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

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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?