Bard or Ranger?
 

Given the current state of velious, with the upcoming patch that both classes are getting benefits from which would you recommend?

I will be moderately twinking with a fungi/seahorse belt and a few other goodies. I want to solo mostly but with the option to group as well.

Does a charming bard run oom quickly? Is fear kiting animals 50+ tolerable?

Bard charm only costs mana for the lvl 39 one. The mana free one charms up to lvl 37.

When I back to back charm at 50+, I can probably kill things for over an hour before oom.

Then you can always fear kite or straight ae kite.

If solo is a focus, while ranger can do it okay (especially early on with fungi), it simply wont hold a candle to bard solo later on.

Ranger will have the easier to acquire epic between the two classes, if that's a consideration for you. Both classes epics are pretty badass tho

Bard v Ranger; A question as old as time!

https://www.project1999.com/forums/p...d.php?t=269172
(Who is tanker)

https://www.project1999.com/forums/p...d.php?t=269172
(Can't decide)


The truth is it depends on what you want to do with it. I know my Ranger was great fun once I got him to 55 with his epics and clicky 50% haste. Even without a fungi he just steadily churned through mobs and surprised me by the things he could solo (frenzied velium broodling and iceburrowers especially).

Question: do you really believe the last patch is really ever going to come?

It would be nice to take another char to 60 besides my enchanter. I usually end up quitting around lvl 50. Seems like rangers take a major power turn in the mid 50s when you start to acquire gear.

Interestingly I posted a “best overall class at 60” thread in all aspects of the game and ranger had the most votes with bard coming in 2nd.

I've been thinking about starting up a bard. Not sure I can stomach the amount of keypresses though. When grouping with bards, I have noticed SUCH a difference in group effectiveness while playing with a great bard versus a poorly-played bard. That makes me want to try one.

They are such fundamentally different classes. It really depends on what you want.

Tanking: bards do it more effectively. Higher ac. Comparable defensive skills in total but favors the bard. Both have trivial aggro. Ranger will contribute more damage in this role but bard brings on demand (not proc) slow and bard adds more to the group total in the form of OP health/mana regen. For this it’s a toss up.

Pulling: if outdoors ranger harmony is almost game-breakingly overpowered. Bards pull equally well in all environments. They do fine outside and equally fine inside.

Offense: ranger is going to win. A bard CAN twist very solid dps on normal targets with dots but only does so at the expense of giving up everything else good about the bard. If the group has no sham or ench a bard will add more total dps to the group than a ranger by adding much needed haste. Rangers generally just dominate bards here. Bards are poor melee dps and twisting dots for medium tier damage output negates what bards actually do best. It’s just not worth it.

Group support: in general, this favors the bard. Mez/lull/snare/charm/haste/hpregen/manaregen ... the list goes on and on. Rangers bring some notable stuff that bards just don’t like longer duration snare/DS and sow. It depends on the group but in general the bard wins out mightily.

Solo: whether aoe dot kiting or charming, bards are amongst the fastest solo levelers. From 55 up to 60 I could chain charm for an hour or more before oom. Depending on the number of mobs it’s possible to tread water and not lose mana. If charming I’d usually just plan on a really long afk periodically to get mana back. Rangers are capable soloers but it’s going to involve down time. If it summons or you can’t snare/root it you’re stuck with what you can reliably survive toe to toe.

Gameplay: ranger are simply fun all day long. It’s as hardcore or as relaxed as you want to play and always a blast. Bards are fun too ... but it’s very ... very busy work. If you’re boarding well you’re always doing a thing and hat can get tedious. Have a relaxing alt to play on standby.

It’s hard to answer this question. Though there is obvious overlap the actual purpose for each is so different that you can’t compare them directly.

What do you want to accomplish with this toon?

Nice write up. I want a class that’s fun at level 60. I have an enchanter but at 60 he was extremely boring IMO between raiding and not really able to help anyone else out except casting C.

I’m leaning towards ranger though, I just think I’d get sick of twisting after 50 levels or so. And the idea of having a solid melee class that’s not a monk with utility is appealing

I play my bard in raid doing the usual roles (cleric mana battery or DPS buffer) but one fun thing is to play insurance. Bard insurance comes in two types, single target and AE. In hard encounters, there is often a speed bump in between tanks, but the nice thing with a geared bard is that you can speed bump or straight out tank it if a main tank goes down (really, this is only up to vindi as tougher velious targets simply hit too hard).

Ive somewhat often finished tanking vindi (once from about 20% to kill) if the tank eats enrage on accident or other issues occur (every so often pump an aggro song in, but balance it so that you never steal it whil MT still alive). Bards also just make the best enrage tanks as they dont need to attack at all to generate massive amounts of aggro.

Breaking into planes (PoH specifically) is fun as a bard if a swarm comes in or even in places like hot or where mobs can swarm in. Keep 54 ae aggro song up with disc, as no other class can generate AE aggro and stay alive for any decent period like a bard can. Especially if a PoH pull goes south, you can use song to aggro 25 mobs and hit up your frontal disc to tank 25 mobs at once for 10 secs while everyone else camps.

Just, be aware you will never show up on DPS boards if you're into that.

Raiding rangers will fall into DPS (great if geared), speed bump, CotP buff, or DT eater basically.

I can appreciate what a bard does, but having great dps on a ranger and being more active if I want to in groups is more appealing to me. Also with the next patch coming, should make them even more viable group tanks than they are now with the right gear.