Guide to AoE Bard Kiting, here on P99.

[Teseer]

I cry when I'm just running SoW speed. I can't imagine going back to Jboots.

[Arkanjil]

Just use jboots for kiting purposes. Selos for everything else.

[Teseer]

I couldn't take it, but that's just me.

[Mcbard]

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

As a long-time admirer of bards, I recently took the plunge and scrounged up a pile of mismatched gear (Thanks Gidro!) and rolled my own.
This thread has been invaluable for insights into the art of swarm kiting

Nalkin that video was amazing. I actually bookmarked it for ongoing review on 'how it's done'
Be aware I'll likely pester you (and other bards) with PM'd questions in the near future.

Edit:
I need help with twisting macros.
This works fine, but is only one song per button:
/stopcast
/cast #
/pause 31
/stopcast

I've read that /pause can be followed with another command in the same line but can't get it to actually work.
Does /pause only fork when followed with /cast? or can it /pause 31 then /stopcast?

Here's an example of my hotbuttons taken from my uifile:

Page2Button5Name=Group1
Page2Button5Color=11
Page2Button5Line1=/stopsong
Page2Button5Line2=/pause 31, /cast 1
Page2Button5Line4=/pause 31, /cast 3
Page2Button5Line3=/stopsong
Page2Button6Name=Group2
Page2Button6Color=4
Page2Button6Line1=/stopsong
Page2Button6Line2=/pause 31, /cast 2
Page2Button6Line3=/stopsong
Page2Button6Line4=/pause 31, /cast 5

[Cribanox]

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

As a long-time admirer of bards, I recently took the plunge and scrounged up a pile of mismatched gear (Thanks Gidro!) and rolled my own.
This thread has been invaluable for insights into the art of swarm kiting

Nalkin that video was amazing. I actually bookmarked it for ongoing review on 'how it's done'
Be aware I'll likely pester you (and other bards) with PM'd questions in the near future.

Edit:
I need help with twisting macros.
This works fine, but is only one song per button:
/stopcast
/cast #
/pause 31
/stopcast

I've read that /pause can be followed with another command in the same line but can't get it to actually work.
Does /pause only fork when followed with /cast? or can it /pause 31 then /stopcast?

I've never used macros. Manual drive is the best way to have 100% control imo.

[guineapig]

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

I've never used macros. Manual drive is the best way to have 100% control imo.

Agreed! Have never used a bard macro. That's just weak sauce.

[quellren]

So for you macro shunners, do you have stopcast buttons like the one I posted, or do you double-tap each key? i.e....
hotkey 1 (start song 1)
wait 3 sec (casting song 1)
hotkey 2 (stop song 1)
hotkey 2 (start song 2)
wait 3 sec (casting song 2)
hotkey 3 (stop song 2)
hotkey 3 (start song 3)...
?
More than once I've missed a note, or gotten interrupted and it's kinda thrown my rythmn off as my song was ended, then I hit the hotkey that expect to stopcast, but it instead started that song over.

I apologize for the seriously lame questions, just trying to learn now so I don't dissapoint. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Mcbard]

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

So for you macro shunners, do you have stopcast buttons like the one I posted, or do you double-tap each key? i.e....
hotkey 1 (start song 1)
wait 3 sec (casting song 1)
hotkey 2 (stop song 1)
hotkey 2 (start song 2)
wait 3 sec (casting song 2)
hotkey 3 (stop song 2)
hotkey 3 (start song 3)...
?
More than once I've missed a note, or gotten interrupted and it's kinda thrown my rythmn off as my song was ended, then I hit the hotkey that expect to stopcast, but it instead started that song over.

I apologize for the seriously lame questions, just trying to learn now so I don't dissapoint. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That's how I do it when I'm not using my hotbuttons.

[MiRo2]

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

I need help with twisting macros.
This works fine, but is only one song per button:
/stopcast
/cast #
/pause 31
/stopcast

I've read that /pause can be followed with another command in the same line but can't get it to actually work.
Does /pause only fork when followed with /cast? or can it /pause 31 then /stopcast?

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

• Rogean: Disabled /stopcast

/Stopcast was disabled in a previous patch, though I believe /Stopsong still works, though I am unsure if that is intentional or just overlooked. I haven't used macro buttons for a long time on my bard, dragging the song gems to my hot buttons works far better for me than my hot buttons did.

When I did use my macros they looked like this

/Stopsong
/Cast #

[Pescador]

I've experimented with some macros and ultimately, missed notes and other factors make macros really unsuitable for kiting. I sometimes use them in stable groups where it isn't critical to hit EVERY single song, but otherwise I just use the aforementioned macro of:

/stopsong
/cast #

for each song. Beats double-tapping, but it's still killer on the fingers.