Looking for duo advice.

[deepruntramp]

I've finally managed to convince a guy from my old WoW guild to give EQ2 a try and he seems to really enjoy it.  He's most interested in playing an Assassin at the moment, but I'm sure I could convince him to be any Rogue or Predator.

I feel most at home with INT casters but really I could play anything that isn't a Scout or Druid.  Besides those the only off-limit classes would be Guardians, Paladins, and possibly Templars -- they're all too defensive for my playstyle.

1.)  With those preferences in mind, what would be good to duo with a Rogue or Predator?  Faction doesn't matter as long as we both start on the same one (so no Evil + Good duo in exile, too complicated atm).

2.)  We both have interest in eventually raiding (on Nagafen).  Rogues / Predators are of course overplayed, but how big of an issue is that going to be when we're trying to get in a raid guild?  Is one faction better than another for actually getting a raid spot (the buzz has always been that Freeps outnumber Qs by a large margin, does that affect the guild scene?)  Also I'd enjoy it if our classes weren't bad or grossly marginalized in raids -- for instance, as I understand it, Coercers are slightly better PvPers and much worse raiders than Illusionists.  Even though I might be losing some PvP power by playing an Illusionist, I'd prefer that if it made me a more attractive recruit.

I wasn't quite sure which forum to put this in (PVP?  Nagafen?  Assassin class board?  EQ2Flames?) so I decided on the first that came to mind.  Sorry if this is borderline off-topic.

[Winter12345]

Np this isnt off topic since it at least relates to pvp, but anyways, i would recommend if he wants to be an assasin, try inquisitor, both are evil classes, so you dont have to worry about betraying and stuff. Other than that you kind of limited the choices for the only classes left are Beserker, Inquisitor, and Shadow knights, wizards, warlocks, and corcerers. SK, inquisitor, and corcerer are evil classes only, wizard, beserker and warlocks can be in qeynos or freeport so it's up to you on them.

However i need a little more info from you, do you like plate healers, or fighters more? if you like plate healers, try an inquisitor, if you like fighting and magery combined, go for SK imo or if you want to try the mages here, wizards are good with their insanely nice dps, warlocks are cool too. For your raiding question, it really depends on the guild because usually raid guilds like to even out or find more of one class. However if you want my say for it, i usually always see (from freeport) a need for inquisitors and wizards. Only reason why Shadowknights arent really picked in for alot of raiding (from what i have experianced) is because many people make them so there is always a large abundunce while the guild only needs like 5 or 6 for raiding.

Hope you find a class and i hope your friend will stay here permanent =)

[Zacarus]

Any raid guild will need crowd control so yeah Coercer may work for you.  A Coercer / Assassin combo would be pretty fun too.  I agree with the previous poster tho, in that a SK would be possibly be a good fit.  SK / Assassin is a tough two-some too.  Another consideration, even though you said you didn't want to play a druid, a melee-spec'd Warden / Assassin combo would rock.

[Radigazt]

OK, I realize this isn't what you want to hear, but IMHO the best combo would be a Swashy/Brig + Priest. 

I often duo with a non-scout, and I can say that we pretty much can dominate anything even numbers and cons, and most duos yellow and some higher cons, but we inevitably die to groups because we do not have tracking.  I'd say any PvP duo without a scout to track is gimped ... unfortunately mine included, lol.  Of the scouts, I'd highly recommend a Swashbuckler, or if you're evil a Brigand is good too.   They can tank fairly decently too if needed.  Wonderful versatility, tracking, debuffs, snares, group stealth, and excellent burst dps. 

Oddly you said you feel most at home playing INT casters, but you don't want to play a Druid ... well a Fury can easily be an INT caster if specc'd right.  Mine has 35% to 42% spell crits (35% + racial abilities) and Energy Vortex adds 40% damage while it's up (half the time).  So if you wanted an INT caster for PvP, it offers a nice repertoire, Snare, Root, a few debuffs, nuking, shield, leather armor, healing ... it's great for duoing because you can play so many roles. 

If you're dead-set on playing a mage, I'd recommend a Coercer.  They're extremely fragile and hard to master, but once they reach the upper 30's they become real beasts.  Now, in a duo, staying alive will be ... ahem ... challenging, but that's going to be the case for any mage class.  Illusionists are also good choices.  Conjurors and Necros are OK, but at high levels they just die so easily it's going to get frustrating to play.  Warlocks and to a lesser extent Wizards are actually pretty good these days between their wards and manashield, so they stay up long enough to kill stuff.  But, with no ability to heal, you'd better not make too many mistakes or bite off more than you can chew ... or get too many resists.  Tracking (scouts) is a mage's best friend in PvP. 

So, absolutely, one of you needs to play a scout for the tracking.  Otherwise, this duo isn't likely to last long as getting repeatedly wiped by full groups of orange cons tends to get old ... relatively quickly. 

For your INT caster, I'd recommend them in the following order:  Coercer, Warlock, Illusionist, Wizard.  But if you're semi-considering a priest class, the Fury is the badazz INT caster of the group, with Wardens being 2nd.  The Inquisitor is the badazz mele character, although he's gotta level up and get lots of AA's to really shine. 

[deepruntramp]

I'd play a Priest, just not a Druid because there are way too many.  Also I can't stand playing either of the Druids.  Wardens bore me to death and Furies don't interest me in the least (if I wanted to heal, I'd make a healer.  If I wanted to nuke, I'd make a mage).

Coercer does sound interesting but the downside is that everything I read about them says they're one of the worst classes in the game for raiding, as most Epic mobs are immune to the class-defining features.  Coercer players also sound pretty disappointed in their class choice and it seems like every other post I read is about betraying to an Illusionist.

[Winter12345]

then try a shadowknight, they are combination of a mage with nice dps and a fighter with great aggro control