Bard Soloing
 

I played a bard on live, but i never did any kiting, i always grouped. I would like to get into kiting, of all the different types. I have read that it doesn't work the same as live, but that won't deter me from playing my favorite class.

I leveled up to 8 by fighting and grouping, is it possible to start kiting at 8? My attempts haven't been very successful (3 deaths without any kills.). Would a high level bard teach me the kiting methods?

Thanks, i read that already and its helpful. But i was hoping i could get some in game assistance from an experienced kiter.

EDIT: Been working on it and im getting better. Helps to have SoW than try to Selo's. (4 Deaths with no kills yet, but im doing better.)
EDIT2: Died again making it 5 so far.
EDIT3: We should really have class forums on here. =D

Once you have selo's and a lute, you should be able to use the level 2 AOE with the lute equipped to do mad damage while not taking any, using the method linked by Tseng. I'm not sure when you learn stringed instruments though, but I'm sure it's at most level 8, so you should be good.

PS: You don't have to be swapping instruments constantly, because I think Selo's with a lute equipped is enough to outrun most mobs.

PPS: This is just one method of kiting that Bards can do on this server. Later you get a Fear song that allows you to fear kite with little to no downtime.

Also I forgot to add that you should be using the regen song if you ever take damage (but you shouldn't be taking damage ideally)

Yeah im still working on not taking damage, i have to get REALLY close for it to hit.

At worst, you should be exchanging one round of hits for an application of your DoT, which if you play regen song while running, should put you ahead.

Just remember not to get greedy - start by kiting a few mobs, so you can reliably exchange hits for the DoT application and live. EXP loss is worse than slow EXP gain.

My first successful AOE kiting was with the bandits in West Karana. If I remember correctly, un-drummed Selo's wasn't fast enough to outrun the mobs until level 10 or 11. Before then, I had tried keeping a drummed Selo's going while veering in, switching to the lute, and hitting the mobs with a dot, but I wasn't too successful because I always had to turn really sharply to get in range, and it seemed like I always got hit. Once I hit 10 or 11 I was able to more closely match my run speed with the mobs' run speed, and I got much better results. Something I had thought about doing, but never tried, was encumbering myself a little to fine-tune my speed. No idea if it would work or not.

Also, AOE kiting seems to work a lot better on mobs with small models. Humanoids and dogs, and sometimes cats I can kite without taking a hit. Snakes seem iffy. Large spiders and beetles hit me every time. Whenever you go to a new area, try your kite with one mob to test the waters before you grab a train of unholy death.

Ok thanks. Any suggestions where to kite at level 7?

I like that you started this thread at level 8 and now you're asking for suggestions for level 7 kiting :)

The Mobs hit you from like 100 feet away, its really really hard to kite and not get hit.