Shadow Priest/Lock or Lock/Pally?

[Azazel]

Well with the release of BC, and pretty blonde elves, it's time for my wife to start an alt, since our Tauren & Orc shamans neer got off the ground (I think due to shaman more than racial choices).

So anyway, looks like Blood Elves are the go. We'll no doubt be duoing through 90% of the levelling content from 1-70, so while group utility is nice, I couldn't give a rats ass about raid viability.

So anyway, she's decided on either a Warlock or a Pally, since I told her there was no point in playing a mage since she already has a 60 (gnome) mage. I'd probably rather play a Lock myself, but having 2 different classes would probably make us much more attractive for instances and groups once we level up than 2 locks.

So, if she plays a Pally, I'll play a Lock. I figure Soulstone on a Pally will be a nice combo. If she can hold aggro, I can make things deaded.

If she plays a Lock though, well, that kida cuts me out of a Lock for the reasons outlined above, so I was thinking maybe a Shadow spec priest. - So, I know Shadow Spec priests are awesome in PVP, but we'll just be questing and grouping for the odd instance quests etc for the most part.
Are Shadow Priests any good at healing in a group situation? It's kind of a damned position since I have no desire to be stuck as a healer but it could be alright if I can still heal ok in shadow spec in a group situation.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[WindupAtheist]

I'm not that experienced, but I'll say lock/pally.  If everything goes right, two of any class can cut it.  And if everything goes to shit, having someone who can heal/rez/bubble all while wearing plate can mean the difference between "Ok honey, I'll rez!" and the two of you running halfway across a zone as ghosts.  I got up into the thirties one time with a pally/mage duo and it worked really well.

[lamaros]

Both are great.

[Azaroth]

My girlfriend and I did Shadow Priest/Lock, and PvP wasn't even a challenge.

We're actually playing Lock/Pally right now, but we're only in our early 30s, and really aren't playing WoW much at all anymore. So I couldn't comment on it.

[caladein]

Shadow Priests can heal just fine in lower instances, especially since your grinding gear (heavy Spirit) is quite good for healing. Also, the fact that later on your debuffs like Shadow Vulnerability and Misery feed right into her damage should makes things dead pretty damn quick.

Also, Fear + Mind Flay = dead Melee :P.

[Ironwood]

Shadow Priests Melt Faces in PvP.

[Calantus]

SP/Lock would be my suggestion. That combo is just nasty in PVP and you can have all kinds of fun pulling off hard pve and making it harder by accidently fearing up some new enemies before you finish with the first lot, kiting, etc. It's the much more fun combo to my mind, and they compliment eachother so well.

[Merusk]

The wife and I diddled around with Lock/ Pally on Alliance side to get a feel for it so we could do the same as you and your wife are.  Early on it felt like a good combo, but once I hit 35-40ish on the pally I could feel I was holding the group back and providing nothing but buffs and healing.  She was doing all the killing and I was really just there to pull crap off of her unless we were taking on elites. 

So, my suggestion is do the priest/ lock duo.

[Ironwood]

SP/Lock would be my suggestion. That combo is just nasty in PVP and you can have all kinds of fun pulling off hard pve and making it harder by accidently fearing up some new enemies before you finish with the first lot, kiting, etc. It's the much more fun combo to my mind, and they compliment eachother so well.

This the current levelling that the wife and I are doing.  I'm 52 and she's 50.  The synergy (sorry) between these classes are amazing.  You will BURN through everything you find with unholy might.

And you will never, ever die.

[Dren]

SP/Lock.

Don't level a paladin. 


Ever.

[Dren]

You know, I had to come back and post again.

If I ever see any of you horde people go ahead and level a paladin after BC and then come here to complain about it, my flames shall be felt.

I can't warn you enough.

Don't do it.

[caladein]

You know, I had to come back and post again.

If I ever see any of you horde people go ahead and level a paladin after BC and then come here to complain about it, my flames shall be felt.

I can't warn you enough.

Don't do it.

I actually had a Palladin alt going before I switched to Horde so I plan on getting a Blood Elf Pally up as soon things settle down. That said, I give the same exact advice to my friends who've only been Horde... Paladins are, an acquired taste to say the least.

[Arrrgh]

Lock/shadow priest. The priest Shadow Weaving talent increases the damage of the lock. You can also alternate fearing.

[angry.bob]

Both of you should level Pally's. In fact, everyone Horde side should level one - solo. And then I'd like to see how many of them still come back and cry, cry, cry that a 12 second bubble on a 5 minute timer is the most overpowered, game-breaking, I WIN button in the history of WoW for all time and that Pally's are the most overpowered cheese class in the game. Because half the threads on the official forum are still people saying that. It's fucking sickening.

[Ironwood]

While the Pally bubble is annoying in PvP, I have never understood WHY people say that about Pallies and I've been Horde my entire WoW Career.

[Azaroth]

Dude I'll totally smash your face with a hammer that does 200 dmg like every 10 seconds.

Owned.

[Ironwood]

We always gave one bit of advice to our Fixed group in PvP  :  Ignore the pallies.

They can't damage you and you can't hurt them.  Just act like they're not there.

It was good advice.

[Azazel]

SP/Lock.
Don't level a paladin. 
Ever.

I have a 60 Paladin. He was my first 60.

I keep him in a box these days. I didn't throw away the key, I think I lost it...


To be fair, playing the indestructable Pally was great fun compared to the Hunter which was my first toon (stopped at 35 or something). I started the Pally after playing EQ1 and assuming that a Pally was, you know, a plate tank. (this was in the early days of WoW). When I realised that he was never going to be anything besides a 3rd-rate healer and cleansebot I stopped playing. Later I bumped him up to 60 just because he was close enough.


As for the new alts, looks like Priest/Lock is the go.

[Dren]

SP/Lock.
Don't level a paladin. 
Ever.

I have a 60 Paladin. He was my first 60.

I keep him in a box these days. I didn't throw away the key, I think I lost it...

Same.

I still am amazed I still played after that first character.  Well, actually, every class after that was so much better I was probably in a false state of euphoria due to my less than perfect start in the game.

[caladein]

We always gave one bit of advice to our Fixed group in PvP  :  Ignore the pallies.

Unless you're a Priest, Mana Burn all the way!

That said, it's not about ignoring them, since it's not their damage that hurts (well at least before the patch, the amount of damage they can do while Invuln is still retarded), but stuff like Blessing of Freedom and you know... Cleansing Unstable Affliction while bubbled. Yeah, I'm not angry or anything. That's only in WSG though that I find them annoying, in AB and AV, they're no where near as powerful.

Still though, I liked my Paladin when I played Alliance. I guess that makes me strange(r).

[Morfiend]

We always gave one bit of advice to our Fixed group in PvP  :  Ignore the pallies.

They can't damage you and you can't hurt them.  Just act like they're not there.

It was good advice.

Bad advice if the pally knows what he is doing. A Pally healing in PVP is a MAJOR pain in the ass. In an evenly match group you need to CC the pally, or drop one person on him so he doesnt keep healing and clensing your target.

[Xanthippe]

We always gave one bit of advice to our Fixed group in PvP  :  Ignore the pallies.

They can't damage you and you can't hurt them.  Just act like they're not there.

It was good advice.

Bad advice if the pally knows what he is doing. A Pally healing in PVP is a MAJOR pain in the ass. In an evenly match group you need to CC the pally, or drop one person on him so he doesnt keep healing and clensing your target.

I was going to say, a good Pally make other players godlike.

[Ironwood]

Bad advice if the pally knows what he is doing.

Hens Teeth.

[Morat20]

You might bring your pallys back into the light of day in light of the recent changes to their talents. They're quite the pain in the ass in PvP. Of course, I quit leveling mine around level 19. (I seem to have a problem with the 20s....).

[tazelbain]

SO Shadow Priest aren't good anymore, or Warlocks so good, its dumb not to make one?

[bhodi]

actually, shadow priests are freaking kick-ass now.

[Morfiend]

Warlocks are still very good, even though they got a nerf in this patch. Shadow Priests are very nasty. The two compliment each other nicely since they both do shadow damage.

I think the general consensus is that with the recent lock nerf, Hunters are the most overpowered class right now.

[Merusk]

We're not overpowered.  Y'all just don't run fast enough.  :-D

[Xanthippe]

Whenever I get smacked down by a warrior or stunlocked by a rogue, I think about how OP I am and just laugh as I lie crumpled in a heap waiting to res.

[tazelbain]

Whenever I get smacked down by a warrior or stunlocked by a rogue, I think about how OP I am and just laugh as I lie crumpled in a heap waiting to res.

That doesn't tell us much.  Being overpower doesn't mean you can't be killed.  If you couldn't be killed, that would be "broken".

You can't level up in PvP anymore, right?  I am really trying to stay away from WoW. 

[caladein]

You never really could... but now there really is no repeatable experience gain from PvP.

[Morat20]

Warlocks are still very good, even though they got a nerf in this patch. Shadow Priests are very nasty. The two compliment each other nicely since they both do shadow damage.

I think the general consensus is that with the recent lock nerf, Hunters are the most overpowered class right now.

Pets just got normalized. The .7 attack speed broken tooth thing is of the past. That leaves only the insane mulit-shot crit rates, which aren't going to change until gear does.

And Warlocks still own my ass.

[Flood]

I have a 55 Dwarf Shadow Priest, and a 47 Human Lock (why the hell those 2 toons are Alliance, I can't say).

My 2 coppers:  No matter what your spec as a priest, you're still fairly squishy.  Locks, too, but the situations where you end up toeing it with mobs are much less frequent due to the pet.  Shadow Priests don't really start to develop as "powerful" until level 40ish, then more noticeably (to me anyway) after 50.  My Lock was painful as a little guy, but got steadily more powerful with each level.

I agree that the synergy of shadow debuffs + shadow damage is potent, however I think the tried and true DIKU formula of having a healer paired with a melee'er is still the "optimal" setup up for most PvE content.  Locks are hideously strong is PvE and PvP, but with Pally's getting some luv post 2.x  I'd still give Pally/Lock some consideration.  I dunno, as any flavor of finger-waggler I always appreciated having an axe wielding armored can as a wingman.  That being said my Priest at 55 can devour most any PVE content I choose to tackle with appalling ease.

I'm sure any combo you listed would work, but I still vote for some variety of melee + some variety of casting healer.  *shrug*     

[Azazel]

I get your point, but the facts are that if she can't play a class she likes the appeal of, she won't play at all, and while I have a level 35 lock (I levelled up early on in WoW, when fear on mobs broke really bloody fast before giving up on it and retiring the character to do nothing but make mooncloth).

She's also not a gamer, and as you'd likely know, the difference between a good healer and a bad healer is huge, so I would never recommend her to play a priest, despite the "wife as priest/cleric" thing that I've seen since EQ1, the fact is she'll suck as a high level healer. She's competent as a mage, and occasionally our duo-mage combo pulls off some amazing stuff, but she's not one of those people you'll say "wow that <class> was an amazing <class>".

We managed to pretty much duo up to 60 with a pair of mages (hers ice, mine fire) and despie lacking healing or tanking, we managed to level up with no problem, based basically on overwhelming firepower (which should also get those characters to 70)

[Flood]

It's all good.  Like I keep telling people (and myself) it's a game and however you play should be fun to you so.    

Any class combo in WoW works for 80% of the content you will see.  I was lucky enough for about 20 levels to have a old fashioned sword and board warrior as my partner and then after he quit WoW I had a buddy that was a Mage.  (On my old main the Priest).  I can't stay away from playing my Hunter because it's just fun for me to play, and lately I've been running with another Hunter - and we waltz thru most quests.  I actually think it's fun to find ways to "beat" certain areas or levels without the again quote "optimal" setup.

Overall I'd say you're lucky that you have a wife that enjoys one of the hobbies you do, no matter what y'al pick!