Lets pretend I suck at bards.....

[Pringles]

I'm just being honest here, so flame on if you must but it is what it is.

So I had a level 54 bard at one point (4 years ago?), I sold it for plat back in the day. However, I got to 54 purely by kiting. I dont think I ever grouped on that toon, so I honestly suck at bards in group settings. Kiting was just way too appealing - I could literally gain 1 to 2 (depending) levels per pull.

I knew the basics, enough to kite anyway, selos, chords, denons, restoration, bruscos. However - thats honestly about the extent of the songs I used / bothered to mem. I didnt need anything else to kite, so I never bothered to learn what other toys I had available (I always assumed I would figure it out later).

Now I have a level 10 bard again, so far im good with the songs in hand - but its starting to get ugly real quick about what songs do what. Obviously I can look at the wiki - but how do you rockstar bards keep all these stupid song names straight? Shit like this was stupid easy with the right click spell memming (since spells were organized by type / function), or spell descriptions that were added later on..... but in classic - how do you keep it straight? I feel like I'm missing something.

Casters dont have nearly as many unique spells as there are bard songs. Bard song naming convention just frustrates the hell out of me.

I am always in awe at bards that play well - its truly an art.

Help me to not suck!

[zanderklocke]

You just kind of memorize the songs. Ha.

A lot of them will get replaced by higher level songs too. The wiki section for bards is very helpful too.

[Troxx]

I group my songs in clusters based on what they do and my frequency of use.

Outside of raiding you're going to generally use the following lines on songs most frequently:

Hp regen (later hp + mana)
Haste (generally your highest %)
Melee buff song type
Highest mez
Highest charm
Snare/slow
Mana "pulse"
Selos

That 8 is my grouping bread and butter. Haste songs replaceable if ench/sham haste is around - but even then many in our haste line add str/attack etc.
Situationally sub in lulls/resists depending on what you're doing.
Nivs stacks nicely (string mod) with our other regen lines which is also nice.


I have a bunch of other line ups for other odd jobs; but I cluster my songbook like this:

-crap I almost always use in groups
-crap I situationally use in groups
-resist crap
-crap I solo with (single target chants etc)
-crap I used to solo with (aoes)
-utility crap I use infrequently
-crap I barely ever use

Learning what stacks with what is a PITA, but I can count on the following 4 songs to almost always be on my bar unless soloing: mez, cantana (mana/hp), mana pulse, charm.

That leaves 4 songs to play with, and I make that decision based on what the group needs.

[Arkanjil]

Hey! Nice of you to be brutally honest with your barding assessment! Lol.

My songs always look like this with little variation. I use /stopsong /cast # macros for the standard 4 songs for groups or solo.

1. Selos
2. Catana (or regen low lvl) - Hotbutton 1
3. Haste - Hotbutton 2
4. Nivs (clarity pulse low lvl) - Hotbutton 3
5. Variable (could be DS, Slow/snare, resists, etc depending on situations.) - Hotbutton 4
6. Lull usually or variable
7. Charm - Hotbutton in slot 6
8. Mez - Hotbutton in slot 5

Hot buttons 7-10 are Primary/Secondary then 1 empty inv slot and 1 inv slot w/instrument.

I don't use a fancy programmable mouse/keyboard, I have cheap $10 stuff. Otherwise, my setup might look different, but this always has worked well for me and I've received plenty of compliments on my barding in groups. Honestly though, what makes a good bard is knowing your songs, having a well rounded setup for your situation, and timing everything well. Knowing charm lasts about ~5 songs, knowing how to keep 4-5 mobs mezzed, knowing how to effectively pull, etc are all what separates good bards from pretenders in a group. It's not as difficult as you might think, it just takes practice and timing.

[Issar]

Great posts in here. Just like to add that it takes way more skill and is way more fun to play a bard in groups, rather than to solo kite. So good on you for going that route.

That being said it's always nice to have that solo option when you have limited time or are trying to bust through a particularly bad level. So it's good to know how to kite. However, it sounds like you already have that skillset down.

My spell book looks like what Troxx has described. The wiki is your friend and it's good to keep the bard page open for reference. After a while, you'll eventually just memorize the songs that you always use. I've just returned after a long break, so I'm constantly referencing the wiki when memming songs again.

I use the exact same macros that Arkanjil posted. I highly recommend using said macros. Single-button casting will allow a bard to live twice as long, before he inevitably meets his carpal tunnel demise.

GL on your barding!