Druid vs. Shaman balance thread on EQlive

[ophidion]

[Chutoi]

Now THAT I can also agree with, Kaimon. However, I would still say that it needs to be carefully looked at. If you changed a rain into a SotQ variant for druids, you are going to create imbalances with Mages and Wizards.

You asked in another thread why I thought it was okay for shaman and not for druids, and the honest answer is that I don't consider shaman a dps class. We can't sustain a full burn for very long. That's the only situation we are going to pass you on nuke dps, really. Shaman seldom even get into OOC regen because we have to slow at the beginning of every fight. Druids can sit for a bit and then nuke or snare.

We have to malos/slow on most mobs (malos to land damage, slow for obvious reasons). That's pretty much a sunk cost for all shaman. Some may use the trap spell (I hate that damn thing, personally!), or just take any resists that occur, but I think a malos is a good mana investment.

In the time that's left, in a good group (speaking of my guild groups as an example), I seldom have a 5 tic DoT run in the time left. Obviously, that is somewhat dependent on mobs, as a few types of mobs have a lot more hp than others, but in general, it's true. I'd say that was about average on black legionaires in DW, for instance, as the last exp group I was in.

So, I may be able to land 1 DoT and a nuke or so, possibly 2. Much more than that is a waste of mana.

Druids, wizards, mages, necro's, etc--those I consider spell-casting dps classes. Unless a druid is main-healing, your job is dps. Our job starts with debuffing about 95% of the time.

Giving druids a SotQ type spell runs the risk of really throwing off the dynamic of nukes among REAL dps classes. That would need to be looked at.

I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me, but I really don't think of shaman as a dps class. We're kind of like a group augment--lower damge taken, increase damage done (for melee). Our job is more peripheral than pure dps. That's why I don't think SotQ is so overpowering for shaman--because I don't think shaman and druids are now, nor have been, competing for the same group spots in quite a while.

SotQ is a nice variant, and it's a good spell. However, I don't think druids need to just get one, unless and until the impact is compared against the other real dps casters. THAT is the dynamic that needs to be reviewed to make sure it doesn't get out of balance, imo.

Chutoi

[Kamion]

[Unmei]

[Chutoi]

[jdthomas]

[Samanna]

[XeroOmega]

[Fenier]

[Fenier]

[ophidion]

[Fenier]

[ophidion]

[Kamion]

[jdthomas]

[jdthomas]

[Idracab]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Kamion]

[Giac]