I don't usually find swapping in a prime hand instrument while meleeing much more demanding than swapping in the correct instrument for each song, so I might as well get the free ~30dps from meleeing now that I have them.
It's a real bummer that they're as hard to get as they are, but there are a lot of song effects which don't benefit from instrument mods:
* Slow
* Haste
* Mez (except its mr debuff)
* Charm (except its mr debuff)
* SS helm eyeball for pulling
* Mana Regen
* Single target snare
* Fear
For xp group songs that mostly leaves to instruments hp regen, dots, and ae snare. I found in a typical group I would come out ahead by meleeing even before prime hand instruments, and just a Lute of the Howler is enough to make it an easy choice in most player tanked groups. Suppose a twist along the lines of slow (no instrument) / haste (no instrument) / mana regen (lute of howler swap) / dot (lute of howler swap), with pulling and crowd control taking priority over the twist -- but also meleeing while sending out an eyeball and usually while mezzing or charming too.
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