[Ennewi]

https://web.archive.org/web/20001026...asses/bard.cfm

14:35:18 Oct 26, 2000

One of the disadvantages of all this song and dance is the attention you'll get from the monsters. They know who is buffing the entire party and causing them grief, so given a chance they will come after the bard first. Luckily bards can wear plate armor, but they will never be able to tank like a warrior type class is able to. A smart bard knows when to play what, and not attract undue attention. A poorly played bard will require a dedicated healer just to keep them alive. Perhaps to offset this uncanny ability to get themselves killed, bards seem to have a pretty forgiving experience penalty for dying.

https://web.archive.org/web/20000615...d.com/Bard.htm

19:34:45 Jun 15, 2000

Curative Songs
("Let me sing a song about a wound that is soon gone..")

The bard recieves a couple of songs that restores Hp. This might sound bad at first; but later on you'll notice the songs ability increases as you level. Also, eventually you'll acquire a song that regenerates Hp *and* Mana at the same time! The only downside about the song is that it doesn't heal right away, only over time. So it is best suited for after battles. However, if you must use it during battle you'll find it acts as a great taunting mechanism for monsters.

https://web.archive.org/web/20000617...om/bstrats.htm

09:21:50 Jun 17, 2000

Ok, you have the mob snared. This is where the bard comes in. Get within range, and sing a little tune to make the monster's ears bleed. This will grab the mobs attention big time. All bards know how their songs are "supertaunts", and fortunately it pays off in this situation. Keep the damaging song up while staying out of range of the mobs attacks. Rangers, at this point of the battle you should sit back and keep an eye on the mob. If it becomes unsnared, then re-snare it immediately. You don't want the mob to start smacking around your partner's backside. Bards, if snare wears off and it looks like your ranger friend is too busy making a sandwich with his SSoM, then use Selo's to hightail it out of there.

https://web.archive.org/web/20010727...IEW.ASP?ID=761

PLAYER STRATEGY - BARD
BARD CLASS STRATEGIES AND TIPS - Javis Bladesong, Mithaniel Marr

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As you may know bards can wear plate. Nice. It was intended that way because of the taunting power our songs radiate. Never underestimate Armor Class (AC) when you do get hit this will determine how much damage you take.

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Before we go any further let me say that you most likely will end up being chewed on more than most because of the power of your songs to effect the whole group and the mobs don’t like that one bit. Our songs have massive taunting power so be wary. If you find yourself getting pounded quit playing your songs and stop attacking and let the warriors and other hybrids taunt. DON’T keep attacking and playing a song. In the lower levels Hymn of Restoration is a great group song in battle. The higher you go the more you will notice the mobs do way more damage and that heal song will taunt them like you wont believe so I advise not using it in battle unless you are using the all instrument attack because those songs will taunt anyway might as well heal.

Strategy Submitted on: Wednesday, March 01, 2000

https://web.archive.org/web/20010727...EW.ASP?ID=2092

PLAYER STRATEGY - BARD
A BARD ON THE PLANE OF HATE! - Wispas O'Tull --Minstrel of the 53rd Song (Assembly of Knowledge), The Tribunal

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4.) Turn off your songs as the mob is being pulled into camp. Let the mob build a little bit of HATE. This has been fixed quite a bit when verant reduced the hate factor of our songs but its still an issue. Sometimes if your playing a party buffing song on the pull the mob will come straight to you..

Strategy Submitted on: Wednesday, March 01, 2000

https://web.archive.org/web/20010611...ensibard.shtml

00:00:59 Jun 11, 2001

Player Guide: Sensi Jadeleaf's Guide to Songweaving

Author: Sensi Jadeleaf (sensi-jadeleaf@home.com) Organization: Sensi Jadeleaf's Biography

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So what do bards do with this broad range of skills? Anything that is needed. If your group is short on tanks, wade in there with the weapons and the heavy taunt songs like Chain. No enchanter? Make crowd control your duty. Snare if you don’t have a druid or ranger around, and do some DoT if you’re caster light. Lots of tanks in the party, make sure you keep those attack speed, strength and stamina songs in there. Change your songs as the combat changes, don’t just stick with the same 3 songs you started with. While your party might not be aware of what you’re doing when you’re there, they’ll sure be aware of you when you’re gone. I try to play the jack of all trades thing up as much as I can, as it’s our strength, both in combat and role-play. I learn as many languages as I can, I try to use blunt, piercing and slashing weapons.

https://web.archive.org/web/20020114...opicID=4.topic

Tinvaran
Unregistered User
(6/8/00 8:59:24 am)
Reply Selo's Consonant Chain song
This song has been a staple for me from the first level I got it till now (level 35). Compared to caster's root/snare, it does the following:

[1] Very high taunt, repeated use is almost as good as charm, I have pulled Mobs off wizzies and melee types with it, even when they have done far more damage than I ever could. This of course is a two-sided effect...usually when I stop using it, the melee types can taunt the mob off ME (unlike charm) ;-)

[2] Slows the mob's atk speed by up to 30%, this is often not noticeable in the heat of combat, and I wouldn't vouch for the actual percentage, but it DOES slow them down some. When used in conjunction with an atk speed song like Anthem [group] or Warsong [self], the difference is very noticeable.

[3] Reduces the **vectored** movement of a mob by about 60%. This means that when a mob flees, the movement in the direction of its motion is reduced by this much, that is why when the mob is reduced to about 1/3 of its hp, it virtually comes to a halt if 'chained'.

I have also noticed that this song has recently been 'nerfed' by Verant, and that it often no longer lasts the full 3 ticks that it used to, before Verant introuced the message that tells you when it wears off. Hopefully this is a bug which Verant will fix (when they get around to it). As for the atk speed debuff, it appears that it too has been reduced in order to make the level 50+ songs look more attractive.

Nestasia Dreamsong
Global user
(6/26/00 4:46:31 am)
Reply Selo's consonant chain
Its a SNARE song - Period

It DOES NOT SLOW ATTACKS. And it definetly doesn't slow attacks by 30%.

IF it did slow attacks then twisting it with Largos Binding would be an insane inbalance that would just make us combat commandos.

With Largo's Binding you can SEE it slow the attacker. Heck, use Largos Binding on a gargoyle and its wings flap slower too. But Selo's Constant Chain is strictly snare only.

I have NEVER NEVER taunted anything off a mob aggro'd on a wizard using chain. That is something I would like to see. The only way to get super aggro'd mobs off the casters in your group (if you are a bard) is to use charm. And I do it everytime with great success in the Frontier Mtns on Giants and Burynai alike.

Don't believe all the extra crap about Selo's Constant Chain. Its a *snare* plain and simple.

Nestasia Dreamsong <Dark Shadows>
Bard, 33rd Song
Tunare

https://web.archive.org/web/20001202...r/winesong.htm

11:28:00 Dec 02, 2000

Tank Bard
Goal: Take Damage
Songs: Selo's Consonant Chain, Psalm of Warmth, Solon's Siren Song
Weapons: Fast, light weight ones, you don't get double attack, your stamina is low. Use fine steel daggers if you must. I use a Bladed Thulian Claw (5/19) and a Dragoon's Dirk (6/23).

You're trying to keep the monster occupied, perhaps because the tanks are heavily injured, or because you know you have enough hps to tank it. The goal is to keep the monsters on top of you. Siren Song is the best choice for taunting, keep Psalm of Warmth running and weapons swinging and you'll be sure to keep taking damage (ick). Of course, until you get Siren Song, Consonant Chain is your best bet. At level 23, 3 singings of this song would pull anything on to me. By level 27 I can't taunt squat with it (which is nice in my opinion).

I used this once, and died for it, but because the healers were able to get enough mana for a heal for our tank while I finished off one of the nasties, 3 out of 4 lived, and a cleric resurrected me. If we weren't in a bad spot in the dungeon, I would have pulled out the horn and used Appalling Screech. As a bard, you have to know when NOT to use a song more than you need to know when to use a song.

I hope this helps all the bards out there,

Cleo Winesong
Minstrel of the Combine
The Rathe Server

https://web.archive.org/web/20001202...per/nafai1.htm

07:30:00 Dec 02, 2000

The Wood Elf Bard’s Essential Guide to Combat, Levels 1-9

Written by Nafai, Veeshan Server

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Don’t use CoD when you don’t want everything that you noted in step one to attack you all at once

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Same situation, but in a group: The monster is pummeling your friend and you haven’t even been hit once—drat! No Taunt! Never fear, CoD normally angers the enemy enough that it will focus on you, which in this case is a good thing.

https://web.archive.org/web/20020220...ass/bard.shtml

04:41:25 Feb 20, 2002

Another great bard song allows you to charm your opponent. By using this song you will be able to take that impossible to kill pull of three monsters and change it into just two while adding one to your party. This spell can be a lifesaver. Beware however that once charm breaks the monster will hate you like no other.