Made half elf Druid to start near friends in noob zones

[OldManNoPants]

Have I made a mistake? I realize they start with less wisdom than the other races - will this be a long term issue or am I over thinking it? I'm level 9 now.

[GinnasP99]

Not a huge deal, gear can fix anything really. Half elves look cool in plate too

[webrunner5]

I really never put too much Wisdom in my Wood Elf Druid when I made it. Put some in strength. Mana items really add up a LOT more than Wisdom items at lower levels. Not till you get into the 40's that Wisdom sort of comes back to haunt you. I don't care how much Wisdom or Mama you have you will still run out of it. And the more you have the longer you need to med. So it seems you really can't win either way. Don't worry about it. :D

[Auvdar]

Over thinking. Half Elf druids do just fine. Honestly, druids can be any race and be just fine. The only racial choice that really matters would be Halflung since they get a exp bonus, but it's not very important.

Wisdom gear is easy to come by. +Mana gear is easy to come by.

[Wenuven]

I got to level 60 wearing some patchwork faster than most people can dream of. In fact I still have under 200 wis at 60 because I don't see any point in spending the money.

Gear doesn't matter as a Druid (for leveling). Enjoy the ride. :)

[Laugher]

I have a level 55 half elf druid been p fun and contrary to the majority I run into (wood elf and halflings sometimes humans) you don't see as many half elf druids around :p

I think everyone here before me said it right- enjoy the ride/don't worry about it, gear is a non-factor (not necessary and reasonably priced for minor upgrades if you so desire) the money will be there at some point too as a druid so it all works out by the time you're going to want the wisdom gear. Have fun leveling em eventually you'll be able to gear out relatively easily and even without gear the missing mana resulting from your race choice is hardly noticeable until much later (40+ was the first time I noticed an awesome bump on mana due to wisdom)

Was my first toon here wore lockjaw chest/2h staff until 32 haha

[Heavydrop]

People say "it doesn't matter what race you play" and to a degree they are right.
Gear does compensate for so much but its a question of how hard you want to have to do it.
If you're just here to play casual with friends then do whatever.
Think of it this way, when it comes to leveling up.
Would you rather drive all the way across the country in a car with a gas tank that held 10 gallons of gas... Or one that held 20?
Sure... You'll get there... But do you want to spend half your time stopping and filling up the tank? (meditating in this case)

Then there is the issue of not having enough mana to do anything and running out of it mid-fight too soon.
Personally I wouldn't do it, but if you want the challenge and like the look etc. then stick with it

[Tuljin]

You will be totally fine. Too many people cap out their WIS and ignore other stats. Wis is not a problem to get, you'll still have plenty of mana. Having said that however, Half-Elf has low WIS and doesnt have higher stats to compensate and make it really worth it.

If I were to roll a Druid I would go human with 25 points of STA and 5 points of WIS, especially with Velious coming. But that's just me :-P

[sox7d]

Race means absolutely nothing in classic.

[Waedawen]

I regret not having a half elf. They are the rarest, best-looking and most interesting lore-wise. Halflings are indeed the best race because they get the best stats and they get sneak, but being a filthy little monster is hardly worth those benefits. 99% of EQ is your Character Graphic, mind you.

Wisdom score does not mean shit and is not worth a shit to your killing potency. Maximum mana pool means very, very, very little to a class that has Spirit of Oak, Mask of the Hunter and eventually Protection of the Glades.

Expanding on that, the best gear setup for a druid is one that has the "most wisdom" they can get while simultaneously complimenting their HIT POINTS and SAVES. So many high level druids wear the Sarnak Battle Shield instead of the Book of Obulus for this one reason. In most cases, even the fattest wisdom piece (UNDER SOFT CAP!) will expand your mana pool by about 4-7%, and never mind those poor pathetic fools who have 206+ wisdom and are wearing a platinum jasper ring.

9 out of 10 hairy situations you will ever be in (Charming, group healing, emergency CC) are absolutely made safer and easier by a higher HP pool compared to a maximum mana pool. When you get agro you have no problem just standing there with 2000 hit points and casting a root in that mobs face and saving yourself. Hell, I've tanked planar mobs for Funsies on my druid when I have raid buffs and more than 3300 HP. I'm still healing, I still have a charmed pet -- but I have absolutely no worry about it breaking. On a charm break you have more than enough HP to manage the recharm, on heal agro you have more than enough to save yourself and someone else. I have channeled Succors while being knocked out and that never would have happened if I didn't have such an HP allowance.

Mana pool is never the issue. If you think it is, then the answer is actually a problem with mana *regeneration* which is another subject entirely. Druids that know how to get down and dirty and really battle and really extrapolate every ounce of power from their class know that they excel in the Small Group situation. In the Small Group, the druid is almost always playing a complimentary or insurance role and for that reason Hit Points are more and more better than Mana Pool.

When a druid is duoing with an Enchanter, do they actually care about their wisdom score? No. The druid *should* be caring about being the scaffolding that supports the enchanter as he does his thing. Mana Pool does -nothing- for saving your buddy whereas you can Snare for agro and step in and take some damage while he gets his recharm and CC down. The Clarity he gave you 20 minutes ago is better than any piece of equipment you can get in terms of Mana. And seeing as how you should always have a damaged mana pool... get more god damn HP.

[OldManNoPants]

That's cool! I realize we can wear plate, but other than elder series, what plate would we be wearing? Seems like all the good gear I've seen is withered leather etc.

Thanks for the replies all

[Waedawen]

Well Crystal Chitin plate-analog that comes out in Velious is the only real 'plate' druid gets, and that shit is dope, so its not even half bad.

But on the whole, the really phat druid pieces are usually Chain or Leather