Class defining epic

[Erydan Ouragan]

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

well first of all, bard is a melee hybrid. if a bard is forced to use instrument for mods 100% of the time, he would be doing negligible damage with his autos from an empty hand. with epic, he only does slightly more than negligible damage, but at least there's a weapon in that hand now. if that's not a different way to play, i don't know what is.

That is a common way of thinking, and terribly wrong.

Bard melee damage is negligible, even with the epic. With a dual wield cap of 210 and no double attack, their damage is laughable at best. Paladins/SKs have a double attack cap of 235 and no DW.

This means, mathematically, with equal gear/buffs, paladins/SK will out-melee a bard due to the fact that they will have more double attack checks than bards will have dual wield checks.

So, assuming a bard is in a melee group in a raid setting, he shouldn't be meleeing at all. He should stand close to the melees in his group and switch instruments appropriate to the songs he's playing in order to provide the maximum buffing effects.

Playing McVaxius Berzerker Crescendo with a McVaxius Horn of War (23) will net more STR/ATK than played with the epic (18). Multiply that STR/ATK gain in a group full of rogues and monks, that will net more damage as a whole than the bard would be able to do by himself.