Need some input on a duo run :)

[11bangbang]

Two new players (me and my wife) are wanting to start playing this game. Even with research seems that options can be fairy open, so input on personal favorites/whatnot can apply. We will probably finish the game once, since I believe you can keep playing to level your character. After that we will probably stop as she is leaving soon. So a duo combination that would be better suited for gameplay within one playthrough would be great . That's not to say some day we may play through it again of course.

She is looking for a melee dps/support class, preferably not a tanking class. And I suppose I can be any class that would possibly best pair with that.

Support, I'm not exactly sure how it works in this game, can be anything I suppose that can help survivability/healing if possible, but she would also like to be a melee based character, that doesn't completely suck in the dps department.

More or less, I'm not really sure what class I could be, to best suit that sort of gameplay she is looking for. But as I said I'm open to anything. Maybe w/e class you guys decide for her is too squishy, and she needs a tanking char. Or maybe I can be some pure dps class to better play through the game.

I just want it to be more fun, then stressful if possible. Death is fine, I just don't want us dying consistently more times then not.

And thank you for any input anyone gives in advance

[JerryM]

The easiest would be for her to make some class combination with nature. A Champion(nature warfare) is a really strong dps wise because of warfare, and has the potential to be supportive. Heart of Oak provides an aura to buff nearby allies with health, resists, etc. She can also get heal if she wants to be able to heal. Wolves are also good as they can serve as tanks for you guys.

For you, there are variety of builds you can play to compliment with her. You can play a melee also if you wanted, spear brigand(hunting rogue) is a high single target dps toon. Theres also haruspex(hunting dream), harbinger(warfare dream), conqueror(warfare defense), and spellbreaker(warfare spirit). Those are arguably the top tier melees.
Or if you want you can go the bow or mage route. For bow I reccommend a brigand once again since you dont need to play a class with pets to protect you. For a caster, spirit + either earth or storm makes a really powerful caster. Or you can go earth and storm for dual elements. Spirit makes casters even more powerful because of ternion though, so personally I prefer oracles(spirit storm). Earth provides high fire and physical damage and stone form as a safety skill in a bad situation. Storm provides high cold and lightening damage and squall to completely shut down all ranged monsters.

Before I forget, a warning with pets. In normal they're really weak towards the end of the game. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by doing one playthrough. Do you mean just a run through normal, or through normal, epic, and legendary. In epic and legendary they get buffs that make them really strong.

Also, if you need build suggestions just ask and I can go set some up in titancalc to give you guys an idea what to go for.

I hope you have fun playing through with her!

[Medea Fleecestealer]

A Champion/Haruspex might be a good combo as JerryM says. Not only does Nature give you the Heart of Oak tree to boost health and Permance of Stone for elemental resistance which applies to all members of your party, you can get 2/3 wolves and a Nymph to help you out, Regrowth tree to heal and Plague tree to weaken enemies. Haruspex with Hunting/Dream will give you long range attack capability, Dream's Trance of Convalescence which again applies to all party members and the Nightmare for yet another pet to deal damage while Hunting's Monster Lure taunts enemies and focuses their attention on it while everyone else can attack at will.

As JerryM says, what sort of play through are you planning? Just Normal or all the way to the end of Legendary? And it is just Titan Quest or Titan Quest Immortal Throne that you are going to play? If it's just the original Titan Quest then Dream mastery will not be available for you as it was added in the IT expansion.

[11bangbang]

Well from what I'm getting, one playthrough means normal mode? I'm assuming that you play through each mode as you "beat" the game. Unless I'm way off with what normal/legendary modes actually mean. Maybe it's either you get a different set of skill options in epic/legendary mode that you wouldn't get in normal. Or that it's just the mere fact you'd get more skill points to use with the higher levels?

If that is correct though, yes we will probably just play normal mode for now, and possibly pick up our characters at another time. Or just play them online even as soon as she leaves.

And I have both titan quest and immortal throne. I was guessing immortal throne was a addon expansion pack of some sort to titan quest. So they are two separate games? So I'd only have access to dream mastery through the playthrough of the IT expansion then correct?

Pets, I asked her about them, and she doesn't seem to really care for them that much, so since they aren't at par at end game, I think she'll probably might not put too much attention to them.

And thank you for the replies you two it's very nice to get some help. I don't know if I will need builds or not. Perfection while nice, probably won't happen as I don't really want to tell her what to put points in lol. I'm open for any builds of course for myself. So she'll play a champion then, And I'll try this haruspex class, spear melee I believe correct? Or am I a bowman?

[spectre]

That depends. You basically have seen everything story- and terrain-wise by the end of normal. In Epic and Legendary you meet additional bosses and some loot only drops in the the higher difficulties. And you level up further and get more skillpoints, yes

Immortal Throne is more than just a expansion. It integrates completely into the game and adds many new things, like a new act, loot, artifacts, the dream mastery, etc. So install it right away and have fun

As said earlier: For Pets to really get powerful, you'd have to advance to the next difficulties like Epic and Legendary

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Immortal Throne is the original game plus an extra Act 4, personal caravan for storage, additional Dream mastery and also the use of Artifacts so forget playing TQ and go straight into TQIT, you won't miss anything.

3 difficulties: Normal, Epic and Legendary and you have to finish one before you can unlock the next. As spectre says, better loot some new bosses to tackle, more experience points but levelling up takes longer.

If you're not that worried about pets then have a look in the Skills and Strategies section of the forum for the Almost Full Builds Compendium sticky thread. It has a lot of different build possibilities in it and some of those might be more to your taste. Or you can stick with Champion/Haruspex and go light on pet use, concentrating more on the other skills on offer. I always think it's a bit of a waste not to use a bow as primary weapon when taking Hunting as a mastery, but lots of other people use a spear for primary backed up with bow work as needed. Again it's a question of which you prefer to play.

[JerryM]

With what she is looking for a champion still sounds like the best bet. It doesn't have to have pets, it just can if you wanted it to. She could try a spellbreaker too. Its not supportive in the same sense as the champion is, but it debuffs enemies making them do less damage and become easier for both of you to kill.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Just something to be aware of if you plan to use Nature's Plague skills. Yes, it does weaken enemies making them easier to kill, but it also acts as a "taunt" which means as soon as you cast it foes are going to head straight for you. In some ways this is great because while they are attacking your Champion, pets and your Haruspex will be attacking them, but your Champion needs to be able to withstand the assault while he/she is dealing damage along with any pets.

A better bet might be to use Hunting's Monster Lure (1 point only needed to be effective). You drop it fairly near foes and then both retreat out of range. After a second or two it will act as a "taunt" and foes will zero in on it, allowing you to pepper them with bowshot as Champion and pets charge into the fray.

[11bangbang]

Well thanks for the clarification guys , and all the information given. I believe I have all the info I need, including a few skill builds. Again thanks a lot guys.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

You're very welcome. Have fun and come back with any more questions if you need help.