Pre-18 Swarm Kiting

[Loiterius]

I haven't found much in the forums about early Bard kiting, and most you'll talk with will tell you that it's not something you should be doing. I would argue there is a bit of truth to their words. There are much less stressful and easy means to hunt early on, but for those who don't have time to wait for a group it can sometimes be your best option.

With that said, I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts and tips while they are fresh on my mind before I hit 18 and come into Bard puberty.

Some background on me...

On Live I played a Bard to max and left the game shortly after the release of Lost Dungeons. I was mainly a grouping Bard until about 34 when someone asked me what the hell I was doing in High Keep and not out kiting the world to doom.

With that said, I didn't experience low level Bard kiting. By the time I stepped out into the world I was pretty well rounded with my gear and my twisting and so it was easy to slip into.

This time around, not so much.

I loved my Bard for the twisting and the kiting and when I came back to playing one on P99 I was adamant on picking up the kiting as soon as I could. All of the other Bards in my guild said I was crazy, and they were right. Also, they were wrong.

So, with my long winded intro out of the way, let's get this going.

The Basics

• You need Chord of Dissonance(CoD)
• You need to make sure you have a stringed instrument (at 8). Be aware, there are two stringed instruments at the merchant: they're the same even though they may cost more.
• Setting up your hot keys for easy twisting. Currently, mine are set at E/R/F/G for my main 4 songs, Shift-E/Shift-R/Shift-F/Shift-G for secondary.
• Ensure you have a UI that allows for best screen vision. I currently use the Duaxi UI. In my opinion, you'll want to drop the fade opacity to give yourself the best vision you can while you are not actively using it

The Technique

• Strafe running - (If you're unaware of what that is, it's basically movement keys that allow you to move straight left or straight right. Basic 'A' and 'D' key in EQ are setup to make you turn on your heel. You may consider changing these or putting them to another key.)
  
  • It can be terrifying at first, but trust me it works and most posts will back this up. You'll want to either move forward, or auto run, while pressing the strafe key. This will make you run a bit sideways.
  • I am a mouse viewer, so I keep running forward in a strafe run and use the mouse (holding down the right mouse button) to turn the camera to my right in a large circle.
• UI Preparation - The terrifying part of kiting pre-18 is how close you need to be with your CoD. There are so many factors that come into play that can result in your doom, but with the help of your UI, you can mitigate the trouble.
  • Begin by kiting some greenies. You just need a means to calibrate your screen. [I'll add screen shots when I'm not slacking at work] If you are taking these tips and kiting like I am(strafe running while using your mouse view to turn yourself to the right) you'll find that the monsters should always be at the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
  • Once they are there, you are going to want to make the shape of the Beats Headphones logo ([You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]), ensuring that the mobs stay in the bottom right yet never quite make it to the middle of your screen.
    • IMPORTANT: You are not going to keep this tight circle constantly. Like the Beats logo above, you want to make sure your CoD hits right where the curve of the 'b' and the stem meet. Then, you need to pull away from the mobs. IF you keep pulling tight, you'll get caught.
  • DON'T PANIC: You will get hit your first couple of times. This is why you want to practice with greens, and maybe a couple at a time.
  • Now, once you begin to get a feel for where they should be on your screen, setup a chat window and place an edge of it at the sweet spot. This will help be a guide post for you. For me, I set the Fade Opacity of the window down to 25% so it is almost transparent when I am not hovering my mouse over it, that way I can see the mobs moving into it.
• Once you hit 12: You'll obtain Brusco's Boastful Bellow. This will help you burn down mobs that resist your CoD, and will also help you even out any mobs that come in after you've been kiting for a while.

Here is a quick video I made showing what I am referring to: Pre-18 Bard Kiting

Tips

• Try and get buffs from anyone you can. This will help ease any early mistakes you may make.
• Try not to pull mobs with any ranged abilities (casters and some archer types).
• Keep away from backstabbers. Dervs in NRo, Bandits in Karanas. They will burst you down quick if they catch you.
• Try to the best of your ability to pull like mobs.
• Suggestions:
  • Spiders/Scarabs in NRo from about 8 - 13
  • Scarabs in NK from 13 - 17
  • West Commons 13 - 20
  • Gorge Hounds in EK 13-20

As I've said, this is a dangerous way to live. You'll get beat up, especially if you are hoping to not be actively paying attention.

I'll add screenshots and videos to this post later.

I would love to hear from other Bards and their suggestions and experiences.

If you're looking for a group, we're looking for you.
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[element08]

avoid backstabbing mobs, bandits in the karanas come to mind

[Loiterius]

Added video.

[Mandalore93]

Not sure about you but I've been doing this from 2-44 so far even if I've given P99 a bit of a rest in terms of playtime.
My path
1-4: WFP Noobie yard
4-8?: East Commons
8-12/13ish: West Commons
13-20: East Karana
20-23: Overthere
23-31: Lake of Ill Omen
31-43: Overthere
43+: Haven't had too much time doing it but I've found spots in both BW and Dreadlands that seem viable.

In BW there's a nice long flat space by the Skyfire zone that only has one or two roamers around it.

In DL I'm pretty sure you can do it in the valley by sticking to the rims of the big ass holes or possibly doing it through that little city there after pulling all the skellies. Just invis through the yeti tunnel so you don't aggro one of them since their hit box is too large.

[Loiterius]

What were you kiting in EK? I've been killing scarabs out in NK, but most people say the Crag Spiders are glitchy and murder you with gusto out in EK.

[Samoht Farstrider]

Gorge hounds in EK.

I've seen a bard from one of the top guild pulled basically everything in the zone tho. I am not twinked and suck at this kiting stuff so only pull the hounds and griffawns.

[Mandalore93]

You can pull everything in that zone and be fine outside of lions. The spiders are nice since they're higher level. Resists don't mean much when kiting since you're doing it over and over.

[Potus]

Originally Posted by Loiterius [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here is a quick video I made showing what I am referring to: Pre-18 Bard Kiting

I'm glad that video shows the same issue I've always had with kiting. I always end up running into the mobs like that [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Loiterius]

I don't normally do that, thankfully ha ha ha

I had FRAPS recording at top FPS and it caused the game to get spazzy like that.

Doesn't make sense. I can record Hawken at full FPS, but not EQ [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Potus]

Originally Posted by Loiterius [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't normally do that, thankfully ha ha ha

I had FRAPS recording at top FPS and it caused the game to get spazzy like that.

Doesn't make sense. I can record Hawken at full FPS, but not EQ [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I think it is something with CPUs because I'll run nothing else but EQ and have no lag whatsoever and then that happens and the mobs all beat up on me.

It never happened to me on live kiting entire zones back in the day.