Druid PL Tactics / Question?
 

So, I understand there are some who won't want to answer this, for fear of competition or whatnot, and that's fine. I'm looking for ways to potentially supplement my income via the occasional PL here and there, as well as help out the occasional random noob/group (don't laugh, I do this for fun every now and then as is). I'm not as savvy or experienced when it comes to this as others. Back in the day, the only way I knew to PL someone was buff/DS someone, and simply keep them healed as they went to melee town against stuff. While this certainly works, I know there are more efficient ways. Anyone care to share their techniques?

Something that just sprang to mind was that if you know your mobs well, you could snare a bunch in the proper level range, with the appropriate earthquake line spell and then they're just standing there to be finished. Probably limited to high level druids, since the druid must be sturdy enough to take the ongoing abuse and channel the spell with as many mobs as you can pull attacking before setting off the earthquake.

The way people typically PL with a druid is to DS themselves and grab a ton of mobs. Keep sitting and let the mobs beat on you. While this is happening have your PLed hit each mob one time. DS dmg counts as neutral dmg taken, as long as they get one hit they get the XP.

I'd heard of something like this, but I wasn't quite sure how it worked. I'll have to experiment with it later on, somewhere out of the way so I don't interfere with anyone. Then again, I'm sure some low levels may not mind some free PL'ing while I practice haha.

Wondering where some good places to practice might be. Low teens to 20 or so in Kurns or Oasis perhaps? Not sure where after that.

At 51? Kurns, Befallen, Field of Bone, Blackburrow, maybe Runnyeye. Best to stick with low population zones and a higher ZEM. Start off with small pulls to practice and see how you take damage. Fungi tunic and / or staff helps, too.

Generally as a Shaman I pop a DS potion, pull a ton of mobs with a debuff, then have the PLee do a few hp damage as the mobs kill themselves on the DS. Obviously a torpor shaman can pull a bajillion mobs and stay alive, but a druid can DS himself so it's cheaper. Make sure to debuff or hit every mob since you sometimes get social aggro and as soon as the mob gets hit by the PLee it turns on them. Put hp on the PLee so they stay alive long enough for you to pull the mob back into the pack.

Potions and self-DS work for higher level mobs that need more damage to die. if the mobs are too low to actually hit you, keep sitting down and they'll hit you. I pick empty zones like Runnyeye and CT, and avoid caster mobs that will dispell the hell out of you, even at 60. In CT I usually keep a ton of junk buffs up and the DS at the bottom, and keep hitting a clicky SOW to deal with dispells.

Regards,
Mg

Fungi tunic/staff are out of the question for me right now, simply don't have the funds for it. I think sticking to relatively lower level zones/mobs, chloroplast/self buffs should keep me upright. I may swap out my Paw of Opalla and pick up a Sarnak Battleshield to up my AC. Good idea?

I was thinking of just picking up some ES gloves, the clicky snare ones, and using that to pull mobs/gain aggro. Since I'd assume the PL'ies for now would be around level 20 and under, I'd assume snare + my DS should be enough for me to hold aggro, especially is the PL'ie is only hitting the mobs a couple time. What do you think?

*EDIT* I forgot I had Sunbeam, an area effect blind spell. I don't think I've ever used it. As long as I'm within melee range of all mobs, if I cast it, will they all take off running or keep hitting me?

I think the ES gloves are great for dungeon snaring in groups, or general group snaring.

For PLing, id go with the spell itself, half the cast time and only 15 mana. The gloves would make your initial mob gathering rather long. When you consider grabbing 20 mobs or so, it will take 80 seconds of casting with gloves and 40 seconds of casting with the spell for a total of 600 mana.

The ES gloves could be used for re-snaring if needed.

DS is zero aggro so you need something that will keep them mad at you, the blind AOE is interesting - I imagine the mobs will run but come after you with a vengeance. So keeps you from accumulating a huge crowd and in the meantime it doesn't take forever for the swarm to get to you. You probably want to experiment if it's enough hate to keep them off the PLee, I use a level 14 debuff that works well.

Regards,
Mg

The most reliable way for me is to click DS off, pull a bunch of mobs one by one with snare.
Get to the player being PLed, have them cast an AoE or hit all mobs. Tab until no mob is at 100%. They give me a go, then I cast DS and sit down, watching my hp.