Dynamic Duo - Looking for suggestions

[FluffyDucky]

I would like to create a pair of toons that my son and I can play together without having to find a group and still have a reasonable chance of finishing most, if not all, quests. We are both new to DDO and I was hoping some veterans would have some advice on what will and will not work.

[Vinos]

a cleric and a rouge/pally will get the job done.

[Ballex]

A buddy and I started out duo'ing in DDO as soon as SSO launched. I chose what I had always played in pnp D&D, a Halfling Rogue. He chose his typical Human Fighter. upon level 4, we began hitting a brick wall. We couldn't easily get through the adventures without breaking the bank buying Healing Potions. We both re-rolled to add some depth to our party.

We decided, since we were duo'ing, we were missing two important party abilities: Healing Spells and Magic Offensive spells.

We decided, as a party, how best to accomplish this. He chose a Fighter/Cleric to get both Healing spells, buffs, and undead magic. I chose a Rogue/Ranger/Wizard. (in this progression to max out your skill points: Ro, Wi, Ra, Wi, Ra, Wi, Ro, Wi, Ro, ...) to get all the thieving abilities, some ranged fighting abilities, and offensive spells. It's seemed to work good so far. Now were both 6th level, and usually try one level less adventures on Normal, two less for Hard, and three less for Elite.

So far, so good.

Ballex

Zanros Silentread - Rogue 1 / Ranger 2 / Wizard 3 - Thrashak

[arcane_nite]

UMD sorc and a paladin.

*edit - 10 paladin 2 rogue
- 12 sorc

[Protagoras]

I might go with a Bard and a Rogue/Pally. Cleric is a good idea too of course, but the bard can get you healing and some more arcane stuff and be UMD proficient to get wands for the other stuff. The Pally/Rogue will get you Fighting, Aura's and trapsmithing.

Duoing completly is very hard, and you will likely want to party occasionally but with the Cleric or Bard with Pally/Rogue you should be able to find SOMETHING to do duo anytime you and your son want. Don't expect your Pally/Rogue to do elite trapsmithing though.

[SUPERCREWJOHN]

good morning. I think that is awesome that you are getting your son involved in one of the best games ever. I have been a D&D er since 75.

There are a couple of things that you should consider. One of you should be a strong cleric for the healing capabilities, and one should be a strong melee type. I would suggest one of you build as a battle cleric ( paladin/cleric) with the emphasis on cleric. I would start this toon as a cleric first. Focus the skill build on Str,Char, and Wisdom.

The other should either be a high IQ,Hi Str, like a fighter/rogue or Fighter/wizard. I think initially a caster( wiz or sorc) have survivability issues.

Another choice maybe a pure melee fighter/rogue and a caster/healbot cleric/sorcerer

[Strakeln]

UMD sorc and a paladin.

*edit - 10 paladin 2 rogue
- 12 sorc

We have a winner here, folks. If you guys are worth your salt, this duo can handle about 75%+ of the game (heck, high level UMD sorcs can solo about 75%+).

Basically, the sorc can cover all buffs, wand whip and rez the pally, crowd control, and nuke when needed. The pally can kill things, help with resist buffs, and has a panic button that can be used on himself or the sorc. Splash in two rogue levels to the pally and his survivability goes way up, making the duo much more effective. With some planning, the pally can even be a trap monkey.

Edit: if you make the pally a WF, the sorc is able to do some SERIOUS healing, and the pally is immune to almost everything. Without having a single repair spell mem'd, my sorc can keep a toaster vertical against the dragon with no one else healing or wand whipping (alternate reconstruct scrolls and wands, have your wand mastery maxed).

[FluffyDucky]

Thanks for all the comments, a few questions.

I see a Rogue/Paladin recommended a few times and was wondering how you would build one. Looking at the descriptions I see the following.

Rogue Recommended Attributes: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma
Paladin Recommended Attributes: Charisma, Strength, Wisdom, Constitution

You don't get enough points to be high in every stat, which is what it appears a Rogue/Paladin would need. The combined abilities look impressive but would they really work with your stats spread out so thin? What would you focus on and what would you skimp on to make this work? Basically, what are you aiming to end up with, a Rogue that can use heal wands/extra weapons, a Paladin that can disarm traps. Strakeln mentions "Splash in two rogue levels to the pally and his survivability goes way up". Not to be stupid but how does this work.

Also UMD sorc. I assume UMD is the "Use magical Device" skill. What magical device would the sorc need this for? (I'll take a guess and say healing wands.)

[Viglin]

Thanks for all the comments, a few questions.

I see a Rogue/Paladin recommended a few times and was wondering how you would build one. Looking at the descriptions I see the following.

Rogue Recommended Attributes: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma
Paladin Recommended Attributes: Charisma, Strength, Wisdom, Constitution

You don't get enough points to be high in every stat, which is what it appears a Rogue/Paladin would need. The combined abilities look impressive but would they really work with your stats spread out so thin? What would you focus on and what would you skimp on to make this work? Basically, what are you aiming to end up with, a Rogue that can use heal wands/extra weapons, a Paladin that can disarm traps. Strakeln mentions "Splash in two rogue levels to the pally and his survivability goes way up". Not to be stupid but how does this work.

Also UMD sorc. I assume UMD is the "Use magical Device" skill. What magical device would the sorc need this for? (I'll take a guess and say healing wands.)

My secondaty character is a Paladin/Rogue/Sorceror[in Light armor], and my stats at start were hmm;
St-12
Co-10
Int-13[+1 item is very easy to get]
Dex-13[see above]
Wis-10
Cha-14

The Rogue 2 everyone mentions is to get Evasion...which at this time works in all armor[but lm a roleplayer so...and l wouldnt be suprised if one day it changes to pnp, as the game is trying to]

As for skills, just keep a good Spot,Search,OL,DT, and UMD[thou my guy had no use for it...being l cover all the realms of magic already]

And yes UMD=Use Magic Device

Good luck to you both

[arcane_nite]

Thanks for all the comments, a few questions.

I see a Rogue/Paladin recommended a few times and was wondering how you would build one. Looking at the descriptions I see the following.

Rogue Recommended Attributes: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma
Paladin Recommended Attributes: Charisma, Strength, Wisdom, Constitution

You don't get enough points to be high in every stat, which is what it appears a Rogue/Paladin would need. The combined abilities look impressive but would they really work with your stats spread out so thin? What would you focus on and what would you skimp on to make this work? Basically, what are you aiming to end up with, a Rogue that can use heal wands/extra weapons, a Paladin that can disarm traps. Strakeln mentions "Splash in two rogue levels to the pally and his survivability goes way up". Not to be stupid but how does this work.

Also UMD sorc. I assume UMD is the "Use magical Device" skill. What magical device would the sorc need this for? (I'll take a guess and say healing wands.)

Good place to start for any pally build questions:

http://www.ddo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26

more specific:

http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84756

Umd - wd be for rez scrolls, and heal/effect wands.

[~Treemarker]

Without having a single repair spell mem'd, my sorc can keep a toaster vertical

Thank for making me laugh out loud. Seriously. I even had to shut the door to my office cause people were coming by to see what I was laughing at.

[Dariun]

You can also do a Warforged duo:

Warforged Wiz/Rogue (only really need to take first lvl rogue)
Warforged Warrior (your choice really, barbarian, fighter, or multiclass)

I did a lot of duoing with a human cleric and dwarf battle cleric combo. That worked well until the lvl 6 or 7 quests. Then some of those could be done, some were really too much trouble.

[FluffyDucky]

I was just thinking of an all WF duo based on the Pally/Rogue + Sorc combo when I saw Dariun's post.

WF sorc may not make sense in most cases but in an all WF party this would mean no healing needed so the points normally going to UMD could be spent on something else. This would also give the sorc the WF immunity and armor bonuses making him better able to survive (which may be critical with only 2 in the party). The 5% spell failure would be an annoyance but I thought there were ways to eliminate it if it becomes to worrisome.

[Dariun]

One problem with paladin and sorcerer for Warforged is they have a Charisma and a Wisdom penalty. You can do them, but they are more of a "let me see how I can make this work" character than a naturally strong build.

The Wiz/Rogue combo works as WF have no int/dex penalties and the high con and immunities helps survivability.

WF also make great barbarians and fighters.

[Rason]

I was just thinking of an all WF duo based on the Pally/Rogue + Sorc combo when I saw Dariun's post.

WF sorc may not make sense in most cases but in an all WF party this would mean no healing needed so the points normally going to UMD could be spent on something else. This would also give the sorc the WF immunity and armor bonuses making him better able to survive (which may be critical with only 2 in the party). The 5% spell failure would be an annoyance but I thought there were ways to eliminate it if it becomes to worrisome.

I can speak from experience that I have a Warforged Duo and it works well together. I have a level 7 Warforged Wizard with the standard composite armor (and I took the enhancement 'Inscribed Armor' which removes the spell failure) and that WF teams up with Annihilator, a level 7 Warforged Barbarian.

I'm primarily crowd control yet I do specialise in lightning/acid/repairing. This means I can be the WF healer and also hamper the enemy. So far this duo has gone the distance and works very well

The other duos my fiance and I have are:

• Dwarf Paladin 5/Fighter 1 & Human Rogue 5/Fighter 1
• Drow Cleric 4 & Drow Sorcerer 4
• Drow Fighter 5 & Human Cleric 5/Paladin 1
• Drow Bard 5 & Drow Paladin 5

The Drow characters are apart of an RP family we've create hence why there is a few there.

So far the best duo is the warforged wizard and barbarian duo and the Dwarf/Human combo with a paladin tank, minor healer with wands and high damage reduction to block doors, and the rogue being used to detrap traps, unlock doors and use a heavy repeating crossbow.. they are not too bad.

The Fighter & Cleric/Paladin combo aren't bad either but it can get tricky here and there. The bard and paladin are definitely interesting since the bard can heal, use a heap of wands and sing the monsters to sleep 99.99% of the time.

As for the Cleric and Sorcerer, we haven't played them much since they are regular members of a RP group up once a week but the cleric is well rounded to have a decent strength and enough wisdom to be decent while being a healer/offensive for the time being.

I hope this helps Sorry if anything is obscure.. its 5:27am.

[Viza]

I would like to create a pair of toons that my son and I can play together without having to find a group and still have a reasonable chance of finishing most, if not all, quests. We are both new to DDO and I was hoping some veterans would have some advice on what will and will not work.

Nice. My son plays with me as well, though he's not been playing long enough to grasp the breadth of what the game can offer. He's happy swinging his maul of pure good lol. We can generally duo anything that's more than 2 levels below us with minimal pain. It really cuts into our xp, but that's not why we are doing what we are doing... we are in it for the fun of playing a game together.

If that's all you are after you'll do fine 8)... If you are on Sarlona email Lleandrea and let me know when you play. Maybe we can do some father/son parties and tackle some tougher content.

We do a Bard and Fighter/Rogue combination. The bard can do crowd control, buff and heal, the fighter/rogue supplies the punch and trap finding/disabling.

It works out great 8P

-Viz

[Rite]

I run with my brother and have duo'd the majority of quests.

I'm a batman with a umd/ finess saves machine, 6 Fighter/ 3 pall/ 3 rogue... I dont get hit with much, can dish out the dps and can lay down any spell needed with a little investment.

He's a 6 fighter/ 2 ranger/ 4 rogue hybrid that can disable anything, high ranged dps and if needed can take a decent beating

Its a really fun duo as its dynamic, no weak link for taking a hit/ both have evasion/ both can wand heal +2 lay on hands for 70 a piece and the best part is, who ever the mob is looking at is going to take an extra 2d6 a swing from the other with sneak attack. We are finding keeping your dps up is key, having 1 healer type and a pally is a hard grind when fighting mobs the regen or have high hp. You need to be able to turn on the damage on ocassion

I think the biggest thing you need to keep in mind with duoing stuff as you will be required to be a jack of all trades. Also self buffing (barkskin potions and heroism are the best).

[stockwizard5]

1 Rogue/X Wizard and 1 Bard/X Pally - excellent duo - not gimped for elite raids.

[roscopico]

I think you will do better just by ignoring the rogue. Assuming normal, the damage you save from trapbusting wont be worth what you pay for it in terms of lowered spellcasting, etc. Although you cant run traps on elite, you prolly wont be able to find them without a serious commitment.

On normal, you can run thru almost all of the traps with a simple resist or protection. for the physical traps- again between good con, reflex saves, false life, aid etc you can just run thru.

I would go WF paladin 1/cler x rolled with a 16 con, str, wis.

The other guy- drow wizard, pure, with a heavy repeater. dex 16 int 18 con 13. max umd. wiz focuses on buffs, webs/solid fogs and ranged support.

Each can heal each other which is huge for duos.

both should take extend spell at or before 3rd.

Stock: why bard/pally and not cler/pally? your bard spells would fail, no?

[Strakeln]

Stock: why bard/pally and not cler/pally? your bard spells would fail, no?

UMD. With a Pally's high Cha stat, this build's UMD would be able to hit mid-30's buffed. The ability to dimension door, collect stone(s), rez, and get a fresh start on a battle is priceless. My sorc has saved many a wipe with that.