Hellllo everyone! It's me, I'm back again for another shot at the TLP! When I played EQ back in early 00's, I always played a cleric or a wizard (to any significant level). I was a good cleric. I played a cleric on Agnarr. It's just so boring.. and come launch seems everyone will want to play a cleric cause "grps!" I think I wanna try a bard! I've dabbled with one a bit and I just like the play-style. It seems exciting and unique. However, I have a few questions that I am hoping someone will put 2 cents into if you got time! 1. Are bards decent at getting around in dungeons? I HATE trying to get to camps in places like GuK. My other option I'm considering is necro, because with both types of invis and FD, seems like its a pretty solid class for getting where you want to go. 2. I don't know how to pull... I know what pulling is, and I know nothing beats having a really good puller, but I have no experience with it! Are bards always on pull duty? I've read what info there is as far as mezzing, charming and kiting. I'm willing to try and learn, but I certainly worry about any group when it comes that time. 3. I've been told Bards are "useless" in higher levels. No one wants them because they can't do anything that another class can't do better. I don't want to solo in this game.. I want to group and enjoy the experience with others. Thoughts or tips on grouping? 4. What race would you pick? Deity? Anything else you want to share, I'd love to hear it! Thanks in advance and have a great day!
In early eras you'll want to pick up some IVU potions. If you're careful you can get just about anywhere in Guk with your invis song + IVU potions. Bards are pullers by default in classic due to their run speed song and having a lull song. You can run faster than anyone else, and you can lull crowded rooms. You can even lull around the corner without LOS as long as you can manage to target the mob. That said, classic pulling in crowded zones is often just about how many mobs you can pull, and splitting is no concern. Just gauge your group's capabilities, and pull as many mobs as possible without overwhelming them. This is just patently false. Bards are amazing through all expansion eras, and they offer unique abilities that no other class can. It is rather common to see people boxing alt bards since /melody can offer a LOT of benefit even on a totally passive box, but an active and intelligent bard main is still always far better. Race barely matters since bards have access to tons of illusion masks. The main thing to consider for TLP servers is your origin point. Wood elves starting in Greater Faydark are generally the most convenient choice with a Nexus spire in the same zone and quick access to the Freeport/Commonlands hub via Butcherblock. Starting in Freeport as a human or half elf is fine too, same reasons. Starting in Qeynos is less popular. Bards are the only class who can pick Veeshan as a deity, so that can be kind of a unique choice. And Veeshan is a neutral deity so it won't hurt your standing in good/evil areas. I don't believe bards have any deity specific quests, so the only difference between deities would be equipping Golden Idols and deity specific cultural armor, which are pretty meaningless concerns overall.
Ill put in my 2 cents as a bard enthusiast 1. Bards are okay at getting around dungeons, They have a very reliable invis because it never fails and have selos to get across hostile territory. for places like guk than have a lot of undead or see invis you can attempt to lull your way around mobs or use sneak so with a little skill you can travel through most places as you please. 2. You better learn then buddy. As a bard 90% of the time you will be looked to pull and you have a lot of tool at your disposal to do this charm, lull, mez, snare, etc. 3.Bard are never useless and no one does what they do better. This is mainly due to everything a bard does either stacks or is completely unique to all the other classes. you will always be a welcome member to any group or raid. Bards are also capable soloers if you are waiting LFG or only have a few minutes to play so its an option open to you. 4. if you care about faction agnostic is a good choice as there will be very few places that will be hostile towards you. If you want to be cool or unique Veeshan is a choice as I think only bards can worship her or Prexus as very few characters can worship him.
I will be playing my 7th bard on Saturday on the Selos server and I hope to run into you. Look for a butt naked half elf bard named Lidara running from qeynos to freeport with a half dozen griffons trying to chew on her head. 1: Like another poster said, bring IVU potions but otherwise you should be fine getting around an your own. 2: Pre-fading memories bards are good pullers but can be outclassed by a good monk. Once you get fading memories, you become the best puller in the game until you run out of mana(see bold text below). Make sure you have a good supply of fish bone darts and that you know how your lull\pacify songs work. 3a: There are no useless classes in the game, bards are no exceptions. The opinion that high level bards suck comes from, at least in my experience, the fact that most high level bard players suck at playing bards. Bards are an easy class to screw up but if you can learn the class, learn its strengths and its limitations, you will have no problems getting a group. 3b: If you are playing a bard to be the best at something, you are missing the point. The strength of a bard is their flexibility. Enchanters are better slowers and have more CC options than bards do. But enchanters can't reliably spawn break, can't pick locks, and while enchanters can CC better than bards, bard mez songs cost no mana which means it's technically possible for a bard to permanently keep a mob mezzed where an enchanter will eventually run out of mana. 4a: I usually go agnostic on my bard because it means that, with the proper illusion mask or potion, I can get into almost any city in the game, Cabilis included. Illusions cover up your race but not your deity. Bards are the only class that can pick Veeshan deity and there are some Veeshan specific quests and gear. It's up to you to decide if that's worth being KoS in some places you might not have been otherwise. 4b As far as race goes, it's mostly cosmetic these days. However, I pick half elf for my bards because, pre-GoD(don't quote me on that expansion), half elves don't have any racial tradeskills and as a result, they can wear the racial plate armor from all other "medium" races. Dark Elf racial plate armor is especially good because it has a lot of dex and cha stats which are great for bards. A few other things to note: Bards get a lot of utility songs such as Nillipus's March of the Wee and Highsun. Find out what those songs are and learn when the right time to use them is. It's one of the things that will separate a great bard from a good bard. Bards can track, pick lock, sense traps, and disarm traps. Don't neglect those skills. You won't be able to level them as high as a ranger or rogue but you'd be surprised how often those skills will come in handy, especially pick lock. Without AA's, a max skill bard can still pick the locks in most dungeons and I've saved many a raid over the years by picking the doors in Chardok when no rogues were available to do it. Bards are the only class in the game that can cast while moving. It's one of our defining abilities and one of the major sources of flexibility for the class. If you've played a lot of casters and then start playing a bard, standing still to cast is a tough habit to get out of. This last one is important! Bards get a lot of cool abilities like fading memories, charms, and AoE songs. If you look at an ability like Fading Memories that drops all of your aggro, drops you out of combat, and gives you SoS levels of invis, it can seem overpowered. Especially when you consider that fading memories is instant cast with no reuse timer. However, those cool abilities cost mana, a lot of it. Bards are a "caster" class. As such, they have spells(songs), a mana bar, and crucially, mana regen or rather, a lack of mana regen. This is where we hit one of the biggest downsides of the bard class. Bards have the worst mana regen of any mana using class in the game for two reasons. The first reason is that the meditate skill cap for a bard is 1... forever. It never increases, even in later expansions and there are no AAs that bards can get to increase their meditate skill. The 2nd reason is that bards are the only mana using class that does not benefit from clarity buffs, not even their own mana songs. As a result, without flowing thought items, a bard's in combat standing mana regen is 1 mana/tick. If they sit, a bard's mana regen doubles to 2/tick. That's the balancing mechanic for all those awesome abilities. They use a ton of mana and bards have no way to replace that mana quickly. Bards also can't use items like a manastone or a rod of convergence. Well.. they can click it, they will lose health, but they won't gain any mana. Bard's also don't benefit from the necromancer mana transfer spells. The necromancer can cast it on you, he will lose mana, but you won't gain any. TLDR: The only way to boost your mana regen as a bard is with flowing thought items or flowing thought AAs.
Based on your other questions, you might want to choose Wood Elf for racial Hide skill to have an instant invisibility option before level 19. Bard class Sneak skill at level 17 can often get you around a dungeon without any invis too. Some IVU potions or Vex Thal IVU clickie earring are good things to have. Bard is perhaps the only class that can double invis themselves.
Have absolutely no idea. It never came up on the TLP forums, so I imagine it's just an artifact of something they were changing for Live.
