I recently returned from an 8 year hiatus, and resumed playing my 67 druid. I am slowly concluding that EQ has turned into a simple slugfest wherein trash mobs hit very hard and have tons of hp, but can't SUMMON, ENRAGE, RAMPAGE etc. So, DPS rules all and druids which cannot compare to the silk classes in DPS production, nor can they lower a mob's effective DPS like shammies and hybrid melee don't appear to have much of a function these days. I hope this interpretation is incorrect but I'm having difficulty finding such evidence as a lot of former druid web sites have either shut down completely or have minimal forum participation. How can druids level at 70+ when it takes so long to kill mobs?
I'm also returning from a long break, is it that the DoT's and Dmg shields don't really scale with the amount of hp gain that mobs get now?
HP and mob dps inflation does change the game, it is true. However... If you can't beat them, join them: use charm. Druids have been made viable healers at higher levels, and mercs mean that you can always have a group. Druids have debuffs that are considered to be as effective as slow (etc). The change really happens from 71 upwards, just check the spell lists on Allakhazam. Plus charm has been viable for druids for a lot longer than that (Velious, iirc).
DRUIDS! HUH, YEAH! WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! SAY IT AGAIN! Oh, sorry, thought you were singing lyrics. Druids lean towards a healing role than damage dealer these days. At 67 I can't tell you how they perform, but later on post-90 druids have a good role in healing a tank, and secondly they can lay down some damage-over-time spells and nukes. They're like necromancers, root-rotting or kiting, but as I said, the damage is lower in trade for healing power. They bring a little bit of everything to the table aside from melee. That said, because they aren't proficient in any one field, and because EQ has become so linear in that regard, they slowly spittle out in the high-end. They're mostly seen as a back-up class in raids, healing when needed and when not they throw heals and the occasional rez. That's why you see more necromancers, clerics, shamans, etc. in raids because they do one thing very well in their field. Just play what you love. Don't fall prey to anyone telling you to change your class.
Here's a THREAD I have on the external cleric forum that might be useful. There's a few discussing what druids bring to the table that should be useful. To the OP, you do need to remember that druids are a priest class, not a DPS class. I still see it said today about 7+ years ago when 'back in the day' druid nukes were on par with mage nukes'. That was a long time ago and a shift was made to make druids a viable healer + offer a good alternative with DPS (instead of bad healing and slightly better dps). Take a look through a few of the threads on this link for deeper specifics.
Well, with a level 67 Druid you could two box and power level a power character on the second account in record time. Hindsight is 20:20, did you farm AA's and maybe some pt before you hit 67? I'm thinking for some classes like Druid, Enchanter, Necromancer, it may be wise to get all the AA's you can when Dire Charm is still viable.
You may want to consider kiting with a melee dps merc to cut down on the killing time, if you can bug a haste for the merc even better of course.
Hmm, at 67, I wonder just where you are finding these trash mobs that are so nasty, if you are fighting yellows and reds even with a tank merc then it is probably over reaching. Leveling is a game of inches the Teek tasks about your level will yield 4% level each (never remember doing Plane of Air) and for Wall of Slaughter you might need help, in any case getting Credence or Certitude buff would be big. Make 10% level/day and in 2 weeks you gain a level, at 67, get the high end HP buff, and take your merc tank to temple of Droga, mobs top out at 60/61, if you can't make 10% in a couple of hours and a lot of pp, gems, TS materials, then you should examine your techniques. What I find difficult is recommending a good zone to slaughter lt/dk blues in the low 70s, mostly because I spent much of that time in Dragonscale Hills killing wind nymphs (farm was always crowded).
In today's game, I have absolutely no idea why anyone would consider starting a new druid with the intent of reaching end-game. Last time I stumbled upon someone playing a newly created druid as a main character in end-game content? Years ago. Years. In the era of the Norrathian Instant Gratification mindset, there is none to be found with the druid class. You're in for a long haul commitment. I won't part with my druid under any circumstances, too many years driving this toon to abandon him, but I certainly cannot genuinely encourage others to fire one up.
Okay I am a lvl 100 Druid so lets start: Druids have worse melee mitigation that casters with their reliable self runes. Druids suck in melee combat, weak hits no great weapons. Druids do not do huge nukes compared to wizard/mage. Druid dots are weaker than Necro or Shaman. We get pets that are cute and cuddly. Every other class does at least one thing far better than we could, and a lot easier. BUT we can sing, we can dance and darn we look good while doing it! Who else can buff you, heal you, dot and nuke the mob, run them for the long chase while others chew them up. Get you there and back in the back side of beyond in a timely manner. Who can run into the furball and yank the tanks and everyone else to safety across the zone. All this in one package. If it needs doing we will contrive. We are JillAlltrade Mistress of None. I am NOT a Tank!, **I** am an APC!
Back when I played a druid, I asked myself that very question and eventually main changed to a bestlord so I could truly solo stuff again. Druids used to be a solo class with good charms and quad kiting and then were forced to being main healers for groups and raids. That's pretty much what they do now plus casting some nukes in between heals. Evac is not reliable. Many times I have left others behind or myself behind. Charm is a joke since mobs don't hit for full damage and more often than not break super early(before you can even kill one mob). Druids are one of those jack of all trades masters of none classes like bards in DnD 3.5. They are great if you have a box crew for porting groups around.
Your perfect companion is an Enchanter. Together, there's probably nothing you can't accomplish that two other classes could. Remember that this is a video game, and kids play it along with those with a child-like mentality. Many of those players will avoid Druids and several other classes just because they read somewhere that some other class is 0.001% better at something they think is important, regardless of the truth. Druids are powerful at high levels, but they are most powerful when they're using all their abilities at once, so they will neither top the damage, nor the healing meters in that kind of situation, and much of what they do is make others stronger and more capable which isn't easy to see. For example, the spot heal the nuking Druid saved the tank with is generally unnoticed by everyone but the cleric who may be a merc and thus not say anything, even though the group would have failed without it.
In reply to the original poster: the assessment is indeed incorrect. As others have already said, druids have grown more in the direction of "healer first, DPS second" as time has gone on, but they do their healing job very well now, and their DPS (particularly on a well-executed burn) is nothing to laugh at, especially compared to the other heal/support classes. As for how to level quickly when mobs take a while to kill, I highly recommend the Franklin Teek (NPC near the Guild Lobby ramp in PoK) hotzone tasks. They now give VERY good exp (around 10% of a level for one quest that doesn't take long - and that's not counting the exp you get killing the mobs) and can be run daily. Grab the highest tier of tank mercenary available to you, keep it healthy while you fight, and you will probably clear the quest in a reasonable period of time. I believe the level 70 hotzone is Wall of Slaughter, which you actually have a direct port spell to go to, so that's cool. (I think level 67 is high enough from Franklin Teek to let you take the level 70 hotzone quest, but if it isn't, just do the level 65 one in the meantime until you level up again, at which point you can probably get the 70 one.) From the 76+ range onward, druids are consistently the second most effective direct healer in the game, have the biggest Attack and AC debuffing potential of any class, and are among the best off-DPS characters among the healer/support classes. In the level 81 to 85 range they gain access to Remote Manaflux (a spell line that nukes the target and heals the target's target at the same time) and Twincast (a really good self buff for burns) and their burn potential gets even better. Druids are definitely not wizards and if your idea of a good time in EQ is to solo kite for hours while gleefully blowing up non-summoning enemies, a wizard or necro would definitely serve you better. But there is still plenty of summoning content in the game and plenty of stuff that you need a group (or at least a well-prepared duo + mercs) to complete, and druids fit well into that. For sure, the class is more fun (imo) if you're playing with a buddy, but then, I think that about most of EverQuest in general. Also, +1 to everything Qwest said. One of the greatest strengths of the druid is its ability to provide what is needed when it's needed, whether that's a spot heal or a sudden spike of damage (or both at once!). Probably the other greatest strength is its subtle debuffing -- AC, ATK, resist, and percentage damage amplification for specific spell elements -- all of which have effects that aren't always flamboyant and easy to see, but which can do quite a lot to swing difficult battles in a party's favor. And it's a dependable snaring class, which you're going to want at least one of.
And you can't negate the power of having a class that can track). Zone in, see if any named are up and are uncamped ... easy. Zone in, figure out where that NPC is you need, easy. Track makes a lot of things more efficient.
A. Druids may have worse melee mitigation but they can almost insta heal from almost no hp. B. Druid is not a melee class. C. Why do you compare a Priests nukes to that of a Mage/Wizard? D. Yes their DoT's are better, but your nukes beat both of theirs. Druids are the second best healers in the game, they offer decent DPS considering that. Between debuffs, buffs and ports they aren't as bad as most of you make them sound to be.
Druids are GREAT when you can't find enough clerics for your raid. Druids are GREAT when you can't find a better DPS option for your group. When there is already 1 druid in your raid, there is little to no reason to bring another. This is why after many many years of mine, he is officially retired. I haven't played in months, but some friends talked me into coming back. My only condition was that they helped me get some reflagging, re-aug getting, etc done, as I won't play a druid again and I'll need to re-equip a more raid-viable toon.
Guess I can mark you off the recruiting list then, we are always looking for a few good druids for our raid force. Bottom line is it all depends on the player, if you aren't playing to have fun then you just wasted your money. If you are having fun running around smacking moss snakes and handing in muffins then more power to you. I can't tell you how to be happy you gotta find that out for yourself.
I love druids. I have two gold accounts. On one, I have a level 100 druid. On the other account, I have an 87 druid. I also have a silver account with...you guessed it...a druid...level 55. I don't box unless I can't find a group, but when I do 2 box, one is always a druid. Druids can do everything. Druids do nothing well. But their buffs, damage shields, dots and nukes are all welcome. And don't forget the evac button. Sure there are better classes as far as leveling...things like swarming, head shotting and such, but I can level my druid very fast thank you and will start a druid and level it with no regrets. The main thing with a druid is to get AAs as soon as you can. Nukes and DOTs get much better with AAs. Oh...and don't forget, you need to learn to play your class. PLs are great but don't forget to get your spells, AAs and some regular play so that you are an asset to any group you play with.
I came back to this game about 1.5 yrs ago with a level 65 druid in Elysian gear wielding an epic 1.0. That said, I soloed my way to 85 easily. I quadded 65-early 70's in the Steppes. I dot-rotted in Direwind till 80. Spent some time in SoD zones after that. 85-92 I grouped a lot, because I was bored with soloing and there were more toons available to group. I soloed 92-100, mostly charming in beast's domain. I still love my druid. Can she do as much dps in a group as my 100 BL, or my 100 Ranger? No. Can she outheal a cleric? Probably not. But she's versatile, and I love seeing what I can do with her alone. Plus, she's awesome for tradeskills.
On May 5, 2012, I started a druid on a new server...just to see what I could do. In early September, I reached level 100. Not too bad. Druids are still a viable class.
