dual 55/ss uw. how does it work

like the title says, how does it work, what is the strategy, and what is the builds.

55hp monk tanks

ss necro echo nuking ss on all mobs also s/v to keep the tanking abit easier... monsters kill themselves, 55 and ss collect drops...

Builds vary, but often go something like this:

55 Monk

Mo/W

Spell Breaker
Healing Breeze
Bonetti's Defense
Mending
Balthazar's Spirit
Essence Bond
Protective Spirit
Free

Note, I use a spirit bonder and not a 55, so I'm not entirely sure on the build. Any others who know the 55 build, *please* correct the one I've mentioned. Anyway, here's my spirit bonder build.

Mo/Me

Resurrect
Mantra of Resolve
Protective Spirit
Spirit Bond
Spell Breaker
Balthazar's Spirit
Essence Bond
Blessed Aura

The monk runs in and tanks, while trying not to be interrupted. The Necro goes in and kills them with a setup something like this:

N/Me

Spiteful Spirit
Arcane Echo
Blood Ritual
Sympathetic Visage
Ancestor's Visage
Free
Free
Resurrection Signet

I also run an N/Me, and the builds vary but that's the basic setup. Some people bring skills like Reckless Haste. The Necro stays back, keeping SV and AV up on the monk to drain the foes of adrenaline and energy. In the case of Smite Crawlers, the nec usually waits a little while if the enemies are in small groups to make sure that the energy is completely drained.

The paths and other things like that are hard to explain, so just find someone willing to teach you and experience it first hand. After about three runs with an excellent teacher from my alliance, I had just about completely mastered it. So just find someone who can teach you and try to learn.

EDIT: Fixed a glaring mistake I didn't notice

If you're going to use the 55 monk build given by Relambrien, be sure to put Protective Spirit in one of those two free spots, otherwise you're toast! (You're forgiven buddy; I know it's late. :-) )

Anyway, a good description of the 55/SS team and a little bit about how to use the builds can be found here: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Team_-_55/SS

Err yeah, bring Prot Spirit

I knew I was forgetting something XD

And not five minutes before I posted that I had told my UW duo buddy that I was too tired to continue, and would probably fail more than I succeeded :P

Guess I was right ^^

The 55/SS relationship in Underworld duo teams is very symbiotic. They both need each other!

I have been playing SS in two man runs for about a month and they are generally good fun to play.

From the SS's point of view here are some things I have noticed.

There are a lot of scammer monks, so be careful who you team up with. They are often Chinese or Korean, will ask for the 500g for half of entry, promise you 50/50 drops, but when you enter UW they will aggro the first group of AAtxe and let them kill you. They will then go off solo farming.

You can avoid this by not accepting blind invites, looking at the character names carefully, looking at their use of English when seeking partners ("55 lf SS 500/500 ok?") and my favourite method is to actually take notice of the potential partner's titles. Someone with Protector, or Cartographer, or Hero, is unlikely to be sweatshop solo farmer.

If you play a monk, it is useful to remember that not all monks play the same, and that you may not follow the same path or lure to the same places that other monks do. Try and let your SS know what you intend to do and where you want him to wait and where you are luring the mob to, especially the first couple of times you play together.

Also if you are a monk take a max damage one handed rod (preferably customised for you) with you and put it on swap out together with your -50hp item so that you can kill the Nightmares. Some monks expect the SS to handle the nightmares for them and this is a very dangerous tactic. To get close enough to kill the nightmares the SS usually has to be well within aggro range or even run past the AAtxe, smites, or whatever, risking almost instant death or luring the mob away from the monk.

Calling for Blood Ritual when you are surrounded by six AAtxe etc is also similarly dangerous and can end the run instantly.

If you are the SS, make sure you always call any NMs that pop up, and if it is safe to do so kill them for the monk. If the NM casts Rend Enchantments on your monk and he does not have Spell Breaker on him, then again that is instant death.

Also if you are the SS, remember that the monk is in charge. He is the tank and he will choose which groups to lure and where to lure them too.

Again, if you are the SS, make sure that you know how to kill the smites, as there is nothing worse from the monk's point of view than an SS who does not know how to kill them quickly and preferably all at the same time. I wont attempt to describe the process here, as there are several other threads on the boards already and there is more than one way of doing it.

Most monks and SS's build up a contact list of reliable and honest partners who they will play with.

Whether you are the SS or the Monk, try and spare at least a bit of your time if you can to helping a new player of the opposite profession. I have several great monks on my friends list now who were advertising themselves as "new 55 looking for SS". Of course it is wise in these instances to make sure that the person has the basic build right, but as long as they have the build then learning how to use it generally does not take too long.

Also, make sure that you agree the ecto distribution before you begin the run or exchange entry money. Some people like 50/50, others prefer "finders keepers". If playing 50/50 you should also agree whether or not you split a single ecto 3K each if only one drops. I will always do this, and usually type "3K I owe you" in chat if I get the first drop.

Try not to rage quit if one of you makes a mistake, as mistakes can be made by both the SS or by the Monk. Some of my regular partners are monks where one or other of us made a mistake on the first run. If you do make a mistake, simply admit it, apologise and offer to pay for the next run :-)

Have Fun! These runs are great to play and can be hugely profitable!

Watching a huge group of smites all fall over together always makes me smile.. especially when they drop an ecto or two:-)

Be aware, if playing as SS, of drop stealers.
Usually a 55 who doesn't speak or has bad english.
If they see an ecto drop, they immediately run aggro to you to get you killed and wont rez...they then proceed to either wait for drop lock to expire or you to quit to steal.
In cases where I don't know the 55, I take a defensive skill instead of rez (I use distortion, echoed if possible...gives me enough time to get my drops before the inevitable), you may want to look into this. Best way to avoid this is to know who you are running with.

i my self am a 55 so i dont come across any of this stealign ectos bissness ( ok ive been scamed once he quite b4 we coudl share ecto) but basicly as a 55 its my job to take andhold the aggro my build id

Protective spirit (PS)
Healing breeze (HB)
Spell breaker {E} (SB)
bonetties defence
blessed sig
mending
balzifats spirit
and blessed arua

my attrabutes r

healing 12
preotection 12
simiting 10
divine 10

i think form memory

i take it apone my self to kill NMs unless 3 appear or SS says he will

and b4 i agrro every one i cast Ps, Hb, SB and aggro that way i can kill nms easy then i move them abot so the SS covers all 2-5 aaxes/smites and lett them kil lthem selfs. its not the end of the world if thay interupt HB cs i can survive on 4 bip oh hp for a bit and with recast of PS and bontes im fine. when agianst simits i dont use bonettiets if SV/AVs o nme cos there smite SS in an instant. i am curently learnign how to spider cap cos i want oen for my ranger , bu its hard work lookign for an SS who wil lhelp you. any way 55ing is the best solo/duo build for farming and works realy well with a smite monk or an SS

of and abot killign smites in one go try killign 5 and gettign 4 ectos and a gold enternal bow req8 ( shame we were doing keepers and 3 etos droped for him

i run a 55, its really quite easy to tank, i just wack up sb and ps before aggroing mobs ect and use bonetti's if things get too much

Healing breeze
protective spirit
mending
spell breaker {E}
balthazars spirit
blessed aura
blessed sig
bonetti's deffense

10 healing
8 smiting(killing nightmares)
10 preotection
15 divine
3 tactics

easy as pie