Does a rain spell injure party members or just NPC's? I have never used these in a group setting for fear of injuring my party.

Matter of fact the last time i used one was soloing in my 20's and found that using the Targeted AE's worked better.

Do these actually have a place in group play?

They do not hurt other people, but they hurt you.

If your group is fighting 2 or more mobs at once(not mezzing) then rain spells are great dps.

Rain spells hit up to 4 targets (and you if your too close)
4 mobs and each get hit once
3 mobs and 2 will get hit once,1 will get hit twice
2 mobs and each will get hit twice
1 mob will be hit 3 times

Just be sure the mobs are close enough together and watch your aggro, since the adds may not be getting taunted.

They can be used effectivly soloing if you pull 4 mobs at a time, snare them, bunch them up close, kite and nuke.

They can be used effectivly soloing if you pull 4 mobs at a time, snare them, bunch them up close, kite and nuke.
Since when? Rain requires you to remain stationary, because you're "concetrating" on focusing the waves. Also the target area doesn't move just because the mobs do, so they will only be hit by the first wave. Rain spells have 3 waves (I'm not sure if some actually have 4).

Against a single target our rain spells will have 3 waves however against multiple targets it acts differently. Against 4+ mobs that are close together you will get 1 wave that hits 4 of the mobs, even if they are moving.

I's been that way for as long as I can remember (so at least since last week :))

Since when? Rain requires you to remain stationary, because you're "concetrating" on focusing the waves. Also the target area doesn't move just because the mobs do, so they will only be hit by the first wave. Rain spells have 3 waves (I'm not sure if some actually have 4).

The number of waves is determined by the number of mobs within range of the spell, hitting a maximum of 4 times(thats 4 HITS not waves), all rain spells work this way i believe.
I posted above how it works for each number of mobs.

Also against 1 mob you do not need to remain stationary, just the mob does.

I used to use them for quad kiting in Pofire, duo'd alot with another druid out there back during PoP days.

The number of waves is determined by the number of mobs within range of the spell, hitting a maximum of 4 times(thats 4 HITS not waves), all rain spells work this way i believe.
I posted above how it works for each number of mobs.

Also against 1 mob you do not need to remain stationary, just the mob does.

I used to use them for quad kiting in Pofire, duo'd alot with another druid out there back during PoP days.
I suggest you check again then :)
Cloudburst Hail (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9833&source=Live). 1 target. 3 waves. Try it out, then come back :)
Also, although it's quite a while ago I last used rains on multiple targets, I can say with 100% certainty that when I did (in the early PoP days) it did have more than 1 wave on a group of 4 mobs. I think it was 4 waves, however the 3 waves with Cloudburst Hail makes me doubt wheter it was 3 or 4.

<edit>Seems it has been changed. Just tried 4 and it's only 1 wave now. I'm sure it was not always so though.</edit>

Its always been this way, i use rain spells alot for soloing green trash(PoI farming for my tinker), since i resist the damage myself 90% of the time.

I dont have cloudburst hail, since im not buying tss, but id bet it works same as the lesser rains. Lucy can't tell you everything about how a spell works.

I dont have cloudburst hail, since im not buying tss, but id bet it works same as the lesser rains. Lucy can't tell you everything about how a spell works.That's not Lucy telling me, but me using it. I merely linked to it to make it easier for you and others to know what spell I was referring to.

When grouping, and the mobs are susceptible to cold damage, I usually cycle between Cloudburst Hail (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9833&source=Live) and Ancient: Glacier Frost (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=5369&source=Live) while waiting for Cloudburst Hail to refresh, so I have plenty of experience on how they work on single targets.

Anyway, it doesn't matter whether I think rains were 3 or 4 waves, or whether it hit several times on multiple targets etc. I tested today in Skyfire where I took 4 mobs and placed them in a knot (like kiting) then rooted them all. Then I used Winter's Storm (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=3436&source=Live), and you're right each of the 4 only got hit once.

Does the rain spell damage Wake the Dead or Charmed pets ?

Cladari

Does the rain spell damage Wake the Dead or Charmed pets ?

Cladari

It wont hit any pets or other players(except yourself if you get too close), you can even target a player and cast it on them and it will just hit the mobs around them. Of course, charm always breaks at the worst times :)

Unless you play on Zek in which case these spells sucks for pve as they do hurt players in your group...unless you want to mightily piss off your tank/get pet aggro from grp etc.......

want more bang? cloudburst->winter's storm->cold nuke->repeat
winter's storm is not on the same timer as high level rains. heavy on the mana but rips mobs up in short order. esp pofire quads or ashengate singles.