View Full Forums : I love my Druid...is this wrong?


Rugrin
11-08-2006, 07:37 PM
The other night I was privy to group with a (51 I think) War in Karnor’s Castle. At the time I was level 45 and we also had two similarly level Wizzies and a Bard. We hung mostly at the entrance with the bard pulling. I’m assuming I was the main healer but the pulls were weak enough where I didn’t really have to heal much more than a few to keep the War at full health. The group went really well with the War tanking, Bard pulling and singing and Wizzies finishing off the mobs.

In a group this size I found myself mostly playing CC with my roots and snaring running mobs. Spot heals here and there and keeping my buffs up (DS, Wolf, Str, Skin, Regens) and debuffing with Fixation of Ro, even throwing in a DD every once in a while. I must say that it is the most fun I have had in EQ in quite some time as I mostly soloed my way up into the 40’s and this experience gave me a new love for the class. I found that I was doing a little of everything, staying as busy as my mana pool would allow.
<O:p</O:p

As the night went on the group dissolved leaving just the War and myself. I figured she would want to leave soon but she hung in there and was very understanding about having to rest a bit more due to me picking up the pace on my DD’s.
<O:p</O:p

After fighting another hour or so we decided to call it a night; after which she told me several times how good I did and thanked me endlessly for keeping her alive. She even invited me to join her guild if I ever got tired of the one I am currently in. This gave me a great feeling and a renewed hope for the class as I felt like I was just doing my part and having fun doing it.
<O:p</O:p

I then began to wonder about the myriad of negative things I read about the desirability of our class at higher levels. I hear a lot of ranting and raving about how underpowered we are at higher levels and that we rarely get group invites because we add very little that other classes do not. Although I am only just now getting into the mid-high 40’s I felt at that time that I was playing a vital role in our group and was commended on doing such.
<O:p</O:p

I guess what I’m really wanting is some feedback from level-headed, experienced Druids as to weather this trend in my utility in a group will continue into my later levels. I truly do like the utility that I bring to a group at this level and the excitement of handling multiple pulls as we were really rocking, even when it was just the two of us.
<O:p</O:p

I know this is rather lengthy but I am still basking in the glow of a very good night of grouping and hope this trend will continue. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Adaree
11-08-2006, 09:30 PM
Good for you! Always fun having a good group who appreciates the fine art of a druid!

Im not sure about lack of grouping, I have never really had too much trouble, but sometime things just don't happen as fast as one would like.
Your personality and reputation for being a solid healer, dps or whatever a group needs will net you groups more often than not.

Glad to see you having fun and kicking butt! GL and enjoy the next 30 or so levels!!!

Kalthanan
11-09-2006, 01:33 AM
Your guild or friends list will always be your greatest asset when looking for groups.

I still play my druid all the time. I have alts, but none of them are "me." My druid is my main and always will be. I am very powerful in groups, healing or DPSing as necessary, with lots of tricks in my utility belt.

I group exclusively with friends and guildies. I haven't LFG'd in years because it's a waste of time. I'll 2 or 3 box before I do that.

Alei
11-09-2006, 02:07 AM
It seems to me that Druids have lots of utility and some people just don't realise it until they are put in a situation where Druids can really display how much we are capable of. The utility is there, it's just people don't resort to it if there is someone LFG who is specialized in that one aspect of Druids. There are of course issues, but that's not the point of the thread!

And if loving the Druid class is wrong, then I don't wanna be right! =P

Karanthal
11-09-2006, 07:49 AM
Until recently I have always grouped with my guild who were a high end raid guild. Having not really played eq for 12+ months and comming back earlier this week I'm now stuck trying to find groups to level up to 75. My old guild has virtually disbanded and people moved server so I have a limited amount of friends around to group with. My equipment has now gotten somewhat out of date (unbuffed around 8khp, 10kmana).

The problem druids have with groups are that they are usually 2nd/3rd choice for the roles they can fill. What roles can we fill, usually healer or dps, occasionally puller if its an outdoor zone but lots of mobs are immune to harmony and the 70+ version didnt make it to live either. Usually you need to be proacive and make your own groups as its less likely you'll get a random tell from someone asking you to join than a cleric or tank would.

This is not an absolute list but the traditional group is something like tank, healer, slower, puller + 2 DPS.

Tank: war/pal/sk - for xp groups there all similar.

Healer: cle/sha/dru - Cleric is by far 1st choice, sham may be 2nd now then druid.

Slower: enc/sha - Situational which is preferred, If your puller isnt a bard then get a chanter, if your dps are melee, shamen etc. Both valid choices.

Puller: Brd/Mnk/Nec/SK - Bard usually no1, then monk, failing that an fd class.

DPS: lots, but druids are about 1/2 way down the list. Its rare to be asked to join a group in a DPS position.


In our favour though if you dont want to make your own group, we can solo while we wait and make a decent amount of xp doing it. Also a couple of things that have helped druids out recently are the outdoor TSS zones with mobs that dont summon and the rest time. Although druids are inefficient healing compared to clerics, if you do need to stop to med now and then, its far less downtime than it used to be. As long as you can keep your tank alive the xp rate with a druid healer vs a cleric healer shouldnt be too bad.

If I was being honest and could convert my character into one of the main group classes of the same level of equipment/flags/aa I probably would. But ive played this char for 6+ years now so its too much to throw away and start from scratch

Benwin
11-09-2006, 08:03 PM
I have always viewed the grouping issue as a player created one more than a defect of any class myself i.e I must have this class and this class etc etc in a group.

Tilluen
11-10-2006, 10:19 AM
I then began to wonder about the myriad of negative things I read about the desirability of our class at higher levels.

Druids are an awesome class. The people you see here complaining are people who are exceptionally passionate about the class. We need those people because they make the class better. However, their opinion of druids being underpowered may not match your view of the class. Don't worry about what we aren't. Just have fun!

To paraphrase what someone else said, it's the people you meet that get you group invites not the class you play.

Travin
11-10-2006, 04:50 PM
You know, i have played a druid on mithaniel marr back in the day before the pok was introduced, druids where the gods for travel other then wizards, but then of course pok was introduced and so much changed in my opinion i think sure pok is noce but remove the books.. make the way it was where you had to run everywhere, then i noticed when tss comes out so much quests etc, first thing that came to my mind was Everquest 2...
I have myself yes had lot of groups an di ahve also had lot of hard times finding groups.. there as thats where the druid can shine too with there solo powers and skills.. till that group comes along... but the main thing is get yourself known and well established and you will be surprised with the tells you get, because why, Because you play your character very well and have a good faction with the server aka other players...

But all in all if you love your class and play it well it shouldnt matter if thers a shortage or a over population of Druids, if you are good at your class.. you will get the tells groups guild invites...

Scalia
11-10-2006, 06:27 PM
the main thing is get yourself known and well established and you will be surprised with the tells you get, because why, Because you play your character very well and have a good faction with the server aka other players...

This is so true that I had to register in order to say that I concur :clap:

I have been semi-inactive for the last couple of years, but I played a lot in 1999-2004, served as a guild officer, did a fair amount of raiding, got a Monk to 65 and a Shaman to 66, etc. One thing that I observed was that people who played Druids as their main were noticeably more hit-and-miss than other classes. There were some perfectly reasonable people who played Druids and, just like people playing other classes, they had varying degrees of familiarity with the tools that SOE had given them. But there was a disproportionate number of Druids who were either immature or erratic or clueless, and that made me more leery of taking random LFG Druids than other random LFG classes.

I am not sure what the underlying cause was, perhaps the relative ease of soloing early on or the fact that at the time Druids didn't get a decent heal until 58, which was quite late in your career back when the maximum level was 65? Whatever it was, I couldn't expect to be able to rely on random Druid_01 to keep the tank alive or, in many cases, even snare the mobs consistently. I remember doing PoH Tier 4 back when level 61 mobs hitting for 600 were still respectable opponents and having to take care of both slowing and MH'ing even though we had 2 Druids in the group and Shamans' heals were much less powerful then.

Having said that, I am completely unfamiliar with the level 75 game these days, so perhaps things have changed for the better. Still, a good reputation is always a plus :)

wolficus
11-11-2006, 07:47 AM
My old guild has virtually disbanded and people moved server so I have a limited amount of friends around to group with.

hi Karan, didnt know you'd come back again. Me+cufburt+rootum still play on Saryrn, just dont raid anymore....will send you a tell when i see you on next, us 3 usually end up setting up our own groups, and its always nice to group with ex-guildies again!

Garriern Dracos
11-13-2006, 02:39 PM
I love my druid as well and it seems to be getting more fun as I level up. I have an added advantage as I can box my druids pet 34 Warrior ;) for when i don't really want to kill things by myself.

A good reputation will get you more group invites, being pro-active in group building will mean you don't have to wait for invites. As most have said Druids get the added bonus of being in the top 3 solo classes for those slow times. My main is a 73 Rogue with a mix of DoN,OoW,PoR,DoDH group items with the odd raid item thrown in and getting groups for him can be like pulling teeth and he don't solo much over green easily :D