Is it just me?
 

So lately I've been finding myself playing my Mage more than my Druid.

I got the fire pet focus item for my Mage and have been having a blast taking on nothing but yellow and even con mobs. Just exploding mobs left and right. I am gaining a ton of exp, and yet, when I try to do the same on my Druid I feel disconnected.

I love my Druid, it's an awesome class, and I have her at level 20. SoW, DoT's, snare, root, some weak DD's, porting myself. What's not to love?

Probably the fact that I have 138WIS and go OOM after kiting two crag spiders every time. I thought Druid's were the second ultimate solo class as opposed to Mage's. I'm finding that to be very untrue. I've gone from 1-10 as a mage in half the time I went from 1-10 as a druid.

I grouped a lot as a druid, still do, and notice when we take on red con mobs, I get ~.5-1% per kill. Is something wrong here? I get 3-4% per kill solo, but three quarters less when in a group.

Should I be soloing then? I know druid's don't get usefull soloing until 24, but the haul is killing me. Or am I doing something wrong? I've been fighting crags in EK some, and then heading to SK to solo centaurs.

If this keeps up, my Mage might just blow right past my druid, with is long forgotten.

I recommend playing the class that is the most fun to you at the time

I would also re-share the helpful reminder that classes in everquest have various strengths and weaknesses, both as solo classes and in groups.

your pal,

solo yeilds more xp than group's...but, druids can solo 4 mobs at once if they tough it out.

problem with people is they play until it gets hard and then switch...you'll appreciate your druid more with all the hard work you put into making it great IMO :$

I think you're right about druid soloing not getting better until later. Atleast that's what I've noticed. I like that I can take down difficult mobs on my druid like I could on my mage (I'm no Kimmie and Nalkin, though.) Maybe play your mage to 50 and farm, then play your druid and twink it? I would just play whatever you enjoy more. But search for leveling guides on the forums, try to find new places to go. Centaurs get boring after a while lol

once you're quad kiting lvl 37 ogres in oggok and getting 6% a level per round you'll learn to love your druid !

In my opinion root rotting is more efficient than kiting unless you are quad kiting.

The reason is simply because you can meditate while they die as opposed to you running around the entire time barely gaining any mana back. Yes you can try to time it perfectly with your regen tics (and I have done this before) but in most cases it's much more effort than it's worth.

Also druid roots have a DD component so it serves a dual purpose.
If they can effectively be rooted and you can't get 4 mobs, then root rot em.

Life becomes much nicer when you get the long snare @ 29

I've been considering this. I mean I really like the mage more than the fact that I can farm items on it. That's not what I see this class as. I know that this reason alone is why there are so many mages on the server. I like the whole pet class, always have. On live I was always a Beastlord.

As suggested, I could revert back to root rotting. I haven't as much because root usually breaks after one nuke. I hate that, which is why I was kiting. I'm sure as long as I can get clarity from EC, I could endure the whole root rotting or kiting.

Thing you gotta remember though, comparing the Druid to the Mage, is your pet is basically free damage once you've cast it. On your Druid every point of damage is costing you mana (unless you engage in melée at all). Mages are more efficient than anyone overall for soloing. On the flipside you do get a lot more utility on your Druid.

To spice it up a bit, have a play in the Karanas with Befriend Animal. It only lasts about 5-6 minutes, but if you time it right you can get 2 kills using the pet, then the extra kill on the pet when the charm breaks, all for low mana usage. Snare then root the target, stick a DoT on it and let the pet do the rest whilst you med up. If charm and root break at the same time, it keeps you on your toes :-)

Blue pets are easier to charm and with you helping can take down yellows easily. Yellow pets are harder to charm, but can tear through blues. Have a practice with a few greens, so you find what works best for you.