Am I going completely crazy or is Mystic just a better version of Druid with the choose of Divine, Occult or Primal Magical Tradition? I might be missing something here and I really hope I am missing something here. Can someone tell me what I am honestly missing please?
Mystic - 4/Rank Slots - Spontaneous Caster - Good Focus Spells - Multiple Traditions - Good Class Features - 8 Hit points - Light Armor
Druid - 3/Rank Slots - Prepared Caster - Good Focus Spells - Primal Only - Okay Class Features - 8 Hit points - Medium Armor
Am I missing something here?
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You're missing that one is a playtest class from a playtest that was widely acknowledged to be overpowered for many of the classes, and probably won't be that way in the final product given the Technomancer playtest and its much reduced capabilities.
I think mystics might be a bit strong but I think what druids bring to the table is a bit undersold here.
Full animal companion option with good feat support in the caster chasis is really good lets you cast a spell and your third action gains a lot of flexibility. Primal also is a good tradition for buffing an animal companion.
Shape changing for the times when you want to be your own animal companion. This gives pretty solid combat capability for melee while not sacrificing your ability to just shift out and go to work as a full spell caster.
Spell casting focused blaster druids work pretty well. Many lightning bolts were called down fun was had.
Mystics are really damn good maybe a bit too good but I also don't think they need any drastic nerfs.
One thing to note looking at some archtetypes like the space pirate from the galaxy guide it looks like they are more willing to let people gain more power from some options than we tended to see in PF2e. So mystic being a bit stronger in general may be intended. I presume when the GM core comes out they are going to flag SF2 classes as uncommon/rare for PF2 and let Gm's figure out what they are willing to deal with.
lorewise the difference is scope.
The Druid is fueled by their connection to the life of their region, or at most, their planet.
The Mystic's connection is beyond planetary, and is not to life, or elements specifically, but a connection to the universe as a whole. It is an evolution of the druid.
I don't really know what this has to do with OP's very mechanics-driven question. Nobody in this thread is talking about the lore.
TBH the druid kind of lacks sauce in general. Most 3-slot casters have some sort of secondary feature to enhance their abilities (bard/witch cantrips, cleric font) and the druid just... doesn't for some reason? The core chasses isn't bad, but as far as like, specific specialized mechanics there aren't really any (unless you're wild, polymorphing via a focus spell is pretty build defining but that's only one specific build, stuff like healing your animal companion is a lot less centralizig).
That said the Mystic is also kind of stacked and I wouldn't be surprised to see it drop to 3 slots, lose features, or even both before release depending on how spicy Paizo is feeling.
The Druid's "thing" is that they have exceptionally robust base stats and proficiencies for a caster, can block with shields right out of the box, and are a prepared Wis caster with strong focus spells and sometimes 2 Focus Points at level 1. They're the epitome of the no-frills caster whose strengths shine more in practice than on paper, which has the unfortunate side effect of not really wowing players who are looking for a specific "big thing" to hook them in, which most other classes have. I do think they perhaps have room to shine a bit more (they could probably have expert-to-master Fort saves, up-to-master armor proficiency, or perhaps even both), but I do think their stats make them exceptionally good at putting primal spells to their fullest use across most level ranges.
I would also caution that the Mystic as written in the playtest is almost certainly quite a fair bit overtuned, and if the Technomancer is anything to go by, they're likely to find themselves with lower base stats, fewer spell slots, or both in the final release. At their core, both classes are quite different in what they bring to their table in my opinion, and whereas the Druid is meant to fight comfortably in melee and at range, the Mystic I don't think is as likely to get their hands dirty in close combat, even though they can heal and cast spells at the same time. All else held equal, both classes are likely to play quite differently from each other and shine in different ways, even using the same tradition, it's just that right now Mystics have a bit too much going on for that distinction to be maintained.