I know that these topics can be a little bias, but I want to ask the question anyways... I have been playing for 2 years now and have all 12 toons filled on my account. I have a 38 Druid and I played a PSI to 28 almost 15 months ago but PSI was killed to try the Druid. So I have played them both a bit. I play 11 of my toons, but the Druid I struggle with... If I am low on Phen points then my damage is not that cosistant... My minions break stuns, so I had to change my play style to counter that... I can kite well but it takes forever to kill even an equal level 2 dot and if there are more than 2 or 3 I will be out of mana in no time. In groups I don't do huge DPS or can't heal much... I just hand out bushels of berries, toss out a few buffs, and spam 900-1400 damage (huge costing mana) skills for 30 secs till I am out of mana... I love star fall but the cool downs on my DPS phen skills, and the fact that I am out of phen points in no time make me feel so unexciting... I love my Sorc and my Necro... Just really unsure about the druid and psi. So with all that said... I am trying to deceide if I should kill my Druid and reroll the PSI again. I like to have toons that I want to play. I remember as I PSI I died often but my skills to kite have grown and I think I would be able to play them a bit better. I would like to know the communities thoughts on which of these toons are better and why? Am I just a few levels away from Druid "Awesomeness"??? Thoughts???
I have toons in every class but Bard. Of my casters these are the two least favorite to play. But both are more fun than Pally or rogue (unless you have a static group). I'm really enjoying my monkie since the changes, he solos well now even taking on 4dots +1-2 levels, 3dots +3-4 levels depending upon the mob.
Sorry except for berries Druids have no " awesomeness " I love my druids but am well aware of thier downfalls . If you like low dps and all around utility ( heals/buffs/invuln) then stay with your druid otherwise reroll your psi . It's really a matter of preference .
Sheabear wrote: Not true!!! A druid can out-dps every class in the game in the short term. Our top druid broke 25kdps on Core recently, which was almost 50% higher than the nearest class. There are MANY encounters where this sort of burn is critical (not to mention the rest of the Druid's utility). That said, I play and love my psi for other reasons. CC is uncomparable, and sustained dps (over 3 minutes) is as good or better than every class except for Sorc. Psi/Druid dps are about the same in longer fights.
Sheabear wrote: That is hilarious... Thanks for the responses folks. Its tough cause I do like the fact that I have a few heals if things go amuck solo...
Things usually work better when I have a druid or psi in the group. Both classes are great. Think of two support casters with the psi specializing in CC and druid specializing in burst dps.
*sigh* why is it this topic always comes up and druids are usually beat upon. So once again here it is. As with most all dps classes, the class is what you make of it. I know sorcs and rangers and monks a like that do 8kdps a mob and others that do 12k to 14k on the same mob and believe it or not, with little difference in gear. Macros and maximizing refreshes and globals and clickies ect. is a key part to any classes max potential it just takes a little work. I will tell you druid slammers a good amount of those times, those same 12k to 14k rangers monks and sorc still whined about being behind a druid on the parse)......Druids aren't made to sustain huge damage, and never will be but you can still be up there. Short fights, well that is a whole nother story. But if you are just a spell gem pusher you'll never see. If you like the class, work on it a bit and you might be suprised)
Talisandr@Seradon wrote: I was just explaining my frustrations with the class and trying to decide if rerolling to a PSI is worth giving up on the time that I put into the Druid. +'s and -'s of each...
Again - Psi/Druid are just about equal on long-burn fights. Graye and I usually come withing a few % of eachother on most parse fights when in the same group. He smokes me on the short-burn, but I can CC circles around him and have a little more survivability.
Honestly, I don't see why you're having issues at lvl 38. My Druid is lvl 37 and can solo all of the nameds in the Seawatch Arena. Not that big of a deal, but I'm just saying, Druids can solo- quite easily. Even mobs that can't be snared/rooted, like those inside arena. I didn't twink him- he's in all quest gear, a few group drops, and group quest items. I'm not sure what's causing your issues, but here's a few general things I'd suggest off the top of my head: -Don't use "Lightning Strike" once you've gotten "Call Lightning." It's not worth it and wastes mana that could be used on DoTs. -Venomous Thorns isn't very mana efficient, so if you're having mana issues, try to cut back on it. -Try to utilize your Mottleberries, Taproot, and Foraged food items to their fullest if you're having issues with mana. Also Heirophant's Boon for phen. points. -Try to establish a phen. rotation while soloing, even grouping if you can (use the full 60 just before Boon is able to be used again). -Don't take hits. Don't try to heal yourself through a beating, just kite. -Use "Okeli's Shield" when you know you have to take a hit or two and you have a moment to cast. -Don't use "Ire" often. It's extremely wasteful of phen. points. -Try to have your debuff as your first spell cast on each mob. -Let your DoT's take their course- don't try to burn through mobs quickly through repeated "Call Lightning" usage. -Spell Damage Focus!!! Get it!
I don't seem to have the same issue with the druid as you are explaining above. Smashing your phena points into the ground makes you rely upon mana until your refresh comes back up. Until then, you have ways to regen mana and cast for free to supplement yourself until you can once again use your phena points. -OR- you can mix them up and be quite the capable caster in both groups and solo situations. Druids are a spectacular class to play, for their sheer diversity. I've solo healed for groups before, I can make sorcs cry in short bursts and I can outlast a psi (ok, thats not really true ). Druids are difficult to master, but truly worth the investment if you play it right, Now...as for teh psi... IMO, seeing as my playstyle varies for most people. I like this class for the group situations. As a solo class, its boring. YOu have average damage, and unless you charm kite, well, its boring. Next to a necro or a sorc, I feel like walking home through quicksand. However...put me in a group and watch magic happen! You are the crowd control class, and not just the mobs. At your fingertips is the mechanisms to running a clockwork crew. Feed hate to the tank, clear your own agro, lower the hate of others, simacrilum mobs for a single pull, mez (double mez at 51), charm, AE mez, AE root. You can quite literally hold a group in your thrall and not lay a single point of damage on a mob. -OR- you can DPS. With thought theif, you can stack of some dots on a mob and have a constant supply of mana and never run out. YOu are a virtual batter of non-stop action and some nice DPS (if your not looking to beat sorc numbers). It's not jaw dropping power like the sorc, but its still rather impressive and well, if you chain your abilities right, you can DPS rather well and hold your own on a parse. But mainly, it comes down to personal preference. How do you wanna play? Do you prefer the solo style? Should go with druid. Do you prefer a class with a little *thought* I would go with the psi. Up to you.
Khabarakh@Seradon wrote: Our necros hit in the same 13-14k range. Rangers, Rogues too. Only sorcs consistently hit much higher. EDIT: Those numbers are for perfectly stacked groups with stacking class mods (Bard, Psi, Cler, Rog, etc...) + dmg runes, diplos, etc. A lot has to line up to hit numbers like that, and only a few fights allow it.
mellowtomcat wrote: For the record, psi's are much better solo than this post suggests. Like with the druid, it's simply a matter of knowing the class well enough to excel at it. Throw the right mindspies into the mix, and a psi can go toe-to-toe with some of the biggest mobs out there.
Demethir@Xeth wrote: I think that is what I was wondering about the most. My Druid is fun I really just feel that the damage/mana/utility ratio is lower than what I think it should be. longer solo fights become an issue as you get low on mana... your regen is a taproot that requires you to not be hit but still kite... not sure how that works??? and of course people are going to enjoy the druid and some are going to enjoy the PSI. I understand that. I just wanted a better understanding of the 2 classes so if I decide to kill my druid I don't regret it. Care to elaborate what "mindspies" are?
You don't get mindspies until the mid-40s, but they are abilities that you steal from mobs. Different mobs have different abilities, but there are 3 basic types: Weakness, Agression, and Defense. They usually come in sets off specific mob types, but some are mis-matched. Weakness/Agression are always paired in that the aggression ability will hit harder if you use the weakness first. Weakness usually has some sort of additional debuff or stun, some have mana-taps, etc. Defense is cast on you and does things like +AC, +resists, +hp regen, +crit%, +dmg%, spirit link (<-my favorite), etc. You can have unlimited Weakness/Agression mindspies, which greatly makes up for your reduced number of DD spells, as these are all DD. Any good psi will bridge the dps gap with these. You can only *know* one Defense mindspy at a time, but you can have many cast on you. You just need to spy different mobs before the buff falls off. Some are short-term (+dmg), while others are ~30 mins. The learned ability generally lasts an hour.
Demethir@Xeth wrote: Ok that sounds wicked. I have never heard anyone talk about these skills. Kind of a neat dimension of the PSI. thanks for elaborating.
Abelas wrote: Thanks for ignoring my post; GL finding a class that doesn't require you to actually learn how to play it.
