Playing a bard without kiting.

[Vexenu]

The "Bard melee is horrendous" meme is a little overblown in my experience, at least below level 45 or so and with modest twinking. Bard weapons have very nice ratios and are fairly cheap (BoH 10/18 and Guardian's Mace 14/24). STR gear is also cheap and abundant (i.e. Crystal Chitin Gauntlets, Hero bracers are +30 STR alone) and makes a noticeable difference when meleeing. Then to top it off, you can self-haste and slow the mob you're fighting. It's very easy to level a Bard into the 40s this way. You won't confuse yourself for a Monk or Rogue, but your self-haste, mob slow and great weapon ratios go further than a lot of people think toward closing that gap.

[Tann]

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

The "Bard melee is horrendous" meme is a little overblown in my experience, at least below level 45 or so and with modest twinking. Bard weapons have very nice ratios and are fairly cheap (BoH 10/18 and Guardian's Mace 14/24). STR gear is also cheap and abundant (i.e. Crystal Chitin Gauntlets, Hero bracers are +30 STR alone).

That's at least 5kpp though, not really "cheap" for the average player. More realistic, especially for newer players wanting to play a bard, options would be like a set of banded, HP rings, a sainys claw (6/19) and a sionachie's parisan (9/19).

Which is still entirely doable with haste, slow, and OP regen songs up. Regardless of how little DPS bards put out its still more efficient (no downtime) then another solo melee class unless their really twinked.

[Eugee]

Charm Kiting:
Required songs: charm, speed, snare, chants
Charm a mob and sic it on another. Play speed and wait. When charm breaks charm the OTHER mob, sit it on the first. Play speed and repeat. When they both get so low that one flees, snare it and chant it down as the other charm breaks. Now finish the other mob off.

Fear Kiting:
Songs: snare, fear, chants, haste(optional)
Pull a mob to a good area, snare it, fear it, and apply DPS. Normal mobs can be feared from just outside melee range with practice. For bigger mobs just run in and take the hit to get them feared. If you only have 2 chants, then play snare-fear-haste-chant-chant while meleeing for max dps. If you have 3 chants, just use your drum and play snare-fear-chant-chant-chant. if you snag a resist or miss too many notes in the cycle, skip something to keep fear on the mob.

Snare Kiting:
songs: snare & chants
Once you get your third chant and you're feeling lazy, you can just snare and chant. It's only 2/3 damage but it works and it's completely safe.

That's how I solo-duo @ 48.

There's pretty much always a way for someone to duo with that. Anyone who does more DPS than you is a prime candidate to kill whatever you are fear-kiting.

[thewrush]

I'd also like to add:

Charm Swarming:
Required songs: charm, selo's, invis, chants
Basically if you are in an area with a bunch of similar mobs you charm one from the pack and send it to fight the rest of the pack. They destroy your charmed pets HP so fast you break invis and then finish it off with selo's and chants. Rinse and repeat. Make sure to not do anything to any other mobs except aggro by proximity or mob assist. Not sure how relevant this strategy is on this server but it worked decently for me on live during the PoP era. I'm aware charms cost mana so it may not work out great. I used this strat at the werewolf camp in Plane of Nightmare. Best charm break item for this is Goblin Gazughi ring.

[Eugee]

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

I'd also like to add:

Charm Swarming:
Required songs: charm, selo's, invis, chants
Basically if you are in an area with a bunch of similar mobs you charm one from the pack and send it to fight the rest of the pack. They destroy your charmed pets HP so fast you break invis and then finish it off with selo's and chants. Rinse and repeat. Make sure to not do anything to any other mobs except aggro by proximity or mob assist. Not sure how relevant this strategy is on this server but it worked decently for me on live during the PoP era. I'm aware charms cost mana so it may not work out great. I used this strat at the werewolf camp in Plane of Nightmare. Best charm break item for this is Goblin Gazughi ring.

When charm breaks all aggro the pet built up is passed on to you on P1999 servers. So you can do this once, but then whatever the pet was hitting is now glued to you and not the rest of the pack. Your next charm target has to be the mob you're pet was previously on or the pack won't stick to the next charm. Even then it's hit and miss. Charm-swarming does not work well on P1999 for this reason.

EDIT: And back in the PoP days *this* was called swarm kiting on my server. Everyone called the PBAE kiting that's so popular now "suicide kiting" due to the extreme risk. I heard someone call it ZD-kiting recently (zone disruption) and it's a pretty apt name. :P

[jolanar]

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

How on earth do you play a bard to 60 times 2 without getting CT? Is there melody for bars on p99?

Keybinding instead of mouse clicking.

[Eugee]

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

Keybinding instead of mouse clicking.

/agree

I have buttons for:
/pause 0, /stopcast
/pause 0, /cast #

For each of my song slots. Every 3 seconds I push one of them. In WoW/SWTOR/Wildstar/Neverwinter/EveryOtherMMO you push a key every 1.5 seconds.

[thewrush]

How does pause 0 help? And I also agree that bards aren't a whole lot of key pressing. It is about the same compared to Rogue or Monk. Monks have a few special attacks to hit every so often and Rogues constantly have to position behind mobs and hit backstab and evade. With bard you keep your hand relaxed and go through the chain. The key is keeping your wrists relaxed and using a special mouse with a bunch of buttons.

[Frudrura]

Bard is subpar to a lot of classes when you are grouping to level up. If a group wants CC/Mana regen, Enchanter is the better option. If they want a puller, there are better options than Bard. You are basically patchwork for a group that is lacking if for whatever reason there isn't an Enchanter or whatever other class LFG that the group needs.

The only thing Bard really does well is resist songs, but that is more for raiding end-game. Everything else they do, there are classes that do it way better, especially if you compare Bard to Enchanter. Bard is basically a useless class. The only things Bards do well is powerlevel. The best possible group make-up for leveling won't include a Bard. You could just throw in another Enchanter and charm a pet for more dps and so more xp.

Maybe if you are super decked out and have epic and all that, Bard is half-way decent. The problem is, are you going to be super decked out and have epic? Usually that doesn't happen until the very end of leveling, until then, you are basically second, third, etc.., last choice for a group if they can't find better.

You can still have fun but it seems like more than likely, a group will want you for CC/Mana regen, and Enchanter is superior in every way.

Good luck with the Bard

[RDawg816]

Good bards are awesome in groups. I grab one every chance I can. They can also keep a group alive a lot longer than any other class. They can fill several roles at once. They make every group better and they can fill any role, even swapping roles mid-fight. If you think otherwise, you've probably never grouped with a good bard.