Trying out a Bard, Halllpp! Any pro Bards here?

[megman87]

Alright so I am going to try a Bard since everyone says they are a pretty hard class to play and when I did a /who all Bard 30 50 in game, I saw 1 level 32 Bard online lol.

However, I don't know much about Bards at all, only that "Twisting is super hard and Bard is not good for players who aren't pro". So I was wondering if some of you could give me some basic info / tips and or advice for playing one. I've got some friends on here who can help out with some money / gear so I am not too worried about that.



I was thinking of doing Wood Elf or Half Elf, how should I do my starting stats?

What kind of gear do I get for a Bard? HP/Mana stuff? Str stuff? Cha stuff?

What type of weapons should I try and find?


Im sure Ill have more questions but I think Ill leave it at this for now and see how many people respond, Thanks!

[Derpus]

you only saw 1 bard in you /who cuz all the cool kids are /role or /anon
it gives you superpowers i hear

[Kanor]

Bards are not working properly here at the moment. Looks like GMs are working on swarm kiting and charm kiting issues, but who knows how long this will take to fix. It seems like changing the aggro system and hitbox issues is tough to resolve.

[Lanvaren]

Half elf, IMO, is one of the best, most balanced bards... Human and Wood Elf however get access to some special items that half elves do not (and of course, half elves do too)

Really it just depends on your tastes, you can look like a DE all the time anyway. :D



Depending on who you ask you'll get different answers. I did half elf put all my points into CHA, personally.


Twisting can be rough but you'll need to do it, and learn which songs to play in different situations. Many songs stack, even some with the same effects, so it's important to keep all of them running when needed, while keeping yourself available to mez or charm.

Since our most of our abilities (songs) are weaker than their counterparts of other classes, it's important to stack them together.



As for weapons, they're rather unimportant. Depending on what your group consists of, you should just be using non-proccing weapons or just instruments. If you've got a good tank, get some high damage proc weapons - Staff of Writhing at lvl 28, or I'd go with crystal staves early on. Bard damage is so pathetic that unless you can use proccing weapons (and don't NEED to use an instrument) you won't tell a large difference between the best and worst non-proccing weaps, and probably not even a significant difference WITH the procs, though they are capable of dealing a seemingly large amount of damage.



tl;dr: bards are pretty weak but their songs stack with other buffs and even with some of the songs with the same effects, making them a good addition to a group and especially raid force (double clarity, triple hp regen, triple resists~etc) weapons are unimportant, you will really only deal damage with procs so make sure you're with a good tank. Good instruments are vital. Don't play bard if you don't want to switch equipment and songs *constantly*



*Edit: Oh yeah, and bard threat is super bugged ATM - on live, at least somewhere during classic, they changed bard songs to generate the minimal amount of aggro possible. Currently, they generate the same amount of threat as casting a full-duration buff ON EACH GROUP MEMBER, even though they only last for a couple of ticks. Same for debuffs, though these generate a ton more threat.

Long story short, bards are the aggro kings ATM, which may or may not be classic, but was definitely fixed before too long. Invest in good armor over weapons, you'll level faster.

[Qaedain]

Bards are not working properly here at the moment. Looks like GMs are working on swarm kiting and charm kiting issues, but who knows how long this will take to fix. It seems like changing the aggro system and hitbox issues is tough to resolve.

Bards are successfully swarm kiting all over Norrath. There's even a tutorial for it on the forum.

[megman87]

Im not all that interested in the Dot/Run kiting though, I mean Ill prob try it out. But I mainly interested in playing one of the least played class's and grouping. I was kind of between a Ranger and Bard since they seem to be played the least.

[MiRo2]

"Twisting is super hard and Bard is not good for players who aren't pro"

Twisting can be rough but you'll need to do it

Twisting isn't hard, it just requires you to be active and attention 90% of the time, rather than the opposite of the spectrum being a wizard where you can afk or do other things while playing with ease.

[xshayla701]

^^ this guy is a really good bard, he knows his shit k!

[xshayla701]

and by this guy i meant lanvaren cause i guess i was late posting

[megman87]

Wood Elf and all into Sta then?

Im not so sure about putting points into Cha, isnt that like the easiest stat to raise with gear? Wouldnt it be better to put no points in Cha at character create?

[Tork]

It comes down to how you play -

Do you primarily pull? CHA for lull.
Do you pump mana and resists... err, I mean raid? STA for HP.

But really, it doesn't matter that much and if you put them all in WIS it'd be ok - a bard isn't gear dependent, least of all in a raid setting with competent healers.

[mmiles8]

Bards twist? Every raid I've been in the bards have just stood there afk with either verses of victory or chorus of clarity playing.

You don't need to be pro to do it, if you've ever played guitar hero, it's like that, but easier. Pick 3 buttons, hit them, as long as you get the timing sort of right, you're in the top 10% of bards on the server.

[Jify]

Someone called? Bard Pro here!

Every bard in our guild twists actively, 3-4 songs. Who are you raiding with mmiles8?

I picked High Elf because they are well balanced, and put my points into STR/DEX so I could wear plate full-time at lower lvls. Looking back, it was a dumb move. Put your points into STA, any left over go into DEX.

Focus on your instruments first, get the good ones. HP/DEX gear next. Extra DEX means less missed notes, HP gear means you don't die like a wizard holding a lute. CHA used to be helpful for maintaining long charms, no sure how helpful it is anymore, I don't charm kite like I used too.

For Weapons, I went too three extremes. High Damage, High Delay. Low damage, Low delay. or Proc Dmg, low damage, high delay. High Damage/Delay works great if you've got high haste. Low damage/delay is just plain fun! And Proc dmg weapons are just wicked for taunt! I'm a bit of an odd ball, I push my AC over 900 and tank from time to time. :)

Just give Doug or Jify a tell in game if you need a hand. Alternatively, Jete, Gwence, Tunes, Cymbal, etc. are all pro-bards and would love to help you out! :)

Cheers!

[Arkis]

Lol Doug: You're a half elf not a high elf ;). Also my name is Tones!...Jerk! :(

Pretty much what everyone else said but:

Tanking:

If you're going to group and there ends up not being a tank, make sure to have a Staff of Writhing at higher levels. That staff + snares and mezzes will make you king of aggro. I've tanked easily for BR, Ass/Sup, and Royals while CCing. In fact, due to my late playtimes (and the server's lack of tanks back when I was leveling) I ended up tanking royals from most of 45-50. Just got to make sure to hold a lot of the aggro with AE slows/snares/mezzes + a charm if you feel like it. If you can find a tank, though, would be less strain on you.

[guineapig]

I play a tanking bard... mostly out of necessity (cause there is never a tank around when we need one).

Staff of Writhing + obsidian Dagger in the offhand.
Snare/slow song at the beginning and end of the fight.

That's pretty much all you need to keep aggro on just about anything. If some caster gets super silly aggro somehow then just chain mez the mob you are attacking.

Otherwise, damage shield song is a good idea to make your DPS look better (since our DPS is generally shite compared to every other dual-wielding class.

Tanking is very doable in classic as long as you aren't taking on mobs above the mid 30's. In other words we can handle Solb Kobolds and Lguk bedroom-ass/sup area.
After that you start to become a bit of a drain on the clerics unless you are able to consistently pull singles and have everything perma-slowed during the fight.

I don't think you will be hitting 900 AC without raid gear so I wouldn't make this a goal till you are already level 50 and looking for something to do.

[guineapig]

Last thing... The toughest part about tanking is when you are also pulling, crowd control and the only source of mana regen. That's gets a little stressful.

[Fryhole]

Some newb solo advice: at level 8, you can learn stringed instruments. Grab a lute, and instrument swap when you play chords of dissonance. It'll kick the damage up to 8/tick instead of 4. You only need the instrument in your 2ndary slot when the song plays - after that, equip your weapon. You can also do it for the regen song, but that's a lot of weapon swapping. It might just save your life though. (using Sarok's velious UI w/extra pack makes this easier - unless someone knows of a macro to equip/unequip)

[Lazortag]

Alright so I am going to try a Bard since everyone says they are a pretty hard class to play and when I did a /who all Bard 30 50 in game, I saw 1 level 32 Bard online lol.

However, I don't know much about Bards at all, only that "Twisting is super hard and Bard is not good for players who aren't pro". So I was wondering if some of you could give me some basic info / tips and or advice for playing one. I've got some friends on here who can help out with some money / gear so I am not too worried about that.



I was thinking of doing Wood Elf or Half Elf, how should I do my starting stats?

What kind of gear do I get for a Bard? HP/Mana stuff? Str stuff? Cha stuff?

What type of weapons should I try and find?


Im sure Ill have more questions but I think Ill leave it at this for now and see how many people respond, Thanks!

I came onto P99 having only played a noob DE shadowknight waaay back in 2001. I decided being a Bard looked fun from knowing nothing but what I knew from grouping with them. Over time I learned all the tricks that separate the men from the boys, it just wasn't that hard to figure out. So long as you don't put your starting stats into Wisdom (lol) you'll probably be fine. The game is more enjoyable when you're figuring things out for yourself (this is all meant non-offensively etc., I'm just suggesting what I think is more fun and trying to show that playing a Bard really isn't very stressful. Most of the advice in this thread is good except for anything that says anything negative about Bards).

Also, one more thing: bards are a ridiculously powerful class both grouping and soloing. They can't solo things at the same speed as a Necro or a Mage but that's almost made up for by the fact that they can break camps better, and they have tools for CCing and other failsafes for things get rough. Really if you want to have a lot of variety and a very flexible range of play-styles, Bards are amazing for you. The class has allowed me to really explore and appreciate the game a lot more easily than any other class would have.

[Savok]

As an eleven+ year Bard vet all I can say is: hp, hp, hp, HP, HP! for classic. Go Sta for as much as you can and then either dex, agi or cha depending on your starting race. Resists and other stats are secondary if you sing the right songs. I played Half Elf but I really wished I had gone Wood Elf back in the day.

Bards are the least dependent class on gear. The only thing you need to get are good instruments as said above and learn how to twist songs and instruments as needed, your groups productivity will fly. Remember to try to fill your role around the group that you join - your the jack of all trades, master of none. As a stand alone your very weak but you make groups shine. Learn which songs stack and which best fit the class of each member of the group.

Take time out of groups to learn about proximity pulling as well as lull splitting from lvl 8 and how to best use the faction song from level 11, it will make you invaluable for groups later on.

[wc4482]

What good is the faction song from level 11?

[Savok]

Cinda's Charismatic Carillon (http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=708&source=Live). Social mobs generally all share the same faction - I'll let you work anymore out.

[Waedawen]

you only saw 1 bard in you /who cuz all the cool kids are /role or /anon
it gives you superpowers i hear

qft.

[pinedepain]

Here are my advices. Some may or may not agree with me though hehe.

- Always twist 4 songs. If you're timing is very good, you have 4 song up with no problems, why would you twist 3 when you can do 4? Plus you get to train yourself to always twist 4, which is equal to 4 mob mezzed in case.

- As a few saids, put everything in HP/STA. You can become a good tank with a full HP/AC/STA stuff, others stats will raise themselves with the gear. Of course with a full charisma stuff you'll get less resists. But, when you'll get a lull resist on a room populated of 4 mobs, you sure wanna be a good tank to have the time to mezz 3 and fight the 4th one. A living bard who does not pump the cleric mana every fight is a more useful bard than the one who'll die on the first resist too many times in raid. (HP is the raid stat imo).

- Speaking of mezzing 3 and fighting the 4th one with a song up, yes you can! Here's the trick. When you cast a song on target A, you can already switch to target B to attack it while your song is still casting, and you're song will land on target A! Here's an exemple of a fight with 3 mobs (Mob A, B and C). Considering you're not in range to attack target A and B, otherwise you'll have to turn off autoattack during the targeting/cast.

/target A, /cast mezz, /target C, when the mezz casting is done --> /target B, /cast mezz, /target C, /cast song2, /cast song3, /target A, /cast mezz, /target C, etc ....

This way you can have 2 song up and 2 mob mezzed while you fight the last one. Pretty useful.

- In contradiction with what a few said. You'll wanna to have the best DPS and (of course aggro if you wanna tank) you can with your weapons. Why? Take the fight exemple with mobs A, B and C. Considering you have a HP/STA stuff and good DPS weaps, you just ownZ the last fight, alone or with a healer. The charisma will be raised by your stuff, so you won't get that many resist if you don't fight too hard mobs.

- In case you're in trouble during a fight, just mezz and heal. Once you're ready, go on with the fight.

- Always fight in "User Defined Camera" (3rd person view). This way you can fight and CC without any trouble (and running around the fight area to target the mobs) + you get to see the adds/pops coming and mezz them asap. The bonus of not running around to target the mobs, is that you can still fight while mezzing.

- Put your Primary/Secondary hand and you're bag of instrument in hotkeys bar. And always have you're bag open at any time. This way you can switch very fast.

- Have a very accessible key assigned to 1st person view and to the "User Defined Camera" to switch between those 2 views very fast.

To finish, I'd say that switching between this 2 views with the CC+Fight+Song (target trick) is the key to play your class well. It will rely on your skill and fight intelligence to be a good bard or a Maestro. And trust me, the difference between those 2 sort of bard is HUGE!

Feel free to ask if something isn't clear :).

PS : As I said, and as I already saw this many many times, I think a few bard won't agree with everything I said, but we can have a different play style and still be kind and comprehensive to each other :).

Bard is THE class IMO :D

[Savok]

I agree, how you play your bard is very conditional on the person behind it. Some like to pull, some cc, some tank etc - it is THE most versatile class out there.

Have fun!

[azeth]

ban plz

edit: not me, him ^ :)

[Bubbles]

After spending some time on Seafury Island in OOT and Rathe Mtns, I must say that:

no, no I have not seen any "pro" bards.

I have seen plenty of "Heads up! Bard Faggotry INC from your left" in group chat.. But no, no "pro" bards.

Would be nice to just hand every one of them out a gold medal in beating the slowest FPS in gaming history and be done with it, but no, instead we have twink bards. Honestly, if there's 9 seafuries on the island, per se, and it takes you 30 minutes to kill 3, most of which time you spend running to other camps /yelling for help, just quit while you're behind, PLEASE. You're basically griefing spawns, picking the slowest possible way to level, and, in your own inept way, are fighting server-wide inflation by keeping seafuries alive as long as humanly possible and depriving the 57 million mages, druids and necros the chance to cash in on plat over in OOT.

P.S. As long as we're on the OOT subject, if you're a full party consisting of mid-30s melee, you can toss all the throwing stars you want at a clops, it's gonna be dead by the time you convince it to twaddle back to your group. Once again, it ain't an XP spot, and I'm sorry you didnt think to bring a porting class in your PARTY OF SIX.... But Seafurys are one of the like 5 places for 44+ to solo and earn plat while surfing for porn. Your merry band of mid-thirties can pick from Mistmoore, SolA, SolB, GukA/B, Paw, Unrest, Rathe, Feerrot, CT, and too many other effing places to waste energy typing out. Use a little common sense. At the very least go grief the idiots who think the Oasis specs are the best XP spot ever, at least THEY have nearby options if they give up to your inteptitude, they can hop right over to Guk or SolB or Rathe... The high levels in OOT are basically stuck out there watching your 8 backpacks of throwing stars and arrows rain slow plinkity death upon their dreams of shiny things.

But yeah, the bards piss me off far, far more.

[Savok]

ban plz

edit: not me, him ^ :)

Hmm..?

[azeth]

Hmm..?

wasnt you, the board mod removed a chat that was between yours and mine. Was a WoW ad bot.

[Tehwoot]

I am so excited to see this server, I have not played EQ in years and will most likely be rolling a Bard like I played in Kunark / Velious. I probably wont be much help though in regards to the class as to its been about 8 or so years since I have played EQ :-x

[Calamitous Oeuvre]

haah bubbles, get over yourself man.

[Bubbles]

haah bubbles, get over yourself man.

I'm good for one rant a month. Today was that day =P.

[JayDee]

After spending some time on Seafury Island in OOT and Rathe Mtns, I must say that:

no, no I have not seen any "pro" bards.

I have seen plenty of "Heads up! Bard Faggotry INC from your left" in group chat.. But no, no "pro" bards.

Would be nice to just hand every one of them out a gold medal in beating the slowest FPS in gaming history and be done with it, but no, instead we have twink bards. Honestly, if there's 9 seafuries on the island, per se, and it takes you 30 minutes to kill 3, most of which time you spend running to other camps /yelling for help, just quit while you're behind, PLEASE. You're basically griefing spawns, picking the slowest possible way to level, and, in your own inept way, are fighting server-wide inflation by keeping seafuries alive as long as humanly possible and depriving the 57 million mages, druids and necros the chance to cash in on plat over in OOT.

P.S. As long as we're on the OOT subject, if you're a full party consisting of mid-30s melee, you can toss all the throwing stars you want at a clops, it's gonna be dead by the time you convince it to twaddle back to your group. Once again, it ain't an XP spot, and I'm sorry you didnt think to bring a porting class in your PARTY OF SIX.... But Seafurys are one of the like 5 places for 44+ to solo and earn plat while surfing for porn. Your merry band of mid-thirties can pick from Mistmoore, SolA, SolB, GukA/B, Paw, Unrest, Rathe, Feerrot, CT, and too many other effing places to waste energy typing out. Use a little common sense. At the very least go grief the idiots who think the Oasis specs are the best XP spot ever, at least THEY have nearby options if they give up to your inteptitude, they can hop right over to Guk or SolB or Rathe... The high levels in OOT are basically stuck out there watching your 8 backpacks of throwing stars and arrows rain slow plinkity death upon their dreams of shiny things.

But yeah, the bards piss me off far, far more.

#1 If bards want to kite seafuries for hours, that is their business. Infact, it might be one of the easiest ways for one to make cash at that level.

#2 The aggro system is fucked on this server making bards way less effective. Maybe that is why you haven't seen any "pro bards."

#3 Stop being a whiny bitch :p

[Serin]

She's right, bards suck on this server..

I can't go 1 hr without seeing 3 bards running around in full lambent.

For your information: Lambent is an ingenious set of armor for bards, because it reflects the class perfectly.. Multi-purposed. You don't use every song in every situation, and you don't use every piece of lambent in every situation. (it's kinda like cooking, ex: I like beef, it's a good flavor, but beef ice cream would be a bit much.)

Honestly, everybody who says CHA is a relevant stat for bards, has Absolutely no idea what they're talking about..

Parse it some time.. 100 lulls with base cha, and 100 lulls with 200+ cha.. there's a less than 5% difference in resist rate.. Whoopty doo!

Go hp/sta/ac for gear. It may look strange, but it works well..

Always Remember:
A live bard is a good bard.

[Arkis]

She's right, bards suck on this server..

I can't go 1 hr without seeing 3 bards running around in full lambent.

For your information: Lambent is an ingenious set of armor for bards, because it reflects the class perfectly.. Multi-purposed. You don't use every song in every situation, and you don't use every piece of lambent in every situation. (it's kinda like cooking, ex: I like beef, it's a good flavor, but beef ice cream would be a bit much.)

Honestly, everybody who says CHA is a relevant stat for bards, has Absolutely no idea what they're talking about..

Parse it some time.. 100 lulls with base cha, and 100 lulls with 200+ cha.. there's a less than 5% difference in resist rate.. Whoopty doo!

Go hp/sta/ac for gear. It may look strange, but it works well..

Always Remember:
A live bard is a good bard.

I like the first half of what you said, spot on. Bards are jack of all trades (and master of some). However, I would argue that cha IS important. The 5% resist rate could mean the greater ice bones would either all come and you may or may not wipe.

IMO bards should have a few sets of armor for varied situations. I always had a +cha set for when I needed to really break a spawn up. HP gear was great for when I needed to tank. Resist if you're going to raid.

Also, what's up with the flaming guys? =P This is a post asking advice, let's stop shitting all over it.

[erasser]

Focus on HP / AC / STA / Resist gear (for raids). CHA is barely used and overrated.

[MiRo2]

After spending some time on Seafury Island in OOT and Rathe Mtns, I must say that:

no, no I have not seen any "pro" bards.

I have seen plenty of "Heads up! Bard Faggotry INC from your left" in group chat.. But no, no "pro" bards.

Would be nice to just hand every one of them out a gold medal in beating the slowest FPS in gaming history and be done with it, but no, instead we have twink bards. Honestly, if there's 9 seafuries on the island, per se, and it takes you 30 minutes to kill 3, most of which time you spend running to other camps /yelling for help, just quit while you're behind, PLEASE. You're basically griefing spawns, picking the slowest possible way to level, and, in your own inept way, are fighting server-wide inflation by keeping seafuries alive as long as humanly possible and depriving the 57 million mages, druids and necros the chance to cash in on plat over in OOT.


As a bard who has kited seafuries in OoT, I can say
-I have yet to had to run to another group/person to ask for help
-I have yet to take longer than 7 minutes to kill any seafury
-I can kill two seafuries in the same time it would take me to kill one, three if I had Jboots or SoW.
-I may kill slower than a mage, druid, or necro in battle time, but my lack of downtime, allows me to kill more in an hour than 70% of the ones I encounter.

So why can't a level 50 bard be afforded the same opportunities at earning cash a mage/druid/necro has?

[Bubbles]

As a bard who has kited seafuries in OoT, I can say
-I have yet to had to run to another group/person to ask for help
-I have yet to take longer than 7 minutes to kill any seafury
-I can kill two seafuries in the same time it would take me to kill one, three if I had Jboots or SoW.
-I may kill slower than a mage, druid, or necro in battle time, but my lack of downtime, allows me to kill more in an hour than 70% of the ones I encounter.

So why can't a level 50 bard be afforded the same opportunities at earning cash a mage/druid/necro has?

I have no issues with a level 50 doing it at all. I wasn't speaking to you specifically. I'm not saying boot bards out of OOT and Rathe, etc. We're talking about the level 35 blueberries who twinked up their bard alt and head to high traffic areas to live out their fantasies.

I would like to apologize for one thing, i got my threads mixed up and thought this was in R&F, which was were my 2 cents belonged in the first place. So sorry for derailing a normal gen pop thread. ;)