Bards post 40 are mana batteries

[Nibbles]

Every group I get I just play mana and sit there watching YT. Nobody wants me to twist, just mana. Our DPS is trash even with good weapons. I may get a charm here or there but that is about all.

Literally one of the funnest classes 1-39 turns into complete garbage 40+ unless you swarm. But what is the point of swarming to 60?

[Jibartik]

Bards are almost designed to prance around and do nothing and interact with players in EQ just like real life.

Take off all your clothes and start harrasing people.

https://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm

https://i.imgur.com/OCGb8Tg.png

[zelld52]

Bards are almost designed to prance around and do nothing and interact with players in EQ just like real life.

Take off all your clothes and start harrasing people.

https://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm


Haha WOW i forgot about Fansy.

Bard DPS is abysmal (RIP no Double Attack). Good utility though. Bards are great for pulling 40+. Not as good as monk, but having lull and being a plate wearer makes them a bit more survivable than ENC for instance. IDK, never playeed bard past 40. But, I've grouped with some very active bards who were excellent pullers, CC.

Also, a bard in velks swarming the spiders in a circle as the group picked them off 1 by 1 is one of my all-time heroes

[PatChapp]

Bards can do lots in groups, but If they're good with you afk watching YouTube...why not

[Keebz]

Pulling is a good option for a more active bard role. You can also CC, nivs, twist etc. You don't have to do exactly what your group members tell you to do. You're the bard, show them how it's done bro.

And if they don't like it, you can go solo to 60. Charm kiting is a fun alternative to slowly AEing 25 mobs at a time.

[mcoy]

All the best groups I've been in had a bard in the mix. You're selling yourself short.

-Mcoy

[Haxom]

40-46 was some of the most fun I had on my first bard. I actually stopped kiting and went to group in CoM and spent one day pulling for almost 14 hours straight because I was having so much fun. It was some of the fastest and most fun PUG exp I've ever experienced and my group-mates loved it. Lull, tag, mez, charm, haste, and health & mana regen...there should be plenty to do for a bard.

[Troxx]

Lol Fansy the bard

[Bardp1999]

It gets even worse when your mez reaches uselessness in the 50s, Bard mez has a level cap that make it unviable pretty much everywhere high level. If you want to make it to 60 you need to be sociable and make friends or get good at swarming

[Ennewi]

The majority of Fear, Hate, and Sky is bard mezzable, with the exceptions off bosses and a few 55+'s. Even hatchlings in ToV can be mezzed/charmed with songs.

[Toxigen]

so afk and manasong then

[busted]

Yeah bards are super weak.

It's not like they can solo entire HS wings or anything https://www.twitch.tv/sugz4/video/1155754690

They also can't sneak down into dungeons and solo their own loots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV5_Wd8asg8

Afkers for surrrrrre

[busted]

Bard soloing harm merbs? No way. Not persible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyoBRnfFuY

[Stonewallx39]

Get eyeball helm - https://wiki.project1999.com/Singing_Steel_Helm
Non stop train pulls
Use AOE slow/snare, charm, mez if needed, mana song too I guess.
Make sure to make passive aggressive comments from time to time about your groups DPS “too bad we don’t have better dps, we could really take advantage of all this xp…” and gear.

[Encroaching Death]

I wish I knew how to play a Bard but they seem so complicated for some reason.

Maybe I should just dive head first into one.

[PabloEdvardo]

bard class has the most disparity between absolute shit players and good ones imo

I found this thread from Google (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324585&page=2) where people are saying you should never use a weapon over instruments in a group because the dps from chants is so much better

yet not a single person pointed out that if you're twisting your 3 chants, you're not twisting 3 group buffs, which means 4 songs + melee dps can be better than 3 chants and 1 song for your group

most bards, even lvl60 bards, are absolute shit at the group game and knowing how to use their kit

[Encroaching Death]

most bards, even lvl60 bards, are absolute shit at the group game and knowing how to use their kit

While swarm kiting sounds fun and tempting, aside from making instant enemies - this is the main reason why I would never swarm kite on a Bard.

[PabloEdvardo]

While swarm kiting sounds fun and tempting, aside from making instant enemies - this is the main reason why I would never swarm kite on a Bard.

swarming is fun but I agree unless you're racing to max a bard to 60 the reward of grouping it (at the very least, grouping for a level for two every 5-10 levels if you still are swarming) can do so much for improving group play

the number of groups i've had my bard in where I got compliments and all I was doing was "basic bard stuff" like twisting more than 1 song and mezzing, it really shows what the average bard is doing :p

[Gloomlord]

I'm sure most people are aware, but the vast majority of bards are god-awful, and should not be playing the class.

[Encroaching Death]

How hard is it to suck on a flute?

[Duik]

How hard is it to suck on a flute?

Pretty hard, may as well say ya gotta slave away ya day.

[Tann]

How hard is it to suck on a flute?

I'm by no means an expert on sucking, but I'm fairly certain you're supposed to blow into a flute and/or any wind instrument.. it ain't called a vacuum instrument my banned dude.

[electrical]

I'm by no means an expert on sucking, but I'm fairly certain you're supposed to blow into a flute and/or any wind instrument.. it ain't called a vacuum instrument my banned dude.

That guy had 2011 posts in 47 days. He didn’t have time to experience the game because he was constantly on the forums.

[Elizondo]

https://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm



19267

[Renault]

A well played bard in a group role is always busy, and the bard kit makes it super fun. You can be pull+cc, just cc, support (mana regen, haste, slows, ds), or dps. You can help a group save mana by selective use of snare/fear, charm a caster, etc. Playing on a bard in a group is one of the most fun MMO experiences I have ever had. As noted earlier, a well played bard can also do some very crazy solo stuff - though the lack of any mem blur is the one thing lacking.

...but then you get to a raid setting and you are expected to sit in camp and play mana song. In fact you get yelled at by enchanters if you try to CC. The best case is you get put in a tank or dps group so you are actually expected to position and provide resists.

[Tann]

...but then you get to a raid setting and you are expected to sit in camp and play mana song.

are resists not a big deal in the p99 raid scene? haven't raided since ntov back in whatever hell year that was on eq live and I swear getting resist songs up was top priority back then.

[PatChapp]

are resists not a big deal in the p99 raid scene? haven't raided since ntov back in whatever hell year that was on eq live and I swear getting resist songs up was top priority back then.
Resists are top priority,usually one bard gets on cleric detail one in the tank group

[Jibartik]

19267

Is that for real Nilbog?? What a legend.

[Vivitron]

Bard soloing harm merbs? No way. Not persible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyoBRnfFuY

That's great. I just ripped off this strategy to bard solo a cliff golem by charming Tourmaline and Corundium. It took 18 minutes, 3 gargoyles (one respawned), and about 2/3rds of my mana.

[busted]

More evidence that bards suck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q6v_UvJBho

I think the case is closed.

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Toxigen]

A bard + necro is all you need to heal 99% of xp groups too.

Its pretty wild synergy.

Hell, the best XP I ever saw across all my characters was when I was on my rogue back in pre-nerf hole. I trio'd with an epic bard and monk. All 3 of us had fungis...and I didn't stop backstabbing mobs that were being seamlessly brought into camp for about 3 hours.

[Karanis]

Could be wrong but didn't see this stated yet in this thread or in most mana battery threads, but pumping mana doesn't have to be leave on 1 mana song and nothing else, you get SIGNIFICANTLY more mana if you're twisting mana regen+3x mana pulse, or even just pulsing raw mana 4x. Songs you leave on trigger every 4 seconds, whereas your cast time is 3 seconds, so even if you're strictly a mana battery, you're being a lazy shit bard if you're turning on mana song and just letting it pulse on its own.

[Karanis]

Most people would be surprised just how much mana regen you can provide maintaining cantana and pulsing pure mana 3x between them, it's massive.

[Cen]

Bard stacking chant DPS is actually pretty high among all classes, but everything is a sacrifice, and when you do that, you don't do other things people likely want, or are more productive. If you have 5 people burning manabars constantly, you're better off with the mana job.

In a melee heavy group twisting hastes in can be very good. If your dealing with level 37 mobs and below, charming is free and easy and very high DPS.