Best solo melee class?

[Sizar]

I moderately twinked out a bard years ago to solo melee. Had full singing steel, 34% haste belt, breath of harmony and some other weapon i forget which. HP rings and earrings. Pretty basic stuff. It is very fun and easy to about level 45, ZERO downtime which i cannot even say for a monk. Kills are obviously slower than other melee but the zero downtime will make up for it somewhat.

After 45 it was a bit tougher. There was a bit of downtime but not a whole lot. At 51 it just became not worth it to only melee mobs down for xp. That is when i swapped to charming. (this was my 3rd bard, other 2 i leveled the more traditional charming way, this one I didnt charm even once)

The trick is to make sure you have the correct songs loaded. Like using a damage shield song did very little if I was also slow/snaring the mob, which I always was.

Oh also, this was all done without fear kiting either, all just 100% melee it down face to face

With an Uber twinked bard it would be ridiculous what you can do. I would imagine you can level at the pace of an uber twinked monk even

[Solist]

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

I moderately twinked out a bard years ago to solo melee. Had full singing steel, 34% haste belt, breath of harmony and some other weapon i forget which. HP rings and earrings. Pretty basic stuff. It is very fun and easy to about level 45, ZERO downtime which i cannot even say for a monk. Kills are obviously slower than other melee but the zero downtime will make up for it somewhat.

After 45 it was a bit tougher. There was a bit of downtime but not a whole lot. At 51 it just became not worth it to only melee mobs down for xp. That is when i swapped to charming. (this was my 3rd bard, other 2 i leveled the more traditional charming way, this one I didnt charm even once)

The trick is to make sure you have the correct songs loaded. Like using a damage shield song did very little if I was also slow/snaring the mob, which I always was.

Oh also, this was all done without fear kiting either, all just 100% melee it down face to face

With an Uber twinked bard it would be ridiculous what you can do. I would imagine you can level at the pace of an uber twinked monk even

What you're saying is you levelled a bard the slowest possible way to level a bard solo. And all the while did so while spending more on gear [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Vendor horn, vendor drum, vendor lute. Off ya trot to 60 turning left like Dale Earnhardt.

[Snaggles]

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

I just think it's wrong to classify Bard as a melee class. That term should be reserved for classes who gain the majority of their worth by attacking in combat. Bard's power is tied to their songs, with their melee attacks just being a bonus sometimes.

Especially if you don't have an epic. You will do more DPS by instrument swapping between DoT's than you will by keeping weapons equipped.

Bards gain the majority of their worth by what is equipped in their primary and secondary melee slot. Their spell caps are obviously melee based and they have 1 skill in Meditate.

They do pretty bad melee dps but have you ever parsed a priest or caster swinging a staff?

[Duik]

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

What you're saying is you levelled a bard the slowest possible way to level a bard solo. And all the while did so while spending more on gear [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Vendor horn, vendor drum, vendor lute. Off ya trot to 60 turning left like Dale Earnhardt.

Plat means nothing. To some.
Fun and/or fashionquest mean everything. To some.

Hearing all this I'd likely do a bit of everything anyways. Spit a 2 spawn initially with charm. Once split you have choices. It's not as if there is a time limit to level up.

[Sizar]

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

What you're saying is you levelled a bard the slowest possible way to level a bard solo. And all the while did so while spending more on gear [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Vendor horn, vendor drum, vendor lute. Off ya trot to 60 turning left like Dale Earnhardt.

I play the game to have fun, I'm sure most of us do. Guess what, I have never heard anyone saying swarming is fun. If you have then they are full of Sh*t

[Ripqozko]

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

I play the game to have fun, I'm sure most of us do. Guess what, I have never heard anyone saying swarming is fun. If you have then they are full of Sh*t

i had fun swarming, after about 2mil in kunark it did get boring but i wouldnt say swarming itself is boring. numbers go brrrrrr.

[kjs86z2]

the most fun i had playing bard was being the most badass puller PUGroups had ever seen

[Snaggles]

Charming in outdoor zones is very fun and it’s a skill worth practicing. It’s not swarm speed but is quicker than melee-style as you are putting down two npc’s at the same time. It’s also a bit more flexible where you can hunt.

Being able to run fast is part of the joy of soloing a bard. Personally, my nerves could never handle swarming (fatigue more than the stress).

[Pint]

Monk is the most fun solo melee by a huge margin. It's easy and effective. Every other class will have downsides unless XYZ which usually includes more time then it's worth unless you're a degenerate like the rest of us.

[Crede]

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

Charming in outdoor zones is very fun and it’s a skill worth practicing. It’s not swarm speed but is quicker than melee-style as you are putting down two npc’s at the same time. It’s also a bit more flexible where you can hunt.

Being able to run fast is part of the joy of soloing a bard. Personally, my nerves could never handle swarming (fatigue more than the stress).

I dunno with the 25 mob limit I feel like a charming bard could out level swarming at least until 51 when charm starts using mana.