Necro / Shaman Duo

[NecroMez]

I have recently returned to EQ and was thinking of starting a 2-box duo of Shaman /necro. Was wondering if this would be the most effective duo with the Necro and if the Shaman buffs stacked with the Necro buffs on the Pet?

Thanks
Mez

[Schaeffer]

SHaman Necro is a great duo if just becuase the Shaman regen counters the necro Lich. Between the shaman and necro you're never Oom on either toon and the shaman heal is much more efficient than the necro pet heal. Once you hit pet level with the shaman, you're unstoppable DPS wise and you tear through zones. I believe that shaman/chanter haste does NOT stack with necro pet buff. I know I've over ridden chanter haste with my pet haste. Also the Focus line does NOT stack with the sheilding line, but focus is better anyways so go for it.

[Fizzleplink]

Excellent combination. Schaeffer is correct - shaman haste won't stick on our pet haste, and the hp-Talisman line (Altuna, Tnarg, Kragg) which develops into the Focus line (Spirit/Khura's, Souls/Seventh) does not stack with our own Shielding spells. Focus gives us more hp than we get with shielding, at the expense of AC.

Personally, I don't plan to get hit, and even then, isn't that what Skin and FD are for?

In general, our Augmentation line provides haste equal to or better than what a shaman can do at the same level. Besides, every bit of ATK I can scrape up for ol' Boney helps.

At 48/49, I tried to get Boney strength, dexterity and shamanic hp*. AC if the shaman's feeling generous, otherwise he gets our wee Spirit Armor AC buff.

Fear kiting with a shaman and necro is nothing short of sublime. We tended to keep our pets nearby and set them on our victim only as the poor critter was returning to us. A second fear, a refreshed Darkness and poison dot, a couple pets... Ahh, I love it.

I can think of no class who better complements us, until the endgame, when beastlords finally come into their own.

Up until 60--and even beyond--a shaman is a necromancer's best friend.

Now if only shaman could cast Aegolism and Virtue...

- Fizzzleplink




* Note: Stamina and Agility seem to have no effect on pets -- I've parsed it extensively, as have other shaman over at the Shaman's Crucible. You can search there for parses if you're interested.

[Doomfir]

Shaman is close if not the best duo in the game for necros. Not only does their regen line of spells compliment our lich, but their malos, focus, and slows (ancient balance comes to mind) are perfect for pet tanking and doting. I only wish I had a shammy on another account to two box with.

[Ebonstar]

Again, I agree. Shammys are perfect as a hunting partner for necros (with beastlords also being good). The difference it makes to our lich line is incredible. Take a look at these figures :

Edit : Grrr ... my formatting doesn't come out and don't know how to do a table :(

Spell Health Mana Ticks
Seduction of Saryn -63 50 600
Saryns Kiss 150 -550* 10 * one-off, not each tick
Replenishment 25 0 205
Kitty Crack 9 9 450

No extras
Break even on mana 807 0 11
Break even on health -12 650 24

With Replenishment
Break even on mana 1082 0 11
Break even on health -20 1450 40

With Kitty Crack
Break even on mana 1014 -19 9
Break even on health -12 1102 28

With both
Break even on mana 1239 -19 9
Break even on health -8 2518 52

So you can see what a massive difference it makes. Hmm ... I should add in pot9, AA regen, innate, med and stuff too ... nah, some other day *grin*.

Seriously tho, shammys are wonderful additions to necros. Between the two of you, I'd say there's nearly nothing you can't do.

I'm even considering retiring my AM3/EQ/90AA/65 ranger and making a shammy instead cos it'll be a better partner for my necro *grin*

[NeSikWay]

Just to go to the off beaten track, I've been partnering with a mage for several lvls. from at least lvl 6 to 39, I found having 2 pets at the very begininning very nice, the mage output on DD, 2 pets fighting melee, using a bit of ping pong effect, in dungeons with the mage, forget the dots, infact the mobs die so fast, I have to tell the mage to hold back a little to do a life tap or life drain spell. And if the mobs are undead, its great. The duo became a trio when a cleric joined us. Now we don't get sow, but out pets with a temperance, me pulling, cleric watching the pets we can put away the exp, in a dungeon all we need is a tank, to take a couple of hits while we take it down. So I'm not saying a shammy isn't good or the best, I'm saying that the possiblities are unlimited to a necro. Mob gets dead either way.

[Rex]

Some nice info there Fizzlepink and Ebonstar.
Fizzlepink mentions that Beastlords come into their own as a Necro duo partner in the "endgame". Why is this?
Will any of the new AA's from GoD change things?
Is it a case a six of one, half a dozen of another when it comes to Shamans or Beastlords?

[Fizzleplink]

A beastlord provides much more mana-efficient DPS through melee as you go up in levels. Generally, the warders are excellent at getting and retaining agro, so even on an unfeared mob we can dot more heavily than we can with just Boney tanking.

You do, however, sacrifice better health regeneration and bigger heals until much later; ideally he'll be healing only the warder, which can make this almost transparent to us.

Late-game BLs get a couple decent ATK and stat buffs which stack - they can boost pet ATK by 60 or more without really trying.

And my favorite parts: Spiritual Purity (lev 59) is 7hp/7mana regen that stacks with regrowth (lev 64 for them); lev 65 they get a 65% slow as well as a 9hp/mana per tick upgrade to Spiritual purity.

Overall, it's pretty much a wash. Beastlord might require a bit more med/downtime for himself, while with his regens on us we'll be quite content. A solid shaman should be allowing us back-to-back fights without stopping, while we have just our usual mana regen (and regrowth)... but then, having a shaman around means we'll likely be full health until we browbeat them into letting us lifetap.

Yeah, I've rambled on and still can't decide myself.

[Rex]

If the two (BST v Shaman) are so close do you think it might simply come down to play style?

[Fizzleplink]

Aye, as well as target of choice.

F'rinstance, I'd choose a shaman in HoH, but a beastlord against dead things in Veksar.

[Kompressor]

I duo with my best friend who has a 65 shammie and we pwn anything that is thrown our way, nuff said. I two box cleric along with it, so we have, uber heals, hp buffs, regens up the ying yang, dots up the ying yang, dps with pets, (he uses his doggy alot who isnt so bad afterall :P) and named drop left and right with both of us near fm, and full health, if you can find a better combo, I'd like to hear about it. When or if we get in trouble, wow..... root, and chill out order a pizza and wait for him to die slowly from 6-8 dots stacked taking 1k or more dmg per tick..

[Rex]

Hehe, this is becoming a really tough choice. Beastlord or the Shammy? I was all set to go with the Shammy and then the Beastlord was thrown into the equation. If they are so close maybe it will come down to the simple fact that Shammies get Gate.

[Jebasiz]

I like beast for a partner personally...for a big kill a shaman's heals might be better though, depends on playstyle

Jeb

[Shadowpakt]

I'm afraid you've all failed to realize which class really complements the necro best..... ANOTHER NECRO =). uber DPS...both can keep themselves full of health and mana, both can FD...... awesome.

[Kompressor]

heheh, true, but theres zones where necroshang with other necros' exclusively for solo grouping..

sologrouping = you gain party experiece, you gain party experience, you gain party experience, you gain party experience ,you gain party experience, ALL at once! :P

[Doomfir]

I agree that one necro does compliment another. I have a full list of all the necros I have ever hunted with just for that purpose. Ever seen what 5 necro pets can do to a mob on top of the dots and lifetaps? It is incredible. But then again, allot of races are that way.. Imagine what a group of rangers all with am3 using headshot can do in terms of dmg, and the others can keep one up in healing if they get hit etc.. Same with pally's.. etc..

But the trick in duo's is the compliment each can help with because you don't have all that power of a full compliment of what each can bring.

I personally like a shammy over the bst. Not that a bst is bad.. by no means, but because a shammy can support you as a necro better. Malo is a great tool to help us land our dots, etc.. They are also better at slowing non undead mobs at least till the bst gets his 65 slow. Bst crack also sux compared to Cannibalize. Cannibalize is just like our lich except he gets instant mana (like a mana dot), vs our DoT type mana regen. It is however MUCH faster than BST crack. I don't have to worry about "feeding" him mana.

I can see how it would go either way however. BST has a strong pet.. and has a good heal, and at 65 a good slow. Either would be nice, I just personally prefer the support and versatility of the shammy functions a tad bit more.

As for a mage.. yeah.. things go well, till they gain agro from an add. They cant heal themselves at all, which makes them a liability in dungeon hunting duo. The also have little in direct support.. like root, snare, slow, etc.. which makes them suck again in certain situations. I really dont care to hunt with a mage at all on the whole. Just ask them.. when they solo in dark blue zones, they die alot. lol.