Returning level 26 Druid: Group role when not healing
 

Just looking for a few pointers for my druid since I've not played for a while. He's level 26 now and I'd like to pick him up where I left off. Since I'll have quite a bit of rust to shake off I'm sure, i figured I'd ask about my group role these days.

Last I played I ended up being the group healer most of the time which I'm good with. What I'm curious about is what I'm supposed to be doing when I'm not the main healer for my group?

Last I played I ended up with a shaman getting kinda cross with me for not doing enough in the group and accusing me of being too passive and soaking xp. I was dropping a damage shield on the tank and just nuking & off healing as needed and as mana allowed. While I am aware the druid mana situation is not the best at my level, I'm wondering if this is this what I should be doing? Is there a better way to make myself more effective? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. :cool:

Patch heals on CC and support. Keep the tank in thorns always. Snare mobs before they flee, especially in dungeons. Str for DPS. Regen for the tank and necroes when you get it. Sow for the puller where applicable.

Be choosy about who gets what buffs. There's no reason to sow anyone in the group who is not leaving the camp. There's no reason to give thorns to anyone but the tank. You'll run out of mana fast if you're giving everyone every buff.

Don't waste mana on DoTs. If you have a good group makeup and mana to spare, a well timed nuke to finish a mob, especially healer mobs, isn't a bad idea, just don't try to be DPS.

I'd have put that shaman on ignore. Druids don't have a deep mana pool at that level and there's only so much you can really do.

- If the zone has animals you can be great DPS by charming.

- Druid can also be great CC if there is no dedicated CC class present. How? Snare mob (get aggro and make it slow), lead it a bit away from group, root. I would say, after chanter and bard, druid is the third best CC.

- Aggro kite. A druid can totally mitigate the need to heal, at least against single mobs. How? Snare the mob and then spam "flame lick" and run around with it. Everybody else gets free shots and the mob wont do any damage (if it is not a range damage dealer). This way you can even kill mobs that would normally kill your group. You just have to be able to snare it (if not its still possible but very inconvenient).

Thanks so much Ravager & Pyrion. This is exactly what I was looking for. Cheers!

If you want to make sure people in the group know you are doing stuff, make a hotkey for every root you do, and snare, and thorns, that way you can spam chat constantly so they realize all the hard work you are doing.

The only bad thing is, if you do this, they will know when you ninja-afk, because all your messages stop! So use hotkey messages carefully!