New to P99, question about druids

[VanEinstein]

Although I'm new to the server, I did play the game a little back during the classic and Kunark days, though I can't say I got very far. I think the highest I ever went on a class was the mid 30's with a Cleric.

Anyhow, I was planning to play a Druid for the first time, so I had a question about their starting stats. Based upon observing a friend of mine playing one back in the day, it seemed to me as though cramming everything into Wisdom seemed appropriate, but most of my google searching has turned up answers to the contrary.

That being said, what's the real deal with Druid stats? Are the answers I've seen directed more at min/max players with access to twinking and/or outside help, or is Wisdom not as significant as my friend made it out to be?

Being new here and based on stories I've heard, I don't expect to acquiring anything with +WIS on it without an overwhelming time investment, so would I still be better off sinking everything into Wisdom?

Any insight you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Thana8088]

Welcome to p99!

I own a few druids and I think I can accurately report to you that starting stats don't matter much. I put all that I could in to Wisdom then probably Stamina, but I am not really sure tbh. You'll probably (hopefully) receive a much better answer from someone with a lot more EQ-smarts.

Most likely starting stats matter for more primary-focus classes (clerics and warriors), but for druids it's all pretty meh.

Hope you are having fun in Norrath!

[trite]

I'm not a druid but I feel like druid gear is less loaded with wis than caster gear is loaded with int at the end game....maxing points spent on wis and then the remainder into stamina sounds right...also a glance at starting stats seems to make halfling the clear min/max choice since charisma doesn't effect druid charm...of course if I took the time to look at all the gear you could possibly acquire and deciding that 120wis + all best in slot items means you will have more than 255 wis (even without enlightenment and max resists) it could mean that 25wis 5 sta was not the right min max choice for halfling...but that would be a ridiculous time investment ....

[Crawdad]

There's really not a huge difference in Druid races outside of racial skills, and in that area Halfling comes out the clear winner... Sneak is an extremely powerful skill once you learn how to use it. Hide (wood elf) is nice too for extended AFKs, but less game changing.

You really don't need too much gear for a Druid, and its not uncommon to be in patchwork/leather until the mid 30s. Also, going over 200wis (unless this has changed while I've been gone) has diminishing returns, meaning you'll eventually be looking for +hp/mana gear rather than +wis.

Stats for the casual druid should be Wisdom(til 200)>Mana>HP>Don't matter. Druids get lousy returns on +stam, and tend to be weaker races so I'd even put Str above it.

[VanEinstein]

Thank you all for your input. It's taken ~2ish days or so for my thread to post, so in the meantime I became impatient and just took the plunge. I went with a wood elf and did the wis25/5stam split. I thought on it a long time, and I nearly went Halfling just for the potential to make haversacks, but I learned about the Tunare only quests and felt like they would be beneficial to me. I figured I may also have a difficult time picking up some of the "easy to get" wisdom gear as a casual, so that extra wisdom will make me less reliant on getting said gear for it for a bit.

I doubt I'll really need the min/maxing anyway, as much as some part of me is programmed to want to. I found myself coming to P99 for the nostalgia and the adventure, rather than the potential for raid loot at the end. In fact if I ever got involved in raiding, it would probably be with a different character, and purely for the joy of experiencing it, rather than the potential rewards.

Once again though, thank you all for your input. It's very appreciated.

[elmuchogrumpy]

I'd agree with some of the consensus here and recommend putting as much as you can into Wisdom and the rest in stamina. If you look on the wiki then they recommend all into Wisdom and the rest into stamina for P1999 specifically. Here's the link to the Druid page on the wiki: http://wiki.project1999.com/Druid