New to the game - versatile duo?

Heya.

So, I've been starved for an MMO worth playing for a while now, tried a bunch of F2P ones, but finally decided to give GW a go. My main motivation is experiencing the world and the lore in preparation for GW2, as well as getting a bunch of those hall of monuments points if possible. I'll mainly be duoing with a friend, as well as soloing some.

So, I need to figure out what to play, and what to tell my friend to play (he usually has a hard time deciding for himself) in order to do this effectively. I've looked around on that pvx wiki thing, but it's hard when I don't know what will be required to get the hall of monuments thingies.

My question then, is this: How would you do it if you were starting over, duoing with a friend, and trying to fill your hall of monuments in a timely fashion?

I usually like pets, DoTs, debuffs, crowd control, ranged dps, don't mind healing either, if needed.. I dislike tanking and pure melee, and prefer not to play stealthers. My friend is less picky than me, as long as he feels he contributes meaningfully to the group, and is not a pure healer, he's happy.

I've started a mesmer with the intent on going ritualist, but I literally just made the char, so there's plenty of time to change it. Will I be able to achieve the goals stated above with this setup? Or will I need more tanking/healing/whatever? What should I tell my friend to play to compliment it? Or is there a completely different way (within the preferances noted above) that would be superior?

Learning curve is not an issue. I've played MMOs since UO, and am usually really quick to catch on to gameplay mechanics and such, and my friend learns fast as well.

So, suggestions, comments, even just links to builds you feel suits our needs, everything is welcome. And thank you in advance for your help

Keep in mind you don't pick two professions, you pick a primary and a secondary. Don't think that because you're going to be /Rt that you'll be doing lots of Rit things. Your secondary should be used for picking up a skill or two that rounds off what you're trying to do with your primary profession.

That said, a Mesmer will not get a pet (or minions or spirits), has some ok DoT's (though DoT isn't particularly powerful compared to direct damage), decent debuffs, good crowd control, decent ranged dps (depending on your setup), and no/very little healing ability.

My recommendation would be Necromancer. They get minions (very useful), decent debuffs, hexes with massive potential if you know how to use them right, and no/very little healing ability. Necromancers are also very versatile so you can run a variety of different builds and secondary professions well.

Regarding completing the HoM; don't be concerned. All professions can complete the PvE content on Hard Mode without consumables and with only AI team members. Having a friend will make it much easier. Just play what you like to play and you'll be fine.

Huh, I saw some "spirit farmer" builds on pvx that suggested rit as secondary, so I figured it'd have access to spirits.. Oh well.

I guess necromancer fits what I usually play.. Cabalist in DAoC, warlock in WoW and so on.

What would go well alongside a necromancer?

You would have access to spirits. The point is that Mesmer is your primary profession, so you should primarily play as a mesmer. If you want to play a Rit, play a Rit. I've joined groups and seen 3+ players (not even Rits) with the same spirit spam build and they all whine when someone tells them to run something better that requires thinking. For farming it's fine, but don't pretend you're a Rit.

For the second question, pretty much everything does. It might be good to have a melee as well.

I completely agree with Marty, except for the fact that necromancers have alot of healing capability. See, their primary atribute, Soul Reaping, gives a necromancer energy whenever a foe near him dies. As such, as long as the team keeps killing stuff, he can spam heal spells as much as he wants. Seriously, necromancers are currently the most versatile characters in the game simply because their primary atribbute is so overpowered. You can choose to spec N/Rt or N/Mo if you want to heal, or N/Me for a few skills from the mesmers line that complements your build. Note that when you advance in the game, you will be able to change your secondary profession, have a look at www.pvxwiki.com and enjoy!

pvx wiki is a must. u'll at least know what skills to buy.

Quote:

If you want to go with two characters that go on well with each other, i'd go for warrior + necromancer. However, with all those gimmick PvE skills there are, you can run any profession and still faceroll trough the game, if you have a decent hero setup.
No decisions but choosing your primary professiones are irreversible.
For an up to date builds database you can go to pvxwiki.com

PS. Mmmm...i think i saw your avatar in RoM forums sometime?

Quote: