Dungeon Barding 25 - 38

[thewrush]

For anyone interested in having some actual fun on their bard. I recommend leveling in Solusek A from the levels 25 to 32. After that I moved to Upper Guk (currently in Lower Guk now at 38) from 32 - 35.

For 26 - 30, I would stick to killing the entrance mobs and stay away from inferno goblins. This got me high enough to move in further.

For 30 - 32 I would clear my way to the hallway where the gnomes are (east of letter B) on the map and use that for my regen area. Then I would clear my way to B and anything close to Kindle (usually camped). This experience was so much fun and thrilling that I learned a lot about the dungeon (like hidden floors and walls) and got great xp at the same time (2% - 3%) a kill! When I got adds I would either charm one and let them fight or mez one and kill the other. This was a great way to learn how to keep a mob locked down while also doing dps (good to know later for groups).

My song setup was usually:
1 - Jonthan's warsong (haste, str)
2 - Hymn of Restoration (regen)
3 - Selo's Consonant chain (snare / slow)
4 - Crission's Pixie Strike (mez and rotate in vs casters)
5 - Kelin's Lament (lull)
6 - Shauri's Clouding (invis)
7 - Solon's Song of Sirens (charm)
8 - Elemental Rhythms (rotate in for resists vs casters)

The levels breezed by so quickly and it felt great to know I could take a break in between. The other benefit to this spot is the chance of High Quality Ore drops. If you managed to snag a few you could run your way to Marfen (Tink Bag merchant) and sell them. I cashed in average 300 plat per session (1 - 2 hours).

The next location I'm currently having a blast with is in Upper guk near the Ancient Crocodile. This got me from 32 - 35 fairly quickly as well. Same spell setup and typical kill method rotate the first four songs and melee. Instead I included Fufill's for more dps. Lull for single pulls and ranged pull with Fufills. This way I could land Selo's for snare/slow right away. I would kill the single shin knight near Lower Guk zone and pull every frog close by to the same spot. After that I would go right (south) in that hallway and kill the sets of frogs there next to the larger pool area. Song setup is below.

1 - Jonthan's warsong (haste, str)
2 - Hymn of Restoration (regen)
3 - Selo's Consonant Chain (snare / slow)
4 - Fufill's Curtailing Chant (dot and lowers MR)
5 - Kelin's Lament (lull)
6 - Shauri's Clouding (invis)
7 - Crission's Pixie Strike (mez and rotate in vs casters)
8 - Elemental Rhythms

Eventully these turned green around 34 but I stuck it out to 35 and moved my way down to Lower Guk (right next to the single Shin Knight).

Down here you will find a single Shin Ghoul who wanders up and down the hallway. Easy to kill using the same strat described above. Beware the Basilisk though, he has a mighty stun that lasts 8 seconds! I killed this area from 35 to 38 then changed my tactic completely. At 38 you get your first good damage chant (Tuyen's chant of flame). Now my method for killing was fear chanting and proved to be quite effective.

1 - Selo's Consonant Chain
2 - Angstlich's Appalling Screech (aoe Fear)
3 - Fufill's Curtailling Chant (magic dot and lowers MR)
4 - Tuyen's Chant of Flame (fire dot)
5 - Denon's Disruptive Discord
6 - Shauri's Clouding (invis)
7 - Hymn of Restoration
8 - Kelin's Lament (lull)

Typical kill method was pull a single frog up to the zoneline then snare and fear and start chanting him down the hall. Don't keep chain fearing since he could path to the live frogs and you could get adds. I would let it break and drag them back up to repeat. For songs make sure you swap a brass before Denon's lands for max damage then swap back to drums. These three dots will put up some great damage if you don't mind the change up from melee. Felt more consistent to me. Not as good cash drops but you can pull a few gems that sell for either gold or platinum. I'm about 60% in to 38 and will be looking to move in some more.

This is all I have for now.

[skarlorn]

pretty awesome, look forward to reading thru this later

[thewrush]

Hit 39 now and I'm starting to kill mino's from the maze. These buggers have some HP! I don't drag them all the way back up though. Same tactic used. Whichever I feel like doing but both seem to be the same pace. I fear kite them down the hall. Mino's are getting me 3% a kill which is phenomenal IMO. I don't know if I'll ever leave Guk. I could easily level all the way to 55 I'm sure. Might go have some fun in OT killing Berzerkers for braids and doing turn ins for bonus exp. Pretty sure nothing beats Guk. The ZEM is so high and the mobs HP are low compared to Kunark.

On second thought, City of Mist is probably just as good with chain pulling. If I need a change of scenery I could head there sometime in the early 40's. Soloing in Guk has been so much fun and it is good to level another character in different zones than previously leveled. Gets kinda boring doing the same routine over and over(Karnor's Castle...) Maybe Chardok grouping will be in the future!?

[SDWV]

Thanks for the guide. I'm going to try it out on my bard in 3 more levels.

[brecon]

I'm a big fan of dungeon barding, glad you're out there enjoying it. You can also solo Ass/Sup camp in Lguk at around 42. Getting down there requires getting an IVU at the zoneline while playing Invis song, or basically fighting your way to Bedroom, killing the bats, and then using an IVU pot (one can sometimes run past the bats).

Facing the ladder that goes up to Ass/Sup, there is a little cubby on the left that is 100% safe to sit and regen. If you pull mobs into that little cubby, nothing will aggro additionally while you mez/melee. For the first mob (either the pather or the one that stands downstairs in the corner), pull him into the cubby and mez/melee down. After that you can fearkite - if you pull to the ladder and snare him there, hit fear, he basically walks out towards the bridge with the gargoyles...but stops short of there. Just keep him snared, walk him back to the ladder, repeat. Of course if he looks like he is walking too far, just mez him a bit to slow him down.

Then there are 3 mobs up top in Ass/Sup, just lull, bring them down below, and fear kite away. There are 5 mobs in this rotation (pather, static, 3x mobs in Ass/Sup). If you need more you can pull from down below or the casters / gargoyles up there. Doing this camp lets you solo your own DE mask, get a Light Burlap sack and possibly a Thick Banded Belt, and also the Garg piece you need for Lambent BP.

Only piece of advice: Get an Orb of Tishan. Less resists, fear holds to max longer, it means less damage taken and more control.