Bard mana songs

[Veleria]

As a 53 bard what mana songs will give the best regen to my group I have a Lute of the howler and can generally run 3 songs without issues. Does the 55 mana song change what I use, I'm having trouble understanding the differences because I can't see them affect myself and the info is a bit confusing on the wiki. What 3 songs would you run in an xp group assuming healer 2 casters and 2 melees as a base?

Thanks for your help.

[Troxx]

LONG WINDED TROXX ANSWER INCOMMING! (I'm BACK!)


Bards effectively have 2 different types of mana regen songs.

Category 1:

The single level 32 song Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Cassind...rus_of_Clarity

This does NOT have have a buff Icon. It does NOT provide "mana over time" in the classic sense, rather it gives single pulses of mana every time it is cast. Unlike the other mana songs which you cast once every few ticks to 'keep it up', this one you can spam every 3 seconds for massive pulses for nearly twice the return if you're fast on recasts. If you just fire and forget you only get one 'hit' per 6 second auto sing. It caps out at 7 mana per pulse (just under 14 mana per 'tick' if spamming it at 60). The range is not great so mana users have to stand relatively close to you to benefit.

Category 2:

Literally the rest of them. These give you a temporary buff that give you 'per tick' regen. Highest level is Cantana of Replenishment with 12 base hp and 13 base mana per tick at level 60.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Cantata_of_Replenishment


IMPORTANT NOTES: No modifications (either singing mod from epic for the level 32 song or strings for the rest of the line from category 2) will modify the amount of mana regen you get from any of these songs.

Generally accepted practice for routine play 55 and up is just play 55 Cantana. Since the 32 song 'stacks' with literally everything else, however, there is value.

If you are having down time and want to maximize mana regen over all else consider the following:

Continuously singing 55 gives you a flat 13 mana/tick sustained over time.

Singing 55 followed by spam pulses of the 32 until the 55 needs refreshing looks more like (per tick): 13 + (13+ 14) + (13+ 14) + (13+ 14) + 13 ... repeating. It's labor intensive but well worth it if the team is badly hurting for mana. I think the highest I could push/sustain reasonably was pumping about 21 mana/tick to all group members.

Regarding Healing:

The strings modifies the healing component of the Cantana line as well as some other songs. Though it doesn't affect the mana regen, it is WELL worth it depending on group make-up and circumstance if you have a good lute. On that note this song:

https://wiki.project1999.com/Niv%27s...f_Preservation

The healing component stacks with 55 cantana. It also uses a string mod so no instrument swapping required for lazy but impressive healing. Twisting the 2 effectively gives you a base heal of 21hp/tick to the whole group BEFORE strings kicks in. With a good lute such as Maestro's lute from hate that cracks the healing up to 50hp per person per tick with 2 songs and 1 lute (close to 1/3 of a celestial heal for each member of the group per tick indefinitely). In scrub places like KC a single bard can effectively handle pretty much all the healing most 6-man mouth-breather groups will require. Even in higher level places like Seb, DN rats, etc ... it cranks out enough healing that any cleric you're with may fall asleep and/or start nuking more.

Bard melee dps is pathetic. At least until you have valuable procs like on Epic or very high end weapons, contributions from melee are pretty laughable. Even with great weapons it's a drop in the bucket most of the time. As such, I spent a big chunk of the time just focusing on the aforementioned string combo, twisting in mana pulses, and doing aoe cc with the (also string modified) lv 54 snare/slow song +/- haste as the group needed. Weapons of course would come out and songs would change if the group simply didn't need the extra overkill.

https://wiki.project1999.com/Selo%27s_Assonant_Strane

Bards are the WD40 of Everquest. A well played bard just makes everything glide along so much more smoothly. Good bards play like mobile, armor plated casters focusing on their songs and only pull out weapons when there is group redundancy. Bad bards have their weapons out 24/7 and have the cantana line as the 3rd or 4th song in their "twist". Prioritize cantana song as 1st in most groups (2nd if you're the only person to provide haste maybe).

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Cliff notes: At your level it is Cantana of soothing (lv 34) for base and pulsing Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity (level 32) for the extra pulses. Once you get 55 .... well that song is just the bees knees.

[Toxigen]

Troxx has good advice. Melee bards are bad.

[Veleria]

Thank you so much! this is exactly what I needed.

[Vivitron]

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

As a 53 bard what mana songs will give the best regen to my group I have a Lute of the howler and can generally run 3 songs without issues. Does the 55 mana song change what I use, I'm having trouble understanding the differences because I can't see them affect myself and the info is a bit confusing on the wiki.

Cantata (level 55 song)/chorus (32)/chorus/chorus is a fine mana twist. Cantata directly replaces Cantana (34).

What 3 songs would you run in an xp group assuming healer 2 casters and 2 melees as a base?

Thanks for your help.

I typically keep up cantata all the time but skip chorus when there are mobs in camp.

I would prioritise croud control / pulling over a set twist.

If haste and slow aren't otherwise covered I would also keep up the 54 haste and a slow.

After those are covered, dots and/or niv's regen become options.

Note that hasting/slowing aren't helped by an instrument mod and you can briefly toss on the lute of the howler just before a song lands. So you might as well melee, especially when on haste/slow duty.

[astuce999]

Great stuff Troxx!

I would just add on Lvl 32 mana that since it is pulse based, it stacks with itself in the sense that if the group has 2 bards, both of them playing Lvl 32 mana is beneficial.

It also sucks that neither epic nor puretone modify the mana portion from Lvl 32 mana like it did in classic. The introduction of Singing Mastery AA's and the song "amplification" in Luclin is what lead to the eventual nerf of Lvl32 mana, as bards were pumping insane amounts of mana on raids.

Good times!

Astuce

[busted]

Melee bards exist! Get yerself a blam stick and smack mobs for 170 https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...d.php?t=401534

Primary instruments exist for a reason! They allow for easy instrument/weapon to boost songs whilst adding a lil bit of DPS to your group.

[-Catherin-]

A Bard can become "kind of" melee viable. But you literally need the best weapons in the game (Epic, Nature's Melody) and then the best instruments in the game that can be dual held with your epic in offhand (Sky Horn, VP Lute, Drums of the Beast)

Even then, the melee is more for the procs the weapons provide. It is pretty surprsing how much damage Nature's Melody can produce in the mainhand though. Most bards won't see one though (drops from Tunare).

[Vivitron]

Speaking of Nature's Melody, does taking a VoG'd rogue from 98-99% haste to 100% actually change their delay or does that get rounded away?

[Wickedbane]

Well the 55 cantana can be played without an instrument while the lower lvl one requires it. It give a little more flexibility if you’re using weapons more.
Getting a BoH and meleeing in grp even though our dps is lacking it’s a nice change of pace. Allows for more songs to be played. Twist of 4 songs becomes a 5song twist. Granted the Nivs from BoH is inferior to instrument mod.