Bard/Shaman Duo

[Ivengar]

My friend and I have gotten back into eq a few months ago and I started a shaman and he a pally. We worked our way up to about 58 and he switched back to his bard because he could not solo as well with the pally when I was not around.

Now at lvl 62 we are having a hard time finding a good place to Duo together and get decent XP.

GE is too low lvl for us. It is ok AA xp and soso solo xp but once we are grouped its about .75% xp a kill and we dont kill them all that fast.
We went to CT but on Tunare no one xps there and with just the two of us it takes too long to kill a mob, not to mention i burn though much of my mana.

PAW is too high for us, and from what I hear a death trap.

TSS zones like BD, Steeps and Sonderock , the mobs have way too much HP and hit like a Mack truck.

Any one have ideas on where a duo like this can do well at our lvl?



Also an other problem we have is agro. The bard holds agro about as well as he tanks...not very well. When in out door zones its not so bad as we just kite the mob with dots, but indoors its a problem.

I am an ex cleric player so I have a ton to learn about the shaman so any pointers you can throw out to me would be great!

Thanks!

Solsticex 62 Shm Tunare
Ivengar 66 Clr Tunare

[Hecude Poison`Blood]

With slows and stuff you should be able to keep him up in BoT maby Crypt of decay. I think PoV would still hit a lil 2 hard but maby not. Lots of PoP zones are great for you guys lvls. Try these out.

[Oyvay]

[Jerus]

[Valdemar]

A little background - I box a Shaman and Bard duo. The Bard is actually my wife's character, but due to our conflicting work schedules, I frequently box her. Another point of note, is that unlike most Bards, this character was created with the intention of becoming a Tank-o-Bard right from the beginning. So all 25 discretionary points that Bards get at creation, my wife smartly dumped into Stamina for more HPs.

Further, I have boxed or partnered with several other of my wife's/friend's characters including a Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Enchanter, and Mage. So, I feel qualified to make some real-world, experience-based comparisons on the value of the Shaman/Bard duo versus some other combinations.

First, you mentioned that your friend can't hold aggro. I never have this problem at all. Why? because the very first thing I do when the Bard returns to camp with a mob is, 1) sic pet, 2) target Bard, 3) cast Spirit of Panther, 4) Wait for proc (which is almost always instantaneous given max dex), 5) cast malo, slow, Epic Dot, misc. Dots all worry free. I never pull aggro. Simply put, I don't rely on the Bard's poor DPS to attract the mob. Hell, my pet out damages the Bard frequently. I maintain aggro in the right place with DPS proc. Learn it, use it, love it. This technique can be used in any situation where the MT might not otherwise hold aggro.

Root/Rot is your friend when taking on difficult New World mobs with a non-uber Bard partner. Unlike most people here who have posted about the Bard's poor tanking ability, I can say from experience with having fought extensively with other hybrid and melee partners that Bards most definately tank better than all the chain melees and I rank them on a rough par with Monks if comparably geared/AA'd. Innate avoidance and mitigation are somewhat better than chain classes (noticably better, but not enough enable content demanding heavy tanking). Having just praised the much maligned Bard as a tank, against any content PoP and later (Ykesha and LDoN came out after PoP but rest squarely in the Old World camp as far as the mob difficulty), Root/Rotting FTW. The Bard can really shine in that situation. You can spin 4 Dots via /melody with an instrument and do about 35 DPS from quite a distance. (The 35 DPS figure is based on mid-50s level Bard songs with Epic of Epic-like instrument mods. If you have a better mod or are using higher songs, up the damage accordingly). Another thing to consider in Root/Rot is throwing. Bards use thrown weapons as our missile weapons. You aren't going to see much damage from it until you up the Bard's throwing skill and get access to some high damage stat thrown items, but it is more DPS. I never neglect any avenue to DPS, especially if it costs no mana and results in no damage to my team. It's something to mention to your friend.

[Kianor]

I think the issue about bard tanking is that most bards would rather prance than tank, so they don't tank... and everyone thinks they're not very good at it.

Still, the original poster said his bard doesn't tank very well, which could well be down to gear. But for agro, leopard/panther and later Lingering Sloth/Lassitude are great assets. You can also get procs for weapons which add agro if it's still a problem. But that would require you to want to tank, there are other ways for a bard/shaman duo to do things if you don't want to.