Everquest Beginner Class Guide – Druid

Druids are a Priest class and have a wide range of heals, damage over time spells, and snares and roots. Humans, Half Elves, Halflings and Wood Elves are all able to choose the Druid class.

Druids are the wilderness loving children of the goddess Tunare. They draw upon the powers of nature to heal, attack enemies, provide buffs and provide transportation. They are attuned to all animals and even have the ability to control the weather. They are able to wear leather armor and their main stat is wisdom.

Druids are widely considered the second best healers in Everquest. They have a wide variety of fast cast and powerful heals. Their regenerative spells and damage shields make for easy power-leveling of other characters. Power-leveling is helping a lower level character battle enemies of much higher level for increased amounts of experience.

They have a wide variety of buffs, ranging from health buffs and regeneration to shapeshifting and movement speed enhancement. They are very well known and exploited for their spell Spirit of Wolf, which dramatically increases the movement speed of the target player. Their other claim to fame is their wide variety of Portal spells, allowing for fast transportation from one side of Norrath to the other.

Druids have a wide range of root and snare spells, and coupled with their DoT (Damage over Time) spells they are powerful kiters. They have a low repertoire of DD (Direct Damage) spells and do not typically cast them. They also have a number of Charm Animal spells which can turn any animal into a temporary pet for the Druid.

In groups, Druids are commonly used as primary healers and can be a suitable replacement for Clerics. They are more often cast as spot healers. Spot healers heal party members other than the tank, or even the tank if the Cleric dies or runs out of mana. They have some damaging abilities, but these pale in comparison to the more DPS oriented classes.

Soloing is a very common and easy way to level for Druids. An easy way for beginner Druids is the Root and Rot technique. This style involves the Druid rooting an enemy to the ground and loading them up on every DoT spell the Druid has available, and then simply waiting for the enemy to die. The Druid will sit and regenerate mana while waiting, and if any of the spells durations expire before the enemy dies, they simply recast and wait.

For those with a more active play style, kiting is a valid soloing option, and once adept at that, quad kiting becomes available. Kiting, and quad kiting involve running while the enemy or enemies trail behind the Druid, while the DoT spells of the Druid tick away at he enemies health. The Snare and Spirit of Wolf spells slow the enemy and enhance the Druids movement speed, allowing the Druid the ability to get distance between them and cast their DoTs before the enemy can get close enough to attack. Quad kiting is the same, except with four enemies rather than one, and should only be attempted by the most skilled Druids.