Bards, aside from kiting

zelot344

Dalayan Beginner
I was just wondering how well bards faired in this game in a more one on one aspect. From what I hear they are very good at kiting up to a half dozen red mobs around, if done properly. But in certain cases kiting just isnt an option (dungeons and places with particularly bad pathing). So in your experiance, how do bards do one on one, AA's and very high end gear aside? I'm thinking with all their utility songs they should at least be a little better then a ranger.
 
I play a level 58 bard so I am by no means the final say on this topic, but I think my opinion is worth stating. If we are talking strictly a solo basis, in a dungeon, you'll die often. Some of your major setbacks with regards to straight up melee with a bard are: 1)no double attack or triple attack but you can compensate with some of your DD songs, 2) most mobs bash so if you're the only target for them, they will interrupt your offensive songs often(ie dots, mez, etc), and 3) no root type spell.

Don't take these as complaints, becuase bards can do alot of things, but a non-kiting solo career doesn't seem to be one of them. In a dungeon environment, a bard will be an incredible enhancement to your group if you have a good tank that can keep a good portion of the aggro.

I also have a lvl 50 ranger so I can make some comparison. I would say a ranger could solo a tad better indoors because of the ability to root and range attack with your bow.

-Farcy
 
Farcy has it right, a non kiting solo career is not for a bard. No, we don't fare better than rangers at melee. My bard was an all right tank for about the first 25 levels, then it started falling off steeply.

There's no complaints here, it's jut not our role. We can do SO many other things. Half enchanter, half rogue, half warrior, half shaman, (or something like that!) we offer a versatility in groups that no other class can match. The tradeoff is that we really do better in groups that soloing. (Particularly in indoor zones).
 
Well, if you want to do damage don't be a bard. If you want to tank don't be a bard. If you want to straight up solo and not kite dont be a bard. Kiting 6 reds is news to me, I only seem to be able to handle 2 but I never said kiting was my forte. In my expirience when a group needs CC they usually prefer a bard over an ench because high level things tend to rape under-geared enchs whereas a bard can take a few hits. In terms of mezzing though, bards 60+ are pretty worthless if they don't have high cha or the ancient mez. They can also slow decent (40%) we have nice dots and with the reworked Brusco's line and some AAs you can do decent dps. As far as "being better than a ranger" that isn't saying much because in all honesty what a rangers good for? Maybe being a meat shield....
 
1)no double attack

Harmoniouse attack is a aa that grants bards to doubble attack =)

and yes bards are a suport class for everything in grps and raiding and they can do some damage.

Then on the other side there is ginam who is a bard and can do anything he wants like tank stuffs that hits hard but he has maxxed aas and top tier raiding gear.
 
Ginam is a freak in bards clothing - he's definately the exception to the rule and probably forgets what its like to be a real bard :dance:
 
SprintFun said:
As far as "being better than a ranger" that isn't saying much because in all honesty what a rangers good for? Maybe being a meat shield....

Your off my christmas list buddy
 
Rangers do better melee dps than bards do.

Bards do better casting (DoT mostly) dps than rangers do.

That being said, if a group needs DPS, they'll pick the ranger. Very few groups and guilds "hire" a bard (so to speak) for DPS purposes. It's just not our strength. (Unless of course you're talking about the dps that we "help" other people do in terms of spell focus and overhaste songs!)
 
It's all a matter of having the right songs up and knowing what you are doing.

At lvl 54/55 I used to camp a few of the lower end nameds in mielb with no problem, but it was hardly an xp venture. Outdoors is the obvious choice and there are plenty of zones for all level ranges.

And yes you can feasibly kite 6 mobs in ae kiting, but it's not worth it at all. You would be better off target dot kiting 2 mobs at the same time with a mass of reserve mobs.
 
if you got the mana pool charming mobs in duneons works as you cna haste them and such and have them tank whille you melee.
 
Does SoD limit the number of mob's a PBAoE can hit? I'm just wondering why I've seen someone mention kiting "6" a few times. I use to kite 30 - 40 mobs on live with my bard at a time... Uh then again, maybe this would be a good thing if they did limit PBAoE's now that I think about it... Thats a tad bit overpowered doncha think? lol
 
lol def a limit and there is also a limit on amount u can snare too.... having to much fun in plaque lands...
 
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