People underestimate necro heals...you can spam them non stop with bond up etc. Add in a manastone and its stupid.

Well let me state my case a little different since I am getting beat up on here. :o I meant IF you are the only healer without CII in a fast paced group as a Shaman no way you are going to be able to Slow, Haste, Heal, buff non stop. Haste and Slow are total mana hogs. I didn't mean slow is useless, solo it is golden, but it is not substainable on every mob that comes. No way you can cast Slow till the mob is under 80%. And by then you are probably healing the puller that got beat on and the Tank by then. And maybe the puller is THE tank also witch even makes heals more exciting.

A good puller in a good group is running to get the next mob when the one he just pulled is at say 20%. So it is a constant thing going.

My three highest toons are a Cleric, Druid and Shaman. I KNOW about healing. I have been playing EQ nonstop since 2000. I have a Fungi on my Shaman, but you just cannot keep up Slows pull after pull, and do all the other things needed. You maybe the only person there with root. In a sense a Shaman has too may things it can do. They are a ton of work compared to say a Cleric. You pretty much just keep up with heals and buff every hour.

In a perfect group with a Enchanter, Cleric, Shaman, Warrior, Rogue, Monk well guess what you could Haste everyone and Slow probably every mob.

In that perfect group the cleric will heal, the chanter will haste and will prolly even have enough mana to slow tougher mobs as well. That perfect group will not even need a shaman, better get another DPS class instead.

I've routinely grouped at chef/disco with no cleric, chanter or secondary healer and kept buffs (including regen/haste) current on 3+ melee classes whilst healing, slowing and CC'ing. It helps to have a fungi shirt/staff, but not necessary. Chain pulls, obligatory JBB spam included.

It's not hard, but it requires the player to be constantly attentive and maximizing the use of Cannibalize at every opportunity.

Really, if your 60 shaman is complaining about mana and is doing a lot of sitting or isn't hitting that Canni hotkey between JBB blasts - well, you've grouped up with failure.

Enchanter pet is DPS. And Shaman dog is really not as bad as people make it out to be. I mean some people would think six Magicians would be the BEST group.

As of late I have just stopped playing my Shaman and Enchanter. They are just total balls to the wall to play in groups. You haven't got time to scratch your ass on them. My Cleric is WAY easier.

I read some of these replies and I feel like people are taking crazy pills.

what?

balls to the wall???

As someone who played a druid main on live and on p99, I gotta say you all really don't know much about eq if you think druids are useless. In kunark, situationally of course, druids have more to offer than most classes. They can heal, pull, buff, track, snare (essential now) , our root is elite at 56( I've had many groups shocked with my ability to CC 10+ mobs with entrapping/engorging roots), we can charm for dps, and depending on group composition we can offer substantial dps through dots and aoe rain nukes. I've been able to parse 30 to 50 dps as a 55+ druid while keeping the tank thorned and group regened, as well as kept up resists and provided help healing non tanks to make clerics job easier.

Got en ench in ur group? Druids and enchanters can combine to make charm dps safe and consistent using snare on charm pets, which allows enchanters to perhaps save a spell slot for something more useful than a 2nd ae stun or whatever.


Again, its all situational of course...but to say druids are useless is simply ignorant.



For those of you in raiding guilds or who wish to raid, good luck doing so without druids to help mobilize and track/pull dragons.



Btw porting for plat sucks as people generally don't tip well if at all. Yeah that 20 to 50 pp for 5 minutes of your time is nice but at the end of the day people pay more for c2 or rezzes. If druids stopped porting people you would all quickly change your tune about how useless they are, especiall after a few boat rides through OOT or TD.


It is unfortunate however that in general there is a sort of prejudice against druids, because of it many of us are forced to solo to 60 and change classes if we wish to enjoy grouping. Furthermore druids are almost NEVER considered for group invites to big money camps like efreeti, king, crypt which is also shitty for folks who wish to get high end items or plat to gear themselves. I think one or two groups with a high skilled druid would likely change some peoples minds about druids as a class, atleast it has in my case.

monks dont even get kunark armour so fuck off