Trying out a Bard, Halllpp! Any pro Bards here?

[Tork]

It comes down to how you play -

Do you primarily pull? CHA for lull.
Do you pump mana and resists... err, I mean raid? STA for HP.

But really, it doesn't matter that much and if you put them all in WIS it'd be ok - a bard isn't gear dependent, least of all in a raid setting with competent healers.

[mmiles8]

Bards twist? Every raid I've been in the bards have just stood there afk with either verses of victory or chorus of clarity playing.

You don't need to be pro to do it, if you've ever played guitar hero, it's like that, but easier. Pick 3 buttons, hit them, as long as you get the timing sort of right, you're in the top 10% of bards on the server.

[Jify]

Someone called? Bard Pro here!

Every bard in our guild twists actively, 3-4 songs. Who are you raiding with mmiles8?

I picked High Elf because they are well balanced, and put my points into STR/DEX so I could wear plate full-time at lower lvls. Looking back, it was a dumb move. Put your points into STA, any left over go into DEX.

Focus on your instruments first, get the good ones. HP/DEX gear next. Extra DEX means less missed notes, HP gear means you don't die like a wizard holding a lute. CHA used to be helpful for maintaining long charms, no sure how helpful it is anymore, I don't charm kite like I used too.

For Weapons, I went too three extremes. High Damage, High Delay. Low damage, Low delay. or Proc Dmg, low damage, high delay. High Damage/Delay works great if you've got high haste. Low damage/delay is just plain fun! And Proc dmg weapons are just wicked for taunt! I'm a bit of an odd ball, I push my AC over 900 and tank from time to time. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Just give Doug or Jify a tell in game if you need a hand. Alternatively, Jete, Gwence, Tunes, Cymbal, etc. are all pro-bards and would love to help you out! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Cheers!

[Arkis]

Lol Doug: You're a half elf not a high elf [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. Also my name is Tones!...Jerk! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Pretty much what everyone else said but:

Tanking:

If you're going to group and there ends up not being a tank, make sure to have a Staff of Writhing at higher levels. That staff + snares and mezzes will make you king of aggro. I've tanked easily for BR, Ass/Sup, and Royals while CCing. In fact, due to my late playtimes (and the server's lack of tanks back when I was leveling) I ended up tanking royals from most of 45-50. Just got to make sure to hold a lot of the aggro with AE slows/snares/mezzes + a charm if you feel like it. If you can find a tank, though, would be less strain on you.

[guineapig]

I play a tanking bard... mostly out of necessity (cause there is never a tank around when we need one).

Staff of Writhing + obsidian Dagger in the offhand.
Snare/slow song at the beginning and end of the fight.

That's pretty much all you need to keep aggro on just about anything. If some caster gets super silly aggro somehow then just chain mez the mob you are attacking.

Otherwise, damage shield song is a good idea to make your DPS look better (since our DPS is generally shite compared to every other dual-wielding class.

Tanking is very doable in classic as long as you aren't taking on mobs above the mid 30's. In other words we can handle Solb Kobolds and Lguk bedroom-ass/sup area.
After that you start to become a bit of a drain on the clerics unless you are able to consistently pull singles and have everything perma-slowed during the fight.

I don't think you will be hitting 900 AC without raid gear so I wouldn't make this a goal till you are already level 50 and looking for something to do.

[guineapig]

Last thing... The toughest part about tanking is when you are also pulling, crowd control and the only source of mana regen. That's gets a little stressful.

[Fryhole]

Some newb solo advice: at level 8, you can learn stringed instruments. Grab a lute, and instrument swap when you play chords of dissonance. It'll kick the damage up to 8/tick instead of 4. You only need the instrument in your 2ndary slot when the song plays - after that, equip your weapon. You can also do it for the regen song, but that's a lot of weapon swapping. It might just save your life though. (using Sarok's velious UI w/extra pack makes this easier - unless someone knows of a macro to equip/unequip)

[Lazortag]

Originally Posted by megman87 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Alright so I am going to try a Bard since everyone says they are a pretty hard class to play and when I did a /who all Bard 30 50 in game, I saw 1 level 32 Bard online lol.

However, I don't know much about Bards at all, only that "Twisting is super hard and Bard is not good for players who aren't pro". So I was wondering if some of you could give me some basic info / tips and or advice for playing one. I've got some friends on here who can help out with some money / gear so I am not too worried about that.



I was thinking of doing Wood Elf or Half Elf, how should I do my starting stats?

What kind of gear do I get for a Bard? HP/Mana stuff? Str stuff? Cha stuff?

What type of weapons should I try and find?


Im sure Ill have more questions but I think Ill leave it at this for now and see how many people respond, Thanks!

I came onto P99 having only played a noob DE shadowknight waaay back in 2001. I decided being a Bard looked fun from knowing nothing but what I knew from grouping with them. Over time I learned all the tricks that separate the men from the boys, it just wasn't that hard to figure out. So long as you don't put your starting stats into Wisdom (lol) you'll probably be fine. The game is more enjoyable when you're figuring things out for yourself (this is all meant non-offensively etc., I'm just suggesting what I think is more fun and trying to show that playing a Bard really isn't very stressful. Most of the advice in this thread is good except for anything that says anything negative about Bards).

Also, one more thing: bards are a ridiculously powerful class both grouping and soloing. They can't solo things at the same speed as a Necro or a Mage but that's almost made up for by the fact that they can break camps better, and they have tools for CCing and other failsafes for things get rough. Really if you want to have a lot of variety and a very flexible range of play-styles, Bards are amazing for you. The class has allowed me to really explore and appreciate the game a lot more easily than any other class would have.

[Savok]

As an eleven+ year Bard vet all I can say is: hp, hp, hp, HP, HP! for classic. Go Sta for as much as you can and then either dex, agi or cha depending on your starting race. Resists and other stats are secondary if you sing the right songs. I played Half Elf but I really wished I had gone Wood Elf back in the day.

Bards are the least dependent class on gear. The only thing you need to get are good instruments as said above and learn how to twist songs and instruments as needed, your groups productivity will fly. Remember to try to fill your role around the group that you join - your the jack of all trades, master of none. As a stand alone your very weak but you make groups shine. Learn which songs stack and which best fit the class of each member of the group.

Take time out of groups to learn about proximity pulling as well as lull splitting from lvl 8 and how to best use the faction song from level 11, it will make you invaluable for groups later on.

[wc4482]

What good is the faction song from level 11?