Monk or bard?

[Fizzulin]

Im pretty new i have a lvl 5 mage and im pretty happy with that so far. But the monk looks fun and FD looks helpful i get lost some times running for my life. Now that my mage has pet it should be alot easier. But bard seems fun to, im sure i could use macros for twisting songs and the speed buffs seem nice but im not sure how bards are monks do soloing or grouping. Ill be playing while i work remote so not sure if the can solo.

[GardylooGubbins]

Playing a bard right now. They solo and group pretty well. I've solo'd most of the way to 36. Right now I'm fear kiting (slow a monster, make it run away, run behind while hitting it) but a lot of bards will swarm kite (round up a bunch of monsters, run in a circle while playing an AoE damage song).

[Toxigen]

Keep going with the mage. Make 150k plat in your journeys. Buy a fungi, cloak of flames, and a T staff. Put on level 1 lizard monk and go conquer the world.

[Fizzulin]

Lol! Cool thanks guys!

[wagorf]

monk is more forgiving, and less gear dependent. in general is just easier to play when solo.

[greenspectre]

Keep going with the mage. Make 150k plat in your journeys. Buy a fungi, cloak of flames, and a T staff. Put on level 1 lizard monk and go conquer the world.

This is the dream and don't let anybody tell you any different.

[Crede]

Since you’re only level 3 I’d reroll and make an enchanter if you’re not totally set on mage. They can solo way better, farm way bigger items which will result in a lot more pp per hour, and are even more desirable in groups. Playing an enchanter also just makes you a much better player in general. Once you get a few hundred k then start planning your melee builds.

[chevy79bu]

Personally, having both a level 55+ bard and monk both I would say I have a lot more fun with my bard. My monk was a blast to level up but at above level 50 bards have a ton more options for what they can do as far as hunting for Plat or soloing xp, or grouping for xp. The bard can play so many different roles in a group depending on the groups class make up that it tends to keep things very interesting. Soloing you can charm, fear kite, face tank (mostly below lvl 50), and swarm. That brings me to my only real suggestion if you play a bard. Do learn to swarm kite as it is fun to get the hang of. But be sure to do the majority of your leveling by grouping. A well played bard will change the tempo of a group by a massive amount if twist the CORRECT songs. Then learn to charm solo in place of swarming. Learning to reverse charm solo will help you understand how to properly Cc in a group playing a bard. Good luck!

[chevy79bu]

monk is more forgiving, and less gear dependent. in general is just easier to play when solo.

I can play my 56 bard with no gear at all with only 10 Plat in vendor bought instruments. My 58 monk however would be completely gimp without his gear. In no way is a bard more gear dependant than a monk.

[nilzark]

Bard is beast mode when played correctly

[Jimjam]

Bard is beast mode when played correctly

You need to be geared with the appropriate lute equipped for beast mode.

[oldschoolguy]

if you gonna play monk, just play sk instead. they can do way more, kill much harder things and more hp as large races.

bard is most unique eq class.

[sideshow]

Both classes are fun to play. Have a 48 bard and 41 monk atm. I remember the first 15 or 20 levels on my bard seemed a bit tedious. When I got past that it was great. One of my favorite classes to play. One important thing to know about bards though is you really can't make macros to twist songs. I gave it an honest try and found it to be cumbersome and unreliable. Once you start a macro you can't do much until it's done executing. If you miss a note, your stuck waiting until it's done before you can play another song. Also if there are resists you sometimes need to replay the song if the spell is crucial enough, macros won't let you. I use to use a macro that had speed, levitate for traveling but no longer use since I got my ss boots.

[Toxigen]

if you gonna play monk, just play sk instead.

lol no

[Ripqozko]

monk is more forgiving, and less gear dependent. in general is just easier to play when solo.

this might be the dumbest response ive ever seen. you can be naked with store bought instruments on a bard to hit 60.

[oldschoolguy]

Since you’re only level 3 I’d reroll and make an enchanter if you’re not totally set on mage. They can solo way better, farm way bigger items which will result in a lot more pp per hour, and are even more desirable in groups. Playing an enchanter also just makes you a much better player in general. Once you get a few hundred k then start planning your melee builds.

i wouldnt say enchanters solo better than a mage. i play one, you need a ton of charisma gear, and first 45+ levels your charms break too often anyway so it's not very good solo. mage is much easier solo class all the way to 60 and can be naked. Enchanter can solo much harder things at higher level though.

[PatChapp]

i wouldnt say enchanters solo better than a mage. i play one, you need a ton of charisma gear, and first 45+ levels your charms break too often anyway so it's not very good solo. mage is much easier solo class all the way to 60 and can be naked. Enchanter can solo much harder things at higher level though.
Mage is definitely easier,at least until 55+. 1-55 on a mage is trivially easy, but mage solo power really drops off once the good guard camps, seafuries, ice giants etc drop off. They can do it just fine just more limited.
Enchanter solo is higher risk but also usually higher reward.
I have both at 60.

[Rerfu]

Mage with Fire pet and focus will see you through to 51 easily, then you can just group with friends from there. Plus you get 10 slot 100% wr bags on a budget.

[Worry]

Bard is harder to play but has more of a variety of things to do. They can pretty much do everything fairly well. When played perfect they are devastating solo or in a group. They also don't require a lot of gear.. some instruments, breath of harmony and some hp gear and you're set.

Monk can be very powerful but you would need some solid gear, just like any melee. For all intents and purposes, they are the strongest melee class in this era.

I have played both through the 50s several times.

[Barlu]

i wouldnt say enchanters solo better than a mage. i play one, you need a ton of charisma gear, and first 45+ levels your charms break too often anyway so it's not very good solo. mage is much easier solo class all the way to 60 and can be naked. Enchanter can solo much harder things at higher level though.

Enchanter is going to solo better than a mage the entire ride to 60 regardless of gear. You need less than 20k of gear on an enchanter to solo any level appropriate camp. Even at 60 I have horrible gear and can solo all the cash camps that’s any other enchanter can. Less margin for error but doesn’t prohibit you from doing it. Magician is great for farming trivial stuff that your pet can kill but an enchanter is an infinitely better starting character than magician.

I agree with the earlier recommendations to use enchanter to twink your melee characters. It is what I did and it works great.

[Castle2.0]

0 mana spells.
Can cast while moving.
Runs faster than Spirit of Cheetah.

Hmmmmmm... tough one...

[Crede]

Im pretty new i have a lvl 5 mage and im pretty happy with that so far. But the monk looks fun and FD looks helpful i get lost some times running for my life. Now that my mage has pet it should be alot easier. But bard seems fun to, im sure i could use macros for twisting songs and the speed buffs seem nice but im not sure how bards are monks do soloing or grouping. Ill be playing while i work remote so not sure if the can solo.

Consider SK. Nice blend between the two. You can get around arguably easier than a monk but yet get a lot of bardlike QoL with more dps and better tankage. Soloing with fear kiting is a breeze especially if you can’t afford to twink much and you can fd easy while playing during work when needed.

I’d recommend troll for SK but ogre is nice for ridiculous stats or iksar for regen and greenmist. Don’t neglect the lvl 52/58 sk pets they are way more effective solo than probably given credit for. Get a reclaim energy item for max pet assistance at these levels

[Troxx]

It really is hard to compare bards to monks directly as they are so incredibly different. I have both at 60.

Which is better at individual tasks?

Pulling:

- If the content requires FD, monk hands down all the way.
- If the content does not require FD, bards simply do it better most of the time. Bards can lull and CC anything unwanted that also came ... or just pull the lot and CC everything while the group locks them down.

DPS:

Lol. Monk. No comparison. End of discussion.

Tanking:

Depends. Generally speaking most will prefer monk but important considerations ...

Group or duo/trio? Composition of said group? All important factors. Comparably geared, Monk will take less damage and do mostly all of their dps while doing it. Bards will take more damage but have the advantage of absolute aggro control at their fingertips. Most people would favor the monk but depending on group composition a bard could be preferable.

Both of them are sufficient for 99.9% of content but most would prefer monk.

Support: (healing/cc/mana regen/haste)

Monk has nothing in the toolkit so bard of course.


Having said all of that ... they are so fundamentally different that this is a comparison between apples and spam. Any head to head comparison is flawed from the start. You bring monks and bard to the group for different reasons entirely.