Shaman Duo boxing, Necro or SK?

[lcdatalore]

Hey everyone. I recently reactivated my account and don't really have any exp. in multiboxing but i would really like to give it a try. Ive done a lot of research and have it all figured out except for who im going to pair up with my shaman.

I have always been a necro since eq day 1 and would prefer a necro to be my duo partner but after reading how good a SK/shaman team is, i am torn. Pretty much what i want to know is if i could still duo old world raid mobs and new world named mobs if i were to dot/lifetap tank with necro or have shaman take the hits on mobs that summon. Now that mercs are out maybe an SK isn't necessary to tank those kind of mobs. I dont mind kiting or root rotting for reg exp but i want the option to be able to take down summoning mobs if i need to. Would like to do DoNs as well.

So is SK that much better then a necro? Or will i be okay.

I appreciate any info.

[Khauruk]

A lot of it will depend on how seriously you play. If you're raiding, then shm/nec should be doable. If not, you should probably have the SK imo.

[lcdatalore]

Sorry forgot to add that I raid so chars will be raid equiped. Thanks for your response.

[Kumudil]

With the mercs today, shaman and nec are a good combo also. At lower levels just merc-tanks to level up. Later on maybe one merc healer and one tank and you will have a really solid group. Necs dps is much higher. FD-pulls he can do as well. He isn't much gear dependent. An SK-Tank needs a lot of efford to be an effective Tank (AAs and Gear), but on the long ride, he will be the better Tank. On the other hand, special on incomplete and therefor slower-killing groups, the dot damage is still very useful. Considering the use of mercs I would call it an even reagarding the killability of nameds and it will be much faster to gather AAs and Xp with shaman-nec duo. Bazaargear will do well until 85, and those defiant Armor mostly goes just for some pp.

[Bigcat Daddy-o]

Completely agree with what Kumudil has posted. With one addendum. Merc tanks are stupider than a rock with a lobotomy.

I currently 3 box, and have dropped my druid (was shm/mage/dru as my 3 box with monk sub in for mage when friend that I play with wasn't available) and am building an SK to replace.

SK are AMAXING. I can't believe the stuff they can do. It's so much fun to play one. No disrespect to the Paladin folks, but I have a 82 Paladin with full SOD T4 (also on mage/monk account) and it just wasn't as much fun.
Granted, another reason I am building the SK is to 3 box, and keep reasonable DPS available (via mage). The monk is a brilliant puller, but is a sad panda dps provider. The SK can reasonably pull, and this allows me to bring mage back in which I prefer over monk.

Sadly boxing Paladin I really just found myself, /autoattack /stun/stun/stun.... /stun. /weakheal... Paladins frankly need some serious love... (this is a topic for other posts, but I truly believe this now. Enough to sideline a 900 AA lvl 82 paladin to build an SK)

SK has the opportunity to provide 3 of the skills required in a group.
-tanking
-pulling (although this one is still a bit sketchy but the SK seems to have some nice tools to do it with)
- runner control via snaring.

Also in a RUH ROH! moment can flop him over, wait till the ** clears the fan and pop out your merc healer for /'rescue me' . Now of course this isn't as important in the modern game but still pretty damn nice.

Your necro can provide all of these except the tanking part (and that is debateable in a lot of older content) and the merc tanks are BRILLIANT against a single target, but god help you if you get an add.

With my typical set up, this is what getting an add looks like:

I VP add. Merc tank goes running over to the add, making sure that the mob he was fighting has a nice clear shot at his back with no mitigation now... I get the stupid merc back on the original mob (sometimes..) and then the add can pound away on him from behind. This is with an assigned Main assist. Merc tank just doesn't care, he must have agro on all at all times. In fairness that is advantageous in a lot of situations, but the one I described above happens often enough that I am building a Sk tank.

Don't get me wrong. I love merc tanks, but they have some serious drawbacks.

[Opfor]

If you are thinking of raid equipping the 2nd Char, I would say SK, Necros + shammy acn put out great DPS and use a tank Merc, but as said above tank mercs are dumb. SKs can/will put out decent DPS with the right gear and AA. And we are a stupidly fun class to play. I do know at least 1 SK has soloed Yar'Lir, I would be surprised if anyone else has.