What next for midlevel bard?

[bcbrown]

I've always loved grouping with bards, so I figured it was time to roll one and see how it feels to play one. I went with a dex/cha build (something like 170/130 with cheap EC gear) and a venomous axe of the velium brood, and although now I think going dex may have been a little suboptimal, the number of procs has made melee a lot of fun up until now.

I've been trying to explore a lot of zones and not just camp out in a single zone for too many levels, and have been to Crushbone, Oasis, Xorbb, Highpass Hold, Unrest, Mistmoore, and East Karana, alternating between grouping and soloing. Overall it's been a ton of fun; the clicking isn't too bad, and I've never played a toon that felt more like a "group daddy" than this guy. Being able to shift between dps, tank, heals, or cc depending on group needs is really nice.

Even though I'm aware it's the fastest way to level, I have zero interest in swarming. I'm also uninterested in pulling for groups, as my ancient laptop is too laggy. I'm at level 32 now, and while I still plan to spend some time grouping in Mistmoore and hoping to win some Mistmoore Battle Drums, right now I'd really like to explore soloing some of the classic dungeons I haven't spent a lot time in, like SolA/B or Guk.

Where should I go? I've been trying to find a good spot in Upper Guk, everything that was blue but too hard at 30 is now green at 32. I've been exploring from the Froglok Summoner room (#6 on the map) out to the zonelines to the dead side of LGuk, but I haven't found any good spots where I can pull two mobs to charm-kill.

Where should I go at level 32 to solo dungeons? Right now I'm practicing charming on the gnolls outside Splitpaw, but I'd like to find something new.

[Toxigen]

Go inside splitpaw...can either find people there or may be able to grab 1-2 ppl using /who all to join ya, amazing zem.

Hopefully you got yourself a gypsy lute, because that will be by far your most used instrument in groups. There's nothing more important than that.

Also bards are arguably the best pullers for xp groups...eventually you will find yourself in positions where your group needs it. May wanna drop some money and upgrade that laptop

[WarpathEQ]

Often overlooked (which can be a great thing if you want to solo) is the basement in unrest, most people leave unrest at 30 and head to mistmoore but I find the mobs in the basement are easier and better exp than mistmoore and less people going for it so easier to get it to yourself for soloing. The mobs are also set in spawn points where you can easily grab them 2 at a time which is perfect for charm kiting and the charm strat really lowers the difficulty level by reducing the chance you take a nuke from a festering hag, the mob that will generally hurt you the most.

It also is technically an outdoor zone despite playing like a dungeon, so if things go south you can selos your train to zone out. Nearest bind point is Gfay at the BB zoneline, not the most ideal but no worse than mistmoore and there is technically a merchant in the middle of the Cauldron but I tended to go to BB to sell stuff so I could also bank as coin weight tends to be the bulk at this level.

[enjchanter]

I'd recommend buying white scales

[Duik]

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

I'd recommend buying white scales

Is that blue server price of 850,000 platinum actually correct? For one part of an epic.
If so, you guys are fucked.
On an unrelated matter, do we have a server billionaire yet?

[enjchanter]

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

Is that blue server price of 850,000 platinum actually correct? For one part of an epic.
If so, you guys are fucked.
On an unrelated matter, do we have a server billionaire yet?

Ppl are asking and I'm sure 0 are paying
I paid 350k for mine many years ago

[Vivitron]

I decided to pull up where I leveled my bard 32-46. The following is a count of "you gain (party )experience" messages by zone and level.

level  32
total	grouped	solo	zone name
152	109	43	all zones
137	108	29	Solusek's Eye
15	1	14	Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule

level  33
total	grouped	solo	zone name
119	88	31	all zones
107	88	19	Infected Paw
10	0	10	Southern Plains of Karana
2	0	2	Solusek's Eye

level  34
total	grouped	solo	zone name
190	148	42	all zones
134	93	41	Frontier Mountains
55	55	0	Trakanon's Teeth
1	0	1	Rathe Mountains

level  35
total	grouped	solo	zone name
286	252	34	all zones
70	70	0	Infected Paw
60	60	0	Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule
43	43	0	Ruins of Old Guk
41	41	0	Frontier Mountains
27	0	27	Rathe Mountains
19	19	0	Southern Plains of Karana
15	15	0	The Feerrott
6	0	6	Grobb
4	4	0	Guk
1	0	1	Oasis of Marr

level  36
total	grouped	solo	zone name
253	175	78	all zones
75	75	0	Grobb
70	70	0	Ruins of Old Guk
50	0	50	Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule
42	23	19	Iceclad Ocean
9	0	9	Oasis of Marr
4	4	0	Southern Plains of Karana
2	2	0	Guk
1	1	0	The Wakening Lands

level  37
total	grouped	solo	zone name
181	83	98	all zones
91	1	90	Iceclad Ocean
90	82	8	Tower of Frozen Shadow

level  38
total	grouped	solo	zone name
153	18	135	all zones
99	8	91	Iceclad Ocean
40	0	40	Crystal Caverns
14	10	4	Tower of Frozen Shadow

level  39
total	grouped	solo	zone name
235	104	131	all zones
136	104	32	Tower of Frozen Shadow
57	0	57	Iceclad Ocean
42	0	42	Crystal Caverns

level  40
total	grouped	solo	zone name
316	114	202	all zones
203	1	202	Crystal Caverns
113	113	0	Tower of Frozen Shadow

level  41
total	grouped	solo	zone name
120	0	120	all zones
76	0	76	Butcherblock Mountains
33	0	33	Great Divide
10	0	10	Crystal Caverns
1	0	1	Eastern Wastelands

level  42
total	grouped	solo	zone name
166	0	166	all zones
136	0	136	Nagafen's Lair
15	0	15	Castle Mistmoore
9	0	9	Kedge Keep
4	0	4	Kithicor Woods
2	0	2	Solusek's Eye

level  43
total	grouped	solo	zone name
157	19	138	all zones
157	19	138	Nagafen's Lair

level  44
total	grouped	solo	zone name
180	0	180	all zones
128	0	128	Temple of Droga
20	0	20	Oggok
12	0	12	Ruins of Old Guk
7	0	7	Nagafen's Lair
4	0	4	Grobb
3	0	3	Guk
3	0	3	Dreadlands
3	0	3	Mines of Nurga

level  45
total	grouped	solo	zone name
214	0	214	all zones
180	0	180	Temple of Droga
19	0	19	Kithicor Woods
8	0	8	Ruins of Old Guk
5	0	5	Nagafen's Lair
1	0	1	West Commonlands
1	0	1	Guk

level  46
total	grouped	solo	zone name
165	0	165	all zones
127	0	127	Temple of Droga
23	0	23	Nagafen's Lair
5	0	5	Kithicor Woods
5	0	5	Grobb
3	0	3	Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule
1	0	1	Southern Desert of Ro
1	0	1	Rathe Mountains

Going from memory on some of the notable camps, been a while apologies if I have misremembered:

The sola group at 32 was a bar camp duo with a shaman, a lot of fun. IIRC my sola soloing was starting at the zone line marked D and clearing towards #18 on the wiki map, but that might have been at level 30 instead of 32.

Paw was a pretty big grouping zone earlier. Doubt there's many groups there anymore but there's some opportunity to solo. IIRC basically nothing sees invis. The entrance mobs are lower level than later mobs.

Frontier Mountains at 34 was at the giant fort. Fun both grouping and solo, pulling in giants and charming.

CT used to be popular grouping too. I assume those solo kills in 36 were gator alley charm killing.

37 in iceclad: the dervishes around TOFS is one of the easiest bard pbaoe camps available. Already slowing by 38 -- if you change your mind and decide to skip 32-38 instead of exploring this is the place to go.

Feel free to ask about a specific zone and I'll try to remember it; maybe this list will give some ideas of places to try.

[Toxigen]

As a bard you can basically add any class and instantly have a much easier time charming in paw / CT / sola.

[bcbrown]

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

Go inside splitpaw...can either find people there or may be able to grab 1-2 ppl using /who all to join ya, amazing zem.

Hopefully you got yourself a gypsy lute, because that will be by far your most used instrument in groups. There's nothing more important than that.

Also bards are arguably the best pullers for xp groups...eventually you will find yourself in positions where your group needs it. May wanna drop some money and upgrade that laptop

I've been finding some pickup groups inside paw that have been lots of fun, and good xp. Got my gypsy lute, and have put it to good use. The impetus for rolling a bard was actually witnessing an amazing puller in CoM; eventually I should upgrade the laptop, but I use a macbook for everything other than EQ and it just hasn't seemed worth it yet for just this one game.

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

Often overlooked (which can be a great thing if you want to solo) is the basement in unrest

This was a great suggestion. I've soloed down there before, I think on my cleric, and it's a nice little spot. Those hags are still pretty rough though. On the stairs behind the bookshelf I charmed a hag against a skeleton monk, and it killed the skelly before charm broke, then almost killed me even with a Heroic Bond buff. This might have to wait until I gain another level or two and pick up some hp/ac rings.

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

I decided to pull up where I leveled my bard 32-46.

Hah, your thread was one of the more useful threads I found when doing some research on playing a bard, as well as Toxigen's advice on charming. Knowing where you soloed in SolA is helpful, I'll have to check that out soon. Frontier giant fort sounds intriguing for when I'm ready to leave Antonica/Faydwer.

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

As a bard you can basically add any class and instantly have a much easier time charming in paw / CT / sola.

Yeah, seems that way. Had some good duos outside paw with a warrior. It felt a little awkward duoing with an enchanter - I basically just played a support role with healing and being a meatshield on charm breaks.


One thing I've been trying to figure out is when it becomes more effective to DPS with a drum and dots as opposed to melee. At this point I've only got one drum chant, and although the 85DD proc on the venomous axe is starting to fade in efficacy it still seems to be pretty good damage.

Relatedly, I'm also struggling to figure out how to efficiently finish off a charm fight. I've been trying to mez one while meleeing the other, but it's hard to juggle everything and I get hit more than I'd like. It's working for now, but I know I'll need to tighten up my technique at higher levels. It certainly feels harder than charming on my druid felt.

[cd288]

What HP % do the mobs have remaining when you break charm?