Effective & Fun Classes to Duo

[Kaeper]

Warforged paladin and warforged rogue 2/wiz 18 maybe?

In a W/f duo the wiz can swap from blasting to healing in situations where the paladin can't keep up. Gives the flexibility of healing without it being a focus.

I haven't done the tank/squishy duo in DDO but in other MMO's I've played the caster didn't need to move around much. In fact teaching them to not do the caster chicken dance was usually step one.

[Mister_Peace]

This will be tough.
You don't want her to play a healer, yet a healer class would have the least problem with motion sickness.
You don't want to use Warforged, yet they comprise many of the most popular duo teams.
You're leaning towards ranged for her, but ranged has certain problems:
1 its dps is lacking compared to melee, meaning you'll face tougher challenges than usual
2 in order to range effectively, you need to look forwards with high draw distance, as opposed to looking down - this may be difficult for someone new to FPS
3 ranged implies either kiting or not kiting, both having their own disadvantages

I suggest drow 2/18 rogue/wiz for her and drow pure paladin for you. At lower levels you can wand-whip and at higher levels she can UMD heal scrolls.

[Barrelhouse]

More good ideas, thanks!

The more I think about it, Human Pure Fvs + either a Human or Dwarf Fgt18/Rog2 or Exploiter might meet our criteria. I guess the Fgt/Rog would be more Tanky, which would help our overall survivability. Originally I was thinking that Cleric would be too boring, but I like Impaqt's Evoker Fvs build and think that is something that my wife would enjoy and not get too dizzy while playing.

I went back pretty far in the Fighter and Builds forums but didn't see a detailed Fgt18/Rog2 build. I did read about the tradeoffs between Rog2 and Pure Fighter, and I am willing to give up some DPS for a little more survivability and decent Rogue/UMD skills. I also liked Thanimal's Batman build Fgt12/Rog8, which has more Rogue skills, but it looks pretty hardcore.

Assuming that my wife goes Human Pure Fvs Evoker, does one of the above builds stand out above the rest for a duo, or something else altogether?

[unbongwah]

The problem with rogue / fighters is lack of skill points; if you really want trap skills, you either need high INT (which gimps your other stats) or lots of rogue levels (which sacrifices your 3rd-tier fighter PrE). Most rogue 2 / ftr 18 builds I've seen take the rogue splash for UMD & Evasion, not trap skills (though you can squeeze in decent Open Lock if you want). If you want a rogue-splashed melee char with trap skills, then I think rogue / ranger, rogue / bard, or maybe even rogue / barbarian are your best options, since they all get more skill points. Or you could adapt Batman 9.4 to be more of a DPS build

The problem with the Evoker is it's a pure caster build with almost no melee abilities at all; it doesn't get a decent offensive spell until lvl 8, so it's mostly a buffer / healer until then. In duos, I find it's a bad idea to rely on one char to provide most of the DPS; it just takes too long to finish off mobs. I think a better choice is Impaqt's Superior Soul, which combines good melee with good offensive spellcasting, plus all the usual buffs & heals.

[Barrelhouse]

Thanks for the Superior Soul Fvs link - it looks like it is flexible enough to accommodate being human or elf.

To get UMD/DD/Search, I think I am going to end up going Tempest Rng18/Rog1/Fgt1, probably dwarf.

That combination looks like it should be pretty self-sustaining for a duo, with decent DPS, healing & skills.

[xXAlStarXx]

This may be a little late on the draw, but I'd suggest Shade's max DPS build for you, a pure barbarian build that focuses on hitpoints and DPS, while dropping AC. I play this build, haven't gotten it very far at level 6, but I'm able to solo Delera's on normal and Elite. With a healer, Preferably the FvS build posted above, you could do alot of the hard quest alone, since Shade's build kills alot before it gets hit, and it does get hit occasionally, but if you have your wife healing you when it's needed, you'll be fine and she can use some offensive spells while she's at it.

Shade's build is the third post down on this thread, due to the original thread being lost, it was reposted here.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=116814

Good luck!

[AyumiAmakusa]

18/2 Wiz/Rog and 18/2 Cleric/Monk.

[DrNuegebauer]

If you don't want to use WF, then you should both choose halflings - one a 'Valiance' (17cler, 2 monk, 1 rogue) and the other a halfling 'monster' (2 monk, 6 ranger, 12 fighter) with the healing dragonmarks.

The monster will do some power DPS for you, and can tag a few self-heals along the way (and wand whip from level 2); the valiance can cast heal when required and can do some pretty handy secondary DPS along the way - plus a few BBs when needed.

Frankly I think you need a WF in there - a 'Tukaw' and either a monster or valiance would make a pretty sweet combo - but it's your call in the end.

Don't worry too much about the traps, with just the 2 you should be able to use your nice saves to get through them when required.

[Tom_Hunters]

i think of WF wiz/rog + WF fvs

the fvs can do the melee job, heal, cast and tank
the wiz is the another healer, and a good caster

both can buff well
and the wiz/rog can do the traps too