Can someone PLEASE tell me everything there is to know about becoming a druid? I've seen some pretty wicked spells cast by druids and would like to try that stuff out.
We do not allow the discussion of quests in public forums. You can contact anyone you wish privately to discuss whatever you wish, but we do not want the secrets of the quests displayed or spoken of in any public place.
Thanks :)
the quest, maybe not...
but as a starter, the skills needed to do it?
That would be some handy info
:)
THey have always been pretty stringent on this topic... Best just to try to gain someone sympathetic and ask personally.
Quote from: Miri on July 22, 2006, 03:29:39 AM
the quest, maybe not...
but as a starter, the skills needed to do it?
That would be some handy info
:)
The skills you need are listed on the website. All ya gotta do is go take a look and that part at least is answered for ya. :D
You see? I learned something already... I didn't even know a quest was involved! Just gotta find out who gives it ....
Quote from: Thane ir'Wyndan on July 22, 2006, 05:18:18 AM
Quote from: Miri on July 22, 2006, 03:29:39 AM
the quest, maybe not...
but as a starter, the skills needed to do it?
That would be some handy info
:)
The skills you need are listed on the website. All ya gotta do is go take a look and that part at least is answered for ya. :D
Gotta disagree there, since all the SH website info about druids' skill requirements I found is:
QuoteDruids are the most powerful of mages, possessing all the knowledge of an advanced mage and that of a naturalist steeped in forest and animal lore.
Now, I find that rather vague and could never derive a skill template of that to train to become a druid. I'd say that at least the actual skills needed should be published, which would in no way harm the quest but only make sure that existing druids wouldn't be the "secret elite". Of course, asking these druids directly always is a nice option.
The reason Thane said that is Acacia says it as well :).....and she has also listed them in other threads about druids. here is one of them...
Admin Acacia
Administrator
Hero Member
Posts: 581
Re: Druid
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2006, 03:10:03 AM »
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You need magery and animal taming. You need to have a druid book and the spells that go with it, and druid regs. You also must complete a quest for the druid staff to be able to cast your spells.
In addition to her post, and useing whats listed on teh website (naturalist steeped in forest and animal lore), you need Magery, Taming, and Animal Lore. ( which I can see that taming might be hard to get off the website, but once you know it makes sense)
hope that helps :), oo and the Druids theoretically are supposed to be an elite group :)there are even more elite groups....course I cant list them either :) cuase their secret and then Id have ta kill ya ( hehe said in a flat spy voice) hehe
HAve a good one :)
Elite group my backside.
Every Mongbat on this server is secretly a Druid.
But yeah, if people read the website or used the 'search' function, we'd get a lot less stupid questions, like the person earlier asking several times where he can buy crossbow bolts...
Well that was rude Val!
I don't understand why you think that.
I've read worse from Valius.
Thanks for clearing that up to me.
Well...Druids used to be Elite, I know most people who's mages and casty Necs where basically killed off when that horrid and evil change/ slowing of Mana regen change happened about 5 or so months ago. He He that was such an interesting day....so much death (You should have seen the bodies that littered northern Luna from most of the people online, just trying to help one non-augmented warrior) I remember fleeing in Lich form on Forest like a scared little girl away from a dozen Fridge Imps and that Slaver...Those where the days :-)
After that I created my Druid Rithik, and so did most other people :D and most newcomers when they saw us tread on destard and so on.
If the amount of people using the Druid base is as out of control as it was in May, then it might be time to review some of the other spell flinging professions for some quirk to attract back more users of the other spell classes. I know I wasn't the only one who didn't like turning their Mage/ Necro into a warrior hybrid but had to, he he.
But that was along time ago maybe things have changed.
Put it this way Rithik. You can easily double the number of Druids there was in May.
but valius I would bet that you can also almost double the amount of players on at a time over may as well. As the shard gains more people, its going to gain more druids. As well most the druids I see have had their staves for quite a long time.
Have a good one.
I think that what Valius tried to say is more people who want to kill really bad mobs just choose the samurai/paladin path.
no, he was saying that there are alot of people playing druids :)...he and I have had this conversation before. :)
Huh? I'm sorry ...I looked through the posts again and nowhere do I see anything about samurai/paladins? But I am brainless at times so maybe I missed something. Â Please do not think I am trying to pick ... I am just confused.
Actually, there were around 30 people on average playing when I left, and there's about 30 people average when I play now.
Quote from: Fea on October 31, 2006, 12:50:29 PM
Huh? I'm sorry ...I looked through the posts again and nowhere do I see anything about samurai/paladins? But I am brainless at times so maybe I missed something. Â Please do not think I am trying to pick ... I am just confused.
No, you are correct, but I just brought that up simply because I think there are only two different pvm templates, druid/tamer and samurai/paladin. Correct me if I'm wrong.
There are some minor different templates - but as far as I am personally concerned - ie, my opinion is that you either have to be a Druid of a Bushido/Chiv to make anything of yourself in PVM.
I'm sure there're some people who use other templates, but I would assume that they don't hunt some of the larger mobs either.
Actually I have seen 40 ppl on in the evenings Valius, not just last night :)..... It flucuates quite a bit, and also, almost all the druids I know have been so for months.
But I will desist becuase the point is not important :).
You have to remember that I'm British so I play at different times to you - and on AVERAGE I see AROUND 30 people. Not that it's really worth arguing over.
Then Why are you :), and trust me I never forget your British :)
Just pointing out for the record that I play from a different timezone, so I'm bound to see different numbers. But if you want to get the last word in, feel free.
Anyway, back on topic.
When I've had something of a chance to look at the Druid spells we have on our server (I would like to reference them and see how they came to be etc) and make a start on this Malimancy business, then we at least might take some of the attention away from Chiv Bushido - perhaps if negative karma users simply can't use chivalry at all or something? But this really is only giving us the same kinda spells for the negative inclined persons on the server.
We need to look at the lesser professions on the server.
If you look back at the original OSI builds (pre-AoS), you have a few set templates:
Warrior:
Dex Monkey: Very high dex to strike quickly, with weapons that paralyze like spears.
Parry warrior: Weapon and a shield to ignore blows and tank
2handed weapon: Dishes out lots of damage
Lumberjack: Extra damage with axe and lumberjacking
Archers: Speaks for itself
Magery
Tank Mage: Heavy armour wearing mage
Nox Mage: High poisoning skill
Roach mage: mostly for factions - could hide and stealth
Pure Mage: No specialisation per say
Archery mage: Archery as a back up for when out of mana
Others
Thief: Good for taking rares, or upsetting archers by stealing their arrows
Bards: Using music, and usually bows, to engage enemies
Tamers: Using pets, usually the WW to tank opponents
Assassin: Warrior hybrid with hiding and poisoning
T-Hunter: PVM only, specialised in chests and fishing
Crafters
This really speaks for itself I suppose.
Now the thing is, those 'classes' established themselves because of the limitation on skill points allowed (700) and stat points (275? I can't remember) meant that you had to really think about your build. Although it was technically possible to have a blacksmith who was also a warrior, it was ver difficult and meant a lot of compromise. But here, we're more or less spoilt for choise. It doesn't matter if we take Magery, Eval, Meditation, Focus and Healing because we can get those to 120 and still have 5 slots at 120 points to take druidism or warrior skills. ATM I'm looking at Eo's template and I have a spare 105 skill points that I've not allocated, even after taking random skills I don't really need - because we're too spoilt.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice being able to take a lot of skills on one character, but mix that with sockets and you soon end up with a char that's too powerful for its own good. We regularly waltz into Doom and take the harrower without as much as a second thought about it. We can waltz into Destard and floss our teeth with Dragon scales because we're uber-powered. I'm the first to agree that Chivalry makes a lot of difference as to whether you survive a fight or not - I even worked it out elsewhere in the forums as to what sort of extra damage you're looking at by using Chiv. But to be allowed to add Bushido on top, and only for the sake of one single spell - Evasion, you're suddenly ignoring an additional 70% of damage? Add on top the socketted items... and well.
But on the other scale, with Druids, you have the Enchanted Grove. Yes, I know it's been nerfed and no longer HEALS as quickly as it used to - and to be quite honest that's a very good thing. Now people can't simply say "Killing God, need druid" because they know the EG is going to keep them healed up, and to some lesser extent it means that the Druid drops to a more of a support role, having to hand out additional greater heals to characters in the party - but at the same time, the EG keeps their mana too high, so they can happily dump out the Energy Vortexes without thinking about it, whilst controlling a various beasts like the Rune beetle, which they can heal manually or with a macro at the same time. I know when Eo was a Druid, I used to hunt by plonking down an EG and just kicking out lots of EVs to do the fighting, because it's a lot quicker and easier then using such as a Dragon.
Until a way is found to keep elite skills such as Chivalry, Druidism and Bushido (and I do believe that Chivalry and Bushido should start being concidered as elite skills due to the power that they represent when used together) either subjued in some way - or just simply harder to obtain, then we're going to have a massive influx of over-powered players, and continued arguements over which is better- Druidism or Chiv/Bushido.
Having been both classes in my time, I can safely say one thing though. They are both as over-powered as one another, and when adding up their individual pros and cons, I would not (personally) say that one is more powerful then the other. They both have up and down sides, how-ever small, and both take an ammount of learning and skill to use properly.
Anyway, I'll get off of the old soapbox. The above is litterally an example of typing what I'm thinking as I think it.
Um, first off :), your back to the topic has nothing to do with the topic :).....the topic is everything about DRUIDS...which has nothing whatso ever to do with OSI :) really. You are still arguing, and Im not sure agasint whom.
Which related to Two..... Still argueing :)....why :)?
The text was about differences of druids and melee warriors, and it was really good.
He was saying that with 700/225 skill limits you had more options to choose from. We have double that skill limit which merges the templates and fuses them so we don't have so much to choose from (maybe we should?).
The text was really pointing out that druids are mostly considered as support class. While EG is great support spell, and VE is really good offensive spell, it really leaves out that variability of a paladin. While we have absolutely no chance fighting fire resistant monsters (well, at least without disco) paladins can focus all their damage to the weakest resistanse of a monster and thus ditch out decent damage. What if VE was a rainbow eruption that deals damage according to enemies resists? Well, it's almost too good already, only that it doesn't leave us so much variety that paladin's have.
Yay, one person gets me at least :D
Instead of re-hashing what I've said and analyzing it, I will say one more thing.
We, as a community, need to be looking at the classes (as they are percieved on this server) and looking at what skills are contributed to making that template - and what ways we can improve certain skills in order to promote some form of balance. Or, we can admit that Druidism and Bushido/Paladins are meant to be elite and make them harder skills to achieve perhaps?
Any increase in druids I'm going to blame on the change in the location of the staff.
The original message was vague and cryptic, and the location was pretty obscure. The new message narrows the area down to 2 places (well, really one, but there's a slight margin for confusion). Although there may be a little hunting required, it's not the same as running across an entire facet to find the staff.
I think there should be an actual quest, not just walking to... that location... it's far too easy.
But the same with Chivalry and Bushido.
They really aren't professions in the way that a man wielding a sword is a profession. They are actual dedications, life-style choices one could say - and they really shouldn't be easy.
If you look at other games, if there's some form of job change that is powerful, it requires the completion of quite a complicated task usually. I mean, I'm not saying it to be spiteful to new players or anything like that - but if I was actually in UO and I was entrusting my life to some noble Paladin, I'd want to know he EARNT that title, and didn't just buy a book like the guy from Kung Fu Hustle.
What I think would be really cool would be having to join chivalry, bushido or druidism from a student level. You could start with a couple of basic techniques, and as you progress you are awarded more and more powerful spells or moves. This is in a bid to stop a player being shown where the Druid staff is and where to buy the scrolls or the spell books or what-ever that they really need to be a part of that class.
Nice suggestions Valius, but I fear that'd be a crapload of work to create quests and redesign the skills.
Oh, and about "showing where the staff is"... I think the problems already start with player vendors selling druid scrolls. No druid would ever do so, and other than druids shouldnt be able to loot those and e.g. get heavily burnt while trying to pick them up.
Yet, a (minor) hint on where druids live to ever get started would be great. Though, RP wise I found it okay to ask a druid about the place, afterall they live rather secluded and don't put their magic place into the daily news.
The quest for paladins would be great. Since paladin books come already filled, it'd be easy just to remove it from vendors and make it a quest reward :) And paladin quest should not be about running around the continent, but to clarify to players that a role of a paladin needs extreme commitment. I do not mean that quest should be harder, but it should just signify the role of a paladin. But a possibility of harder quest (since they don't have to collect the spells) still needs to be thought. I can give in my two cents if admins like this idea.
As for druids (since this topic really is about them) I did confuse those "two places". I think quest isn't hard at all, and one look in stratics/UOAM and you already know where it is. But as you said, there is a room for confusion, and while it was not specified what you really needed to do there, I spent quite a while walking and talking. I was almost going to give up but then my friend hinted me about the possibility of the other place, and then it came clear to me.
hehe, boy has this thread became a tangent :).......Perhaps it should be moved to the general discussion area instead of a professional area.
Past that.... I would agree the first spot was much harder to find, I remember well when it was changed over, and why it was changed over. I also remember going right to this place it is now. However, I can also say that I have heard some people complain about the difficulty of even finding the druid grove, let alone where it sends you to afterwards. Many have had problems finding the afterwards as well, so I dont know how much it needs changed. AS Illithid was about to give up, a hint was given, so is it too easy, or simply that so many know about it, that even if you only hint to friends and guild mates, that means about everyone now?
As to making things harder, first Off I did play on a shard one time for a breif bit that the owner felt that if someone even accomplished a quest it was too easy and made it harder. It seemed like if anyone got anything done, it was made harder. It sucked, point blank on that part. Dont get me wrong, there are times that things are too easy and do need to be made harder, but you must balance that with player satisfaction as well. I know from my experiance that you can force players away by constantly making it harder and harder simply becuase you think that someone having something is too much. As to paladin books...first off...if you start a paladin you start with the book, so you would have to do more then remove it from vendors. Second, if you make it a quest and make it to hard, you will discourage the casual player....and before you say thats a cool idea.....think....what gives a full time player the right to say part time players cant do something? I cant complain too much about the paly idea, except that it should not be a huge drawnout massive thing.
As to Valius and the job change thing...UO has always and hopefully will always be very easy to change skills...and thats what a job is. Even just going out and buying the book does not give skill any more then going out and buying a spell book gives magery, or buying a shovel gives mining. You must in all skill work the skill up, and that is proving yourself in a job title. So even if Joe Schmoe walks into luna, and buys a book, as well as 33 skill... he is NOT going to be a paladin, any more then a 33 skill miner is a miner.....Yes they are what they claim to be, but they are sure not at their potential, nor even close.
Anyway :) just my opinions ;).....and i think this really does fit the general thread not here since it is now devolved to talking about paladins, as well as still halfway including druids to stay near topic....and quest, improvements to paladins not druids...... The thread is professionals :), and even the discussion on druids was general not professional.....a professional discussion would be talking about druids and how to improve them, or problems with them...like good tactics for hunting x critter....or perhaps places to hunt for spells....etc....The orginal thread was INFO about the druid quest....
Have a good one....Ill stop rambling
Sounds like a plan to me, delete all the chiv books and bushido books as well as skills from the shard and make a nice hard quest to receive the books and the skill. This will weed out the non hard core gamers, mainly cause they wont be able to hunt with much luck without their books and skills. If you think the druid quest is too easy stop giving out hints, and stop asking for hints. I know it seems as though you are being harsh or rude when you *laugh* at the people that are asking "where is the grove?" or "where is the Druid Staff, I have looked everywhere?", the alternative is to act like a druid and ignore any questions about the quest, its best if they find it on their own. If they can't find it on their own perhaps they need to re-evaluate what they want to be in life.
Valeria
It's not the intention of my suggestions to completely stop those who aren't 'hard-core' enough - but to make it a challenge. I'm not talking about making it impossible, but just a little more testing then walking to that place and picking up a staff. Perhaps the scrolls and tokens (collect a certain ammount of tokens to hand them in for a chiv/bushido book) could be placed on some mini-bosses who would be perhaps around as tough as a daemon or something. The player's given a quest to hunt one of the monsters and when they do, they get the scroll/token. Just an idea.
But I agree with Caerb (for once ;D) we should perhaps move this to the Suggestions area now :)
I'm sure SS would disagree with you :P, he certainly was any of those breeds :P, He refused point blank to be either, there not 'evil' :P
Quote from: Valius on November 01, 2006, 12:13:26 AM
I think there should be an actual quest, not just walking to... that location... it's far too easy.
But the same with Chivalry and Bushido.
They really aren't professions in the way that a man wielding a sword is a profession. They are actual dedications, life-style choices one could say - and they really shouldn't be easy.
If you look at other games, if there's some form of job change that is powerful, it requires the completion of quite a complicated task usually. I mean, I'm not saying it to be spiteful to new players or anything like that - but if I was actually in UO and I was entrusting my life to some noble Paladin, I'd want to know he EARNT that title, and didn't just buy a book like the guy from Kung Fu Hustle.
What I think would be really cool would be having to join chivalry, bushido or druidism from a student level. You could start with a couple of basic techniques, and as you progress you are awarded more and more powerful spells or moves. This is in a bid to stop a player being shown where the Druid staff is and where to buy the scrolls or the spell books or what-ever that they really need to be a part of that class.
Good suggestion, When i join SD/SH I never knew how power the skills or such was as i'd never played UO, So things took a while for me too grasp and skill gains was slow at first as i didnt know really how too raise them :P, But yeah Sounds good too me =)
I like the idea of increasing level of granted powers after proving yourself worth of them by questing.
Maybe this could be done by increasing the skills cap, e.g. without quest you might get up to 50 skill, a first absolved quest would allow 70, etc. And you'd have to train up your skill to your current maximum to be able to receive the next quest, aka the quest has a skill minimum. Like this you would HAVE TO do the quests one after another.
And I estimate that this is alot easier to integrate into the game than enabling/disabling spells according to your quest status.
well i've only been here for 4.5 months, but i decided to try my hand at getting a druid staff with my mage/tamer. Easy? nope. granted you take 2 skills at 100 to get ya ahead of the game if you know the skills needed, but you still have to raise one to 100. Yes, if you have razor you can macro it to death and back in a sitting. BUT, then you gotta look for the grove and i'll admit it took some help for me to find the grove, then more subtle hints and help to find the proper place for the staff. Then you need the money to get your regs and book. All in all this took me about 3 weeks.....2 and a half to train my stats and skills and another half to find the bloody stuff. So i guesss my question is this.....how is it easy to become a druid without help? granted i see a lot of druids but they dont tell just anyone about their ranks so i feel its all fair and balanced when finding the way. And it was harder before? good lord, i would not want to have searched for it then.
What was that sound?
(http://firstrung.co.uk/dbimgs/iStock_can%20of%20worms.jpg)
Ah I thought so. It's an old can of worms being opened ;D
Overall a good discussion with good ideas. I like the quest for Chiv and Bushido especially.
Mmm wyrms..
i started on this shard and was blown away by the druids, I hunted for the secret, found it and trained it. My toon is a fully fledged druid now..but i am still learning how to use the spells properly and more importantly with what skills and when. I never thought the quest to get the staff was simple...my toon, Mina lives as a druid..has a druid style home and is dedicated to the way of the druid. The spells really help with hunting in small groups thru fel, where the beasties are a lil harder. as for paladin / bushida...bah...never liked them skills anyways hehe
:P (http://www.sulexpropertyfinders.com/images/avatar.JPG)