So, I rolled a bard... Help?

[falkun]

Use instruments to improve songs beyond their base. A few wind instrument songs (levi, invis, etc.) require a wind instrument to play. To see the advantages of instruments, use this spreadsheet by Pinkfloyd:
http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...ng+spreadsheet

Put your level in the top left cell, and input the appropriate instrument modifiers in the top row of cells. Most instrument mods can be found on either the P99 wiki or on Allah's, but the store-bought mods are almost all 1.8 (80% mod), for a baseline. The spreadsheet will show you how much improvement you get in your resist and DoT songs.

Bard AoE Kiting Guide (with links to other how-tos at the bottom):
http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...09&postcount=8

Use keybinds for singing. You can just bind your spell slots to keys, but then you have to press twice for bard songs (1 time to stop the previous song and another to start the next song), or you can make a social macro with two lines:
Line 1: /stopsong or /stopcast
Line 2: /cast # where # is the spell slot you want to use, 1-8.
Add this(these) macros to your hotbar, keybind them to something, and then use your keyboard for all singing purposes. Use your mouse to move instruments/weapons (no bandolier on P99, and I quit before they put it in on Live), and to target mobs.

Also note that songs last ~3 server ticks, so 12-18seconds. You should be able to twist 3 songs easily (keep all up 100% of the time, lag notwithstanding), 4 songs pretty well (1 song occasionally drops for < 1 server tic), and 5 songs with help (Breath of Harmony).

IMO ranged weapons are a waste, buy a runed bone fork sometime in your 40s and never look back (until maybe Velious).

If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me.