Bards post 40 are mana batteries

[Encroaching Death]

How hard is it to suck on a bass drum?

[branamil]

95% of your effectiveness is from keeping mana , regen, and haste running

Neurotic people who think EQ is an FPS like to give themselves carpal tunnel for squeezing out that last 5% of efficiency by twisting all sorts of stupid obscure songs and thinking they're eLiTe. In the end it doesn't even matter because everyone has good gear, so you might as well chill and be a battery.

[WokeCat]

I have a funny story about this. Fairly early on Green.. we had a Bard in our Group at Kobold Royals. He said he had to go AFK to cook dinner, and we said that was fine as long as he left mana song playing. He was gone for a long time, I actually forgot he was even in the group. Well he shows back up, and he starts twisting songs and playing really hard, and our group started to struggle really hard ( I was the cleric and I went from being full mana to having to tell them to hold pulls because I was OOM ).

That's when I realized an AFK bard with mana song playing is a lot more useful than a lot of bards who are working really hard at what they do, lol.

[Schwarzoid]

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

95% of your effectiveness is from keeping mana , regen, and haste running

Neurotic people who think EQ is an FPS like to give themselves carpal tunnel for squeezing out that last 5% of efficiency by twisting all sorts of stupid obscure songs and thinking they're eLiTe. In the end it doesn't even matter because everyone has good gear, so you might as well chill and be a battery.

What a lazy take.

Sorry you've been grouped with so many bad bards.

[Encroaching Death]

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

What a lazy take.

Sorry you've been grouped with so many bad bards.

What would you improve on his comment?

I'm not trying to put you on the spot.

I'm actually considering playing a Bard and I want to know how to play one good.

I imagine regen, mana, and haste are at least 3 out of the 5 songs you should constantly twist.

What other 2 are crucial to most groups? Some sort of AC song?

Do you have to twist your charm song? Probably. I imagine you do. Okay, 5 there.

Then AOE mez when you need to CC?

[Toxigen]

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

What would you improve on his comment?

I'm not trying to put you on the spot.

I'm actually considering playing a Bard and I want to know how to play one good.

I imagine regen, mana, and haste are at least 3 out of the 5 songs you should constantly twist.

What other 2 are crucial to most groups? Some sort of AC song?

Do you have to twist your charm song? Probably. I imagine you do. Okay, 5 there.

Then AOE mez when you need to CC?

yeah just keep the mana pumping, haste group if no other haste available, and pull / CC / slow

you can group level a bard with nothing but a lute and be more effective than 99% of the melee bards out there

[Encroaching Death]

I forgot about slow...another good one

[Toxigen]

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

I forgot about slow...another good one

a bard fills in w/ less effective shit when the more effective classes that do it arent in the group (namely enc and shaman)

only thing its really truly got over all others is mana pump

eye helm pulls into aoe snare kite for cc is pretty sweet too

i was a menace on my bard in KC

[Ennewi]

Damage shield songs are great too, esp when stacked with a dru's/mag's, the better ones having the added bonus of resists which inadvertently benefit the puller on incoming and the tank in general. Outdoor zones, you can also give the puller a boost from selo's every now and then if they're having to go deeper into the dungeon to get mobs.

Add in shield of song if there's a shaman in group spamming canni, otherwise mana pump.

Single target mezzes are reliable interrupts versus casters that cheal and what not, but too long of a cast to prevent quicker, lower level spells. Mez is also good for assisting with pet breaks, since it doesn't last long and can pull aggro if resisted. Avoid using AE mez if grouped with an enchanter, as it will overwrite their mez which otherwise lasts much longer.

[Schwarzoid]

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

What would you improve on his comment?

I'm not trying to put you on the spot.

I'm actually considering playing a Bard and I want to know how to play one good.

I imagine regen, mana, and haste are at least 3 out of the 5 songs you should constantly twist.

What other 2 are crucial to most groups? Some sort of AC song?

Do you have to twist your charm song? Probably. I imagine you do. Okay, 5 there.

Then AOE mez when you need to CC?

Depends on the situation and I'm still a baby who is just breaking into 55+..

So with that caveat..

I've ran into many groups that have decent heals and already have a haste, so it depends. My default 2 are usually cantana/niv's. If there is group haste and there is room to melee I will slap on Verses of Victory for AC/STR/AGI and Selo's Absonant Binding for the slow/snare/ac/agi lowering.

If there is no haste in group I'll swap verses of victory for the best group haste available.

I'f I'm in a spot like Efreeti, or something with strong damage that can be resisted i'll take out nivs/Selo's depending on what the group has and sub in pslam of warming for extra CR.

If you are in an absolutely melee stacked group, with lack of healing, but haste, then my songs change a little with the instruments, still the core cantana/nivs but you could push stats with Chant of Battle and Verses of Victory to give your group a strong STR/DEX buff.

Granted I'm still somewhat newer, so I don't have a good handle on parse damage and how much STR contribute to other melee's damage. How much STR, on how many people, does it take to outweigh a bards melee contribution?

Then there is the other 4 off primary rotation. Usually reserved for charm, mez, aoe snare, utility.

I've been in a bunch of situations where I don't need healing or haste, so I can bring out my melee weapons, use a 5 song rotation and charm every 6th song to get added CC as well as damage output. If you are fast with your song rotation, you should be able to back away out of melee range and be able to land charm before you get smacked. Granted it loses effectiveness later on, but having some juiced up CHA can help with that. I think? heh.

The list goes on for other niche situations, selos swarming over pulls, splitting packs while pulling as as bard

I mean, sure a bard can just sit there and pump, but I could also just watch paint dry as well. I'm here to play a game, not be a lazy afker. So to say bard's effectivness is 95% mana regen is a pretty lazy mindset imo.