Quit a few years back but im getting bored of eq2/wow druids its just not the same,i quit around GoD,Omens expansion so im going to guess alot has changed ive seen a hell of alot of negativity from druids when i left we were pretty damn powerful

Do we still solo well do we still use the old snare group em up and Quad em technique or are we still using root/rot technique

If i rejoined id probally make a new druid from scratch would have around 500kish to completely twink the druid im looking to level as fast as i possibly can are there any new zones which offer mega exp while easy soloing?

ive looked at a few faq's and the whole aa thing now sounds so damn confusing so if anyone could explain them to me it would be a big help

any answers would be welcomed :thumbsup:

Druids still solo well enough, but arguably not as well as in the past. Quad kiting isn't as popular in the later levels as it was, though it can still be done. Charm kiting and root rotting are the more popular methods now.

Hot zones are probably the best way to level up, but isn't necessary to stick to those.

As for the aa's, I am assuming you mean the xp boost that has recently been implemented into the game. This means you gain more aa experience than normal until you reach the cut-off point. I've heard that was 750, but I am not sure if that is true. For that I would suggest leveling to 51 and then switching to 100% aa xp and by all the useful aa's that are attainable at that level. By this I mean, do not waste aa's on things like innate strength, bind wound, dire charm, etc. as that would add to the total and make it more difficult to get the aa count needed for more useful and/or expensive aa's such as later tiers of convergence of spirit, exodus, critical affliction, spell casting reinforcement, as well as healing and nuking aa's. After you have purchased the needed aa's attainable at 51, level your druid up until you reach the level required to purchase another useful aa. After you reach the cut-off point, you can level and aa your druid as you see fit, as the time sink would be about the same.

Hope that helps.

no i just meant all the new diff aa's they look so damn confusing lol whats a good route aa wise to take for a solo druid?

All DoT and nuking aa's. Convergence of spirits, spirit of the wood, and defensive aa's, including shield block, help if things get out of hand. Exodus isn't a bad idea either. I would also suggest getting storm strike and entrap...though even the second level of entrap still gets resisted 10 times as often as serpent vines. Honestly there hasn't been alot of change in what you'd want for soloing in the recent expansions. Really just buy anything that saves mana and time...

one thing Sorrian failed to mention is the Root line, would want some points in there two for bad pulls / Ghetto CC indoors.

and to get leveled, ask a friendly Druid to PL to you 50 by using PC - DSP - GE zones

Those fall under the "saves mana and time" part. :thumbup:

The new starting path for most from Tutorial or direct to Cresent Reach, then through Blightfire etc is massive xp compared to the old zones.
With that kind of cash for twinking, you'll be pretty unkillable if you go for proper twink gear with plenty of HP's etc.
You can be level 25 in Crescent Reach in a about 4 hours using DS potions and the vendor purchasable beast crack type, haste, HoT potions etc.
Toe to toe is the way to go, I know it sounds against the grain, but I've even levelled dress wearers who can still melee there for faster xp than by any other method.
Move into blighfire as soon as the skellies in the north of CR start turning light blue and you'll be flying through the levels there.
You'll probably have to spend more time standing still casting spells on yourself to get skill ups than you will fighting.

With the opening on old content with regard to no keys being required, and yes druids can still solo well in the right places, its def worth coming back - you know you want to :grin:

I came back April 1st and have had a blast. I havent been near as active as I was in the old days but without any effort I went from 65-70 and a bunch of AAs. The amount of new druid friendly zones is immense. If you like charming, I know some dont, there are a ton of areas in the higher ranges that are just a blast.

The only downside I have had in coming back is many of my friends were all maxed at 80 or at least mid 70s so if I group with any of them I am bored to death playing a cleric. I was always one of the higher in our groups and the designated puller and raid leader so this whole cast/sit/cast/sit in groups drives me batty. Of course a few more levels and some more upgrades and I should be back in my old role again, at least pulling.

Faction hell is as bad or worse than ever. If you play it smart though and do the research first you can at least being doing faction grinding while it is still good exps.

The lack of druids left with a clue has actually made me a welcomed asset back in our circles though, we are seriously lacking in clerics and enchanters so the ability to kite adds/CC and heal does give me something to do off and on besides sit/cast and I am never without a group when I want it. I am normally called to a group within minutes of signing on and our active roster between our friend guilds is in the 20-30 range of people. So about half of that is online any given night.

I dont regret coming back and already reupped for 2 years when it became pay time.

As far as AAs that I see the most benefit from and use regularly... innate camo, exodus, any dot/nuke crits (there is probably more than 100 AAs you could spend just there as you level and they are available), spirit of the wood/convergence of spirit, entrap, healing... I aso capped out wisdom quickly with the upgrades and cash from friends so innate enlightenment and planar power have some AAs thrown their way too.

swarm reverse charm kiting = the win. :-)

Reverse swarm charm kiting??????????

Hmm, that would make for an interesting raid event...a mob that spends most of its time running away, stopping occasionally to charm a raid member. That raid member would have to be killed by the rest of the raid before a buff wore off resulting in some kind of explosion.

I have this strange feeling you'd like Wirlem or Krond raids. Both have different halves of those mechanics. Krond adds will drag you away charmed kicking and screaming, Wirlem you take a hit not killing the charmed people.. who don't run away.

But yes, reverse swarm charm kiting. You let your pet get beat up vs at least one other animal (preferably 2 or more, thus the swarm) then break charm when it's around 10%. Recharm another animal and have it attack another, kill the previous pet yourself with dots or nukes, pull while they fight. Good grind method, and not as boring as most means.

Wirlem and Krond aren't quite what I had in mind (though the Krond slavers are pretty creative).
I thought the killing the charmed person thing had to be taken out of Wirlem, due to not working as expected? Either that or the penalty became small enough that we were better off ignoring when people got charmed.

well i just returned to eq on brell sever after 4 years or so, 53 druid sad to say i let a friend play my play her for a bit before i stopped well i reactivated her a day ago. sadly he sold everthing off her and has no money or weapons other then the veteran rreward stuff. a bit dishearting and my lvl 35 monk totlly stripped other then journymans boot lol. I was looking forward to playing but now its going to take me along time just to catch up in equipment and cash even to get spells. let alone learn where things are at. the old newbie zone are empty not even sure where the new one are lol. but the old eq addict mod kicked in as soon as i log on lol

You can 'claim' a set of very good armor and weapon for your char. However here's the dilemma: at your level you may get a set of armor that is good for your level, but not so good when you advance. If you wait till later you may claim something better. So, to claim, or not to claim, that is the question.

The good news is, you can still gain experience without any armor! You can do monster missions for some experience (hopefully still some people are interested in them). You can do the MMs naked because you will morph into another form. Or, you can talk to the shroud master in POK to turn yourself into another form, say a level 45 orge warrior, then hunt in Gunthak's gulf. The negative side of these two method is: you are no longer a druid when in these monster forms, ie cannot root-dot, charm, etc..

well i just returned to eq on brell sever after 4 years or so, 53 druid sad to say i let a friend play my play her for a bit before i stopped well i reactivated her a day ago. sadly he sold everthing off her and has no money or weapons other then the veteran rreward stuff. a bit dishearting and my lvl 35 monk totlly stripped other then journymans boot lol. I was looking forward to playing but now its going to take me along time just to catch up in equipment and cash even to get spells. let alone learn where things are at. the old newbie zone are empty not even sure where the new one are lol. but the old eq addict mod kicked in as soon as i log on lol

honestly the equipment you had 4 years ago is nothing compared to what you can buy in the bazaar for 1kpp or less per spot....sometimes you can still make money porting but also you could look into make some tradeskill items for people and selling them in bazaar ....like the padding needed for smithing etc.

It might take a while but you can easily gear up with 10x better gear in 3-4months tops then you ever had.

Interesting read...same I no longer can play as my characters I think got lost in the European server merges a while ago.. miss a little bit of EQ now and again but life moves on. Glad the game is still going well

they should be on antonius bayle probably ;)

I did my own post till I saw this string. So how do I claim the new armor, I left the game in the fall of 2006.
Also....for a lvl 61 Druid, where is the best areas now to solo?
For Bastion of Thunder, do I need a prereq to get in?
Can you still find plenty of clerics for rez in Guild Vault and plenty of Enchanters giving KEI in POK?
Has this changed?
I got used to WoW with no down time at all pretty much, has down time improved in EQ?