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-   -   Are Bards strong enough/sturdy enough to solo in melee combat? (/forums/showthread.php?t=360163)

Loadsamoney 05-29-2020 05:06 PM

Are Bards strong enough/sturdy enough to solo in melee combat?
 
Obviously they don't put out much DPS, their role in a group is mainly support oriented, but I spend more time soloing then partying, and I don't like the kind of soloing a Bard typically does, the kind involving fear-kiting a dozen mobs and being instantly dead if one catches up to you and stuns you. I prefer going toe to toe with enemies one at a time generally.

Obviously this isn't the optimal way to play the class, but it's what I prefer. So, assuming a Bard is decently geared with a Haste item, HP boosters and solid weapons, and actively twists, can said Bard go toe to toe with enemies like High Keep Guards and Geonids in CC, and win the day without having a ton of downtime after a single fight?

Adron 05-29-2020 05:52 PM

yes. I have a 51 bard who has melee'd his way up. I'm stuck gold farming at the moment for my next upgrade, but i can tell you that being at the haste cap makes up for no double attack. I'm sure i have better str than a human tank would normally have (235 with the right song), though not up to ogre warr standards by any means.
Not having block/parry/riposte seems to be more than made up by the slow song.
My twink level: 34% haste belt, fungy, 2 10/18 weapons. everything else is ac/hp/str, basically a 500plat/slot build except for fungi and weapons. oh, and lute of the howler str stacks with your song str. yay! my 10/18 main hand maxes at 59 dmg at lev 51.
Fungi + lute + 2 heal songs make downtime lower than anything I've ever played, though i've not twinked a monk yet.
RNG kicking your ass? fear, or kite.
I compared 3 options for killing a blue HG at 50: melee, with 4 songs (haste, slow, 2 dots), drum (walrus) with 3 dots + slow in tank mode (to do full dot dmg), drum with 3 dots and slow in kite mode. Melee was about 15 seconds /kill shorter than drum tanking, same down time, 35 seconds shorter than drum kite, but with a 8 tic recovery average over 10 giants, before being ready for the next.
So go for it if you have a fungi. Probably can still do it without the fungi, maybe fear/snare/haste/dot for lower downtime.

Loadsamoney 05-29-2020 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adron (Post 3136789)
yes. I have a 51 bard who has melee'd his way up. I'm stuck gold farming at the moment for my next upgrade, but i can tell you that being at the haste cap makes up for no double attack. I'm sure i have better str than a human tank would normally have (235 with the right song), though not up to ogre warr standards by any means.
Not having block/parry/riposte seems to be more than made up by the slow song.
My twink level: 34% haste belt, fungy, 2 10/18 weapons. everything else is ac/hp/str, basically a 500plat/slot build except for fungi and weapons. oh, and lute of the howler str stacks with your song str. yay! my 10/18 main hand maxes at 59 dmg at lev 51.
Fungi + lute + 2 heal songs make downtime lower than anything I've ever played, though i've not twinked a monk yet.
RNG kicking your ass? fear, or kite.
I compared 3 options for killing a blue HG at 50: melee, with 4 songs (haste, slow, 2 dots), drum (walrus) with 3 dots + slow in tank mode (to do full dot dmg), drum with 3 dots and slow in kite mode. Melee was about 15 seconds /kill shorter than drum tanking, same down time, 35 seconds shorter than drum kite, but with a 8 tic recovery average over 10 giants, before being ready for the next.
So go for it if you have a fungi. Probably can still do it without the fungi, maybe fear/snare/haste/dot for lower downtime.

Ideally I'd be twisting Haste, DoT, and Regen while fighting, maybe a second dot or a slow if Twisting 4 is doable without dropping a song. I also forgot that Fear Kiting is a thing for Bards. So I can Snare one, Fear it, then beat it to death without it ever hitting me or running away. So that should work against Guards and Geodes.

Bards do get Parry, Dodge and Riposte too. They're just not very high.

Sounds good though. I'm cycling through my weapon options right now, but likely I'd be using Guardian Mace and Breath of Harmony. Symphonic Saber would be good as well.

Adron 05-29-2020 06:11 PM

twisting 4 is not easy when blue mobs are bashing you a lot. Also, i get a lot of missed notes with str/hp/ac build vs dex, which some people say does not matter, but certainly matters at my dex (I can't even remember, can't be more than 110).

Loadsamoney 05-29-2020 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adron (Post 3136797)
twisting 4 is not easy when blue mobs are bashing you a lot. Also, i get a lot of missed notes with str/hp/ac build vs dex, which some people say does not matter, but certainly matters at my dex (I can't even remember, can't be more than 110).

Personally I never really knew how to spread my stats as a Bard. I set Dex and Cha to 100 and put 5 into Sta to get it to 75 and not have a supposed penalty.

I can just stick to 3 then. Haste, DoT, and Slow, and use Regen after battle to top up.

ChooChoo Train 05-29-2020 06:35 PM

You can single target dot fear kite and kill all kinds of things this way much safer and faster than meleeing. Soloing bards/nobles in highkeep is easy this Way starting at lvl 46. Bards melee is very lacking and you will be very disappointed in doing this (unless you have an epic of course)

Loadsamoney 05-29-2020 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChooChoo Train (Post 3136823)
You can single target dot fear kite and kill all kinds of things this way much safer and faster than meleeing. Soloing bards/nobles in highkeep is easy this Way starting at lvl 46. Bards melee is very lacking and you will be very disappointed in doing this (unless you have an epic of course)

Which I'm told the Bard epic is one of the hardest and most expensive ones to get.

ChooChoo Train 05-29-2020 06:48 PM

If it doesn’t summon it’s super easy to kill as bard - on green I have no problems soloing in SolB or felwithe guards(harder than Highkeep nobles), etc without charming or swarming(although it’s fun to do as well) being a bard is like a game in itself lol. It’s a great class to farm pure plat or sell PLs, great on raids and groups too. If you want just a melee class with low downtime I’d suggest a monk.

Loadsamoney 05-29-2020 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChooChoo Train (Post 3136829)
If it doesn’t summon it’s super easy to kill as bard - on green I have no problems soloing in SolB or felwithe guards(harder than Highkeep nobles), etc without charming or swarming(although it’s fun to do as well) being a bard is like a game in itself lol. It’s a great class to farm pure plat or sell PLs, great on raids and groups too. If you want just a melee class with low downtime I’d suggest a monk.

Melee is one part of it, I want to have versatility and be able to do many things. Heal/support, charm, fear, kite, buff, melee when needed, solo, group and raid. And have easy money farming too.

I actually hate played specialized classes like Wizard, Rogue, etc. I much prefer hybrids that can fill a wide variety of roles. Versatility and flexibility over specialization.

In other words, I prefer to be able to do a bunch of things decently instead of doing one thing great and sucking at everything else.

ChooChoo Train 05-29-2020 07:45 PM

Ench/shm/necro/brd all have very large toolkits


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