Duo: who should a barbarian bring along?

[Daunth]

I'm rolling a toon to assist a barbarian friend who's supposed to be the main dps source. I have a doubt and need advice:

Is it better to roll a bard or a cleric?

A bard shouldn't be able to heal enough, unless I pay a lot in wands and scrolls. Since I suppose there'll be plenty of damage to heal, and the mana pool is limited, I fear I won't be able to keep him alive with big bosses.
However, displacement and better CC should lower the incoming damage to heal, and less money will be spent on haste potions. Not to mention the bard song which helps attack and dps.

But cleric offensive casting like comet and BB reduces damage taken too, dead foes don't deal damage. And there's extended protection from energy, which bards don't have

So, overall, it's

haste+displacement+buffs+song+CC

vs

AoE dps+burst heal+CC

I other words, which one would you, as barbarian, prefer to have on your side?

(note that we can't make a wf barbarian+sorc as we're ftp, and also our goal is to reach lv20 easily through normal content, epic content will be played with future reincarnations)

[katana_one]

I would want a cleric (or favored soul, but as F2P you probably don't have them unlocked).

That's just my 2 cents.

[NinjaNeed]

Assuming the Barb is NOT a WF then a FVS or Cleric would be best, however if you plan on duo-ing and are a bit worried about dps then maybe make a WF barb and a WF wiz.

That would give great all round dps, cc, buffs and heals.

[Teech]

Wow. Has haste lost its lure? 2 years ago everyone wanted a hastebot in the party...

[Lleren]

Bard, and have him grab a Hireling for Healbot duties, or even both of you can grab a Hireling.

You may have more fun with 2 Barbarians, and 2 Hirelings though if yer good friends =D

Blade Barrier does not stack well with Greataxe Barrier in my experience.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Ideally, make it a WF Barb and a WF Sorc. They will DESTROY the content. (Or a WF 2rogue/18wiz if you want to get traps)


If you don't want paid classes/races then Dwarf Barb with a Human Cleric would be my call.

[TDarkchylde]

I'd lean more in favor of a bard - they can boost DPS with songs, Rage and Haste, which lessens the need for heals as the fights should be shorter. They can also use Displacement/Blur and crowd control to make sure the Barb isn't getting hit as often or at all. A Virtuoso or a Spellsinger specced for healing/CC would be what I'd personally roll for that exact situation. (The Barb may not benefit from the Spellsinger-specific songs - you will, however.)

If you go that route and are worried about consumable costs, max your Haggle. That should lower the costs a little both directly on the consumables themselves and indirectly by increasing the cost of the trash loot you sell along the way.

[uhgungawa]

Wow. Has haste lost its lure? 2 years ago everyone wanted a hastebot in the party...

But most Barbs will be short lived without someone to keep the up. So yeah, a WF Barb and a WF wizzy would give the best of both worlds.

[Daunth]

thanks for the feedback.
My worries are mostly about situations where big heals are required: a bard can heal between encounters, but can't do much when the red bar suddenly disappears (no empowered heal), before he reaches a UMD of 39 (it's the value for heal scrolls, right?). As a side note, I was going to pick a rogue level as first just for traps, in order to use the cleric's wisdom bonus to spot and find traps spell for search

[MrLarone]

bard.

specifically a spell singer.

to give you an idea of healing at lvl 16 i could main heal the party against the dragons when doing scale runs (reavers bane iirc =s). yes i'd get nervous if it got fudged and we had to do a second round, but that was all on SP heals (no wands or scrolls used).

as for buffs and cc, i personally believe the bards to be superior in both, and given some competence in healing, making them preferable to clr.

read this if you need any more bard convincing =)

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=275472

***edit***

you may not have the heal spell, but you're only healing one target, which you'll have 3-4 different spells (C_W) to use. with an ardor clicky they should be enough

[morticianjohn]

Ideally, make it a WF Barb and a WF Sorc. They will DESTROY the content. (Or a WF 2rogue/18wiz if you want to get traps)


If you don't want paid classes/races then Dwarf Barb with a Human Cleric would be my call.

Qft.

[elujin]

Duo: who should a barbarian bring along?

a greath axe

or i would say a virtuoso but then again thats what i always say
a bard increase in dps and blur /displacment /stone skin/ true seeing /resists /protections/cc would off set the need for heavy healing

[Nessa87]

I duoed through most content in the game (except raids) as a healing melee bard (classic rocker) with WF barbarian. Even Amarath is very easy to play in this duo. Two person party does not require that much healing and if they do, they can always get a hireling.

[LOOON375]

I duoed through most content in the game (except raids) as a healing melee bard (classic rocker) with WF barbarian. Even Amarath is very easy to play in this duo. Two person party does not require that much healing and if they do, they can always get a hireling.

I agree with this.

I have duoed most of the game as the primary source of DPS. My partner either used a bard or a cleric.

It comes down to a matter of choice.

[sephiroth1084]

thanks for the feedback.
My worries are mostly about situations where big heals are required: a bard can heal between encounters, but can't do much when the red bar suddenly disappears (no empowered heal), before he reaches a UMD of 39 (it's the value for heal scrolls, right?). As a side note, I was going to pick a rogue level as first just for traps, in order to use the cleric's wisdom bonus to spot and find traps spell for search

I'll say this: I know a few bards on Khyber who have solo healed raids. Tough raids, like Shroud on hard and ToD. There was some WF/arcane support for a couple of those, but not enough for it to be a non-achievement. Now, I don't play a bard, nor have I ever, so I can't speak to how likely this is to do on a newish player/character, but bards can definitely bring some significant healing.

That said, I'm going to cast my vote for the WF barbarian + arcane caster combo. Personally, I'd recommend either a WF sorcerer/wizard or human wizard Pale Master. A 2 rogue splash isn't necessary, but with it you can basically cover all 4 primary roles for quests just between the two of you. A WF caster has the advantage of being focused in one direction (force/repair specced probably) and requiring the same type of healing (added benefit of being able to pick up a WF caster hireling for additional healing for the both of you), and plays much better level 1-11. The advantage of the Pale Master is twofold: first, it requires a lot less attention from level 12 on, so more of your focus can be on the monsters and your buddy, and second, around level 6-7 you can spend the AP to get the arcane skeleton summon, which supplements your own casting pretty significantly.

If you friend has already committed to a fleshie barbarian, or you two don't want to go warforged for another reason (aesthetics or don't have them available), I'd go with either a healing focused bard or a casting focused cleric or favored soul so you can lay down some solid CC with things like Command, Hold Person, Greater Command, Cometfall and Symbols. Bard has an advantage in that you can splash rogue with it and get traps more easily than on a cleric, although I've seen clerics accomplish this as well.

As for Haste, you can always drink pots. They aren't as good as having the spell cast on you, but the spell by itself isn't a reason to necessarily go bard over a divine.

[vVAnjilaVv]

Cleric or FvS for more inexperienced players....for people who have been at it a while and know what they are doing.....a bard could easily pull it off.....well played ones are extremely versatile and powerful.....as long as the meathead barb doesn't swing at everything it sees at once.

All three would work fine...that is a FvS, Cleric, or Bard...but I only suggest the Bard if u really know what your doing....it will require a bit more tactical play.

[protokon]

currently on my 4th life on one toon playing a barbarian. My TR partner is a warforged favored soul.

My personal opinion would be to use a bard. non-WF barbarians are not that hard to keep up - especially if the bard keeps him displaced / hasted / raged/ songs, he will drop things very quickly. Not to mention bards get very nice enhancements to boost there heal scrolls / cure serious wands to more than sufficient healing power...

[SetofBs]

A well played bard will be much better at crowd control than a cleric. Bring a max-charisma spellsinger and they are basically a crowd control wizard and a cleric/fvs rolled into one. With their spellsong vigor they effectively have more spell points than a cleric as well (after level 12).

Obviously a WF combo is probably the best for a duo, because with a wiz/rogue you get traps, healing, nuking and crowd control all in one toon, but if you go fleshie I would go bard.

[Shade]

Depends on your skills as a player.

Clr/Fvs may be "easier" as you can just rely on your sp pool and take it slow..

But bards are always faster as they greatly increase damage delt, while greatly reducing whats taken with displacement.

Sure a bard at the low lvl may not have much burst healing, but even the rather cheap CSW wands youll find in house p are more then enough healing lvl1-15.. After which you should have plenty of UMD for heal scrolls.

And if your barb friend is at all skilled enough to move around a bit during combat to wait for some heals, youll be fine.

And make your bard a warchanter. It doesn't make any sense to be a spellsinger when you have no one else in the party who can cast spells to benefit off your spell songs. The minor increase to sp won't have any real impact, while the major increase to damage output and defense of a warchanter will.

I'd personally always pick a bard over a clr/fvs. Hell these days i'd take a good arcane over one since I can self heal well enough.. But it all depends on how well your barb can do to avoid damage and stay alive with a bit slower healing.

[die]

i say both go Barb and get hirelings