I'm bard!
I'm halfway decent at it; probably not the best.
One point I haven't seen emphasized in this thread is that bards have soooo many different ways to make a group better.
Legidias mentioned the fear kite approach in KC. Works great! There are LOTS of other ways bards can make strong contributions to groups.
Don't dismiss the Cantana line. Yes, some lazy bards will simply play that and afk. But it's soooooo helpful, that groups are often ok with that. In the hands of a decently played bard, you can add Niv's melody, ...super regen between those two songs. I've done KC with no healer and we were fine. But wait, there's more!
No chanter or shammy? Add haste! You're right that it's not as good as the other 2 classes, but 45% haste is nothing to sneer at, either. While helping the group super regen!
Have a chanter or shammy? Great! endless mana & regen, PLUS you can add a nice 21 (or so) damage shield at the same you're adding 60 attack and 40 str! (Thanks McVaxius' Rousing Rondo) That's 3 songs....you get to add a 4th....
Mana free snare to stop runners? Another stackable damage shield? Resist buffs against casters? DoT's?
Or charm another mob? Great DPS, and with super regen going, when it breaks, you'll regen the health back in no time...no heals needed.
Chanter getting beat on? Mez or snare his protagonist to give him a minute to breath.
Chanter leaves the group? no problem. You've got the mezzes. They dont' last as long, true, but keeping 3 mobs on ice while playing Cantana is easy peasy. 4, too, but I may be sweating slightly :>
We havent' even gotten into pulling!
Someone mentioned melee'ing earlier in the thread. Post 30's, you're usually more useful to your group if you're NOT melee'ing. The instrument bonuses outweigh the weak melee DPS. I did say "usually". Depending upon group makeup and song choice, adding your paltry melee damage might be the best option. Caveat: once you have your epic, might as well melee as much as you can, since the need to switch instruments isn't (usually) important.
Bards have tons of options and ways to play
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