Swashbuckler or Ranger a better duo with a Paladin?

[Feralon]

<DIV>Which would make a better duo for a Paladin?  A swashbuckler or a ranger?  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I know Swash supposedly gets a bit better utility - i.e. some crowd control.  But it seems like a ranger pet would be just effective at crowd control within a duo as mez/stun would be (if not better).  I'm not sure I really understand all of the abilities of each yet though.  What do you paladin's think?</DIV>

[Dumuzi]

Hello, I duo with my wife, me a paladin and she plays a ranger. I cannot really compare with swashbuckler, but we rock <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> When the ranger pulls out his bow, insane dps is joining the party. And as a paladin, warding and healing, also chosing the 15 min Lay of hand allow us to kill alot of stuff and it's pretty fun ! <div></div>

[coochic]

I'd say swash, If you want to duo, go with the swash and the pally. it's best for tight spots. trust me, and then the group invis. Do the swash. But, my alt is a ranger, and I love playing him.

[Dumuzi]

I personnaly use totems of the chameleon to follow her into shadow <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Also, she doesnt need to be that far to hit with her bow. And actually, we noticed that the aggro range of the mob is approx the distance she cant hit it with bow; for exemple in nektropos, where mobs are blind as a bat (like 2 meters aggro radius) she can almost use her bow in melee distance!! anyway, the fun is everywhere <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Gilbert, 37 paladin, Splitpaw <div></div>

[SanJ]

<P>Fighter/Scout class HO combinations are very nice for a few buffs and quite brutal on damage.  I would duo with either one as long as they are willing to chain HOs with me <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />   I think the real trick here is making sure both players understand what the HOs do and the scout knows "to borrow from Kenny Rogers -- know's when to hold em and knows when to fold em" knows when to flip the HO to the "boot" and when to just let a buff ride when they are low.</P> <P>I personally duo with a RL buddy (47 pally/44 swash) and we rock on XP in Lavastorm rolling through 43 ^^ with minimal downtime and very nice XP each kill.  I like the scout class so much, I have a 26 Ratonga Assassin that is very fun to play.  His entire hotkey bar is setup for icons that "flip the coin" to change an HO and then icons that do damage followed by icons to complete HOs with the best effects on the MOBs such as slowing them, stifling them, etc.</P> <P>Thanks,</P> <P>Kalen</P>

[Platfing]

<P>Me and my ranger friend are both 44, and have been duoing since level 1.  At 43 we could duo even-con heroic goblins in LS, but it was somewhat risky (required me to chainheal and ward myself like crazy).  At 44, we are doing them easily.  Throughout the levels we have been able to consistently do most (not named)  heroic mobs one level under us without too much risk.  One percent each per kill is nice XP.  Her ability to track makes quests so much easier too, and also helps with finding named pops.    </P> <P>I'm sure swash works great as well - only with different bonuses.</P> <P> </P> <P>  </P> <P>  </P>

[Dumuzi]

<div></div>Good to know Pal/scout is still good after 40 <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Oh yes forgot about the track part <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Awesome, we're addicted since isle of refugees <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> No time wasted looking for mobs ! <div></div><p>Message Edited by Dumuzi on <span class=date_text>05-10-2005</span> <span class=time_text>06:49 AM</span>

[SanJ]

<P>If you bite off more then you can chew on a mob and have trouble completing the "boot" icon HO (nice damage one) with your scout partner, try adding a shield bash the split second before you "kick".  You'll find you miss a whole lot less and complete 2x or 3x as many HOs.</P> <P>When I duo with my scout buddy we tend to play like this:</P> <P>- all my wards/buffs on myself filling all 5 concentration slots (with our HOs I rarely ever need to put him on redemption)<BR>- I pull with a ranged nuke or taunt and complete a solo HO prior to the scout engagement<BR>- As I start the next HO, I use "Refusal of Grace" and any other non HO advancing attacks while the scout opens the combat wheel.  If it's not the boot icon, I continue to use my heavy hitting attacks while the scout attempts to "flip" the HO to the boot.<BR>- If the boot pops, I shield bash (remember still building hate here <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> and then I kick to complete my task<BR>- As soons as the combat wheel center turns green (indicating success) I'm launching the next HO.<BR>- I rinse and repeat until we can't get the boot in which case I do the following:</P> <P>- I complete the "flexed arm" icon HOs by using either my prayer or call to glory.  If I'm running behind for whatever reason our DOF line casts the fastest so I use that to make sure we get the HO. <BR>- If we already have the HO buff up and it's fairly fresh the scout will attempt to get the boot or a different buffing HO that we don't have.  We skip a few if mana gets low or if the HO was just completed last round and go back to high damage attacks until the counter is gone on that HO.</P> <P>Should my health become a serious issue, I save my last ounce of mana for a sacrement since it's just a 10 minute timer and the essences are so easy to get when you are MT'ing anyway.  This heal will be over 1K in the mid 40's at just adept 1 which is better then an adept 1 aid heal that will be in the high 500ish to low 600ish range.  I try to save my LOH line for the scout should he draw aggro and get in the red.</P> <P>That's pretty much our play style and it's very efficient IMO.   We both use t5 drink, occassional food, and I manastone between battles to reduce downtime.</P> <P>Thanks,<BR>Kalen</P>