Which caster to start with?

[Sorn]

Originally Posted by Expediency [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

At 60 druid is possibly the least useful and least powerful caster. You need one druid at the raid for potg and thats it.

Necro/shaman/ench much stronger
Wiz/mage more useful to raids
Cleric is cleric

My main is a druid. I wish all this wasnt true but it is.

Edit: if the raid is outside and/or there are charmable animals around the druid gets much better.. but most raids are neither.

You're just talking about raids, though. For everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) druid is quite good. Can solo quite a few things and duo even more.

[Raavak]

Druid is kinda nice in that you can solo or group, depending on how you feel that day. Not the best at either, but the game can be more fun/less of a grind that way.

Druid duo with a melee, especially like a ranger with a haste cloak, can be really nice.

[Expediency]

Originally Posted by Sorn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You're just talking about raids, though. For everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) druid is quite good. Can solo quite a few things and duo even more.

Which of those does a druid beat in a solo or duo situation? Wizard sure. Cleric possibly without a charmed pet but clerics have other obvious utility. Maybe nonepic mage in some situations. None of the others.

Druids are a good class and fun to play but they are easily one of the weakest casters. If you want a fun ride to 60 roll druid. If you want to be a boss though look elsewhere.

[mcoy]

Looking for my obvious utility... I seem to have misplaced it =p

-Mcoy

[Raavak]

Sow, regen, heal, ds, dot, nuke, snare, root, and port.... some hp buffs and resists.
Druids can do it all. Just not the best at any one thing.
Except maybe wisecracking.

[Troxx]

Druids are a pretty well balanced class, they just suffer from not being *BEST* at any one thing. A well played druid always pulls their weight and is well worth the group spot 95% of the time. Their buffs are especially useful and often undervalued by the playerbase. In a game as slow paced as classic everquest, regen is clutch ... and they're the only class that with one spell can give 5/10/15 to the whole group.

[Foxplay]

Being the best at nuking in Velious is like being the best at sprinting 100meters in a 5mile race. Id rather have druids in melee groups or healing with "/rtarget" on geared rogues and monks than wizards

[Sorn]

Originally Posted by Expediency [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Which of those does a druid beat in a solo or duo situation? Wizard sure. Cleric possibly without a charmed pet but clerics have other obvious utility. Maybe nonepic mage in some situations. None of the others.

Soloing: beats wizard, cleric, mage, shaman (especially with quadding) in terms of DPS mana efficiency and speed, survivability, single-pulling (in outdoor) - druids take a hit indoors
Duoing: Druids can duo with nearly any class. Their dots stack with shamen (and their DS stacks with the DS pot) and necromancers (druids have the better snare), they can heal pretty well. For melee duos, they're missing haste/slow.
Porting: Wizards get translocate spells to cater to their laziness...druids get SoW and merchants at some of their rings.
Powerleveling: Druids turn you into god for up to 7 minutes at a time. Plus they can heal themselves quickly if their train hits them too hard, unlike bards.

I'd rather be a druid than a min/maxer who only does one thing well :P

[Troxx]

Originally Posted by Sorn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Soloing: beats wizard, cleric, mage, shaman (especially with quadding) in terms of DPS mana efficiency and speed, survivability, single-pulling (in outdoor) - druids take a hit indoors
Duoing: Druids can duo with nearly any class. Their dots stack with shamen (and their DS stacks with the DS pot) and necromancers (druids have the better snare), they can heal pretty well. For melee duos, they're missing haste/slow.
Porting: Wizards get translocate spells to cater to their laziness...druids get SoW and merchants at some of their rings.
Powerleveling: Druids turn you into god for up to 7 minutes at a time. Plus they can heal themselves quickly if their train hits them too hard, unlike bards.

I'd rather be a druid than a min/maxer who only does one thing well :P

Solo: mage played well will put out more efficient damage over time than even a quadding druid. Many other classes out-compete druids by a fair margin.

Duo: Shaman duos better with a melee class than any druid ever could. Many other classes play the "synergy" card better than druids.

Porting: no arguments there. Druid to cast sow on the player wins over wiz.

Powerleveling: Bard for casters > all even after the 25 target nerf. Monk beats druid at high end. Necro beats monk at higher end(s). Druids do a great job, but they aren't the *best*.

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I have lots of love for druids, but don't oversell them. They are good at LOTS of things. They are best at few things. Their strength is in their versatility.

[Breton]

I appreciate all the feedback on the druid, but I'm looking more at pure casters than priests. They sound cool but I'm not a big fan of healing and I remember they do a fair amount of that.

Sounds to me like Necro/Enchanter/Mage seem to be the favorites. I'm leaning toward a Tranquil worshiping Erudite for my own rp purposes so do they make a particularly good necro, mage, or enchanter?