Bard or Ranger for a 4 man group?

[SamwiseRed]

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

Also remember a Ranger can step in and off tank if the enchanter runs oom and cant CC (bards can mez i suppose) Ranger can snare so no runners (this way the druid doesn't have to) Rangers can do very minor spot healing if they need to. Ranger can also use Snare Kiting and root to CC if you need to...

Bards will be better pullers and when shit hits the fan you can always AOE MEZ (until lvl 35 anyway).

As a Ranger you wont have to destroy your wrist and finger twisting songs.....

both have 40% XP penalty so that doesn't matter.

If you are started from zero a ranger will be easier to buy gear for, everyone has a bard alt to swarm kite so gear prices are a tad higher.

id argue that bards can hold agro just as well with their slow/snare song. mobs dont like that. also bard snare is superior to ranger snare speed wise and like i said above one of the snares has a slow component. although rangers can spot heal, in between pulls equipping a lute and playing your 2-3 regen songs will heal everyone up very quickly.

[Nytch]

But rangers can tank better than a bard in a situation where an off tank is needed. Especially with a druid healing....

[Tecmos Deception]

Imo basically none of the stuff Nytch said is right. I mean, sure, rangers can offtank and snare and root and heal and pull. But bards can do all of that stuff except root (and who cares, since all three of the other classes in the group can root too), and they do it better overall, and they bring more to the table also, and they aren't reliant on gear to the extent a ranger is.

[MikeXG]

Appreciate all the replies, I forgot how great the p99 community is.

I am leaning towards bard, I was on him last night and just the utility alone is great. I never "enjoyed" swarm kiting so a static group is a good alternative.

I think my tank friend decided to be ballsy and go Monk tank.... we will see how that pans out.

Only issue I have now is gearing my bard. When I played a year or so ago he died and out of classic eq frustration I never got his corpse >_< any suggestions on how to gear one out on the cheap?

[Mandalore93]

Bard will basically make sure there is no downtime. My main reason for bard is that the druid will have difficulties healing during certain stretches and the bard Regen for both health and mana. Not to mention the back up cc that the bard provides. Plus I doubt that the group will always have four members on everyone and bard utility will really shine through.

[Tenlaar]

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

Imo basically none of the stuff Nytch said is right.

Please, listen to Tecmos and not Nytch.

A bard can main tank, so of course a bard can offtank as well. A bard can CC both melee AND caster mobs. A bard can bring better DPS than a ranger or monk when you're fighting more than one mob at a time. A bard can pre-slow on pulls. A bard can put your resists through the roof. A bard gives your group better than C2 mana regen and better than chloro (better than chloro + fungi, with a lute) HP regen. And if he's good, a bard can do all of those at the same time.

A ranger can...root and do weak offheals.

[Tecmos Deception]

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

A bard can bring better DPS than a ranger or monk when you're fighting more than one mob at a time.

This is a good point actually. I always forget bards can charm for a mix of CC and DPS because I was never a good enough bard to do it. I blame AE kiting (and low-hp kiting too) for me being relatively mediocre as a bard!

Bard = highest skillcap on p99, for sure. It is easier to be a terrible bard than a terribly anything else, but if you give a godly player a bard he can do ridiculous things.


Monk instead of pally doesn't change my opinions really.

[Laok]

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

id argue that bards can hold agro just as well with their slow/snare song. mobs dont like that. also bard snare is superior to ranger snare speed wise and like i said above one of the snares has a slow component. although rangers can spot heal, in between pulls equipping a lute and playing your 2-3 regen songs will heal everyone up very quickly.

I unintentionally rip agro from SKs all the time. Selo's consonant chain and 1 chant, and someone would REALLY have to try hard to take agro from me. Bards can be a bit squishey, but really, the biggest part of tanking is holding agro and correctly positioning mobs so that the dps and pets are at its back (positioning is a huge pet peeve of mine lol). Bards aren't great dps on their own, so putting the bard in front of the mob isn't a big deal and putting the monk in back will improve his dps, and you'll out agro him all day long.

[Malone88]

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

Imo basically none of the stuff Nytch said is right.

Disagree.
Bards and Rangers don't have XP penalties?
Bards are way easier to play than Rangers?
Bards aren't better pullers?

Not really sure what Nytch said that was incorrect...

[Daldaen]

Druid/Ranger utility overlaps too much.

Go Bard.