Where to duo with Bard 57 / Druid 51?

[Rodeojones1979]

Hey, Team,

I haven't fired my bard up in about three years. I spent some time on a different server and classes and learned a lot. Even though I'm rusty with the bard I think I'm a better player than ever.

I'm wondering where my 57 Bard and 51 Druid buddy can duo for exp (loot would be bonus). I really want to hit 60.

While the Druid is getting great exp in COM, mine is just crawling since most of the mobs are green to me (however this is the first time I've played sans the class EXP penalty, and holy shit I can actually see my blue bar moving). Last night we EXPed in COM for about 3 hours and I got three or four blue ticks. The Druid got three or four blue bubbles.

COM seems natural since its outside (takes advantage of the Druid and Bard spells) and does have OK loot. Its also really safe, we know it well, and its easy to Selo's out of shit hits the fan. Our current strategy is "Root and Toot." The Druid roots the mobs and I toot my DOT songs and occasionally charm burn enemies.

But are there better places for us to duo for EXP? I'd like to be killing blues, particularly with a dungeon bonus, or a fast enough pace where it matches the bonus. Should we just try to group in KC? I feel like I need a bit more practice before leading groups into Sebilis again. And Bards are not always in high demand in that dungeon, which leads to a lot of time sitting around. Who knows, though, maybe we are tough enough to duo entrance mobs in Sebilis and get the EXP flowing.

Oh, and before you ask, I'm no good at swarm kiting. I suppose I could learn it now but not sure if thats an economic use of my time. Besides I prefer the safety of a simple grind.

But I'm open to any suggestions! Let me know what you think.

[Rodeojones1979]

Spyder, thanks for the suggestions!

I just knew someone would suggest Kedge. The thought terrifies me. As a Bard I like open, outdoor zones because as long as I can get Selo's up I'm pretty sure I can survive if shit hits the fan.

However since Kedge is always empty and the druid could (presumably) charm the Sharks, that its worth exploring. The Druid just hit 52 and got Call of Karana.

I recently grouped in Chardok which was amazing. Its a fun zone with tons of mobs you can safely hunt near the zone in/out. And Druids shine there; they can charm the Sarnak dogs. I think we will try to group there first and if we can't, duo entrance mobs. We're tough enough to take them down without too much hassle.

Since it was camped up yesterday we tried root'n'tooting in Skyfire. While we can certainly do it, the killing is slow because the dragons resist fire (the best DoTs for Bards and Druids we have are fire-based). And the constant dispells and DoTs from the mobs is annoying.

Our next try will be Trakanon's Teeth. It would be awesome if we could hold down the Hunter/Forager cycle and get some of the loot. I really want an Ikky mask.

Any sense if we could duo Harbinger Dronik?

[Karthil]

I've never held down the forager/hunter cycle with that duo, but I'd be surprised if you two couldn't do it. I could be remembering wrong, but I don't think any of the nameds on that cycle summon.

Since you could kite him, the hardest thing about the Harbinger would be his nukes, but you could theoretically charm him and have him burn his mana on other mobs while they eat his hp. You'll just want to make sure not to let them kill him and lose his loot [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

With casters abounding in TT, you'll want good resists to avoid getting too many dots, or even the stray root landing on you.

[Galenbor]

A Bard and Druid duo presents many options beyond simple root rotting, including a fun favourite my Ranger buddy and I coined Cluster Charming. In short, root a clump of mobs from 3 to as many as you can manage with a bit of practice, making sure they are within melee range of each other. Twilight's pull effect is a good tool for pushing mobs into clump if they get rooted slightly out of melee.

Then charm one.

Use hide or invis to break if it looks like dying while charmed, but otherwise keep switching targets until all are low, dot them to death when they are.

As for Harbinger, definitely want to fear kite that one, which shouldn't present a problem for a 57 Bard who can even have druid snare to make things easier. But don't eat Ice Comets, mkay? [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Galenbor

[trite]

If there was an area where you could fear kite and he could charm animals for DPS that seems like it would be ideal...

[Legidias]

Just kill stuff in WL. Find a haze panther or the named dino and charm it or w/e. Just watch out cause they'll eat the druid alive on charm break.

[Qtip]

If you can snag efreeti in solb. Ive seen bards swarm mobs around the lava. Could just have the druid throw dots on the mobs once they hit 90% so he doesnt pull aggro and wipe you.

Mobs also spawn fast and the exp is great.

[Rodeojones1979]

Thanks for all these suggestions, folx. We have done the root/charm thing before. Its a little dicey since we are both paper kites, but it can be done. We will try the charm strategy in WL as mentioned above.

Keep the suggestions coming, though!

[Legidias]

Root rot is just nice, cause bard can load up all dots (single + ae) and just stand right outside attack range. Worked pretty well in velk's just root rotting stuff. Dunno how well a 51 druid root lasts there though.

[Troxx]

Bard at 60 (final target dot for 1 minute) can do 71dps vs a single target. At 57 you can do that minus 8dps but several of those dots are aoe.

If not charming, root rot is surprisingly good using bard dots. If you can manage to root 4-5 on top of each other the aoe dots hit them all for well over 100dps from the bard. Druid just snares/roots and tosses dots as mana allows.

Not a bad fight strat and works in a wide range of places.