[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.