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Discussion - Druid Strengths? (1 Viewer)

Joined
Oct 24, 2020
RedCents
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Serious question. What role does a druid play in comparison to a Shaman and / or Cleric? I have literally never created one. I remember a friend who had one who swore by DoT damage but healing was underwhelming.

Anyone have a top level Druid who can comment on their Strengths vs other damage and healing classes?

Also, do they have buffs that will stack with Cleric and Shaman if all three were in the same group?
 
the wrath dd/dot line does obscene damage. 6m crits in trash group gear. more w/ an enc.

the dru heal line is basically one jfc, nobody die heal (.5 sec cast, 12 second recast), one normal heal for every other class that can barely be used (1.8 sec cast, 15 sec recast), one incredibly suspect standard heal (3.75 sec cast, can benefit from foci, standard recast), and a i-hate-myself group heal that you can get down to 3ish seconds but has a 12 second recast. you do get an intervention type fast heal as well, along w/ the aa that mimics it. some aa heal things as well but i'm ignoring them because they don't fit w/ my bitter @ dru heals narrative.

dru skin doesn't stack w/ cle hp buff but you can use symbol and skin if you are a real overachiever. dru skin has mana regen so maybe hybrids prefer that but that's above my paygrade. i know their skin conflicts w/ cle and mage self buffs that have mana regen components. dru get group (and a self) wolf spirit nature is awesome buff that gives everyone (for 4 minutes out of every 7.5) reduced mana costs, more and bigger crits, and mana regen. dru reptile proc buff stacks w/ shm proc buff.

dru have a really diverse tool kit. so many things they can use. some are niche and a few have such long recast timers that they hamstring themselves (looking at you, distant conflag). and almost everything they have takes too long to use in modern eq. that's my opinion of course, but that group heal and main heal cast and recast time are an example. they also have some mana issues, but a solid ini will mitigate that.

i really dig all the options though and the ability to be a priest hybrid. plus evac is nice because i'm lazy and like to run as little as possible.
 
I'll keep this pretty simple. A Druid without a Full time Enchanter and Bard will be in trouble for mana regardless of how well they are geared. Because you have to choose they can either heal or DPS. Both of which they are actually capable of doing very well. They just don't have the DPS of A Shaman or the ability to Canni which means you never run out of mana. I play with RGMercs like you. If you protected the Druid in a group with both an Enchanter and Bard they would be fine. Otherwise you will reach some critical chokepoints. At least that is my experience with boxing a Druid. The best player I ever knew was a Druid back in the day. I hope this helps some Doc.
 
Druids aren't even the 3rd healer anymore, they're behind Paladins in that department.

Damage and mana regen is ok if surrounded by ench/bard and other casters (mage/nec/wiz), but if not, they kinda suck
 
So if I am digesting this right, Druid buffs will stack with Shaman but not cleric? I am trying to figure out if it's any kind of option worth considering to have a Shaman, Cleric and Druid all in the same group.
 
Druids are tier A DPS in the 3-5 min range (raid typemobs). DPS isn't as effective in grind situations (fast kill rate)

Good caster synergy, severe mana issues, flexible until oom.
 
Druids are the la-Z-boy of classes. Travel in comfort.
I use druids for DPS, ADPS, buffs, backup heals, battle rez and more.

Mostly DPS focused, although I have one as a main healer for my paladin tank group (also bard in this group).
Tanks get pure Cleric Aego line buffs, everyone else gets Skin (druid), and Symbol (cleric) combo. Druid not Shaman supplies the regen buffs.
Shaman buffs then go on top of that.
If you were to look at cleric / shaman / druid in the same group, you would only have druid and one other, setup your druid to be primarily dps, and shaman OR cleric as healer.
 
I tried to force myself to like the Druid class, played one till level 120. But I just don't see their benefits vrs Cleric or Shaman class.

I do not like their heal line spells, I do not like their DPS as well.

I use the druid to power level my new toons basically and for teleport uses
 
I'm just about to hit 115 on my druid and he is following the above advice of have other classes help with mana regen.

He's second on DPS while being my primary healer too but that is because he has NEC, ENC, BRD, MAG mana regen adds. He doesn't really ever get lower than 80% mana. Hasn't even clicked a mod rod yet.

During nameds though he goes way down the list on DPS because of needing to heal more. His dps add is more in the grind if he is set up to be a healer.

Nature's Blistering Wrath line + Chromatic Haze if timed right is the highest damage hit in game I've seen. I think I hit for 12million at level 103ish. Multiplicative bonuses due to the spell being both a DD and a dot, it gets both Crit adds and uses up both counters on a single dot tick. If I'm reading it right it is a 16X bonus to Crit damage.
 
So if I am digesting this right, Druid buffs will stack with Shaman but not cleric? I am trying to figure out if it's any kind of option worth considering to have a Shaman, Cleric and Druid all in the same group.
No that group would never work. Like a said if you really want to get the most out of a Druid you need BOTH an Enchanter and Bard in the group. Having a BST with Paragon to feed mana is another option. But there would be your 6 toons right there. The Druid like stacks with Symbol Cleric line of Buffs and used to be higher than the Blessing line. I'm not sure at the top end now because it's just easier to cast Hand Of whatever and get 4 hours of Cleric that stacks with Shaman. You really can only have a functional Druid if he's being fed mana Doc. So the 3 healer group is just nor feasible even with Druid and Shaman as DPS which they excel at. Because you need those extra toons to keep the Druid in mana.
 
Discussion - Druid Strengths?

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