Just rolled a Bard

[dv8er2]

Hi,

New to P1999, but not new to EQ. I loved this game back during these expansions, so giving it a go. Started in Freeport as it is close to the EC tunnel and I figured this would be a good place to get it going. Any tips pointers thoughts you might have would be appreciated!

Thank you,
Tuzu

[Toomuch]

Learn how to swarm kite! Well, this is a bit of a misnomer, but I haven't gotten people to catch on and call it what it was called on Live (AE kiting). OG "Swarm kiting" (charming a mob in a train and letting the rest of the mobs in your train kick it's ass, breaking charm before it dies) doesn't exist on P99, because your pet won't keep agro.

After that, well, learn the zones if you don't know them yet, and learn where you should be at for your level.

Have fun. :)

[Borak]

Since you're new to the server, you won't have alts to buy you stuff. Freeport is a good starting point, because soon enough, at level 8, you'll have to travel to Kelethin to buy spells. Kelethin has all the mind control spells (lull at level 8, faction improvement song at 11, AE mez at 15, not to mention the 26 thru 28 songs that give you great power thru fear, charm and single target mez). If you can get a port to Butcherblock, great. If not, take the boat at the docks at level 8 to Butcherblock, run to Kelethin and try to buy the lvl 8, 11 and 15 songs before heading back to Freeport, if you intend not to stay.

You won't need to travel to Erudin for songs often, but they do have all the "vision" songs. Specifically you'll want the invis song at 19 and the bind sight song at 34. By the time you're close to using the invis song you'll probably have enough plat to waste on a port to Toxxulia Forest to get those spells.

One important note: the lvl 15 AE mez song is literally a 1 tick song. When you stop singing it, the mobs will wake up on the very next server tick. That means, when you find you have to use it, you have to keep using it until the mobs are dead or you are dead. That also means, you become the tank and the healers have to heal you or you die and then, everyone else dies. The level 28 single target mez lasts 3 ticks (up to 18 seconds) so don't use the AE mez after you get that song.

There's plenty more tips, but those are the first that come to mind.

[Saisu]

Here are 3 tips I can share from my recent experience of joining P99 and leveling 1-55 as a Bard:

1. Take care of your fingers and wrist! When twisting, you’ll be doing a ton of clicking. Add in any instrument swapping, and a long EXP session can put a lot of strain on your hands. Take breaks, stretch out your hands, and just be aware that some people have developed carpal tunnel due to the stress. Very early on I put in a /stopsong, /cast macro on all my songs to effectively cut my keystrokes in half (so I don’t have to quickly double-click). It adds some delay, but in practice I’ve found I’m at 95% effectiveness for only 50% of the clicks. Stay healthy and don’t mess up your body! Probably the #1 reason I’ve seen people either dismiss playing Bard or why they quit.

2. Remember that while Bards are listed as “melee”, if you expect to face tank mobs and do a lot of melee damage, you’ll likely be disappointed. It can be done, but I find little fun in it compared to the amazing and fun toolbox Bards have to do other things (charm, crowd control, amplify a group, fear kite, dots, etc). There’s room for melee, but if you mostly want to hit things with weapons, you may have more fun on another class.

3. While kiting large trains of mobs in circles and slowly AoEing them down is in fact amazing and quick experience, and everyone will recommend you learn and do it - don’t get sucked into soloing 1-60 by doing lonely circles in an endless grind. I’ve gone 1-55 without doing a single AoE kite, because I found it wasn’t what I was looking for in my EQ experience. I’ve stuck to a bunch of groups (learning how to do crowd control, how to split camps, and how to pull), and I’ve done some interesting more risky soloing with charm (spell casters in tight corridors). Bards are amazing solo, but don’t forget to experience the social aspects of a fun group, or gathering up a party to dive deep into a dungeon.

I hope these experiences help you have a great fun time on your Bard, and welcome!

[Budder]

This is a friendly server with lots of good people. You won’t find a lot of immature jerks like on wow. Sure theirs the occasional shit head but for the most part it’s awesome. Have fun! I have a 10 Ranger around East commons named maideniron. Hit me up!