Banny's Guide to Bards
This just the first draft. Please add comments here or msg them to me. The numbers on lvls might not be correct, if you have any addition please let me know:
(Btw, layout is screwed, i have it in a Word doc. If you want it, msg me and i'll mail it to you) Banny’s Bard Guide Or: I am a bard! (or at least i’m trying to be)
1: Intro
4: The Spells
5: Some tactics
Bards rule. But why do you want to play one? Because it is a team character! A team will benefit from you just standing there playing your songs. The groups runs faster, regenerate mana/healt/endurance faster etc etc. And when the shit hits the fan, you can ress people and pick up the pieces.
Log on to a server and choose realm Hibernia. (If you don’t do this, the rest of this guide will not help you much). Then choose either Celt or Firebolg since they are the only ones that can become a bard. Choose the way of Nature.
Now the tricky part: Stat points. This is always a subject of much discussion.
Strength :Not very useful, unless you want to solo much. If you want that go find a different class, because you will suck as a solo bard. Trust me, i tried.
Constitution :Useful. Adds health points, wich is never bad. (Tertiary stat) Dexterity : Add to armor factor, but since you will get it as a buff-spell don’t waste Points in this stat.
Quickness : This is a tricky one. It is supposed to help you cast spells faster. It has been tested, and really seems to work. This is based on info from boards.
Intelligence : Does nothing for bards. Leave it.
Piety : Does nothing for bards. Leave it.
Empathy : Adds to power (mana). Is secondary stat.
Charisma : Adds to power (in future patch). Is primary stat.
The Celt starts with 60 in every stat. The firebolg starts with high Strength and Empathy. Lower Dexterity and Quickness. Take what you feel comfertable with. I took Celt with +10 Constitution and +15 Quickness.
3: Choosing your specializations
There are 5 skills bards can train: Blades Blunt Regrowth Nurture Music Blades & Blunt are weapon specializations, wich in my opinion are useless because you shouldn’t be the one fighting anyway. I will not talk about those anymore.
Regrowth: The healing line wich gives better healing spells. If you specialize in this you can act as a group healer. The higher the regrowth skill is, the more consistent your healing is. You get the healing song as well, wich regenerates HP faster as well as a group heal that heals an amount of HP of everyone in the group.
Nurture : The buff line. Good songs. Very good songs. You get endurance song, wich regenerates endurance faster than normal (Fighters pray at your feet for this) You need a drum instrument for this. You get speed song, wich makes you walk faster. (You can also call it RUN faster). Awesome for traveling. (Everybody loves you). You get mana song, wich regenerates mana (magicians, healers they adore you).
Music : The weird line. You get a Direct Damage (DD) shout, a confuse spell, a lullaby spell and group mezz. Bard is the only class that can choose music.
4: The Spells - Lvl based spells
Enhance Amor: Adds to your armor factor. Starts at lvl 2.
Enhance Strenght: Adds to strength. Starts at lvl 7.
Enhance Dexterity: Adds to dexterity. Start at lvl 8.
Minor healing: Heals HP. Starts at lvl 1.
Healing: Heals more HP. Starts at lvl 4.
Resurrect: Raises dead characters without constitution loss and less xp loss. No grave. Starts at lvl 10.
Mesmerize: Mesmerizes one monster: Starts at lvl 5. With the level of the spell the duration of the mezz raises.
Lullaby: Makes a monster forget who it has aggro to. Starts at lvl 5.
Regrowth spells:
Major heal: Heals a lot of hp. Starts at lvl 5.
Regen health song: Regenrates HP faster. Requires a lute. Starts at lvl 6
Group heal: Heals HP for everyone in group. Starts at lvl 17.
Nurture spells:
Regen endurance song: Regenerates endurance faster. Requires a drum. Starts at lvl 2.
Enchance speed song : Speeds group up. Requires a lute. Starts at lvl 3.
Regen power song: Regenerates power (mana) faster. Requires a flute. Starts at lvl 10.
Music Spells:
Direct damage: Shout spells that do direct damage. Can only be used every 10 seconds. Starts at lvl 5.
Confusion: Confuses target monster. At higher upgrades there is also a chance monster attacks it’s allies. Starts at lvl 5.
Area mesmerize: Mesemerizes all monsters in an area. Area and duration upgrade witj lvl. Starts at lvl 10
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Tactics mainly depend on your specialization. Regrowth specialization is easy. Heal the tanks when needed, run if tank dies. Ress. tank when you got rid of the pursuit.
Nurture is not that difficult either. Speed song if you need to go somewhere. Endurance song if the tanks want that, mana song when resting so healers/mages have less downtime. Less downtime = faster experience/money.
Music decides if you are a good bard or not. It has two main spells you will have to use in groups: Lullaby and Mesmerize. Lullaby: Use it when a ranger or mage draws a monster and you want the tank to get the aggro. Just use it on the monster before it reaches the tank and when the tank hits it, the tank will have aggro. Use with care.
Mesmerize: This is where the bard shines. When in groups of 3 or more, it is likely you will draw 2 or 3 monsters. That might be more than your group is comfertable with or can handle. Your task is to mesmerize the incoming extra monsters. This requires some effort from both the tanks and the one that draws. The one that draws should draw the highest lvl of a likely group for the simple reason that lower lvl monsters are easier to mezz, and the mezz lasts longer. As soon as you see an incoming monster (not the one drawn) you select it and mezz it. You have 2-3 chances to mezz it before it reaches you. Use them. As soon as it is mezzed look for other incoming monsters and if needed mezz them too. The tanks should NOT attack mezzed monsters. Same goes for pets. Leesh those puppies. If you have three incoming and you managed to mezz the other two, move back and to the side a bit. It is likely that your group is still fighting the second one when the third breaks free. Mezz it again but be warned that it will last shorter. Should mezzing fail at any point, do not run away. Count on your tanks to pull them off you, they will do that if they are good.
