Could use some Druid help

[NZV]

Hey there. I recently started playing P1999, and have been enjoying myself thus far. Prior to this I hadn't touched EQ since the Luclin days, so it's a pretty great nostalgia trip.

Anyways, I decided to make a druid since they seem pretty self sufficient, and am now level 11. I've never really played a druid before though, and I'm not entirely sure what I should be doing. In a group, for example, what role should I be taking? Should I just be saving all my mana for heals and buffs? Should I even bother trying to melee? Should defensive buffs be up on everyone in the group, even if that means a long med break every ~30 mins? Is it worth trying to dot/nuke or just a laughable waste of time?

What about soloing? I'm not bothering with kiting until I hit 14 for SoW, but when I do reach that level, am I supposed to be using DDs or just letting my dot slowly do all the work? Should I be using root, or just snare?

And are there any specific items I should be looking for, either to purchase or to acquire out in the world? I'm still rocking a cracked staff and I don't even have a shield, but I'm really not certain what I should be aiming for. I don't exactly have a ton of money, but if there are any cheap/moderately easy to get pieces of equipment out there that won't bankrupt me to the point that I can't afford spells anymore, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Even something a little more long term that I can reasonably save up for.

On a related note, what about decent ways to make money? All I've really done for cash so far is sell CB belts, but group exp in in Crushbone is starting to get fairly poor sans throne room, which has been nothing but a death trap. And I certainly can't go off soloing legionnaires.

Any assistance around those lines or just some misc. tips would be wonderful.