Hello, I'm a newbie and made a Druid on the Phinney server. I have spent my time mostly in Crushbone. I have a mix of cloth and CB leather armor. I have now bought with my meager money (I currently have 80 plat) the spells that are current for my level (L 10) I find that I am having to sit and gather mana to the point that I am almost no help to groups in Crushbone. I have 250 mana and the spells and buffs that I cast cost between 40 and 70 mana. I am wondering how I can possibly be of any use to a group while I am mostly sitting and gathering mana. I am sure I have not optimized myself due to my lack of experience with the game. I am seeking any suggestions as to how I can increase my ability to be productive helping the groups that have been kind enough to tolerate my sitting most of the time. Gratefully appreciate any suggestion on things I can do to increase my effectiveness.
contact rhiyannon in game, I can send you some mana regen pots that will help. there are armour and jewelry etc at higher levels that will help with retaining mana with casting. part of it is learning when and what spells to use, practice will make you more effective. you really don't need to cast all your spells, sometimes timing is everything, and yep be prepared to sit a lot.
If you want my honest opinion, start over. Druid is an awful class in the current state of the game. While it does get better for them in later expansions they are currently the worst class in my opinion. Contact Squeesh in game to receive free power leveling on the new toon you make to avoid the terrible class that is Druid.
All casters spend most of their lives on their butts regening mana, exception would be shamans because they constantly spam cannibalize to gain mana. Mana pots and clarity can shorten the time regening mana and gear can let you cast more spells before having to sit and regen mana, but in the end you will be sitting alot regardless of class or gear. Try a melee if you want more moving around action, maybe a ranger =)
The good news is that most people will expect you to be sitting most of the time so you don't need to worry about that. And in Crushbone no one has good gear (unless they are an alt of someone higher). There are a few quests you can do and once you get to Unrest you'll start getting some upgrades. You want to equip anything with WIS (wisdom) on it which for priests is the stat that will increase your mana pool.
It's quite usual for any caster. If you really don't like it, I'd recommend a melee instead. Druids are a fun, versatile class. However, they can do a variety of things, none of them best and in today's min/max game, people don't often seek them, and there are a lot of alt druids around as port bots, some of which are competing with that group space. But if you play the class well, druids can save the day like no-one else can. Once you get port spells, you can earn some cash porting, but that's not until your 39s, by which time you might not need to.
lmao squeesh, why are you quoting me? all I did was give a helpful suggestion and make an offer to help that doesn't tell a new player to quit their class... like everyone else said, all casters do it, druid or not. canni doesn't come in till 23 and isn't really worth doing till canni 2/3(3 is a better loss vs gain ratio with higher regen), unless really desperate.
I want to thank you all for the suggestions and offers. Geeze, is seems like it took me forever to get to Level 10. I'm not crazy about the prospect of starting over but I'm not having much fun currently If I go for a melee which one should I pick? I want to be desired in groups as well as be able to play alone during my odd hours of play. I don't expect I'll be raiding at all. Thanks again for the comments and help.
If you want to go melee, tanks are usually in demand for groups. I've had a few groups which were all set except for a tank. Of the three tank classes, SKs do more dps and can solo best, though this isn't a great option with xp how it is. Paladins are rare, and can rez, which is a plus later on, but to start with, their agro is not good. Warriors are the best at tanking, and are needed for raids, but have little utility for groups. Of the others, ranger, monk, rogue are mostly dps. Monks are usually expected to pull. Rangers might be asked to tank if a tank can't be found. Rangers have some nice utility too. Rogues are fairly straightforward dps, but a lot of people like playing them! Then there are bards, great utility, great at making the other melees in the group better, some crowd control and pulling too. Bard class is unique in EQ.
Monk. Monk is the only melee class that you don't "need" any gear for. They get substantially better with gear, but it's entirely possible to level a monk to 60 naked with no weapons other than fists. If you're new to the game/server, every other melee class is going to seriously suck for you, as they are all highly gear dependent. Classes that are good for new players: Monk, Necro, Wizard. All 3 of those can be played with very little to no gear. Wizard is going to have the same problem you're having now, you will spend 98% of your time sitting getting mana back. Necros have their own mana regen which helps a bit, but still pretty slow early on. Necros can solo very well as they get spells that heal them at the same time they are damaging the mob. Monk is without a doubt, the most new player friendly. It's easy to play, it's a good DPS class, you get feign death at 16 (which makes mobs forget you), which is the single best ability in the game. Also the least gear dependent of all the melee classes. Lizard monks have an innate health regen that makes it possible for them to solo when you can't find a group. TLDR: Lizard monk and never look back.
shaman is a good class as well, quite soloable till the mid 40's, pet, buffs... but they're not a simple class either.
