The life of a druid?

[Toobit]

Point taken. Was merely illustrating that this isnt the 1st Druid I ever played.. been playing EQ since before Kunark, played a druid to 60 on nameless before quitting for awhile..

Point is.. like Alawen.. I am also a VERY experienced druid... difference is.. I happen to like it.

[Harrison]

Another Nameless! Represent!

[Alawen Everywhere]

Why would I play a druid if I didn't like it? I absolutely love to quad. I have no explanation why, but I think it's awesome to run along with four nasties and then have four bodies to loot. I'd probably think swarm kiting was the coolest thing in the universe.

I'm just much more realistic about our capabilities. We're never good healers in the scope of this server. We're never good DPS in the scope of this server. We can't pull or tank. Snare isn't necessary with the screwy runspeed stuff on P99.

So that leaves what? Try to spam heal the chanter when he fucks up? Let the rogue run amok for a while before he evades? DS the tank? Be ready to evac if your puller is inept? A wizard or a ranger or a shaman is sounding pretty good to that group right about now.

You're half a wizard and one fourth of a cleric. I love my druid. I fool around on him most days. Then, when it's time to group or raid, I play a real character.

[Toobit]

Alawen, man.. you have such a negative outlook..

I enjoy doing all those things you describe.. I Love it when I save the chanter.. whether he 'fucks up'.. or more commonly.. when someone else breaks one of his mezzes.. I like the responsibility of keeping the DS, and whatever other buffs, up on my groupies... I take pride in recognizing a hopeless situation and ripping off a timely evac that saves a lengthy CR..

Patch healing between pulls... dropping a nuke here and there.. quick-rooting a loose mob.. Harmony in outdoor zones (yes.. Karnor's Castle is an outdoor zone. I'll seeya there) to facilitate pulls.. Keeping SoW on everyone in case we gotta zone it... This is our role.. and I love it all.

We were never intended to heal as well as Clerics, Nuke as well as Wizards, or buff as well as Shammys... but we are the only ones that can do all three, and then some.

I tend to worry less about what we CAN'T do and try to be the best at what we CAN do..

I can't really argue your major points.. all are true.. but why dwell on that crap?

We have our role.. and when executed well.. it is both desirable and appreciated.. at least in the groups that I have been in.

[Alawen Everywhere]

Maybe you haven't noticed, but our root has a damage component. That means you just broke mez. If the enchanter who was having trouble but just got a mez to stick was standing in melee range, you just killed him.

I don't see myself as having a negative outlook at all. I am simply a realist--perhaps that's unwelcome to you. Perhaps you'd like to live in a dream world where druids are TEH UBER ZOMG WHY DOESN'T EVERY GROUP HAVE ONE???

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. I think druids have no role. Perhaps the difference is that I have played major roles--I've anchored rotations as a cleric and main tanked as a warrior.

This is not WoW. There are key classes. Clerics are the most powerful class. Tanking with a warrior requires the most capable player--their limited abilities mean they have to take advantage of every small thing. Enchanters need to be the most reactive. Shamans need to be consistent. DPS classes all need to be very active. Druids need to... huh. Try to look busy? Yeah.

[Toobit]

Nope.. no negative outlook there..

Okay.. we agree to disagree.. fair enough.

[Toobit]

Ok.. just one more thing...

Perhaps YOU never noticed.. but not every group HAS a chanter.. in which case root can be a vital method of CC...

Not every group has a wiz.. in which case the only hope of evac falls to a Druid...

Not ever group even has a Cleric( OMFG can you imagine!)... in which case a shammy/druid combo or even (the HORROR) 2 druids can do a perfectly capable job of healing...

Don't believe me? Ask anyone from the dozens of groups in Lguk or Solb where I found myself a MOST welcome addition...

Perhaps the IDEAL group put together on paper may not include a druid... but the game isnt played on paper, bud..

[Bruno]

His argument is in the case you had all of the most useful classes present, not in the case where you don't have one. that's what you aren't understand heh. You just proved his point by saying 2 druids doing the job of one. He's not taking your ability to play your class well away from you, but lets say you were playing a cleric vs a druid, you would be more efficient healing for more. Doesn't mean you are better or worse of a player.

[Alawen Everywhere]

You show me how it's done, big boy. Go ahead and solo heal on fire giants, efreeti, ghoul lord or froglok king. I hate to tell you this, but there's just nothing impressive about your ability to do half the healing at a level 35 camp.

[yaeger]

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

You show me how it's done, big boy. Go ahead and solo heal on fire giants, efreeti, ghoul lord or froglok king. I hate to tell you this, but there's just nothing impressive about your ability to do half the healing at a level 35 camp.

I don't think anyone has ever said that a druid can/should be able to heal as well as a cleric, or nuke as well as a wizard.

Druids have always been one of the stronger and more popular classes in EQ because they have a multitude of roles that they can fill.

They can solo heal most group content and provide that emergency evac, they can nuke almost as much as a wizard but spot heal if the cleric goes OOM. They can buff, but aren't locked into being a buffer/debuff class.

What exactly brought on this 'druids are crap' argument? Since the majority of posts I've seen in P1999 about druids have been to nerf the OPness outta them.