I use a wireless connection exclusively. I have had LD issues, so when I'm doing a big kite I turn off DoT messages, which saves me a ton of spam damage and I seem to LD less (no evidence, just a feeling).
With regards to instrument swapping, I think I stopped swapping drum/horn sometime around 40; it can be done whenever, you just need to get a feel for your timing for turning. For me, at 35, my "timing" was established around being slightly overweight (114/105ish) with a MM battle drum equipped.
I did not use the L2 string-based DoT. It might be the wireless connection, or a crappy 5yo laptop, or whatever, but I died more often than I liked while trying to use the L2 DoT, so I decided I'd rather kill slower (but safer) than add the risk of the shorter-range L2 DoT. You can do whatever you feel comfortable with, and if you can twist in the L2 DoT, more power to you!
The best way to learn to AE kite as a bard is to get out and do it. No matter what I or any other bard types up about how to AE kite, until you get a feel for PBAE distance, you'll never be able to do it successfully. Even with the DoT nerf it is incredibly fast leveling (compared to grouping), so don't get discouraged if you die a lot or it takes you a while to learn your timing/get a feel for it. Honestly, its because of the chance of dieing while AE kiting that even at 49, I don't go out of my way to get a rez. 500pp and wasting an hour trying to find a rezzer is a lot less fun than just eating the rez and getting back to killing things. Granted, I won't turn down a rez, but I'm not going to let a death stop my fun.
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