Best solo melee class?

[DeathsSilkyMist]

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

It’s a hybrid melee for that reason. Otherwise it would have bind and gate.

Agreed. Bards have the main hand damage bonus. No casters have that. This is the best evidence to support Bards being a hybrid IMO. Same with Rangers/SK's/Paladins, who also have the main hand damage bonus.

[Snaggles]

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

Agreed. Bards have the main hand damage bonus. No casters have that. This is the best evidence to support Bards being a hybrid IMO. Same with Rangers/SK's/Paladins, who also have the main hand damage bonus.

Yea, aside from combat tables the lack of mana use for all but two songs and mana regen spells not affecting the bard is another curious one for “not a melee”.

It’s not odd that most bards swarm to 60. I charmed mostly which was easy and less stressful (but slower exp). On live many reverse kited since people played more casually. Geared bards will tank geos in place and melee away (my buddy did it 57-60), swapping MH instruments and clicking the SS BP. In groups some bards will melee, others won’t. On raids with an epic and melees in your group you will melee a lot.

Being able to kill stuff in various ways, group, solo, and be a useful in raids makes for an outstanding class. Gearing one is VERY affordable. Clicking songs constantly can be annoying but it’s still exciting to play as a begrudging clicker…I just tend to use another class thats less work. I also complain about torping back mana though so take that with a grain of salt, lol.

[zelld52]

Y'all are just dense. Having Gate is not what differentiates Melee from Non-Melee.

Melee combat is. Swarming and charming are not melee combat.

I'll concede that bards are melee characters because they get dual wield and main-hand damage bonus - but nobody has admitted that suggesting a bard to swarm and charm for someone looking for a MELEE FOCUSED TOON is proof of your inability to comprehend basic information.

[Cecily]

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

Can you please keep your insults to the Rants and Flame section of forums? Thank you. This is your last warning.

[zelld52]

This message is hidden because Cecily is on your ignore list.

Just ignore me back Cecily, I have no interest in having any type of discussion with you, ever, about anything.

[Cecily]

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

Can you please keep your insults to the Rants and Flame section of forums? Thank you. This is your last warning.

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by zelld52 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Y'all are just dense. Having Gate is not what differentiates Melee from Non-Melee.

Melee combat is. Swarming and charming are not melee combat.

I'll concede that bards are melee characters because they get dual wield and main-hand damage bonus - but nobody has admitted that suggesting a bard to swarm and charm for someone looking for a MELEE FOCUSED TOON is proof of your inability to comprehend basic information.

OP posted in this thread, of which the subheading says “Rogue / Monk / Ranger / Bard”. I would presume they were open to these four classes, potentially also the “Tank” archetypes.

People offered the bard as a suggestion. Others agreed this can be easily soloed via charming and swarming. At no point did the OP say they were unwilling to play a bard, use these techniques, or not use these techniques. A bard can easily melee to 60 as well, whether “toe to toe” fighting or reverse kiting like a SK (presuming you consider a SK a melee per that definition).

At no point did we suggest a cleric, shaman, or necro, classes which can melee to exp as well. At no point we suggested a ranger but only for bow rotting, of which that too is viable.

You are the one attempting to reinvent the definitions 26 years after game was designed. People aren’t agreeing with you so you are pouting and insulting them. Again, try harder to flip the status quo understanding of the game or realize you lack the reasoning to even convince the majority of people that a bard is not a hybrid melee class. Maybe it’s the plate armor, duel wielding weapons, not being able to quickly regen mana, not having essential caster spells, but having quintessential combat skills (like riposte)? If you lack an understanding, maybe ask ChatGTP to explain what the bard is. It might be more successful than I have been.

[zelld52]

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

OP posted in this thread, of which the subheading says “Rogue / Monk / Ranger / Bard”. I would presume they were open to these four classes, potentially also the “Tank” archetypes.

People offered the bard as a suggestion. Others agreed this can be easily soloed via charming and swarming.

I see your point about the subheading, but that does not change the fact that:

Charming and swarming are not melee combat.

My point is that it sounded like OP wanted to take a break from spellcasters, and wanted to have a toon that was easier to play. Charming and Swarming are not easier than meleeing. I could be wrong about OPs intention - but I've been around p99 long enough to know that people who main casters enjoy having a lower-effort toon to log in and just auto attack on.

[Ennewi]

So two obvious, non-melee aspects of the class are telling when looked at in combination. The bard has free movement while casting, uninterrupted, no concentration required, and yet it's allowed all of 1 skill point in meditation. That isn't a caster in any traditional sense. It also disregards channeling altogether and, typically, does not consume mana when casting. It isn't subject to mana drain effects, even when succored. Each one of these features is unique and excludes it from all other casters.

None of its combat skills come with an asterisk when compared to other melee classes. It has mainhand damage bonus, dual wield, and the epic proc specifically benefits melee attacks, its own and others.

[zelld52]

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

None of its combat skills come with an asterisk when compared to other melee classes. .

Au contraire:

Riposte: Bards Max = 75. Next lowest is Shadowknight at 175
Parry: Bards Max = 75. Next lowest is Shadowknight at 175

And of course, they do not get double attack.


Worst damage mitigation skills of all the melee combat characters, probably done to balance the class out against their powerful songs like Slow, Mez, Charm, etc.


Also, if you parse raid encounters where bards are actively DPSing with melee, and not just providing support, you notice a trend- Bards are wayyyyyy at the bottom of the DPS parses below the knights, ever so slightly above mage pets (and in some cases Mage and Necro pets out DPS bards). This is because they don't get double attack and can't use any of the cool 2 handed weapons. This improves alot when they finally get double attack AA, but they are still the worst melee DPS.

Bards are melee, but just barely. Bards primary role on raids is not to add melee DPS or tank (the two options for a melee focused character), its to provide support. In a group, while levelling: Bards primary role is also not to add melee DPS, but typically to pull and/or provide support in the form of crowd control, song buffs or mana regen. The best bards I've grouped with don't even equip a weapon most times.


To anticipate the argument: "Well monks primary role is to pull, not to DPS"

Sure - but monks are also the second (and sometimes best) melee DPS on raids or in levelling groups. They can also tank raid mobs, or tank for levelling groups.

Rangers can't tank shit at level 60 - but they have like 2x the melee DPS of bards with equivalent gear, and fall behind monks and rogues, but do way better than Knights, and are mostly on-par with warriors. Knights can't DPS for shit, but they get great tanking abilities.