Druids are worthless?

Everytime Im grouped with a druid I wish they would leave and be replaced by a cleric or shaman .

If the druid is doing dps I wish a mage would replace them . Are druids only good for PLing and ports/sow?

If they aren't charming animals then yes

A well played Druid is a decent addition to a group, especially a static one, pugs not so much. The problem is well played Druids are about as rare as rocking horse .

Have to agree with most of the comments. Even if a Druid is charming a pet, replacing him with an Enchanter would likely be more useful.

I added a Druid to my 6 box team for ports because I had easy access to a Druid and I wanted ports/evacs. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight I should have just gone with a Wizard. I would have the same ports, plus AE TL to bind, plus way better DPS, plus access to AE damage.

Someone has to cast the FR/CR buff and spend DKP on Druid loot though I guess...

Depends on the era. Druid heals are more than capable in xp groups. Lack of res was always the biggest reason for not picking one.

DPS us decent, DOT revamps (sorry necros) combined with DD are capable of good damage but do burn mana.

Their biggest strength really comes in utility, having a DPS class who csn heal in an emergency was a safe option but TLPS are so easy having an emergency healer no longer matters. It used to be hard keeping a group alive.

Way back in 2000 I came to despise shaman and did everything I could to avoid grouping with them and that particular prejudice has stuck. So no, Druids don't suck, it's your imagination

They are good because of charm and high utility, its not a sit there and afk class but in the hands of a good player the tool set they have is so vast they can really shine. I would want a druid in my chardok group for example over most DPS classes including necro just because if they are good they can do so much.

If you get a druid who thinks their role is to cast nukes and a few heals and never help CC with root and snare and never charm etc then ya the class is bad and you are better off with a shaman or a real dps.

As a druid main on Mangler, I think the answer to this is tricky.

In Chardok, where I can charm a doggy, I can significantly out-DPS any *traditional* DPS class. I also believe the druid is better than a necro who will also charm (an undead) because of the backup heals. In camps like Kennels, and Over/Under, CC can break down with resists and when the cleric drops that heal on the enchanter - watch out. The necro can obviously help CC, but the druid can make a chaotic situation a bit safer with the heals. Now, if there's also a shaman in the group, you can sub out the druid for a necro and probably be better off.

In other zones, where I can't charm, I would say that druids are only really useful when a shaman isn't available. Backup heals are pretty necessary, but it's true that a shaman just brings more to the table at this point.

On a side note - druid evac (especially in Chardok) is severely underrated - especially when those folks whose incompetence is rather relentless are nearby. There are a couple choice actors who have been known to train the Herbalist on your group as you move down to Kennels or simply ninja dispell your charm pets during a pull. This is the nostalgia I don't mind paying for.

Double Post

Druid Myths Perpetuated in this thread:

1) Druids are fine healers in an EXP group - Wrong. They suffice in a slow pulling exp group but would never be able to keep up with a GOOD fast pulling EXP group. They just don't have the mana/efficiency to do it - 10 years of TLP I have never seen a Druid be able to keep up healing so I can keep pulling the way a cleric will. Always get a Cleric over Druid

2) They are amazing if they are charming - Kind of. If they can find a decent pet they are good, problem is there are not that many decent pets in dungeons where everyone levels - I have never once seen a druid have a pet inside a dungeon, maybe Im missing these mythical druids that all have charms pets. I suspect they can charm in Chardok, never seen a druid do it, so meh.

3) Druid CC by Rooting making them useful - Ridiculous. You have a chanter, you don't need root CC, if you don't have a chanter your playing EQ wrong.

4) DD and DOTS are Good - Only in a Vacuum. Shaman DoTs blow druids out of the water and still manage to have more utility than Druids and their DD's are no match for a Mage, Necro, or basically anything else.

The simple truth is, In 90% of situations Druids are trash and not useful as any role they can do another class can do better and would do better. The other 10% is having 2-3 on a Raid and that 2% of the time your leveling in Chardok and want a druid for Charm...except you already have a chanter for that so just get a Shaman and be better.

Disclaimer: Druid's do get better as Expansions go up and find a decent healing niche down the road with CH and better Heal AA's

if u have Iess than 5 enchanters in ur grp, ur sub 0ptimaI

I had a 65 clr, dru, and wiz on agnarr.

It was very clear to me that druids need help through ldon. I made a post a while back with some simple things that made sense.

Druids are great for power leveling but through ldon you're simply always better off with another class unless you're doing chardok.

Shamans can't charm plants.

First off I'm a druid on Mangler. If you're min/maxing then absolutely a druid is not for you. If you're looking for utility, there's very few classes that have the variety that we do. I've always known that druids a very much the "jack of all trades and master of none" and I'm ok with that. The biggest downside I've noticed, and its been brought up in this thread, is that our mana efficiency is lacking and can't keep up with heals in fast moving groups. I can agree with that, however there are 2 exceptions. in a group with a well geared tank and great crowd control, and healing demands are light, its great to be able to help out with DPS rather then just sit there until someone needs a heal. Also its not usually the case that I'm the only healer in the group, so during those times when mana is low, usually another druid, shaman even the ranger can get off a few heals while I med up.

If druids had some way to regen mana like shamans (cannibalize) I'm sure people would say we're OP and need to be nerfed.

Its ok to group beyond the holy trio. Last night I was doing juggs with a ranger for a tank, 2 druids, a shaman, a necro and an enchanter. We were keeping up just fine with 3 and 4 mob pulls at a time with almost no downtime.

1.) True to some extent, early on group heals + CH is far more efficient than what druids have available early. IE druids are a utility for a group as a back up heal//dmg//buffs.

2.) Druids are great at charming, animal tash is nice. Most druids that do charm all the time solo, why? because druid solo charm is more efficient exp than in a group when the druid knows what they are doing.

3.) over zealous enchanters go down from time to time, ie charm break w/e. It happens, it happens more often than you think. Snare snap aggro and root//kite can save a group when this happens to an enchanter.

4.) druid dots are hot garbage, druid DD is okay. However Druids get plenty of clicky dots which make them able to never run 00m in any fight//chain pulling etc. Great for free dot casts, DD, and that ever nice to have support heals.

In summary, Druids are one of the most powerful classes in the game early on in a solo capacity if you know what you are doing. (Mobility around the world vie ports and egress) (heals) (charm) (solo AE capability) (mana less dot casting) Druids are great additions to groups in certain zones( where animals roam ) Even without animal charm, they are capable of mana less dmg and when utilized correctly can keep up with any group and never run 00m. Due to this fact, early on they can easily replace a cleric for a short duration of med time in a group so chain pulling can continue unabated.

Why dont you see these mythical druids? Godly druids tend to solo as the solo experience a druid can get is on par with your regular chain pulling group. I would say 1 out of 5 groups tends to end up being solid and that is being nice. Godly druids do not like these 1 out of 5 numbers when they can get solid experience on their own 100% of the time with charm. Come Luclin and AA, Godly druids take on a whole new level of solo exp which out paces a traditional chain pulling group experience gains. Little known secret. Level 60 druids get an AE root. 100+ mobs rooted, 1 cast. 40-50 casts on 100+ mobs = dead mobs = solo AE exp. Even come PoP, tactics brings you boar charm solo which out paces most group exp. Or dire charm in Fire is a great addition to any group.

Druids Rock!

one thing that can help druids is to add some low cost heals to their spell selection. They they could have a fast group heal and a group heal over time. Druids are a utility class, and have lesser abilities in each but if they get the best of any they will become OP and unbalanced.

There is quite a bit of hyperbole here. Having played both cleric and druid on multiple TLPs, I can say that "90% of situations druids are trash" is trash statement in itself.

1) A cleric is definitely a better healer and will keep pace much better in a faster paced group in terms of healing, especially in a group where you can make efficient use of CH. Also depends on what expac you are talking about, but given the gear levels of players on these TLPs, a well geared druid can keep up just fine with a solid group. If you pull inefficiently and take tons of extra damage and call that a "GOOD fast pulling EXP group" - maybe you "need" a cleric, but you can still pull fast and avoid taking unnecessary damage that would allow for a druid to heal no problem. If the group is pulling fast + efficient, allowing the druid to nuke - things die faster than with a cleric healing.

2) "I suspect they can charm in Chardok, never seen a druid do it" just shows how naive you are when it comes to a druid. If a druid isn't charming in Chardok, they are either bad or lazy. The lvl 53 dogs(Chokidai Bloodhounds) are easily found, have low MR and make fantastic pets. As you move to Velious, other zones with solid pets include Siren's Grotto(walrus) and Kael(Dire Wolves). There are a few zones in Luclin but not really as strong(Maiden's Eye, Grey). Once you get to PoP, you have PoStorms(frogs) and Tactics(boars). So while the available zones are much smaller, druid charm is indeed very good if used in the right place

3) Can't really disagree with you here. Although there are lots of terrible enchanters these days that play fotm.

4) Dots are ok solo and for raids, but in any decent paced exp group you shouldn't have time to use DoTs as mobs should die too quickly(this goes for shaman too really). However their DD is not bad and has multiple schools of magic to choose from.

Bottom line is that a well played druid is definitely not trash. If you try to compare each individual aspect to another class, you will usually find another class that does it better, but those other classes typically can't adapt as well to different situations the way a druid can.

Druids are pretty much worthless after PoK.

Druids are awesome. They just need an enchanter and a bard with them at all times to negate the poor mana efficiency.

Sarcasm aside, they end up being a good overall class. I like having them in groups.