Misc. Questions - WARNING: LONG!!

[delonm]

Greetings!

I played EQ back in the day, but never reached max level. Playing P99 has been a great nostalgia trip to say the least. I played a Druid on live back in 2000 but I don't remember most of the general strategies. In fact, I don't remember using charm *ever* back in the day, and it appears to be one of the primary Druid leveling strategies here. When I played I spent long hours in SK kiting Aviaks (before the DoT nerf). I also did some quading a bit later, but mostly soloed with root rotting.

Anyway, as I have been playing my P99 Druid the past couple of weeks I have accumulated a few questions. I thought I would do a brain dump here and get some feedback/clarification.

1. When charming at my level (18-20), I am running into issues trying to time the casting of IVA. It seems that about half the time my pet will go from 15% to dead before I can get the spell off. This is using blue con mobs. I am sure it is a matter of practice, but does anyone have any tips for timing the charm break? Also, does this get easier to time at higher levels when mobs have more HP? Casting too soon creates issues and casting too late results in lost XP. I always try hide first, but it is not reliable. This has been a tricky thing for me to get the hang of honestly.

2. Related to #1, what is the best way to macro the IVA cast? I tried to create a macro that targets self and then cast the spell, but it is not reliable. I may need to insert a wait steps between the target self and the cast. Also, do most of you add two cast steps to help account for fizzles? Or do you not bother macroing it at all?

3. When Charming, do you always cast snare on your charm target before you charm? I have been skipping that step but it causes me to take a few hits when charm breaks. I am concerned that this may be a big problem at higher level. Also, it seems the duration of snare is such that it wears off before charm does about half the time. Looking forward to Ensnare!

4. I have done zero fighting underwater. Right now my swim skill is probably at 3 and it feels like I am swimming through molasses. I assume that swim speed increases as swim skill increases. At skill 200 will swimming be as fast as running? Does SOW affect swim speed? Currently, the prospect of fighting under water does not seem very appealing. :)

5. When grouping do you "announce" the fact that the mob has been snared or is that just assumed by the group? I have seen various announcement macros for other classes like enchanters and clerics, but am curious what other Druids use for group communication macros.

6. Speaking of macros or hot buttons, which have you found the most essential? I have found the /book xx to be pretty useful to go directly to various spells (I group spells by function or role on separate pages).

7. When grouping, my most common role has been as healer. I assume this is normal. I try to contribute in other ways like snare, damage shields, and buffs, but I wonder what is the most efficient use of mana. I know this depends on group makeup, but do any of you commonly cast the DS or strength buff? What about DoT or DD spells? I have yet to cast either in a group.

8. Is there a market for the truckloads of berries, roots, rabbit meat, etc. that I am foraging up? Misty Acorns appear to be somewhat in demand, but I am wondering if any other foraged items are worth saving.

Thanks for any insights, feedback, tips, or general knowledge you wish to share. This community has been fantastic! I have experienced many random acts of kindness in game so far, all of which have been much appreciated. Sorry for the wall of text. :)

-Caib
P99 Blue

[Shamalam]

1. When charming at my level (18-20), I am running into issues trying to time the casting of IVA. It seems that about half the time my pet will go from 15% to dead before I can get the spell off. This is using blue con mobs. I am sure it is a matter of practice, but does anyone have any tips for timing the charm break? Also, does this get easier to time at higher levels when mobs have more HP? Casting too soon creates issues and casting too late results in lost XP. I always try hide first, but it is not reliable. This has been a tricky thing for me to get the hang of honestly.

2. Related to #1, what is the best way to macro the IVA cast? I tried to create a macro that targets self and then cast the spell, but it is not reliable. I may need to insert a wait steps between the target self and the cast. Also, do most of you add two cast steps to help account for fizzles? Or do you not bother macroing it at all?

3. When Charming, do you always cast snare on your charm target before you charm? I have been skipping that step but it causes me to take a few hits when charm breaks. I am concerned that this may be a big problem at higher level. Also, it seems the duration of snare is such that it wears off before charm does about half the time. Looking forward to Ensnare!


Never played a druid but I've done a lot of charming on my ench.

1. It will become much easier to time your invis once mobs have more HP. If you plan to charm a lot at higher levels, it would be worth saving up for a http://wiki.project1999.com/index.php/Goblin_Gazughi_Ring to instantly break charms. Incredibly useful, also saves you having to swap out your invis spell gem every fight.

2. I will typically just hit f1 to target myself and then cast invis. Not complicated enough to bother with a macro, IMO.

3. I don't have snare as an ench, but I can see that being incredibly useful. I would get in the habit of doing it if I were you. Seems like it could save a lot of headaches once you get to higher level content.

[Daldaen]

1. Break earlier than you think you need to. But yes it gets way easier the longer you do it, or the more familiar you are with that camp. As suggested above, Goblin Gazughi Ring is the most important investment you can make.
2. Nothing a Druid does is worth microing IMO. The only macro I have is a "Pet Focus" macro. Essentially if my pet is fighting 2+ mobs and one is at low HP. If I'm trying to get my pet to kill off that one and he keeps switching targets, I do the following:

/pet guard

Pet Focus Hotkey:

/pet back
/pause 1
/pet attack

It's important to guard pet first so on back he doesn't run towards you. But that saves me two button clicks on redirecting my pet.

3. If outdoors, always snare your pet and what you're fighting. If indoors, always root whatever your pet is fighting.
4. Swimming doesn't get as fast as running ever, just less slow. SoW doesn't have too much of an effect, it's main bonus is it allows you to backstroke. Without SoW you have to turn around to swim backwards... When I'm in Kedge I rarely bother with SoW though.
5. I used to do this way back when. Now it's more or less assumed. If I'm rooting mobs I'll type something in group so that people get away from them though... Not really worth hotkeying. Just get better at typing.
6. Assist. It took me a few years to get used to using it, but having an assist hotkey is fantastic. I always used to type out /assist, as needed. But now on most every toon I play, #2 is assist. It allows you to play the game faster. Spam heal who the mob is targeting if you can't click or F-target. It allows you to target a corpse to loot fast. It allows you to target an NPC a puller is bringing before it gets to camp, etc.
7. In a group, I am generally Snaring/Rooting as CC, Charming for DPS if the mob types allow it, maintaining Regen on group (once you get pack spells), spot healing as needed. Never waste mana DoTing in a group. Nuke when you are full on mana or if the situation calls for it. Otherwise med up. That assumes a standard group where I'm not tanking or pulling.
8. Very limited market. Not worth hoarding IMO.

[delonm]

Thanks for the replies so far. Great info. I have been thinking about heading to LOIO to hunt for the Courier, but I would imagine his life expectancy is about 3 msec. I still need to save up for WIS rings and maybe the WIS veil. I found a good deal on a Springwood club so I am set for my weapon for a while. I also did the ToV quest (died 4 times trying to kill Dyllin...damn smugglers) so off hand is also set.

I had a question about this part:

6. Assist. It took me a few years to get used to using it, but having an assist hotkey is fantastic. I always used to type out /assist, as needed. But now on most every toon I play, #2 is assist. It allows you to play the game faster. Spam heal who the mob is targeting if you can't click or F-target. It allows you to target a corpse to loot fast. It allows you to target an NPC a puller is bringing before it gets to camp, etc.


What do you mean by "Spam heal who the mob is targeting..."?

EDIT: I also had a question about tracking. I recently hit 20 and got the skill. I know Druids are capped pretty low, but is the "auto update" feature supposed to work? It does not seem to update for me.


Thanks again for the feedback!

Caib
P99 Blue

[BlkCamel]

What do you mean by "Spam heal who the mob is targeting..."?

Caib
P99 Blue

target mob and type /assist and you will target the person being hit by the mob. You can Macro it like this:

/Target "MAINTANK"
/assist
/assist
/cast GEM#
/cast GEM#

Where GEM# is the slot that your heal spell is in on your spell bar. The reason you put /cast twice in there is in-case of fizzle. If you have Client Lag that is causing the Macro to fail you can remove one of the /cast and put in a /pause # in between the the two /assists . :D

P.S. There are variations to this macro you can come up depending on need. Can even make another hot-key that is shorter to just include /assist, /cast GEM#, /cast GEM#, and manually target mob.

The idea is that you "Spot" heal, if you are only healer in group then this doesn't matter, but if there is another healer in group your responsibility as a Druid is to keep everyone alive so the main healer can land the big heals. So you constantly assist mob being attacked and if a squishy caster is getting hit you "Spot" heal while the bigger heals are incoming.

[Daldaen]

Track auto update was a 2010ish update on EQLive. If you want to update your track list you have to click the button again.

Assist healing basically:

F8 to target mob
Hit assist hotkey
Heal whoever is being attacked

I don't like making macros that do multiple things with a single button press unless I am boxing. Which clearly I'm not doing on this server. So I prefer to have more flexibility in when and what I am casting and that way it's easier to change my focus.

[fishingme]

for pet charming, root enemy mob at 1 1/2 - 2bubs of hp, predict how much damage your pet is taking, pull pet back when he is low and nuke

[Nysus]

Back your pet off when it or your target gets low. That will give you time for a successful hide or to cast invis.