its all about yer preference!</p> <div></div><hr></blockquote>But that's my point, a Sorcerer can also root and stun just as well, plus throw more damage down.  What you lose with a Sorcerer in damage you gain in crowd control for a Coercer.  But I certainly believe you can do the root/stun part as a chanter just as well =)</span><div></div>

[Gareorn]

<DIV>I have a Ranger and an SK.  My wife plays a Templer and an Illusionist, so we mix it up a bit.   When the Ranger and Templer are teamed up, I pull multiple mobs so she'll have something to do besides hit it with her baby nukes.  She can usually handle 8-9 mobs on me if none are heroics.  Pulling a group of heroics is a recipe for disaster though.  Sometimes I over pull and end up dying, but dang good experience otherwise.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Basically, I don't think it really matters what class you duo with, you just adjust your play style to fit the combo.  The Ranger-Illusionist combo pretty much rocks and my wife likes to solo with the Illusionist.  She hates soloing with the Templar because of how long it takes to drop the mobs (takes a long time to get exp).  So if your duo partner plans on doing any soloing, he might want to skip the Templer.  Templers are very popular with groups though.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Pick your class wisely and don't base your decision on how that same class plays in other games.  Otherwise you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  Plus I recommend playing 2 classes each.  The different combos really keep the game interesting.</DIV>

[Stormykat]

I duo sometimes with an Illusionist - we work very well together. Especially now since they increased pets' taunting abilities with their roots etc, a lot of times the aggro stays on the pet while I blast away with my ranged abilities - not to mention his stuns and stifles are great. We can burn through mobs pretty quickly. Everyone seems to have a preference, but seems Rangers duo well with almost any class. <div></div>

[Frobus]

I've found pally duo works pretty well.  He tanks and heals, I dish out damage.  Nothing too complicated but it works like a charm.  It's far better at taking out single mob heroics than multimob ones though, due to ranger strengths vs. one mob and not as many interupts for the pally. <div></div>