A 2-class group: who would you pick?

[Bolty]

...if your playing time consisted mainly of grouping with 1 other person, what 2 classes would you pick and why?[right][snapback]83060[/snapback][/right]

Ooh, what a good question. The kind I like to ask in forums and see what responses roll in. You trumped me on this one. :)

Now, you set some restrictions down in your original post, with "if your playing time consisted mainly of grouping with 1 other person." Others in this thread have noted the convenience of picking a combo that makes finding instance groups easier, and that can't be discounted. If you have a warrior and a priest as your combo, you'll have no trouble picking up groups to run instances.

Groups that use the same type of equipment (plate, mail, leather, cloth) should not be together. It's just stupid to compete over all the drops in the game as you progress, so avoid combos like Priest/Mage or Rogue/Druid. They may be effective, but in the end when cool things drop, it SUCKS to have to constantly decide who gets it. This restriction of mine limits a number of effective combos, but I feel that it's worth it to not wind up splitting all your loot in half with your partner!

Also, each duo needs to have some kind of healing ability. Ideally, tank + DPS class would work very well, until Things Go Wrong™ and you get creamed. There must be a fallback solution, and that means that one member of the duo MUST have the ability to heal both members of the party.

Here are some of the best matchups, in my opinion - keeping in mind my above restrictions. I'm going to run through each class at least once and pick what I think makes the best match for it. Keep in mind that my experience with Shamans is ridiculously low, so that's the pick I'm least sure of. Feel free to argue!

Warrior/Priest: I mean, duh. Main tank and main healer. Practically invincible and awesome for eventual instancing if Warrior is protection spec'ed and Priest is discipline/holy spec'ed, but kills slow. Better if Warrior is arms/fury spec'ed and Priest is shadow spec'ed while outdoors and PvP, if you want to get things done quicker.

Rogue/Priest: OMFGWTFBBQ. Things die. Fast. And zero downtime. The Rogue in that combo will have more fun than a barrel of monkeys, since the only thing that tends to slow a Rogue down is a lack of healing. Priest might get a little bored watching things die before they can even cast Smite. This is based on experience of being a Priest in some Rogue/Priest duos, after which the Rogue whispers me for days begging to do it again. :)

(Alliance) Hunter/Paladin: The Paladin lets the Hunter concentrate solely on dishing out obscene damage and off-tanking single targets with a pet, while healing can be provided when Things Go Wrong.™ The Hunter's excellent pulling skills complement the Paladin's complete lack of ranged attack.

(Horde) Hunter/Priest: go shadow spec'ed with the Priest and obliterate things faster than they can hurt the semi-tanking pet significantly. If things get dicey, healing can be provided.

(Alliance) Warlock/Paladin: lets the Warlock handle the damage and crowd control while the Paladin tanks and heals. Voidwalker can be used in dangerous/large pulls, otherwise Imp/Succubus for damage.

(Horde) Warlock/Shaman: an odd combo to be sure, but the idea of having the general-of-an-army crowd control and damage abilities of a Warlock coupled with the totems and versatility of a Shaman seems scary effective to me. Shamans can be decent tanks when necessary to supplement a Voidwalker, and can heal.

Druid/Mage: while Druids work well with just about any class - that's what makes them fun to play - I'm avoiding combos with other leatherwearers. Thus, Druids match well with Warriors, Warlocks, and Mages - but I'm picking Mage. The Druid's bearform can tank for the Mage, while providing healing when necessary and watching the Mage just flatten everything in sight. Plus, free drinks! :)

-Bolty