What makes a druid good in a group as opposed to just average.

[Auvdar]

In outdoor groups you make one hell of a puller. Remember leveling up back when the server opened and what I would do is harmony a camp, snare, then really just kite them around (you can keep this up for a long time, snare is very inexpensive), adding more as you kite around. Then your tank/tagger just snags one off your kite, group kills. Repeat. Of course this depends on group make up, you won't be doing that kind of pulling if your the main healer. People wont believe you should be the puller in a outdoor group, but trust me if you can snare kite a ton of mobs around and let your group pick them off one by one while you grab more, (thus non-stop exp), you will be loved.

Indoors you are much more limited. However evacs, ports, back up healing, don't bother with DoTs (waste of mana that could be used elsewhere IMO, mobs die way to fast), nukes, snares. If you are in a more open area in a dungeon, always try to ensnare anything a enchanter mezzes to help them out. Back up heals on non-tank classes is your biggest role, to keep the cleric free to heal the tank. And always, and I mean always, keep enough mana for a evac. As a druid, you are OOM when you hit that point. (Unless of course that mana is a life saving heal that makes the group not wipe.)

[Vladigan]

Its the player that makes the class not the other way around.. Play what you enjoy and learn to play it well.... We have all group with a terrible (insert class here).

Bottom line, if you are not feeling useful in your group, find something you can do to make things more efficient.....

[Skekekke]

Knowing your role and adapting to the role needed without being told.

[timoris]

Druids are never the ideal group mate but I'll take a well-played druid over a shitty chanter. I've grouped with enchanters who were the worst at mezzing (often single-target mezzed assist target) and druids who always kept DS up, regen up, buffs up, patched heal when needed, DPS when needed, and even root parked mobs for CC. Only the hardcores care significantly about the extra efficiency from a perfect group setup.

To play a good druid:
1) Keep buffs up (yes, those short duration buffs).
2) Know when to patch heal when secondary healer
3) Know when to go into DPS mode
4) If no other CC is available, offer to root park mobs (and do it well by getting aggro quick, moving mob away from group, rooting, rinse, repeat). Knowing at first glance what mobs are casters and which are non-casters is an example of skill in this department.
5) Offering to port groupmates out of dungeon when they need to go and you are deep in nasty territory - people remember this.

[Kevlar]

Get a couple daggers and a charmed pet, give it your haste spell, you are about 4x the dps of the best geared rogue. Just keep it snared and you are gtg. But really, why group? They just slow your xp down for the most part.

[Deadmantis]

My druid used to duo alot with my best friend's cleric, I know that's an odd combo, but he would get invited to lots of dungeon groups. Guk mostly. If they had room for 2 he would insist they bring me along. Some groups were not so excited about having a utility class when they could have a dps caster or melee instead.

Needless to say I proved my value in many groups. Like so many other posters have noted, we can do quite a bit. Damage shield, buffs, snares, roots, dots, even evac when things get hairy. We won't be best for healing or dps, but we can do a little of that and everything else.

Played druid as my main since 99. Enjoyed every last minute, would not change a thing.

[shams]

Thanks for all the input guys, tons of excellent information in there!

[Plyssken]

Just communicate with your group & don't get stuck in one role. You can adjust a group to make the most out of each class with the right spells. Like if your working with a cleric and want to back up heal let him/her know. If your a group with a necro & are going to snare, let them know so they can hold off dropping theirs. What's been said here is so true. Grouping is the gateway to guild raids later.

[Slave]

Originally Posted by shams [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Thanks for all the input guys, tons of excellent information in there!

Don't be fooled by all this lovey-dovey talk. Druids are easily the least wanted group member by any group of 50+. You will simply not get exp groups anymore by that level. All the sugarcoating in the world is not going to help you then.

Druids are such awful group members in the dungeons that matter, compared to every other class, even Ranger. There is practically zero reason you'd want one over anything else in a high level exp group.

Remember that it takes more experience to get from 54-60 than it does from 1-54 (and on higher level mobs). A druid is a solitary being by nature.

[Kingofqueens123]

Druids are a independent class, fuck your groups.