Few combination questions.

[Laraden]

Well, I'm considering once more coming back to SoD. I was having fun on live, but I'm broke, so can't pay my $30 to 2box anymore.
I've played a few times in the past, but never gotten very far (I think my list of characters is something like.. 25 cleric, 30 shaman, 30 monk, 33 SK, 22 warrior)

I played a monk on live, really enjoy the class. 50/50 on shaman box (I never really liked shamans, but I can see how they are useful.) However, with the state of things on live for monks (we suck, basically), I decided to reroll. Was in the process of working up a mage to reroll to, and then was going to flip to a mage/necro box.

So, my question is: For someone who loathes kiting (I'll do it if *absolutely* necessary to kill a mob for a drop. However, I can't stand kiting for xp), what would a decent combination be out of those?

Would mage/necro work very well? Using mage pet to tank? Not sure how well mage pets are doing in SoD, but they were quite godly in live. Or would the Monk + a healer work best?
I never really intend to raid, I'm more of a "Screw around solo" kind of person, so just curious what would be best out of these. Who will be able to solo the better (without kiting), in the end?
Heard mention of people using monk/druid. How well does that compare to a shaman? DS + ports vs. Haste + slow? (Are there haste potions on SoD? It's been quite a while since I last played, can't recall)

I'm sure I'll be told "Just play what you like". Problem is, I like them all, I just want to know who will suit my playstyle best in the end, with my lack of knowledge of later SoD play.
Thanks for help. Hopefully I'm posting this in the right spot.

 

[Moraelintz]

I play a mage (lvl 55) and my rl friend plays a necro (lvl 55), and we can handle most things fairly well. Have 2 semi tanks and DD's and enough tricks to handle most situations and we enjoy it.

 

[Glamrin]

Monk + Druid is a very powerful combination for grouping or soloing/farming and you'll be happy to hear that monks far from suck on sod.

It is a good combo that will allow you to do a lot of stuff on your own without having to kite. The monk can tank (how well is ofcourse geardependent, but aslong as you dont mind farming cash you can buy quite decent gear or/and get from tmaps).

Playing two casters like mage + necro would be less geardependent than the monk+druid combo and it is a bit less common (but still a good combo with good pets, dps, fd, rez and such). For killing nameds, if you dont wanna kite I really think monk+druid is better though.

There are haste pots, druid heals are bigger than shaman ones (vs the no slow), ds is godly on multiple mobs which a monk with enough gear has no problems tanking.

 

[Laraden]

Wow, wasn't expecting such fast responses!
Thanks for answers. Think I'll give monk/druid a shot later. I already have the monk, after all, just need to pull up the druid. Would probably be easier to learn one class I don't know (druid) vs. learning two classes I only sort of know (mage/necro).

 

[Jotigidou]

The reason shaman are so popular for monks is that when mobs are slowed, monk can tank pretty much anything ( yes exceptions ) outside of raid ( and even some of it ) in the game.

 

[totillion]

If you want to leave your monk behind, I've found a good combination to be magician/druid. You get a ton of utility with the druid, SoW, Ports, heals, buffs, DoTs, harmony, and ghetto CC to provide pretty good support for the magician pet.

Sure, you don't get slow, but I find Mage DS + heals to be a nice runner-up.

No FD, but you can always have evac memed if you need a quick escape.

I don't really have experience with high end stuff cause they are only mid 50's (I'm a Hatfield too). It is a pretty fun combo even if I never get into raiding. Also, I can generally find groups as a druid and/or magician if I get tired of boxing - which happens a lot. Neither class is really gear dependent, so it's a great option for players new to the server.