Classes: The Bard

Bards - the jack of all trades. Each level is a new song and a new way to play. Handy with a weapon and able to wear decent armor, bards can hold their own in a fight. Plus, the ability to twist two to three songs without using mana gives the bard a magical ability like no other class.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the bard? Can they solo, and if so how? How should they best contribute to the group? What is the best strategy to develop your bard? What skills and songs are the most important for you to master? What equipment should you be trying to get for your bard.

Post your strategies on how to best play and develop the bard and read, rate and comment on what others have to say.

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What are Bards ?Follow

What are Bards ?
#1 Jul 19 2008 at 12:56 PM Rating: Decent
Hiya Everyone

i was woundering about making a bard a i just wanted to know what they do what are main things people say bards do everything but i was woundering if they are a good solo class and other questions but i just want some info on bards please.


Thank you :)
What are Bards ?
#2 Jul 22 2008 at 1:25 PM Rating: Decent
It does seem (from looking up their songs and the like) that Bards do have a little bit of everything. I myself am new to the game and am experimenting with a Vashir Bard (they need to give Vashir more classes :-p) My fiance (who is a seasoned player and introduced me to the game) spoke of a group he once had where there was a shaman, a rouge, 3 bards, and himself. They were amazing and had no need for a cleric or other strong healer because everything died before it did damage. So I think they probably make good groups players, though I don't know about soloing.
What are Bards ?
#3 Jul 25 2008 at 12:31 PM Rating: Decent
Ahh ok thank you friend i will just have to give one a go know friend :)

Thank you :)
What are Bards ?
#4 Aug 05 2008 at 11:21 PM Rating: Decent
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244 posts
I'm at work and I'm bored so I will reply to this.

I've never been a serious bard player so I will only
say what I know about them.

They can solo, although it can be very complicated
from what I've seen.

The trick with a Bard is being able to continuously
switch from song (spell) to song.

They get a great variety of songs that do a great variety
of things --haste, damage shield, charm, mezmerize, fear, snare just
to name a few... but they are on a short timer (they don't
last long) so they must be, as I said, continuously replayed
and switched to keep the effects going.

If you can manage to do that, they solo pretty well.

Note: just because a Bard can wear plate does not mean
they can tank so don't be fooled by that.

They are nice to have around in a group but not typically in
demand that I've seen. People will take healers and other
dps over bards in my experience.
What are Bards ?
#5 Aug 07 2008 at 6:50 AM Rating: Decent
From what little I've played mine, they seem like they can be a lot of fun. My issue is that I'm having difficulty twisting songs.
What are Bards ?
#6 Aug 09 2008 at 8:15 AM Rating: Decent
Ahh ok thank you friend that has ansered alot of questions thank you again : )
Song Twisting
#7 Aug 18 2008 at 3:40 AM Rating: Default
Bards used to have to switch manually from song to song. Fast typists had people in awe of their abilities. Now we have the /melody command. /melody 1,2,4,8,3 plays the song in the spell gem of that number over and over. Warning, there are a few songs that have too long a refresh time for this--typing still required.
What are Bards ?
#8 Mar 11 2009 at 1:06 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
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128 posts
Well, short answer is yes, Bards are a good solo class, but also they are the ultimate support class in a group. High-end groups will jump at the chance to get a good Bard in their group, at least those who know what bards can do.
Things to know: there are good bards and bad bards... not a whole lot of gray area there. They are without a doubt the hardest class to play, but the rewards are well worth it when done well. It takes you until about level 60 to really learn how to play the class. Bards are half Ranger, half Rogue, half Enchanter.
____________________________
Vaal Halen
115 Bard
Council of Norrath
Xev>Druzzil Ro>Xegony Server
What are Bards ?
#9 Mar 11 2009 at 1:36 PM Rating: Decent
A bard is a very flexible and fun class to play.

They are great pullers when they use their aggro range reducing songs and at higher levels those songs and fading memories.

They can kite very effectively, if you do not mind a loooong fight, once you get your dot songs.

They make great downtime health/mana regen assistants.

They provide very nice group haste/damage shield/proc songs.

With all of your defensive aa's in place you can make an adequate tank for normal group mobs. You are not a warrior, but you can take some hits and keep on going.

Bards are great explorers with their song of travel.

You can cure disease, poison, curse. You can give a group levitation or invisibility. Bards can do all sorts of stuff. You can even pick locks, track, safe fall, disarm traps, mez mobs,charm mobs, dispell, blah, blah, blah.

What is the catch? Your melee DPS is NOT that of the other melee classes. Your dots will always be somewhat small (critical affliction is your friend), your tanking ability is not that of a true tank, you never get backstab. They start very weak, and don't get 'cool' until 60+ (my opinion, because of more multi-function songs = stronger combined twisting).

The short answer is they can do a little bit of a lot of things at the expense of not being exceptional in any category other than flexibility.

If you do play you will want to know about this command...
/melody # # # #
This will allow you to twist four songs effortlessly where the # is the number of the song according to how you have them memmed on your spell jem bar. 1-8, with one being the top number.

Hafe fun!
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