bards... their role + soloing

T

terrordemon

Dalayan Beginner
so i started a bard on sod a little while ago. my first char on sod. i only played eq1 live for a tiny bit around SoL and RoK, i played a monk to like 30.

i've played everquest 2 more, wizard to 50+, monk to 20, necro to 20, defiler to 25

as i've been playing my bard ive been realizing that i really dont know how to play a bard, but i really think that it's just because i don't know how a bard is supposed to function. I assume that for soloing we're just supposed to kite? get guys, run around in a rounded rectangle with a dot song, selos, and healing song casting my bbb whenever? if i'm wrong please let me know

what is a bard's role in a group? right now i'm only level 14 but i really just dont know what i'm supposed to be doing in a group. i understand that my melee abilities will completely dissapear by like level 20, but i find thats where most of my damage comes from right now, maybe with BBB being a contender but i just got that

so can anyone please clear up the bard class for me? i'm sure theyre awesome, i'm sure theyre fun, i just dont quite understand them yet -_-
 
The bard class is in a group extremely powerful and in a raid arguably the most powerful.

Basically its your job to make everyone else kick ass. You have solo ability and pretty good DPS ability when you arent focusing on utility, but utility is your main function. A single bard in a raid can boost everyone else up the degree where the DPS you add overwhelms any other class.

That is the function of a bard, at least in the end game. Until then you are still a great boon in a group, with the ability to mez and clarity etc.
 
I've only had a small amount of experience in shards but had a lot of experience playing a Bard on Live so hopefully this info is valid. As Waldoff mentioned, Bards are a jack-of-all trades, with high utility as a support class in groups and on raids.

For soloing I would agree that kiting is probably your most efficient (and fun) method of gaining experience. In SoD you can keep selo's and restoration up without working about twisting. The rounded rectangle (looking like a skating rink) is a good analogy of your running pattern, and I find it useful to start an ae song going into the first curve in order to have it hit the mobs as you are coming around the second curve on one side of, for lack of a better term, the skating rink. By constantly redotting the mobs before the dot wears off you can usually pull around 10 mobs, keeping in mind that you can only hit 6, but constant dotting and randomness of targets usually spreads out evenly over the 10 mobs.

I've been told you cannot swarm/charm kite in this game (where you kite a swarm off mobs, charm one and have it get beat down, break the charm then kill it yourself) because the charmed mob completely heals once the charm has broken. However, I'm sure you could kite with single target dots you get at later levels, just making sure you keep the max amount of dots up on the mobs you are kiting. This would usually result in 3 or 4 mobs being kited I think.

For grouping, as Waldoff already mentioned, your utility is your main function. In SoD you can keep 2 beneficial songs up without twisting so know what your beneficial songs are used for then judge accordingly which songs would best benefit your group. Obviously a group heavy on casters would benefit from mana songs, a group heavy on melee would benefit from haste, a group with a lack of healing would benefit from your restoration song, etc. Aside from that you can play your bard as you want to or as you see best fit for the group. This usually involves, but is not limited to, meleeing for dps or acting as CC, or both. Anyways bards rock and I'm sure you'll have fun with one.
 
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