[Issar]

Swarming is fine once in a while to get you over an exp hurdle, like finishing a level that’s been dragging. However it’s just the least fun play style in the game. The beauty is that bards have the most diverse toolset in the game.

At 26 you get the ability to fear kite which is fun, easy, and very effective. You won’t expend any mana and you will take relatively little damage. Stick to blue cons for maximum up time (you will be chain pulling to your hearts delight). My rotation was snare/fear/self haste/dot, rinse repeat adding in various dots. Once your mob is fleeeing in fear below 20%, I swapped fear out for healing song.

After a few levels of fear kiting, I switched to charming. This is probably my favorite solo method. You will find different strategies work for different spots, but always give yourself space from your charmed admirer, as you will be re-charming frequently. My typical play was to charm a mob, have it face tank another mob, and when they are both below 20% finish them off with your music or weapons. Be sure not to let the original target be killed with your pet charmed, so you can collect all of the exp.

I know you have a limited play time, as do I. Playing a bard in the above mentioned methods is definitely some of the best solo gameplay you can have. However, I strongly recommend grouping up with others whenever you have the opportunity. Playing a bard in a duo-full group is where the real fun happens.