[Saisu]

Here are 3 tips I can share from my recent experience of joining P99 and leveling 1-55 as a Bard:

1. Take care of your fingers and wrist! When twisting, you’ll be doing a ton of clicking. Add in any instrument swapping, and a long EXP session can put a lot of strain on your hands. Take breaks, stretch out your hands, and just be aware that some people have developed carpal tunnel due to the stress. Very early on I put in a /stopsong, /cast macro on all my songs to effectively cut my keystrokes in half (so I don’t have to quickly double-click). It adds some delay, but in practice I’ve found I’m at 95% effectiveness for only 50% of the clicks. Stay healthy and don’t mess up your body! Probably the #1 reason I’ve seen people either dismiss playing Bard or why they quit.

2. Remember that while Bards are listed as “melee”, if you expect to face tank mobs and do a lot of melee damage, you’ll likely be disappointed. It can be done, but I find little fun in it compared to the amazing and fun toolbox Bards have to do other things (charm, crowd control, amplify a group, fear kite, dots, etc). There’s room for melee, but if you mostly want to hit things with weapons, you may have more fun on another class.

3. While kiting large trains of mobs in circles and slowly AoEing them down is in fact amazing and quick experience, and everyone will recommend you learn and do it - don’t get sucked into soloing 1-60 by doing lonely circles in an endless grind. I’ve gone 1-55 without doing a single AoE kite, because I found it wasn’t what I was looking for in my EQ experience. I’ve stuck to a bunch of groups (learning how to do crowd control, how to split camps, and how to pull), and I’ve done some interesting more risky soloing with charm (spell casters in tight corridors). Bards are amazing solo, but don’t forget to experience the social aspects of a fun group, or gathering up a party to dive deep into a dungeon.

I hope these experiences help you have a great fun time on your Bard, and welcome!