Insturments vs weapons in groups

[Rinarch]

Hey everyone,

So I just hit 24 on my bard last night and I have started to notice the gap in terms of melee DPS starting to grow between myself and other classes. Obviously I know melee DPS isn't my primary role in a group and my weapons currently aren't the best. My question is, at what point is it more beneficial to my group to just drop weapons completely and focus solely on instrument swapping while maintaining my twist?

Currently using smoldering brand, PGT, and the bard only dagger that cast rain of fire(forgot the name atm). Currently have about 200pp(spent all my money on songs 1-50) so any upgrade suggestions in that price range appreciated. I hate the whole swarming thing so when I can't find a group I usually just go toe to toe with weaker mobs since I don't have fear or charm yet

[dhoushi]

It depends on the role needed in the group, and your level. Instrument mods become greater as you level because the base number of the effect becomes stronger as you level (just like casters) which will improve the net gain from an instrument. In most situations as a twink bard I'm using weapons and just twisting buffs and charm in, however if you were for example in a melee heavy group, and were doing cc and buffs , yeah an instrument may be better. Generally at your level and you're gear level, I would simply consider the role and the dps distribution.

[Videri]

As usual when playing a bard, our choice of tactic is determined by what the group needs.

If the group has DPS classes, they're probably better at dishing out damage than a bard, so I don't focus on directly dealing damage. Instead, I augment the other players through haste, +str, +AC, hp regen, and resist songs; and also help out casters with mana using the level 32 mana song.

If a group lacks strong DPS, that role may be filled by a bard.*I'm pretty sure charming a mob is the best way we bards have of dealing damage. I twist 5 songs (sometimes duplicates) in between charm, then retarget my pet and recharm. The damage I take during*charm breaks*takes a toll if I am also tanking, so I try to avoid it unless we have massive heals.

If a group lacks strong DPS and charming isn't an option at the moment, I have started twisting Chant of Flame/Frost/Fufil's while holding a drum. At level 48, I think stacking the 3 Chants does at least 5x the damage I could do with weapons! It seems strange, but I am often seen standing there (often in melee range if I'm tanking), holding no weapons, singing songs in the enemy's face.

Earlier in a bards career, before he or she gets Chants, I think our only option for non-charm DPS is simply haste+melee. As you probably know, if you're the only melee, you can use the self-only haste, as it is faster; but if there's even one other melee, we ought to give them haste too. As you said, they can probably do more melee damage than a bard.

Anyway, back to your question. I believe that because we bards can do so much, the best thing we can do is "whatever nobody else is doing." And if every role is covered, it comes down to boosting stats/resists and providing hp and mana regen, allowing an already-effective group to mow through mobs that much faster.

[stakha]

Dont use instruments in a group setting, except if you end up not meleeing. If you really want to min/max, set it up to swap in your lute before the regen song lands and quickly swap back out do get a better regen. If you are raiding and dont have your epic, in most situations you should only be twisting resist songs and mana (cantata when you get it) as needed. I would recommend against twisting your dots (or using them at all) in a group setting. The other songs will provide more use to your groups in just about any circumstance. Always keep up mez and charm once you get the songs even if you have a chanter. Chant of battle(or haste if you are the haster), regen/cantata, some form of ac/resist/ds song will be the majority of your group twisting outside CC. Use manasong when needed, but remember that it's pulse based before cantata, so you want to re-sing it every 3 seconds, which sucks. I also always keep up slow-snare song even if we have another slower for a mana free snare against runners (or as an immediate slow on inc if your tank has snap aggro). If you are tanking, this will be your aggro song, too.

Sorry for the block of text. Also, when charming for extra dps in groups (almost always better to charm as opposed to mez if only one add, it also mem wipes aggro upon break, unlike mez) you can learn to time the break well enough so that you recharm right as it is breaking. It takes a little practice but its not that hard. After charm, twist 4 more times and on the 5th recharm. Also, regarding charming. charmkiting is nice xp and you learn the class well. Keep switching your targets and dropping a couple of dots to keep the health bars roughly the same. Also, if a mob has dotted you or cast any negative spell with a duration, charm will remove any of these when it lands, which is very nice.

Oh and set up two hotkeys for targeting mobs. I use tab for nearest, then the tilde key to cycle between targettable mobs. Assist your tank, then cycle to next for CC. Dont ever use click to target unless the mob is walled and you cant otherwise target it.

[Rinarch]

Currently I'm doing

Anthem de Arms (Self haste if I'm the only melee)
Guardian rhythms(unless a certain resist is required)
Heal song
PBAoE Mez(when needed)

as my goto twist with melee damage

I'll swap Selo's constant chain for Guardian Rhythms if we don't have a slower
Runspeed for when group needs to bail out to zone in
Brustco's bellow is usually my last gem if I need to pull

Last night I was in a pretty heavy melee group and I was taking care of CC's as well so it just seemed like it was better for me to focus on all that with instruments on rather then trying to get a few hits in. Might have just been an isolated incident but with my not so stellar weapons my DPS is pretty pathetic haha. Get my first DS next level so my twist will probably start including that when I get it =)

[stakha]

Save for a Sionachi's Partisan. Quite a nice weapon and not very expensive. Not much more the smoldering brand and way better.

[Tann]

Switch to lute for heal song IMO, at 24 with store bought lute its 11hp/tick. Shamans will love you

[Rinarch]

I always swap to my lute if I'm not pulling after mobs. With duel wielding it gets kinda messy swapping in the middle of attacking if I am holding down targets as well, but it is something I can practice.

Are their any ways to macro an instrument/duel wield set up to reduce the amount of click it takes?

I'll be on the look out for Sionachie's Partisan to replace my dagger as the proc is an AOE and that has been causing some problems which will only get worse as I get higher in the game =) Gotta find a good slashing and blunt as well... oh and a way to make some money to afford them haha

[Kender]

dont rule out chant of battle if you have a warrior tanking. it adds dex

[dasdraco]

I have a BoH and usually equip weapons and play the following for melee centric groups. Given the insta-click on BoH, I can usually keep all 5 up.

Niv's (Boh Click)
VoV
Hymn
Chant of Battle
Psalm of cooling

I am level 52.

If I am slower, I'll twist that in as needed. Or a resist song as needed. If mana is low I twist in manasong as much as I can, but the pulse nature of it can be frustrating.

This is my first bard (played Wiz and Rog on live), so any comments on the above twist are appreciated.

Thanks!