Any advice for a L25 druid?

[Elfminster]

So I'm at the giant fort in WW and I have 1 DoT to my name and no pet.

Every time I kill a giant I have to med to full so it's a very dull slow process without any mana regen.

I tried face tanking with DS and got owned.

If it goes tits up, which it does, there's no FD so it's gate/run.

Meanwhile, the L23 Iksar necro next to me is killing 3 giants to my 1.

I tried the woolly mammoth but just ended up chasing nothingburgers.

I'm also human so I'm blind as a bat and no racial bonuses.

Is this how it's supposed to be or am I doing it wrong?

I like the ports but with how slow it is I started thinking about shaman with a decent weapon but I'm being told that to be a half decent shaman I need 300kpp, guise and to be ogre but ogres are frikkin huge and I'm poor and guises stopped dropping.

[ithaqua]

Shaman ogres comes in XS size at lvl19

[Garnaak]

I have never played a druid (well I have a lvl 12 but that does not count), but comparing yourself to a necro in a big open zone where fear kiting is a fairly safe option probably isn't the best. Isn't quad kiting lower level mobs, similar to wizard, the best option for druids? LOIO could supply the war type mobs in high numbers to round up.

On a side note, I took my Ench to Woolly Mammoths a while ago too. A run-in with tainted mammoth and a second run-in with dark assassin far away from his tower made me leave that area.

[TripSin]

I remember when EverQuest was a game about grouping.

[Elfminster]

Shaman ogres comes in XS size at lvl19

In HHK?

[DMN]

My advice is to figure out what you actually want to do in the game. Why did you pick a druid? why did you pick a human? if an iksar necro is killing 3 times what you are in the mid twenties, they are losing 50% exp on every kill, on top of their massive exp penalty for being a necro/iksar. they will get more loot but not level much faster than you.


shaman are also complete dogshit 1-30ish. you need to stop admiring other peoples grass and take care of your own lawn.

[Dirkdaring]

Can skip kunark, to many hp on the mobs, at 25 I normally killed bull elephants , or Aviak rooks, Centars, in SK, or Wooly mammoth in everfrost peaks, Around 28 ish you can start killing the gnolls, and save the scrolls to turn in.

you can also kill the drakes in rathe mountains at 20 on the map, 6 min repop and do not assist, there are also the 3 or 4 lvl 22 skeletons in Najena around the pool to Najena room 9 min repop, nice camp, all solo just root nuke,

Do not buy immolate unless they fixed it in the last patch it does no damage.

34 to 39 quad the tesch mas gnolls outside paw with ensnare, and lighting strike keep turning in the scrolls 1 at a time for bonus exp, at 39 most of these go green, then you can move to Ice clad, quadding dire wold, dervish, or snow cougars, this will keep you busy until 44,

then can move to Specs in OOT, or bloodgills to 51, or kill the ulthork and walrus in Eastern wastes .

[Toxigen]

Practice charming crocs in oasis or animals elsewhere. Can stick near a ZL for safe, easy resets for when things go tits-up. The basic strategy is to charm an animal, have it attack another mob close to its level / strength, break the charm pet before it dies / kills the target, then root / kill both (now low hp) mobs. Easier said than done at first, of course...and I'd be happy to help you with more advanced details if you're willing to try.

This will set you up with the skillset needed to reap the rewards of the best zone / area / ZEM in the game for your 30s: Cazic Thule gator pits.

You will absolutely fly through those levels. From there, take those learned skills elsewhere and keep charm killing them animals. By the time you hit 50 you will have the path of SolB ----> Chardok / Bear Pits mastered before you even set foot in the zones.

Quadding is stupid, boring, and doesn't make you a better player.

If you can master druid charming, you're all set for your next (and far more powerful) alt(s): enc and/or necro.

[loramin]

Practice charming crocs in oasis or animals elsewhere. Can stick near a ZL for safe, easy resets for when things go tits-up. The basic strategy is to charm an animal, have it attack another mob close to its level / strength, break the charm pet before it dies / kills the target, then root / kill both (now low hp) mobs. Easier said than done at first, of course...and I'd be happy to help you with more advanced details if you're willing to try.

This will set you up with the skillset needed to reap the rewards of the best zone / area / ZEM in the game for your 30s: Cazic Thule gator pits.

You will absolutely fly through those levels. From there, take those learned skills elsewhere and keep charm killing them animals. By the time you hit 50 you will have the path of SolB ----> Chardok / Bear Pits mastered before you even set foot in the zones.

Quadding is stupid, boring, and doesn't make you a better player.

If you can master druid charming, you're all set for your next (and far more powerful) alt(s): enc and/or necro.

Toxigen giving great advice here .... well up until this last part:

Quadding is stupid, boring, and doesn't make you a better player.

Animal charming and quadding are the two fastest ways to get XP as a Druid on P99. Both are awesome in their own way, but quadding really isn't as viable until 45 (when the Luminescent Staff starts working).

Before then, you can root/rot or join a group if you want variety, but if you want levels charming is the way to go. Go pay the "iron price" for a Goblin Gazhuhi Ring (ie. go camp the Sarnak Courier for something like 7 hours): it's doable at 25 (you might even still get some XP doing it), and it's the only item you need to charm well.

Once you have that, you can animal charm all the way to 60 if you want, though again I'd encourage you to explore quadding at 45 or so. https://wiki.project1999.com/Per-Level_Hunting_Guide (click on Druid) has lots of suggestions of where to go, including two (full page) guides on the gators in Cazic Thule that Toxigen mentioned.

[Elfminster]

Toxigen giving great advice here .... well up until this last part:



Animal charming and quadding are the two fastest ways to get XP as a Druid on P99. Both are awesome in their own way, but quadding really isn't as viable until 45 (when the Luminescent Staff starts working).

Before then, you can root/rot or join a group if you want variety, but if you want levels charming is the way to go. Go pay the "iron price" for a Goblin Gazhuhi Ring (ie. go camp the Sarnak Courier for something like 7 hours): it's doable at 25 (you might even still get some XP doing it), and it's the only item you need to charm well.

Once you have that, you can animal charm all the way to 60 if you want, though again I'd encourage you to explore quadding at 45 or so. https://wiki.project1999.com/Per-Level_Hunting_Guide (click on Druid) has lots of suggestions of where to go, including two (full page) guides on the gators in Cazic Thule that Toxigen mentioned.

Well I do have the cash for that ring.

I'm just used to having total control over pets after playing the pet classes so this chaotic charming is a shock to the system.

I've yet to have a good session with it.

[Toxigen]

Well I do have the cash for that ring.

I'm just used to having total control over pets after playing the pet classes so this chaotic charming is a shock to the system.

I've yet to have a good session with it.

Practice makes perfect. The ring is a luxury item. I leveled both my enchanter and druid without one...I still don't have one on either char (both many hours played at 60).

If you can do it now (with some struggle), it will get easier as you gain levels as there will be a wider gap between blue con mobs and your own level, making your charms last significantly longer. Each and every level should be noticeably easier charming. Not to mention more tools in your spell kit.

Snare an animal, charm it, send it into another mob, root that mob, snare that mob, sit down and watch the show.

See how the HPs are going down. If your pet is winning, you can spam "sit" on the pet window and it should start to even out. If your pet is losing, can DoT the target mob.

Outdoors charming on a druid is extremely forgiving...do some outside now and you'll be ready to crush Cazic Thule gators.

[Garnaak]

Go pay the "iron price" for a Goblin Gazhuhi Ring (ie. go camp the Sarnak Courier for something like 7 hours): it's doable at 25 (you might even still get some XP doing it), and it's the only item you need to charm well.

7 Hours is you can hold down all the spawn points. If you can just hold 1, then it will be much longer. My Necro camped the single spawn spot for my ench. I spent several game days there (well over 20 hours total). By the end he was no longer getting exp off the mobs. I think there is a YT video of a bard showing how to camp the double spawn location. You can see me camped on the single spawn spot in it. My 15 minutes, er 5 seconds of internet "fame."

[Jimjam]

Permafrost is great xp and has 'A Large Dire Wolf', a level 24 mob pefect for charm (just fits into the cap for befriend animal if you for some reason don't want to use the charm animal spell).

[Toxigen]

Permafrost is great xp and has 'A Large Dire Wolf', a level 24 mob pefect for charm (just fits into the cap for befriend animal if you for some reason don't want to use the charm animal spell).

Technically correct but realistically not a good idea. OP is level 25. You're not getting down through perma solo on a 25 druid to go charm a single level 24 wolf. Perma is a nightmare of healing through walls, multi pulls, etc.

Stick to outdoors (Lake of Ill Omen, Everfrost, etc) until 29 and feel very comfortable charming. Bind just inside CT, and get working on the best possible XP which will rocket you all the way to 39. As long as its green XP, the ZEM / outdoors of CT is so good its worth staying until its completely dried up.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Cazic_Thule_Alligator_Pit

39-late 40s can do Overthere and EJ. There's a point at 48/49/50/51 where things will feel kinda bad. Once you hit 52 you're back in the driver's seat with Call of Karana.

Honestly more important than the damn gazughi ring for a druid would be a thurg wrist MQ (Drones of Doom click), Earring of Woven Bark (snare click), and DS gloves (if cool w/ tunare).

[loramin]

Honestly more important than the damn gazughi ring for a druid would be a thurg wrist MQ (Drones of Doom click), Earring of Woven Bark (snare click), and DS gloves (if cool w/ tunare).

A goblin gazughi ring is much more obtainable for a level 25 druid than any of that stuff ... and I'd think it would help more not less. Being able to instantly and reliably break charm is huge, whereas being able to do a little more damage (to just one of the two mobs you're charm fighting with) is a lot less so.

[Spithridates]

SK has fun critters to charm and/or quad if you're able. Easy selling to Centaurs. Mammoths are good exp/plat once but there are often too few for the couple druids who want them.

Fwiw, (not to incite the wrath and math of DSM and his naysayers) I rarely get stunned on my Troll Shaman and he exclusively solod with 1-2k worth of gear until 35. It changes at higher levels, against high tier mobs but this is discussed ad nauseum in a hundred places in the Priest forum. Mana is always going to be a problem for every ungeared solo caster, that's just the nature of the game.

[Elfminster]

I decided to stay at the giant fort.

I'm 29 now.

Ensnaring Roots has been a nightmare with the high resists and constant breaking.

Killing is slow and medding is slow.

With the Iksar Monk it was kill, loot, bind wound, kill, loot, bind wound, repeat, repeat, etc, etc. I looted a lot of forest loops with him.

Wolf form is addictive though and porting to Misty Thicket is nice and convenient.

Watching lizards kill halflings not so nice.

It's a shame I can't attack the iksars who are attacking the halfling guards.

It's a shame the iksar guards aren't worth attacking.

Verant bias.

Ports are always useful even at 60 so a druid is a good investment.

[Elfminster]

L34 now.

I tried quad kiting Tundra Yeti in DL but my mana pool is too small. I only have 130 WIS.

When playing this Druid I felt like something was missng then I realised I'm not dying. I don't recall ever dying on this character.

[Elfminster]

I've been meleeing a lot.

I buff myself with Skin like Steel, Firefist, Shield of Brambles, Regeneration, Wolf Form, Strength of Stone, and even though my equipment is bad with a lot of empty slots I can easily tank and spank 3 DB brutes at once in WW.

I am using Titans Fist as a weapon which hits for 50 max although I miss a lot.

[DMN]

quit wasting your time and learn how to charm already. You literally only need 4 spells, camo, snare, nuke, charm. if you are outdoors and able to run around it's stupidly easy.

you arent even going to be able to quad at 44 if your gear is that shitty, btw.

[Toxigen]

I've been meleeing a lot.

I buff myself with Skin like Steel, Firefist, Shield of Brambles, Regeneration, Wolf Form, Strength of Stone, and even though my equipment is bad with a lot of empty slots I can easily tank and spank 3 DB brutes at once in WW.

I am using Titans Fist as a weapon which hits for 50 max although I miss a lot.

You're doing it wrong.

[Jimjam]

Well he’s made 9 levels since starting the thread and sounds like he is having fun so he isn’t going completely wrong.

Any thoughts as to where to go next? Have you considered using your ports to solicit some mana regen buffs before attempting to quad again?

[strongNpretty]

I've been meleeing a lot.

I buff myself with Skin like Steel, Firefist, Shield of Brambles, Regeneration, Wolf Form, Strength of Stone, and even though my equipment is bad with a lot of empty slots I can easily tank and spank 3 DB brutes at once in WW.

I am using Titans Fist as a weapon which hits for 50 max although I miss a lot.

Play how you want to play. If you want to melee to 60 then do it.. That's the joy of P99 in 2022.. You can play this game unconventionally if you want. And honestly, you should be...

Make a Gnome Necro
Make a Erudite SK/Pally
Make a Wood Elf Warrior

But play this game how you want to play it. That's the most important thing!

[Elfminster]

My druid my choice.

I'm not trying to get to 60 in record time. I'm not competing with anybody. I'm playng for me not you. I want loot and EXP not one or the other. I like to squeeze every last drop of EXP from a zone before leaving and those brutes drop gems and still give XP. How is that wrong?

Druids should be able to melee btw otherwise why would Verant give them wolf form, bramblecoat and firefist? Why have a sword if it's just for show? How can I raise my combat skills if I don't melee?

I know all the cool kids are charming these days but I haven't done a single corpse run yet and I've saved 7000PP. I could go to EC and buy gear but I don't want to pay rip off prices.

I'm not even sure if I'm sticking with Druid yet.

A human SK with a big 2HS is calling me.

[Mazoku]

East Karana until 28-hounds and spiders
then
South Karana to 34
then Gukbottom Ancient croc camp to 40

[strongNpretty]

My druid my choice.

I'm not trying to get to 60 in record time. I'm not competing with anybody. I'm playng for me not you. I want loot and EXP not one or the other. I like to squeeze every last drop of EXP from a zone before leaving and those brutes drop gems and still give XP. How is that wrong?

Druids should be able to melee btw otherwise why would Verant give them wolf form, bramblecoat and firefist? Why have a sword if it's just for show? How can I raise my combat skills if I don't melee?

I know all the cool kids are charming these days but I haven't done a single corpse run yet and I've saved 7000PP. I could go to EC and buy gear but I don't want to pay rip off prices.

I'm not even sure if I'm sticking with Druid yet.

A human SK with a big 2HS is calling me.

Dude, and SK's are a blast.. They might scratch that itch you have to cast spells and melee... Plus provide you with the option to solo, and of course continue your non death streak- with Feign Death.

I think you should answer you calling young knight!

[Elfminster]

Dude, and SK's are a blast.. They might scratch that itch you have to cast spells and melee... Plus provide you with the option to solo, and of course continue your non death streak- with Feign Death.

I think you should answer you calling young knight!

What do you think of this: https://wiki.project1999.com/Argent_Protector

[strongNpretty]

What do you think of this: https://wiki.project1999.com/Argent_Protector

Oh yeah dude. That's a good option!!!! Solid delay there that will let you get some spells and life taps in between swings!

[Tethler]

L34 now.

I tried quad kiting Tundra Yeti in DL but my mana pool is too small. I only have 130 WIS.

When playing this Druid I felt like something was missng then I realised I'm not dying. I don't recall ever dying on this character.

Druid was my first character on p99 and I leveled him in rags until about 35. I also didn't have the mana pool to quad at 34. You can snag some relatively cheap gear to bump up your mana pool though. Stuff like moonstone rings, charred guardian shield (or quest testament of veneer), springwood club, zaharn's coronet, stuff like that. Most of a suit of 50-100p wis or raw mana items will be enough to get you quadding if that's what you want to do.

I did most of my leveling from 20-44 in Overthere, first charming tigers/rhinos, then changing to quadding any of the critters except for the rhinos due to their faster run speed.

If you don't want to buy gear, you can often gate to the west common druid rings and tip a 60 druid for potg and then go back to leveling with that sweet sweet mana regen.

[Naonak]

Quadding is the way to go. Even pretending your a enchanter who can sow and heal, while charming.

But I do suggest staying in the "classic" zones. A level 29-34 mob gives the same amount of XP, without ZEM modifiers, but Kunark and Velious mobs have higher AC/Resists/Hit Points etc. Thus can be slower xp, more resist etc.

South Karana is a great place to quad. Split Paw spires Gnolls/ Aviaks around KFC are great XP.

[Naonak]

Should also check out some druid leveling guides on solo/quads.

If you like to AFK between kills and don't care about certain faction hits. So root/rot doting skills. There are guides on the 6 minute bard diet or something like that.