Bard Guide for p99, part II

[astuce999]

Pulling


A bard will be often called upon to do the pulling. If this is the first time you’ve ever been told to do so, you may wonder how it’s done. This guide is to help shed light on the wonderful world of pulling.


Lull (Pacify)

The first song a bard gets that is used for pulling is Kelin’s lugubrious Lament. This song is a lull; it reduces the aggro radius, as well as the assist radius of the mob it is played on. Being a regular song, the effect will only last up to 3 ticks (12-18 secs). It is string based, but on p99 I haven’t noticed any additional reduction in aggro/assist radius by equipping a lute. Charisma is very important for this song, and the level difference between the mob and yourself is also very important.

Unlike a lot of songs, 3 things can happen when you play this song on a mob. It can either land, it can be resisted (no aggro), and it can be critically resisted (aggro). The level difference between the bard and the mob plays a very big role in whether the song is resisted or not. The charisma is the ultimate factor on whether the mob aggros after the song is resisted. Since I have not noticed any difference in equipping a lute to sing this song, I would go as far as to recommend equipping a crude stein (+15 charisma) instead of a lute when about to play this song.

Using the “cycle nearest npc” hotkey also works well in conjunction with this song. I would also recommend to cycle through all the npcs in the area with the hotkey before lulling any of them, so as to know what to expect. The distance between the bard and the target is also a factor as to whether lull would be critically resisted or not, so whenever possible, lull from as far as possible from the mobs.

Lull does not require Line of Sight to be able to be cast. So as long as you are able to target the mob you want to lull, and that you are within song range, you can do it. To gain the ability to target the mob, you can turn the corner and barely see it, then click on it, you can also use the change view hotkey to be able to peek around a corner, you can use bind sight song; target a mob near it and change views to see the one you really want. You can use the Eye of Zomm. You can also /assist someone else’s target, if they have a way to get near a mob without aggro’ing them (rogue sneaking is one example).

Once all mobs are lulled, you still need to pull them. The best song to use to pull is dispel, because it is a non-damage, irresistible song. Mobs assist less when pulled with non-damage effects. You could always use proximity aggro, but it is a bit strange on how that works on p99, it generates more aggro that a regular song.

Beware and be aware of pathing. Once a mob is aggro'ed, if it paths on top of other mobs it will aggro them even if they are lulled. Remember that lull only reduces the aggro radius, it doesn't eliminate it.

One last tip, if you can get a /target on a mob, but are unable to see it or get some form of correct line of sight for it, lull can also come to the rescue, since it only requires a target and no line of sight. Unequip charisma gear, equip a staff of writhing if you must to reduce charisma further, and play lull until you get a critical resist, the mob will come. Once again be careful of pathing!

Mez push pulling

Whenever they fix the push component of the mez song, as in add it in since it’s missing right now, a bard will have yet another way to aggro mobs, using assist aggro. In most zones (I think all but the Planes), mobs can either aggro a pc, or assist a mob who has aggro’ed a pc. They cannot assist a mob who is assisting a mob who’s aggro’ed a pc. This means that using the push component of the mez song, a bard can slowly-but-surely move a mob within the assist range of the mob he’s really trying to pull, so that that mob eventually assists and comes single to camp (as well as your mez'ed target, when it wakes up).

Domino pulling

The Snare that bards get is the most powerful in the game; it offers the most movement reduction. Depending on the base run speed of the mob, it sometimes feel as if the mob is completely rooted just with our snare. The use of this song for pulling is done for many reasons, mainly when in a group that is killing mobs very fast and want "chain pulling". You snare the mob next to the one you want to kill first, it will aggro both, but only one will make it to camp with you right away, the other can take an extra 20 seconds to get there so that by the time the first mob dies, the second is just making its way to camp.

Mez can be used in a similar fashion, pull 3 mobs by mez'ing one and having 2 follow you, then otw back to camp mez another. This will mean the mobs will come to camp one by one with an interval in between. It can help keep a dynamic pace to xp'ing when done correctly. One tip is that since the first mob that will come is the first one that was mez'ed, once it is mez'ed, bring the other mobs "away" from the camp before mez'ing them, so that the closest one to camp will come first, then the 2nd one who's further away from camp will come second (and will have longer to path to make it there, giving you a bigger buffer).


-------------------------------------

If you know other methods for pulling, post them here! These are the ones I could think of for now.

[Taxi]

Wheres part I?

[yaeger]

Pulling with mez always introduced an additional method that I always used when pulling with my bard on live.

You can use mez to pull mobs from the back of a room or a corner. The mobs within the initial aggro radius will run towards you, reacting to the mez on their comrade. However, the mobs will run through another group of mobs WITHOUT grabbing aggro from them.

However, once the initial mezzed mob breaks mez and run at you, it'll social aggro everything.

One way of picturing it, the mobs are represented as X's:

X-------X
----X----
X-------X

Mobs are positioned as above and you want a single pull as a bard, and they're not able to be lulled. If you mez a corner mob, only the center/corner mob will come. This will allow you to easily split a camp.

[astuce999]

Originally Posted by Taxi [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Wheres part I?

http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...ad.php?t=14926

[toddfx]

Very nice info. Pulling is something I have struggled with as a bard. On a couple occasions early on, I was embarrassed to tell the group I could not lull pull because I did not know how. Other times it has ended in disaster after attempting it!

Snare is one song I actually did not know bards got. What level? Can it be used in part with AE kiting? Seems like that would make it quite a bit easier to kite, but as I'm typing this I am realizing that it must be single target only...darn.

Anyway, I assume that when you snare pull, you must keep casting snare on the mob as it makes its way to the group. And same goes for mez pulling.
Do you have any particular tips or tricks when cycling targets like that? I don't feel like I would have the opportunity to do much damage to the current mob in battle if I am busy switching targets and instruments every few seconds. Do you just leave auto-attack on, or what?

Do most bards dual wield weapons in battle or just use a single weapon? Are there any instruments that will go in off-hand WHILE you have a weapon in primary?

I apologize for the wave of questions...But thank you in advance! This bard guide is great. I studied Part I and have applied the techniques in game.

[yaeger]

Most bard spell effects will only last for a song pulse (12 seconds). So snares, mezzes, haste, regen, lull, Dots, etc will only last for 12 seconds plan accordingly.

DD songs, songs with specific effects such as Highsun and Slows will have varying or no durations. Knowing all of your songs will make you a very good bard.

Later on, Velious I believe, there will be instruments that will allow you to use it in your offhand while you swing a mainhand weapon. The bard 1.0 available later on in Kunark, The Singing Shortsword, will act as all instruments. However, using an actual instrument will always give you a better bonus to songs than using the epic.

The hardest part about being a bard is acting as CC, slower, puller, and buffer all while trying to keep twisting song manually. It just takes practice, group whenever possible.

[bufferofnewbies]

Best advice for bard soloing is: learn to love nascar. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Oh look: turn left.

[Cyph]

Great post astuce999, thank you so much for explaining the lull mechanics [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Cyph]

I'm currently using banded; what armour should I be aiming for next? Is there any class specific low level armour for bards?

[Crash]

Bronze would be the next step up on the ladder, adding 2-3 ac per slot.