How many Bards group more then solo?

[Vanessa]

Every time I see a Bard, he is always running in circles with a train on him. Do any Bards every really group? If you guys had to guess, what % do you think would be groupers vs soloers?

[Harmonium]

1-50 I'd say 25% group, 75% kite.

50-60 I'd say 90% group 10% continue to kite.

[Destan]

Not enough, but the smart ones should. My first toon here was a bard and after swarm kiting my way up to 50 I'm ashamed to admit I stunk up my first dungeon experience in horrible fashion. Don't be that bard. Swarm kite when you can't find a group, but do it with the LFG tag on and make sure you take up those offers when they come your way.

[Harmonium]

my bard had 200+ days /played on live. I'm not grouping on my p1999 bard till swarming stops paying out :P

[Calabee]

aoe kiting is ridiculously lame, wish more grpd like me :(

[Aksiom2k]

Too many bards level too quickly using ae kites. Then, when they are forced to group at higher levels, they don't know what they are doing. Do yourself a favor and l2group. Backstreets back alright?

[Glorindale]

I grouped with a great bard last night on my monkey. He hasn't figured out kiting yet. IMHO bards bring a lot to the table when grouping and I would take a bard any day.

[pharmakos]

i've got a level 50 bard guildie that never solos. he rocks in a group (he's just as good as most enchs at CC imo), but says any time he tries a solo kite he ends up dead =p

[Savok]

That's me, I die every time I AOE kite, give me a group any day.

[cs616]

I don't think the reason most bards kite is simply that the exp is so much better or that it is a decision the bards themselves are really making. The reality is that for whatever reason a lot of groups simply don't want bards. I've found that most people who have never played a bard don't really understand the class that well and don't really know what a good bard can bring to a group. As a result bards spend a ton of time LFG as they play second fiddle to enchanters and a lot just give up on grouping altogether. It really is a shame though. For a class that can pull, CC, provide great mana/hp regen, stat buffs, haste, slow, etc, there really aren't many group configurations that couldn't benefit from having a bard since they can often fill the role of 2 or 3 other classes.

[zanderklocke]

I did AE swarm kiting to about level 50, but then I stopped all together. Prior to 50, I could gain 1 to 2 levels per hour when kiting; this is not at all feasible in a group. However, post-50, the risks of AE kiting outweighed the benefits. Kiting mobs takes way too long at this level, and more time kiting allows for more time to goof up.

Honestly, I've never had a problem finding groups for Karnor, Sebilis, or Howling Stones. Once a bard is 55+ and doesn't have his or her lulls resisted all the time, I would argue that bards pull better than monks.

People seem to always want bards when I say I'm looking for group. Any bard that avoids grouping is selling him or herself short. I always made sure to group after a few levels of kiting. It seems to me that a lot of people on the server have a bard that is high 40s/low 50s because they burned out on the character after AE swarming wasn't good experience anymore. A lot of these people aren't particularly good in group with their bards.

[Llaile]

I did AE swarm kiting to about level 50, but then I stopped all together. Prior to 50, I could gain 1 to 2 levels per hour when kiting; this is not at all feasible in a group. However, post-50, the risks of AE kiting outweighed the benefits. Kiting mobs takes way too long at this level, and more time kiting allows for more time to goof up.

Honestly, I've never had a problem finding groups for Karnor, Sebilis, or Howling Stones. Once a bard is 55+ and doesn't have his or her lulls resisted all the time, I would argue that bards pull better than monks.

People seem to always want bards when I say I'm looking for group. Any bard that avoids leveling is selling him or herself short. I always made sure to level after a few levels of kiting. It seems to me that a lot of people on the server have a bard that is high 40s/low 50s because they burned out on the character after AE swarming wasn't good experience anymore. A lot of these people aren't particularly good in group with their bards.

[zanderklocke]

Egads, just noticed typos in what Llaile quoted. It should say "grouping" in the last paragraph instead of "leveling" in two spots.

Writing on these forums from phone is hard!

[SirAlvarex]

I'm fine if all the other bards exclusively swarm kite. It just means I get more compliments in groups when I do my job :)

[Droog007]

How is swarm kiting for 50 or more levels worse than buying a 50+ character of a class you've spent little or no time playing yourself... ?

I'm having a good time with swarm kiting, while trying not to step on other peoples' game play. I know I'm not going to get to L50 and suddenly be an awesome grouping bard. I may never be, and I might not even try. Oh well...

[Kekephee]

At this point I pretty much only aoe kite when my friends are stuck in hell levels and I'm feeling really, really generous with my time. I'm probably the worst aoe kiter on earth.

[Dirtnap]

I kited a bit when I hit 18 on my bard, but I don't like it very much. It is really boring.

I get passed up a lot for groups because people think I'm supposed to be some kind of DPS. So they grab a monk or rogue instead.

[rsloans84]

Ive let my brother swarm with me at lower lvls i aoed solo while he looted i still shared xp i sometimes let others in on swarms for xp as well but pretty much its a solo or 2 person operation did this no prob for 49 lvls

[Kekephee]

I kited a bit when I hit 18 on my bard, but I don't like it very much. It is really boring.

I get passed up a lot for groups because people think I'm supposed to be some kind of DPS. So they grab a monk or rogue instead.


This is interesting to me because people always think I'm a tank.

[Kraftwerk]

However, post-50, the risks of AE kiting outweighed the benefits. Kiting mobs takes way too long at this level, and more time kiting allows for more time to goof up.



You're doing something wrong. I can kite and kill every single mob in BW in 1hr15min max. The exp is tremendous. Can easily go to 58/59 in BW.

[zanderklocke]

You're doing something wrong. I can kite and kill every single mob in BW in 1hr15min max. The exp is tremendous. Can easily go to 58/59 in BW.

In my opinion, kiting for an hour at fifteen minutes is partially what I am talking about. My computer is prone to lag spikes, and kiting for over an hour on one pull, hell, even over 30 minutes is not something I'm particularly interested in. Therefore, for me, the risk vs reward is not worth it to me.

[Aksiom2k]

In Burning Woods, 2 Bards are better than 1....

[Llaile]

That low HP stuff is an abomination.

[zanderklocke]

Low hp aggro kiting works great for exp, but it doesn't really offer the chance of good drops that Sebilis/Howling Stones in a group does.

[Brimacombe]

Would someone please post a good swarm tutorial page?

-Brimacombe

[falkun]

Would someone please post a good swarm tutorial page?

-Brimacombe

http://wiki.project1999.org/Deajay%27s_AoE_Bard_Leveling_Location_Guide
I link to Hmotzart's and Cribanox's guides on HOW at the bottom.