Bard Info for Newbs
 

Thank you whoever posted the macro listed below for twisting songs, made me go create a Bard. Sure there are more bad ass bards that do the 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,etc. I'm just not that hard core, and besides 90% of the time I'm twisting 4 songs with ease and can chat at the same time. Occasionally I get stunned or miss a note, no big deal, just keep clicking the macros.

I did learn something new and though I would share. Although you all probably already knew this. Using a Lute while casting Chords of Disonnance doubled my damage from 4 to 8. *Edit I mentioned something about Wizards at level 1 nuke only doing 4 damage whereas a Bard can do 8. I was corrected below, I assumed Bards can use a Lute starting at level 1 and that the damage in Chords was constant, but it goes up as I level *Edit end. Now I'm using it at level 9 to round up several gnolls in blackburrow and mass killing to get my gnoll teeth. Also, added regen song to chords to stay at 100% health mass killing green con gnolls.

Macro was
/stopsong
/cast 1
/pause 27
/stopsong
/cast 2

You should get used to twisting at low levels, so that when the time comes for you to be a group's CC you aren't quite as bad.

Interesting. Lute skill isn't available until level 8. Will playing with the lute still give you double damage at level 2? I played a bard to 58 on live and I thought that using macros with pauses in them was illegal. I could have been wrong of course, my high school brain had many odd notions in it. This post gives another reason why Bards are my favorite class in EQ.

Oh my bad, I just noticed it did double damage at level 9. I didn't realize the lute had a level minimum. Also, I just found out that damage increases as I level. Learning something new everyday. Is pauses illegal? Can a gm speak up regarding this, if so, I'll probably just stop playing my bard. No desire to hit 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4.

Well I'll just be a bad Bard I suppose. I can't imagine too many people complaining if I keep 4 songs going most of the time and still mez (maybe with a small pause). I would rather not play a Bard if it means hitting 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4, etc.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...

Pauses are totally legal. If they weren't, it wouldn't built into the system in an obvious /pause feature.

Regardless, any macro with a pause will only hamper you in the long-run, because every time you miss a note you're stuck not singing for the duration of the pause. Furthermore, when you're in a group that's doing it right, you'll need to be constantly adjusting your twist on the fly to, for example, adjust the number of targets you're mesmerizing.

Here's what you need to know to be a bard:

Make it for #'s 1-8 (your spell gems, #1 is the top one), and every song you play is just one button-press.

Is there a Macro for unequipping/equipping an item? I thought I could add to my laziness by having a macro so I don't have to keep switching between lute and weapon during a fight.

That actually rings true to me as well, I remember way back then the only problem with pause's(and the reason why bard's didn't use em) was what you said, and it would cause the bard to die more often than not. It wasn't a big deal early in the level's cause you didn't seem to miss note's that much then. But later on when the mob's hit much harder and can do more stuff, it was bad mojo.

I think that is the bandolier, but I could be mistaken, been forever since I played my bard.