Some Questions about Duoing

[Northern]

Ok I recently started playing an old troub I had.  He is now up to lvl62 and only 42 aa (because aa wasn't around when he was 40 heh)

My questions are the following.  I have a 70Defiler 100 aa (you can see why I rolled back to the Troub).  What would be a good AA line to go down to help with duoing if there is any that would help.

Also,  would I be better off betraying and running with the defiler with a dirge is the damage increase that much more or would it actually be less?

Basically it boils down to group make up on whether to pick a troub/dirge correct?  If I am in a melee heavy group consistently I should betray and if I am in a caster heavy group I should keep the troub right?

Just questions because as it stands hes mainly some added dps for the defiler and mana battery.  Whats nice is the defiler can take decent hits and the troub don't seem to get agro.  If I pull with the defiler and put all the dots in etc the troub doesnt get agro which allows for many of the higher shot CAs to be done.

I eventually would like to play this more than the Defiler (as you can imagine the people I group with and my guild won't let that happen).  Actually its more of the group I run with couldnt work without me as I'm the only one with a high lvl healer.  The people that run in the group are mostly mellee so I imagine if I were to get to the point where we had another healer I would probably want to roll dirge because of the high melee make up of the group zerk, monk, ranger.

 Thanks for any responses.

[Tri]

Two points to take in account when choosing between dirges and troubs : Does your guild need a troub for raiding? ( deagro and spell proc ) Do you want a mezz even if it's gimped compared to chanters ? If none of these apply to you, go for a dirge

[Novusod]

He already has a 62 Troub so he is not going to re-role a dirge. If you are going to duo than max your mana and health regen buffs and then go down the agi line so you can use our [Removed for Content] version of poison and smuggle that is similar to what rogues have.

[missing_peace]

Novusod wrote:

If you are going to duo than max your mana and health regen buffs and then go down the agi line so you can use our [Removed for Content] version of poison and smuggle that is similar to what rogues have.

I find it interesting that you would suggest taking the agility path for the poison buff.  One of the strengths of the troub over the dirge is the ability to mezmerize.  Having an active DoT spell, such as poison, tends to cause problems when using mez.

I personally chose to avoid it for this reason.  However, I would be interested in hearing how you work with this potential problem.

[Tri]

the OP was talkin about maybe betraying too... for a moment there i thought i was the one who didn't read his post correctly. Well you can always cancel your poison proc by right clicking on it in your maintained spells window, but that can get messy when mezzing in a rush. I, me, in my opinion find that a dirge will usually bring more as their buffs are more versatile. Stoneskin is invaluable,   same base proc chance than the troubys spellshield, in the end the proc rate differance is shocking. Cacophony of blades is HUGE, dps wise AND utility wise with the chain interupts. Precision of the maestro dazes and roots the troub and only adds a proc to spells. The recast timer on CoB starts when casted, so you get 17 secs every minute, compared to troubs with the recast timer starting when the spell is finished, giving a 30 sec buff every 2 minutes. The proc rate of the dirges self buff damage shield is higher, their parry buff adds two times more than the troub defense buff. Dirges get a +25% to all procs of all group members, while troubs get a +5 to spell range. Add in the hate buff, and the dirge would be a very capable tank when geared corectly I stay on my statement, unless your guild needs a troub for the parser addicted mages, unless you really want a mez for the possibilities it can offer when soloing, your better off as a dirge

[missing_peace]

Triag wrote:

I, me, in my opinion find that a dirge will usually bring more as their buffs are more versatile.

Well, this is really a matter of playing to the group's strengths and for a group a dirge may indeed be more versatile.  However, for a duo I think a troub may actually be more powerful specifically because of mezmerize.  The ability to control adds and break up groups is invaluable when tackling higher level content with a duo.

Stoneskin is invaluable,   same base proc chance than the troubys spellshield, in the end the proc rate differance is shocking.

Agreed.  Stoneskin is far more powerful a tool than reflection.  Troubadours have been asking for this to be addressed, but of course the voices of power are silent.  It is such a waste to have a buff that you never, ever use. Cacophony of blades is HUGE, dps wise AND utility wise with the chain interupts. Precision of the maestro dazes and roots the troub and only adds a proc to spells.

Precision in its current form is only useful when engaging 4+ linked mobs (outside of a raid, anyway.)  Again, troubadours have asked for this to be addressed, but...

Then again, troub spell proc is far greater than dirge melee proc.  This is especially true when you add in the achievements to increase the proc rate.  This can easily account for 10-15% of total damage from a casting group member including healers if you duo with one.

The recast timer on CoB starts when casted, so you get 17 secs every minute, compared to troubs with the recast timer starting when the spell is finished, giving a 30 sec buff every 2 minutes.

Jester's Cap decreases the recast for everything and there are achievements to address some of the timer shortcomings.  Not so much an advantage for either class, I feel.  But, Jester's is better when you duo with a mystic (hey-o bolster!  I love having 10k hitpoints!)

The proc rate of the dirges self buff damage shield is higher, their parry buff adds two times more than the troub defense buff. Dirges get a +25% to all procs of all group members, while troubs get a +5 to spell range. Add in the hate buff, and the dirge would be a very capable tank when geared corectly The self buffs are more or less equal.  The troub buff adds 200+ int at 70 (and we're 2/3 spellcaster too, so it really helps.)  The defense buffs are yet another unaddressed issue.  Hate...  well, in group and duo content it should not be necessary.

A plus for the troubadour is mez and recover.  Troub can kill things that would smoosh a dirge solo or duo. 

I stay on my statement, unless your guild needs a troub for the parser addicted mages, unless you really want a mez for the possibilities it can offer when soloing, your better off as a dirge

Stand up and and stand proud, my minor keyed bretheren.  Both classes have strengths and weaknesses, so play the class that is more fun for you, not the one which you think is more powerful.

Also, dirge + troub is awesome in any group.  It's like a concert tour.