Question on Druid Powerleveling.

[mefdinkins]

Hi guys,

I am a druid and I just hit 49, I've seen a lot of level 50's selling their PL service. I don't know if I want to do that but just in terms of helping out my buddies, what is the best (fastest/most efficient) way to do it?

I'm assuming for melee from 0-20, just go to closest dungeon buff/heal/ds/regen them up?

Also I have lumi staff/ES vambs/ES gloves. Should I pull/dot too? If they're a little higher do I just quad some mobs then zone?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
- Mefdinkins

[beev]

Once you get a reply mefdinkins you can help me get out of my hell level (30) [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] haha... Server went down while I was kiting lastnight and I got rocked by a rhino [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[mefdinkins]

Ouch Beev - on a positive note level 30 (where I root/rotted) took me longer than level 35, 40, 45 and literally twice as long as 49 (when I'm quadding), so you're almost to greener pastures.

But again, I am wondering how PL'ing works. It seems as though my thorns, heals, and buffs would be of little value/worth to any caster past level 10

[beev]

I hope you are right! I'm charm kiting and getting 1% exp from yellows - that is even after breaking the charm.

Yeah that sounds tough, I hope someone will reply because I would be interested to know as well. If the mob is red to the caster you PL then their spells will probably get resisted. I would imagine casting DS on yourself and get mob hate on you while they poke them would help?

I just read a guide that said wizards are the hardest class to PL because of what is mentioned above. They said it would be best to just have the wizard grouped with melee type class so the melee can do the damage. May be slower due to the experience being shared but they can literally just sit there and get exp's.

[Handull]

if you want to be lazy, you buff the other player up and tell them to go have fun. to really PL someone you buff yourself. the self only ds/ac line of spells will help, plus you take less damage and have more innate hp. you pull with snare to get agro, bring the mobs to a safe place, have the lowbie smack each mob once, and then sit if you have to to get hit, just dont get 1shotted. higher lvl mobs will hit you enough for mitigated dmg and kill themselves that way. best bet is to use undead mobs that wont flee. if the mobs are runners, have lowest level root up and use that, but make sure the lowbie has done 11 dmg in this case. then stand/sit near the rooted mob and it'll finish itself.

tree form also gives you better regen, especially at lvl 59.

you can easily take someone to lvl 20 in unrest. past that lguk undeads work, but you can only pull a few at a time in ur low 50's. i haven't tried CoM yet, but i probably could tank it at 60 with ac gear on. other than that, you can PL any twinked out war/monk really easily. took me and hour to get a 45 war all of lvl 45 in kaesora, he had fungi and other high end trade-able gear. in that case i buffed/healed him and he fought the spiders over and over.

i haven't PL'd in a few lvls, so not sure how high I could take someone quickly with self DS PLing, but 1-20 is fast for a 50-55 druid and 1-30 should be fast enough for a 56-60 druid, esp as u get near 60. could probably take someone close to 40 that way with my set up now.

there are finer points that you can figure out with regard to how to not get the lowbie killed, etc. good luck

[Kevlar]

I load them up with thorns, regen, skin, strength, and sow. Then tell them to go kill stuff. When they get low on hp I throw a heal and refresh thorns and regen every 5 or 10 mins. Its pretty fast. Sitting doesn't work good. With 20 mobs on you even in crushbone or something you will take way more damage than you can heal efficiently. If the noob is having problems killing fleeing mobs just hit it with your level 1 root and it will turn around and whack his thorns some more.

[Handull]

sitting works very, very well. if the mobs are already hitting you a reasonable % of the time, then there is no need to sit, and sitting will only get you killed, but if you are high enough level and/or have enough AC, then lower level mobs (crushbone, unrest yard, etc) won't hit you ever, and you have to sit. sitting makes the mob hit you for max, so this is deadly with higher level mobs or if you have managed to get all the mobs swinging at once (yeah, that does happen sometimes). self DS, tree form (esp at 59) and other spells make it faster for killing, aside from it being much safer for the lowbie. try it some day and you'll be shocked

[Tethyr]

Out of curiosity, what kind of prices do people/druids charge for pl'ing? I have some alts I'd like to get up to level but have no idea if it's in my price range

[Auvdar]

1k per hour is the going rate last I remember.

[Norok]

Powerleveling as a druid has been one of my favorite activities since live! We are, hands down, the best at it among the classes and done right can level any other class. I would enjoy writing a more detailed guide but I'll just share some of my basic knowledge of the trade.

You, the Powerleveler:
Level 49 is a minimum for Skin Like Nature and Shield of Thorns. However, to be optimal 53 will be needed for Superior Healing and Regrowth at 54 is very helpful. Trust me, Greater Healing stops being an effective heal in your 40s and will not sustain good powerleveling efforts past the Powerlevelee's 20s. Shield of Blades at 58 completes your powerleveling arsenal.

If you plan on doing powerleveling full time you should specialize or re-specialize to Alteration. This will pay dividends in mana efficiency. Healing yourself or healing the Powerlevelee will be critical for any druid powerleveling method.

For gear; try to find high AC tanky gear as you will be getting hit a lot even if by lower level mobs. A high mana pool is not critical as you will be going through regular cycles of pulls and meds rather than all out encounters.

The Powerlevelee
Prioritize HP gear first then AC gear. Get as much as you can in both as it will make a big difference. That HP is going to be key when your Powerlevelee pulls something 10 levels higher and is dropping fast!

You will want a low delay weapon to get as many possible hits on reds as it will be increasingly difficult with the level variance. All you need is that 1 point of damage but when trying to kill something 10 levels higher it may die from DS before you can. My universal staple powerleveling weapon is Jade Mace. You can't beat it for price and versatility (everyone but INT casters). Buy one and loan it to your Powerlevelee's for their session (if you trust them). For the INT casters a dagger will work but using some small AoE damage will be the most common method for dealing damage.

*Clerics are actually one of the easiest to powerlevel. They have plate armor and later get high damage PBAoE. Plus, who doesn't want a max defense skill cleric?

Methods
In either method the rule number 1 is just that... have the Powerlevelee do 1 point of damage on the mob and let the Damage Shield do the rest! There are two basic methods; the Powerleveler or the Powerlevelee wearing the thorns.

I am not a big fan of doing the tanking myself for several reasons. Standing and tanking means you are not medding and will slow down progress. Also, lower level mobs will have a very hard time getting hits on you meaning that even though you have increased damage shield from self buff you wont be delivering that damage very often. When I do perform this type of powerleveling I end up spamming the Sit button so that I allow them to get hits in. For these reasons I do not like this method but it can have it's uses for 1) casters and 2) groups of powerlevelees 3) extreme level variances.

My preferred method is to DS the Powerlevelee and keep them alive while they tank multiple mobs. The Powerleveler can sit and med while the Powerlevelee tanks and pulls. This method is beneficial for all classes in that it builds defensive and offensive skills with levels. Casting skills can always be built up in off-time. Even INT casters can be leveled efficiently with enough HP/AC gear and cautious pulling.

Level Ranges
*Around any level it is best to find undead as they do not run and keep killing themselves on the damage shield.
1-8: This can be knocked out in the newbie zone. I prefer Misty Thicket or Butcherblock.
8-20: Unrest. Hands down. No where else.
16-35: Upper Guk. This is where it gets a little harder as you will need to snare or root. With the abundance of mobs and experience bonus you can't beat it though.
30-50: Lower Guk. Start at the zone, then move to bats (they don't run), and finally "safe hall."

These tips are how I leveled half a dozen twinks on Live and have continued for friends on P99. I have to add the disclaimer though that you miss out on all the fun of lower level grouping and most importantly making friends in said groups that will be your buddies at the higher levels. Still, if you already have a developed social circle as another high level character and just want to play the late game as another class it can be an efficient shortcut.