Duoing

[MrDahkar]

Me and my buddy are thinking about picking up this game, we are currently on the free trial, but are curious to how far we can get duoing? Right now we were thinking cleric/rogue, however we're also considering Barbarian/Cleric and Paladin/Cleric.

Any suggestions? Could we DUO 90% to 14?(I understand we'll have to group for the hardest parts, but mostly)

Also our #1 preference is Rogue/Cleric then Paladin/Cleric then Barbarian/Cleric.

Thanks in advance.

[Mad_Bombardier]

With patience and smarts, you can duo most of the game. Others with more duoing expertise will come and recommend build pairs, but I thought I'd give you an affirmative on your first question. :)

[Kargon]

Me and my buddy are thinking about picking up this game, we are currently on the free trial, but are curious to how far we can get duoing? Right now we were thinking cleric/rogue, however we're also considering Barbarian/Cleric and Paladin/Cleric.

Any suggestions? Could we DUO 90% to 14?(I understand we'll have to group for the hardest parts, but mostly)

Also our #1 preference is Rogue/Cleric then Paladin/Cleric then Barbarian/Cleric.

Thanks in advance.

Kargon would think Rogue/Cleric would be a bit too difficult to pull off for peopamul new to the game, this pair would require a very very good BattleCleric, one of the hardest/advanced classames in DDO to play to all of its strengths. Without a very high DPS cleric this pair going have a hard time just dealing enough damage to kill monstamers, especiamally if the rogue are trying to do almost all of the damage (without Intimidate or lots of other aggro on the cleric the rogue will never get sneak attack, and will have low damage output).

Paladin/Cleric and Barbarian/Cleric are much more viable pair for newcomermers to pull off as a duo, though with a Duo will probably need to be using the Cleric as melee as well, so dont neglect Str or Con to make a pure Healbot.


An alternate possimibility would be a 2 rogue/rest multiclass wizard paired with a battle clerimic, so the dps would come from spellcasting, but this would also probably require some experience with battle clerics and aggro managemament to avoid getting frustrated too early.

Also may want to consider splashing either a little fighter or a couple paladin levels onto the cleric to make it easier to melee all the time you arent healing/buffing your teammate.

Or if really want to go rogue / cleric, consider a melee centered Ranger/Rogue. a good two weapon fighting ranger can come fairly close to a barbarian's dps (especially with some of the mod 6 improvements), and still spend a level or two on rogue and handle all the trapsmithing if built right. The ranger will also be able to cover resists and at higher levels barkskin, saving the cleric some mana.

[Samadhi]

I would suggest including a class that will allow hasting - but yes it is definitely possible to duo 90% of the content with really any combo of what you have listed.

[MrDahkar]

My friend just decided on Wizard, so what do you think would allow us to solo 80-90% of the content, wizard + ??.

[sirgog]

I would suggest one of two things.

To an experienced player, I'd recommend a battle cleric (probably 2 levels of Paladin and the rest Cleric), a character that can heal but focuses on melee. You'd need to maximise the Intimidate skill.

This will be difficult to do well without access to 32 point builds.

As you are newer, however, I'd be inclined to recommend a pure Paladin. Easier to play, has a couple of big hits of healing spells (lay on hands), can cast cure spells from wands (much cheaper than potions) and is one of the most resilient classes in the game (with immunity to fear, poison and excellent saves).

For the Wizard, I recommend considering taking one level of rogue (for trap skills) at some point. Most people recommend taking the rogue level at first level - this is good advice in the long term but makes the early levels much harder. I'd also ensure that they learn various Charm spells as you go - these are invaluable to a small group. Grab Charm Person at Wizard level 1, Suggestion at Wizard 5, and consider Charm Monster, Dominate Person and Mass Suggestion and/or Symbol of Persuasion as you get higher.


Also, feel free to give grouping a try. IMO it's the best part of the game.

[Ghoste]

A warforged wizor sorc and a warforged barbarian. I would recommend this build for your wiz (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=127707), so he can also play an effective scout.

If you do decide to go warforged, look up The Mithril Hand on the Argonnessen server. We try to help newer players learn to pick up playing a caster quickly.

[Pellegro]

My friend just decided on Wizard, so what do you think would allow us to solo 80-90% of the content, wizard + ??.


WF Wiz/Rogue + WF Barb = One of the best duos (in my humble opinion).

[BLAKROC]

Pally multi and a bard :)

[Arianrhod]

Depends on what you like to do. If you just want to maximize experience, something like a cleric and a barbarian would probably be good (or sorceror & barbarian, if warforged). If you prefer to check out every optional in every dungeon, a fighting cleric or paladin & a wizard/rogue (mostly wizard, but with skill points concentrated in spot/search/disable/open locks) might work out better. Bards are great, but tend to be better with more characters in the group (multiplies the value of their group buffs). At least at low levels, they can have a hard time pulling their weight in a duo.

And, of course, there's always the possibility that you'll end up rerolling halfway to 14 to make a drow duo instead ;)

[aiastelmon]

The folks above who suggest Warforged are on the right path IMO. I duo a ton with a buddy, I play an intimitank 1 Wiz / X Fighter, and he plays a straight Wiz. The advantages of WF in set groups are huge. No poison, disease to mess with, they are healed by arcanes, so you can do a Sorc or Wiz and retain all the offensive magic of those classes. And if you splash a level of Wiz or Sorc with your main fighter, he gets access to all those arcane wands as well. So when my wiz goes down, I can wand whip a repair and he's right back in the action (if he's not dead, that is). When you're fighting bosses, the tank tanks, and the wiz heals and then drops occasional magic missiles or nukes, and it's very effective.

-B

[Oreg]

If you dont want to go wf I would suggest a modified batman and a battle cleric. Alternatively a wiz/rog x/1 and battle cleric would work.

[Strakeln]

With patience and smarts, you can duo most of the game. Others with more duoing expertise will come and recommend build pairs, but I thought I'd give you an affirmative on your first question. :)There are very few quests that cannot be duo'd. Only one I can currently think of is the Abbott (the Twilight Forge can be bypassed but not completed by two people).

About 95% of the quests require very little trickery to do so, the remaining 5% require special builds/abilities/patience/trickery to do (ex: von5 levers: need to have 2x 25 str and 20 wis; Xorian requires use of pets)

[Laith]

Duoing is certainly possible. Up to 14 even. For a couple of new players though, it's gonna be tough.

The Warforged Wizard & Barbarian combo does sound pretty good.
If you don't want warforged, i'd probably go paladin & cleric or battle-cleric & wizard.

Good luck out there. Have some patience, once you start getting familiar with the quests & the combat system, the game gets a lot easier.

btw, it doesn't take too-too long for the game to stop being Dungeons, Kobolds, & Oozes ;)

[Oreg]

My sage advice - stock up on wooden clubs and run Durk's over and over until you both have a Muckbane. Then you are ready to duo the first 5 levels :)

[Zenako]

Since almost all of the content can be soloed (maybe not easily, but it can be done) there are very few quests where a duo cannot do it. That being said, quite a few quests will eat your lunch the first time thru them due to not knowing the "tricks" of the quest.

There are four things you need access to: The Ability to kill monsters (via spells or damage), The Ability open locked doors and chests (not truely REQUIRED but very very useful), The Ability to Heal your selves, and abillity to control the aggro of the monsters. Getting three of those in a duo is easy.

If you friend is going Wizard, then he can cover some of those already (he can kill via spells, and control mobs via spells (sleep, charms, Hypnotic pattern, etc and better ones at higher levels). With the Knock Spell he can open many doors and chests that are locked. The main area a wizard lacks is any sort on inate healing ability at range. With Skill in UMD they could use Cure Wands.

So if you were to take a martial class that can take a punch, get the attention of the mobs and keep them off the wizard, that would be a nice compliment. While Pure Fighter or Barbarian might dish it out better, a Paladin or Ranger (who can both freely use Cure Wands and have some buffs available after a few levels) might be a better choice. If you are later teaming up with other players, it is usually pretty easy to pick up some fighter types to kill monsters in quests. The suggestion about Batman (combining a couple of rogue levels with the Paladin for example) makes some sense, even more so in a small group. At second level Rogues get EVASION, which REALLY helps avoid damage from spells. (Rangers get it at 9th level). You can combine Rogue and Ranger very effectively and those can make some very versatile characters, which is an asset if you expect to mainly be playing with the two of you. I played quite a bit with my Brother in law when we started in 2006. I had a Ranger/Rogue and he had a Wizard as our first characters. (Soon had a bunch more.....) We were able to handle pretty much any quest, once we figured out what we needed to do.

How you play when solo or duo is often VERY different than when with a full party. Generally zerging (rushing) will just get you dead. (There are a few quests that might be easier to zerg solo than to drag a full party thru thou if you have the right character type and gear and skills...most of those have a victory condition of get to X or do XYZ at the end and do not rquire you to kill 50 million mobs along the way...)

[aiastelmon]

Though I can certainly understand the desire to utilize the Paladin's great survivability as a small group fighter, and have had lots of fun with my WF Paladin X / Sorcerer 1, I could never figure out how to keep my intimidate skill high enough with a Paladin in order to control the mobs properly. And with limited feats, it takes a while to get Cleave/Great Cleave. So my Pal/Sorc is my solo only toon, and my Fighter X / Wiz 1 is my duo/trio character. I think a WF Barb could do my job in a pinch, though I like to think that the flexibility, AC, and DR of my Admantium Fighter is superior as an intimitank : )

-B

[Cedrica-the-Bard]

Bard and Ranger, one of which should be strength based, preferably the Bard. Both of them strength based is even better.

My husband and I duo ALOT and of all the combinations of classes we've duo'd, the Bard/Ranger duo was by far the most effective.

Bard can fascinate in a pinch, Ranger by 4 gets the resists. Buffs are the key and being strength-based makes killing easy, especially at the low levels...

[Arianrhod]

Bard and Ranger, one of which should be strength based, preferably the Bard. Both of them strength based is even better.

My husband and I duo ALOT and of all the combinations of classes we've duo'd, the Bard/Ranger duo was by far the most effective.

Bard can fascinate in a pinch, Ranger by 4 gets the resists. Buffs are the key and being strength-based makes killing easy, especially at the low levels...

Just out of curiosity - was this duo your first characters, or twinks? I've found light-armor wearers awfully squishy at low levels, when they don't have mithral breastplates/the best gear they can equip (starter studded leather...shudder...even +1 chain shirt leaves a lot to be desired)

[EinarMal]

My vote would be for the following two characters:

Warforged Neutral Wizard 14/Rogue 2

Stats:
Str 8
Dex 8
Con 16
Int 18
Wis 6
Cha 14

Level Progression:
1-Rogue
2 thru 8-Wizard
9-Rogue
10 thru 16-Wizard

Skills:
Concentration
UMD
Search
Disable
Open Lock

Feats:
1-Insightful Reflex
2-(WB) Extend
3-Spell Penetration
6-SF Necromancy
6-(WB) Maximize
9-Force of Personality
12-Greater Spell Penetration
12-(WB) Heighten
15-GSF Necromancy

HP:
68(Levels) +20(Heroic) +10(Draconic) +30(GFL) +128(Con) +18(Helm) =274

SP:
680(14 Wiz) +276(Int) +100(Magi) +80(EOS III)=1136

Enhancements:
Warforged Con II
Warforged Inscribed Armor I
Rogue Skills Boost I
Rogue Disable Device I
Rogue Search I
Wizard Int III
Wizard Elemental Manipulation IV
Wizard Force Manipulation IV
Wizard Spell Penetration II
Wizard Lineage of Elements III
Wizard Energy of the Scholar III
Wizard Lineage of Deadly Elements II
Wizard Lineage of Force I

Spells:
1-Hypno, Jump, Nightshield, MM, Ray of Enfeeble
2-Scorching Ray, Resist Energy, Blur, Command Undead, Web
3-Fireball, Protection, Haste, Displacement, Rage
4-Stoneskin, Wall of Fire, Enervation, Fear, PK
5-Cone of Cold, Dominate Person, Break Enchantment, Mind Fog
6-Disintegrate, Mass Suggestion, Greater Heroism, Greater Dispel
7-Finger of Death, Ottos Sphere, Mass Hold Person

Saves (Fort/Reflex/Will):
Base: 4/7/9
Attributes: 8/11/6
Resistance: 5/5/5
Head: 2/2/2
Greater Hero: 4/4/4
Total: 23/29/26

UMD:
19(Base) +6(Cha) +7(Items) +4(GH) +2(Boost)=38

Search:
19(Ranks) +12(Int) +4(GH) +2(Boost) +15(Item) +2(Luck) +1(Enh)=55

Disable:
19(Ranks) +12(Int) +4(GH) +2(Boost) +15(Item) +7(Tools) +2(Luck) +1(Enh)=62

Open Lock:
12(Ranks) -1(Dex) +4(GH) +2(Boost) +15(Item) +7(Tools) +2(Luck)=41

Caster SR Check:
1d20 +14(Level) +4(Feats) +2(Item) +2(Enh) = 23-42

FOD DC:
10(Base) +7(Level) +12(Int) +1(Item) +2(Feats)=32
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warforged Neutral Sorc 16
Stats:
Str 8
Dex 8
Con 18
Int 14
Wis 6
Cha 16

Skills:
Concentration
UMD
Jump
Balance

Feats:
1-Maximize
3-Empower
6-Extend
9-Heighten
12-Spell Penetration
15-Greater Spell Penetration

HP:
64(Levels) +20(Heroic) +10(Draconic) +30(GFL) +144(Con) +18(Helm)=286

SP:
1260(16 Sorc) +275(Cha) +200(Magi) +110(EOD III)=1845

Enhancements:
Warforged Con II
Warforged Inscribed Armor I
Sorcerer Cha III
Sorcerer Elemental Manipulation IV
Sorcerer Lineage of Elements IV
Sorcerer Force Manipulation III
Sorcerer Spell Penetration II
Sorcerer Energy of the Dragon III
Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Elements III
Sorcerer Lineage of Force I

Spells:
1-Hypno, Jump, Nightshield, MM
2-Scorching Ray, Resist Energy, Blur, Command Undead
3-Fireball, Protection, Haste, Displacement
4-Stoneskin, Wall of Fire, Enervation, Fear
5-Cone of Cold, Dominate Person, Break Enchantment, Mind Fog
6-Disintegrate, Mass Suggestion, Greater Heroism
7-Finger of Death, Ottos Sphere
8-Horrid Wilting

Saves (Fort/Reflex/Will):
Base: 5/5/10
Attributes: 9/0/2
Resistance: 5/5/5
Head: 2/2/2
Greater Hero: 4/4/4
Total: 25/16/23

UMD:
9(Base) +11(Cha) +7(Items) +4(GH)=31

Caster SR Check:
1d20 +16(Level) +4(Feats) +2(Item) +2(Enh) = 25-44

FOD DC:
10(Base) +8(Level) +11(Cha) +1(Item)=30

[DoctorWhofan]

Kargon would think Rogue/Cleric would be a bit too difficult to pull off for peopamul new to the game, this pair would require a very very good BattleCleric, one of the hardest/advanced classames in DDO to play to all of its strengths. Without a very high DPS cleric this pair going have a hard time just dealing enough damage to kill monstamers, especiamally if the rogue are trying to do almost all of the damage (without Intimidate or lots of other aggro on the cleric the rogue will never get sneak attack, and will have low damage output).

Paladin/Cleric and Barbarian/Cleric are much more viable pair for newcomermers to pull off as a duo, though with a Duo will probably need to be using the Cleric as melee as well, so dont neglect Str or Con to make a pure Healbot.


An alternate possimibility would be a 2 rogue/rest multiclass wizard paired with a battle clerimic, so the dps would come from spellcasting, but this would also probably require some experience with battle clerics and aggro managemament to avoid getting frustrated too early.

Also may want to consider splashing either a little fighter or a couple paladin levels onto the cleric to make it easier to melee all the time you arent healing/buffing your teammate.

Or if really want to go rogue / cleric, consider a melee centered Ranger/Rogue. a good two weapon fighting ranger can come fairly close to a barbarian's dps (especially with some of the mod 6 improvements), and still spend a level or two on rogue and handle all the trapsmithing if built right. The ranger will also be able to cover resists and at higher levels barkskin, saving the cleric some mana.

Sorry to derail, but he spoke English!!! wow.

[DoctorWhofan]

Unless you are familiar with the game, Duoing is hard. Doable but hard. There are sever nice Rogue/Cleric builds on the Cleric forum. I have mine at 2 rogue and 5 cleric now and is still popping locks and traps. After that, try a straight tank type. Orthere is a option of just doing the quest with 4 other strangers. YOu will go through the quests faster, meet new people, learn the quests, learn other classes, and have fun. That's my recommendation

[Ringos]

Ringos sorry, he just found thread. He agree with Kargon, form...


Why the HECK am I talking like that!?!?


Oh yeah, because I agree with Kargon (although other responses are decent too). A battle-cleric and a wiz/rogue would be a good combo if you learn them.