I assumed dot damage with drums is better than melee unless you have some really good weapons and item haste.

Plus advantage is you can do two dots, snare, and fear while reverse kiting or if the mob runs a bit too far twist in a 3rd dot and snare kite it back.

I’ve only done this in the low 50’s in HK and Grobb but found I was getting less hurt, killing about the same speed, and had drums already equipped for a fast get-away. Plus easy click to lute to top off hps after the kill.

I have 22% Haste Item Silver Chitin Hand Wraps, and these weapons:

https://wiki.project1999.com/Di%27zok_Wristsnapper
https://wiki.project1999.com/Guardians_Mace

I played around with a twinked out melee bard up to high 40's and it's surprisingly effective. I had fungi, 36% haste cloak, 10/18 mh with 12/20 offhand, rest of the gear was focused around ac/str/hp. Between self haste, slow/snare, melee buffs, hp regen, selos you get a lot that makes up for the lack of raw damage that a war or monk has.

On my Bard on green melee damage is much, much less than instrument-enhanced song damage.

Only way I can figure it's worthwhile is with severe twinking.

Bards don't get a okay taste of melee until the end of Velious. Oct 8, 2001

I just updated several pages on the wiki via the patch notes information. so I can say this with confidence

Anyone have tips on killing indoors? Is charming effective for a bard? I guess fear kiting is not an option. Any links to videos would be awesome as well.

Charm is extremely effective indoors. If for some reason you're restricted to one mob, snare + drum dots is fine, just run a really small circle! Or, you know, as a group master enhancer, you could like not solo and just make everybody else better.

Charm and fear + snare + 3 drum dots are both extremely viable indoor killing strats, at 50 3 drum dots on a feared mob does more dmg than envenomed bolt. Fear only lasts 18 seconds so if you bring back to your starting point the mob doesn’t go very far. Charming is very awesome even though for some reason we don’t get our lvl 39 classic charm song so once mobs reach lvl 38+ you have to rely on drum dots to solo. I could see a bard making it to 50osh twinked on blue just meleeing if that’s what you want to do. After that you will have to use the power of your songs if you want to solo play effectively(without mezzing and regening mid fights).

So, I'm just about ready to start my Bard, got almost all of his gear assembled (just missing a Sarnak Backstabber and a spare Chipped Velium Amulet) and was planning on starting him when my Paladin dings 50. I would continue to level him on my own time when I feel like torturing myself (45 has been miserable), and play the Bard as an alt when my chosen camps are unavailable.

This is my Bards starting gear:

Di'zok Wristsnapper
Guardian's Mace
Sarnak Backstabber
Crested Helmet
Crested Spaulders
Sarnak Hide Mask
Brigandine Tunic
Black Ice Leggings
Dwarven Work Boots
Silver Chitin Hand Wraps
Hero's Bracer
Kylong Wrist Guards
Vambraces of Avoidance
Dire Wolf-Hide Cloak
Crystalline Belt
Chipped Velium Amulet
Orc Fang Earring x2
Velium Fire Wedding Ring x2

So basically it's a mishmash of low-mid quality armor, but lots of HP, two weapons over 0.50 ratios, and a Haste item.

At 50 I plan to retire the Sarnak Backstabber, put the Wristsnapper in my Range slot and main a Breath of Harmony. I should probably get a Symphonic Saber as well, both for 50 group play and for training 1hSlashing.

Is this gear sufficient to get me to 60 prior to Thurgadin/Planar armor, or will I need to invest in upgrades along the way?

And just to clarify, Lambent is not worth the investment?

Bards can get to 60 naked. Lambent isn’t necessary, your main focus should be acquiring the best drum possible, and potentially a singingsteel bp or other static regen. do some plate cycles to get thurg plate gear eventually.