Guide to AoE Bard Kiting, here on P99.

[Snigel]

it works from level 5 with a drum. Im netting about 4 blues per pull, but it's definitely not the same as it was on live with song vs mob reach. Much more risky, dying ALOT, but getting the hang of it soon i hope [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Dr4z3r]

For those of you wondering about macros:

- Start every song macro with /stopsong, but don't bother putting it at the end of a macro. There are two reasons to ever want to stop a song: To start another song, or to avoid aggroing mobs with offensive songs. In both cases, you solve your problem by just starting every macro with /stopsong.

- You only need Pause 30 between songs in a multi-song macro. You might end up cutting yourself off if you were playing with 0ms latency, but there's currently no issue in regular play with having pause 30. (You might even be able to push it with pause 29...)

- I haven't been able to get /cast to work on the same line as /pause. Am I doing it wrong?

Also, I can't stop myself from wondering every time I read this thread:

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

Here is how I am doing it right now. I will get Selo's on, go gather up about 5 blue con mobs, and then slowly circle around in a large area to get them all in a bunch (tightly fit together, you can't have your mobs spread apart).

Next, I make sure I have Regen, and my current DoTs and DD's memmed (Right now, at 19, that's the lvl 2 and lvl 18 dots and the bruscos DD).

WTF do you do if you don't have them memmed, now that you're already kiting 5 con blue mobs???

[guineapig]

Unless there is a macro that lets me twist 5 songs, it's inferior to mouse clicking.

[Mcbard]

Originally Posted by Dr4z3r [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You only need Pause 30 between songs in a multi-song macro. You might end up cutting yourself off if you were playing with 0ms latency, but there's currently no issue in regular play with having pause 30. (You might even be able to push it with pause 29...)

- I haven't been able to get /cast to work on the same line as /pause. Am I doing it wrong?

I had issues with pause 30 when I first started, so I switched to 31 and it worked fine. I recently tried 30 again and it works fine now. My ping has been about 40ms higher but other than that nothing else has changed. *shrug*

To put them on the same line, the commands need to be separated by a comma followed by a space.

Ex: "/pause 30, /cast 1"

Edit: 5 song macro from my head, can't recall how many lines are on a hotbutton but I think it's 5, would be accomplished with 6 anyway obviously :P
Hotbutton 1
Line1=/stopsong
Line2=/pause 30, /cast 1
Line3=/stopsong
Line4=/pause 30, /cast 2
Line5=/stopsong

Hotbutton 2
Line1=/pause 30, /cast 3
Line2=/stopsong
Line3=/pause 30, /cast 4
Line4=/stopsong
Line5=/pause 30, /cast 5

[Runningfish]

I didn't take the time to read through this entire thread because I'm at work, I did however want to throw in my 2 copper regarding the OP.

I dont exactly find what he's saying to be true about not being able to pull off a dot without being hit when running in a straight line. I'm probably one of the few bards that does this the way I do but I've found it be extremely effective on this server. Essentially instead of using a tight circle I do somewhat of a oval shape (think nascar). I've found that if your using all 3 instruments ( a pain but once you get used to it it's easy) you should be able to slow down when your ready to land a dot by tapping w and then when your casting bar has about a half a bubble left keep w down and you should be able to still hit everything and make it away without getting hit. Sometimes ill do this when on the turn of the oval but often times I do it when just running straight. I worked on the circle method for a long time but found that it was nearly impossible to do without getting hit. With the method I'm currently using I'm able to kite 14-15 (once 18 mobs all blue) and only get hit when I either mess up or get unlucky. I've gone entire pulls without being hit and using this method it makes the time between dots a lot safer since your not still circling.. All in all I find it to be a lot less stressful and and easier to manage.

I've shown another bard friend of mine around the same level this tactic, he was previously having a hard time kiting and was ready to give up on it. Once he started doing it he was having a ton of success. I know I didn't go into too much detail here since I'm at work but if anyone is curious about this or having trouble kiting id be happy to help.

[Messianic]

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

Not sure if selos at level 8 is enough to create the ovals needed for kiting. I'm sure it's possible, but I doubt you could do it efficiently unless you have the steady hands of a surgeon. I would just wait until 18 so you can twist your two aoe dots and cut your kiting time in half

I noticed at 8 that i couldn't do the oval very often without getting beaten on; my char simply wasn't fast enough to do it consistently yet with a bunch of mobs (even with MM drums). However, I found a lot of success with an S pattern instead.

I think the key is that mob hit boxes are shaped somewhat like an elongated diamond - the further on their flank you are, the harder it is for them to hit you at distance. At lower levels, it's harder to stay out of that hit box because selo's isn't as quick. Still works tho.

[Mcbard]

So I dinged 26 the other night in SK, but I had a quick question regarding aviaks before I just kept on doing what I do. I generally run to the top if it's uncamped, circle up all the mobs there, run out back and grab the rook that spawns by the merchant, then head down the tower grabbing them all on the way before attempting to get the rest of the mobs chilling out on the ground around the tower. I was wondering, is this place a camp? Can I get in trouble for doing that if there is a mage camping 1 respawning aviak half way up the tower (this was actually the case last night). If it is a camp, is it acceptable to just call the entire thing camped if it's not taken when I get in the zone? Killing 4-5 mobs at a time is such a waste when I can just as easily kill 15-20. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Francois]

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

So I dinged 26 the other night in SK, but I had a quick question regarding aviaks before I just kept on doing what I do. I generally run to the top if it's uncamped, circle up all the mobs there, run out back and grab the rook that spawns by the merchant, then head down the tower grabbing them all on the way before attempting to get the rest of the mobs chilling out on the ground around the tower. I was wondering, is this place a camp? Can I get in trouble for doing that if there is a mage camping 1 respawning aviak half way up the tower (this was actually the case last night). If it is a camp, is it acceptable to just call the entire thing camped if it's not taken when I get in the zone? Killing 4-5 mobs at a time is such a waste when I can just as easily kill 15-20. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I was thinking this exact same thing last time...which didn't matter because the two times I pulled the camp EQ decided to close itself. But that's not the point. This is...

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2653

The two rules that stand out for claiming a camp is that you have to be present (not kiting way off in the field to the east of KFC) and that you have to be able to handle all the mobs, which is definitely possible, but you might have a hard time convincing other players of that.

Also, my kite shape looks like a lemon. That's all.

[Teseer]

When I was kiting in SK, I limited myself to mostly Roamers. Just run around for a few and grab any blue thats just running around. That way you don't step on any toes for camped creatures.
I did take any uncamped mobs as well, if there was no one camping them.

[Dr4z3r]

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

So I dinged 26 the other night in SK, but I had a quick question regarding aviaks before I just kept on doing what I do. I generally run to the top if it's uncamped, circle up all the mobs there, run out back and grab the rook that spawns by the merchant, then head down the tower grabbing them all on the way before attempting to get the rest of the mobs chilling out on the ground around the tower. I was wondering, is this place a camp? Can I get in trouble for doing that if there is a mage camping 1 respawning aviak half way up the tower (this was actually the case last night). If it is a camp, is it acceptable to just call the entire thing camped if it's not taken when I get in the zone? Killing 4-5 mobs at a time is such a waste when I can just as easily kill 15-20. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is basically why I left the Karanas after 24 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]