Bard grouping & gear tips requested (lvl 52, blue)

[Snaggles]

Hi,

I've gotten back into playing the bard. Arguably soloing has made me very lazy (charming and fear-dotting mostly). Does anyone have any general tips for grouping and gear upgrades?

https://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Jangles

Not sure why I've held on to the weapons this long since I rarely use them. I get the feeling a couple chants with drums actually does more dps for solo but maybe that's just a bad hunch.

My first outing in the Hole and without slower or CC I went full-lute:
Largo's Absonant Binding
Verses of Victory
Cantana of Soothing
Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity (one pulse)

With the shaman I would hit the assist mob with Largo but quickly transition to an extra pulse of Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity when it was really slowed. When I realized everyone had Alacrity or better I stopped playing Verses of Victory for an extra clarity pulse. The added enchanter further reduced my necessity.

So that group had multiple levels of redundancy built in. Mostly I was playing the lute mana/regen song and pulsing the clarity song 3 times. If everyone was taking a bit of damage I'd drop some of the clarity pulses for Niv's regen and possibly switch to Hymn of restoration and then mix clarity back in when people were full healthy.

TL;DR

If slows are covered what do you focus on (non-epic) playing besides mez/charms and lulling if needed? Are weapons a fools-errand/placebo over an instrument?

If CC's and slows are covered, as odd as that is, is it better to crank mana or are certain rune/regen songs more helpful so the healers dont have to spot everyone?

I know a bard has to adapt to the situation and it's been very fun. Just curious if there are better ways to adapt and some songs that are underrated and I'm oblivious to them.

Thanks!

[branamil]

It seems your rotation is fine. I guess priority is mezzes, clarity (cantana), and haste. I would rarely slow because it doesn't last that long and the aggro is huge. You might also snare if the things you fight are fleeing.

Bard melee is a complete joke due to no double attack and low attack tables. Your dps will be worthless and less than if you twist in a Chant of Flame. I would just stay in camp with instruments if you are not pulling.

I really hate bard charms in groups unless you have a goblin Invis ring. Waiting 15 seconds to attack your pet just slows XP down.

[Jimjam]

Abandoned orc shovel in range. Once you start playing an instrument unequip and re equip the shovel to activate shovel air guitar.

[ChooChoo Train]

You should invest in a singing steel helm, this way you can twist songs for group while you pull with your eye of zomm at same time.

[Snaggles]

Thanks all, great tips :)

I picked up the shovel shortly after that last thread you commented in JimJam. I call it the bard epic .5 , lol.

[Jimjam]

Thanks all, great tips :)

I picked up the shovel shortly after that last thread you commented in JimJam. I call it the bard epic .5 , lol.

You are ready for any group Norrath can throw at you.

[ChooChoo Train]

Best part about the shovel is you can just bury your treasures instead of going to the bank!

[thewrush]

I just wanted to drop in and applaud your gearing effort for full guardians (free gear is best gear). I too have a bard with the exact same setup except I rolled Human (Rallos zek) for cultural gear to begin with. We look cool and stand out from the rest (Half elf in full koada'dal).

[Snaggles]

I just wanted to drop in and applaud your gearing effort for full guardians (free gear is best gear). I too have a bard with the exact same setup except I rolled Human (Rallos zek) for cultural gear to begin with. We look cool and stand out from the rest (Half elf in full koada'dal).

Thanks! Had a bud who was robe-questing on his monk for a long time. A bard who's dragon-friendly with selos can really track down those corpses quick :).

It's really good stuff with nice sv's. Agreed on the fashionquest goals.

[goldlush]

I would play march of the wee over clairty, nivs over soothing, and then play soothing and clarity during downtime and in between pulls, because in the long run that tad bit of mana does not outweight other benefits you can bring to the table.

If they stick, I would get a powerful drum, play your 3 chants plus largos and twist in haste to ensure maximum hitpoint meltage, but I don't remember if chants stick to things in the hole.

[Snaggles]

I would play march of the wee over clairty, nivs over soothing, and then play soothing and clarity during downtime and in between pulls, because in the long run that tad bit of mana does not outweight other benefits you can bring to the table.

If they stick, I would get a powerful drum, play your 3 chants plus largos and twist in haste to ensure maximum hitpoint meltage, but I don't remember if chants stick to things in the hole.

Thanks for the feedback. Will definitely try that too.

[ChooChoo Train]

I would play march of the wee over clairty, nivs over soothing, and then play soothing and clarity during downtime and in between pulls, because in the long run that tad bit of mana does not outweight other benefits you can bring to the table.

If they stick, I would get a powerful drum, play your 3 chants plus largos and twist in haste to ensure maximum hitpoint meltage, but I don't remember if chants stick to things in the hole.

March of the wee is the single most annoying song there is, it’s only two uses are:
to shrink your entire group once(lasts til they zone if you play only one tic).
To shrink your entire group twice so you can shadow step them through locked doors.

Cantana - regens hp/mana
Selos consonant chain - snare/slow (on blue should land if slow is up)
Shield of song - 40pt+ dmg/magic rune song with lute
Your best Haste

On big baddies make sure to OOS(Drum)+ Fufils(Drum)+ Bereavement(Lute) in that order until slow is landed.

You will have several raiding stacks depending on what classes you’re grouped with and what encounter you are on.

There is no real set song stack outside this for groups, bards must be extremely versatile and adapt to a groups needs to make them efficient as possible! Great bards know every classes abilities/strengths/weaknesses and do what is necessary to optimize kill time while minimizing downtime.

PS. Hope this helps and don’t Twist Nilipus March of wee in groups, that poster is a moron or troll. Also join green. If you have any specific questions find me on discord or Ingame

-ChoooChooo<Lineage>

[branamil]

Do NOT play March of the Wee ever without asking your group. Being shrunk and growing again is extremely annoying for many people.

[Snaggles]

Thanks for the breakdown Choo and the warning Bran.
Keep the pro tips coming. The other post didn’t make much sense on paper but I’m taking it all in to sort out later.

When it comes to Barding I’m like a baby deer trying to figure out how to walk :p. Not annoying people is very high on the list of goals.