Getting the most out of your Bard partner

Discussion in 'Hybrid' started by Redex, Oct 19, 2012.

  1. Redex Journeyman

    I'm really new to playing a Bard, and was hoping some of the veterans could share some knowledge.

    What are some of the cool click items that help a Bard?
    - Symphony of Battle click effect
    - the Orb for pulling - from those brew missions
    - ?

    When partnered with a SK tank, what 4 songs would you use ?

    Thanks, I'll try and add more input later on
  2. Rashka Journeyman

    Symphony of battle is a nice little extra clicky to give your party some extra attack, and it's fairly easy to get nowadays if you're patient (usually involves a few runs of PoTime or Tacvi). I think there's also a slow clicky that drops in Vex Thal that you might be interested in looking into.

    My bard doesn't use the orb for pulling, I just use boastful bellow mixed with fades/lulls, or sometimes just pull two or three and keep them AE mezzed.

    Mine is usually paired off with a beastlord, so my song twist lineup is usually as follows: Aira of the Orator (Overhaste and spell damage), Hykast's song of suffering (low hate proc), War March of Illdaera (ATK/DS + damage modifier), Arcane Address (spell + weapon proc), and Fatesong of Illdaera (cold focus). You could swap out Suffering for Spiteful lyric to increase aggro on the SK, but he probably won't need it, and you could swap fatesong for Terasal's Spry Sonata, which helps offset some damage and resists spells. If you're up to par on level and gear (reasonable group content) you should be able to keep five songs going at once.
  3. Redex Journeyman

    Thanks Rashka, here is the item list so far:

    Horn of Shadows Armor - 35% slow click - Vex Thal

    Orb of Tishan - Howl of Tashan for pulling - Omm

    Rapier of Somber Notes - 60% haste, 50 Str/Atk - Tacvi

    Songblade of the Eternal - 60% haste, 50 Str/Atk - PoT
  4. Rashka Journeyman

    Horn of Shadows Armor is a great clicky if you don't have a slower, so since you're pairing off with an SK, that's worth looking into. Orb of Tishan is totally up to you, the monster missions are kind of fun to do and are a nice throwback to the days of yore. If you have the piece to get in to Tacvi, it's an easy clear to Zun`Muram Yihst Vor. Inny is probably easier to do, and you don't need to get the preflag drop to get to him, it just takes longer to do so. Both should be no problem with a level 95 toon or three though.
  5. Redex Journeyman

    Spell line up is:

    Aura of the Orator

    with songs:

    War March of Illdaera
    Hykast's Song of Suffering
    Arcane Chorus
    Fatesong of Illdaera

    I think my bard can only have 4 songs on melody before the timer on the first melody song is up.

    How do you extend it to 5 songs ? an aa or gear ?
  6. Darchon_Xegony Augur

    Drop Fatesong.
    Add Aria
    Put Aria as Song #1 in melody

    Drop Aura of the Orator
    Add Aura of Lunanyn

    I'd get into the parses of this, but I'm not at home currently so just trust me. Aria > Aura by a long shot especially when the song you are gaining is Fatesong.

    To melody five songs (the 5 I'd use in the group you mention):
    1 - Aria
    2 - War March
    3 - Hykasts
    4 - Arcane Chorus
    5 - Terasal's Spry Sonata

    /Melody 1 2 3 1 4 5

    This melody will drop some songs for 1-2seconds depending on lag. Also Hykasts has a higher chance of using up all 3 proc counters because you are refreshing it a little less often.

    Or you can get the AA - A Tune Stuck in Your Head

    But that AA is activateable and not always up. So do what I suggested above.
  7. Redex Journeyman

    Just looked at "Tune Stuck in Your Head" and the hastened aa for it.

    Takes you to 21 min refresh, and extends your songs by 6s for 5 min. Like you suggest, nice, but would leave you having to adjust all the time.
  8. shiftie Augur

    Depending on your level of gear I'd go for

    Aria of Orator
    Warmarch of Illdaera
    Spiteful lyric over Hykasts deaggro proc/higher dmg strictly for the AC
    Spry Sonata - ac

    Run aura of lunanyn or w/e for mana regen. Things like arcane address are moderately useful. If you want to get fancy you can work out a melody to autotwist in Crescendo when the spell gem refresh is up, or do a manual twist on it.
  9. Lifeshriek Augur

    Here's a list of clickies, I attempted to list them in order of importance, but that is subjective I guess. Have fun!
    Earring of Diminuitiveness (0.3s) - Shrink (there are a lot of options for this type of clicky but this is the fastest cast shrink clicky for Bards currently)
    Mysterious Belt of Daggers - Summon: Well Balanced Throwing Knife (lots of options for this clicky also)
    Blazing Bracer of Fennin Ro (4.0s) - Fire Bolt
    Singing Stone Bracer or Lizard Skin Wardrums - Harmony of Sound
    Dragorn War Mask - Dragorn War Mask
    Miniature Eyepatch - Miniature Eyepatch
    Kelp-String Lute of Tide Rituals - Illusion: Air Elemental
    Swiftmantle (Instant Cast; can be tied to Selo's Sonata AA) - Levitation
    Orb of Suspension - Flight
    Ball of Fluffy Cotton - Nimbus of the Cloudwalker
    Holgresh Elder Beads (4.0s) or Singing Steel Helm (8.0s) - Eye of Zomm
    Feral Guardian Channeler (8 hour recast) - Divine Barrier (None of the three Divine Barrier clickies share recast timers)
    Totem of the Wurines (8 hour recast) - Divine Barrier
    Cursed Rage Channeler (8 hour recast) - Divine Barrier
    Chalandria's Fang - Extract Poison
    Gloves of the Crimson Sigil - Call of Fire (No Push, Slightly Less Damage)
    Symbol of the Planemasters - Pestilence Shock (Push, Slightly More Damage)
    Trumpet of the Dragon Goddess (Instant) - Brusco's Boisterous Bellow Rk. III
    Familiar of Lord Nagafen - Familiar: Dragon Sage
    Vanishing Point - Familiar: Vanishing Point
    Razors Edge - Familiar: Razors Edge
    Blunt Force - Familiar: Blunt Force
    Bone Earring of Evasion - Invisibility versus Undead (fixed duration IVU)
    Farseeker's Plate Chestguard of Harmony - Superior Rhythmic Reflexes (None of these three Reflex clickies share recast timers with each other)
    Singing Energeiac Plate Breastplate - Reflexes of the Embraced (Shares recast with a lot of other BP clickies for Bards)
    Whisper-Wrought Plate Breastplate - Silent Rythmic Reflexes
    Ghoulskin Shield - Mark of Kings
    Slimy Ooze Ejector (2 minute recast) - Root
    Wooly Spider Silk Net (4 hour recast) - Earthen Roots
    Polished Chitin War Horn - Dirge of Metala
    Swollen Fungusbeast Gland (Instant cast, 10 charges) - Snare
    Rusty Oil Spitter (15 minute recast) - Snare
    Singing Steel Boots - Agilmente's Aria of Eagles
    Frost Inlaid Lute of Boreal Wind (Instant Cast) - Erollisi's Cantata Rk.III (does not stack with Wind of Marr, better than Wind of Marr)
    Lute of the Flowing Waters (Instant Cast) - Wind of Marr
    Breath of Harmony (Instant Cast) - Niv's Melody of Preservation
    Girdle of Living Thorns - Spikecoat
    Blazing Vambraces (Instant Cast) or Singing Steel Bracer (5.0s) - Shield of Flame
    Cap of the Insubstantial (2.5s) or Boots of Shadow Walking (3.0s) - Shadow Step
    Aged Lyran's Mystical Lute or Lute of False Worship - Melody of Mischief
    Preserved Chokidai Vocal Cords - Voice Graft
    Qwestwic and code-zero like this.
  10. Redex Journeyman

    Wow thanks Lifeshriek, that is a huge list of goodies to work towards! :)
  11. jarsh92 Elder

    This list makes me feel sick just thinking about having to use/carry all of them. Whats worse, the illusions aren't listed either, lol.
  12. Redex Journeyman

    What buttons do you Bards spam, just selos kick and bellows? or do you all save bellows for pulling?
  13. Lifeshriek Augur

    for me generally, just selo's kick and also trumpet of the dragon goddess' clicky if the mob is permarooted.
  14. Redex Journeyman

    Wasinai's Psalm of Potency, should this stack with the SK dots ? If it does, seems like it would be a fairly large dps boost, doubling the damage of the dots
  15. Rashka Journeyman

    When in doubt, parse it out. =)
  16. JERUS Augur

    What lifeshriek said (he has too many clickies because he has like the 2 or 3 that i don't have!).

    As for important ones I think Orb of Tishan, SoB clicky, Polished Chitin War horn, and Rocketeer boots are the ones I mainly use. Those are all on my primary hotkey pages, the rest are on second, third, fourth, and fifth pages :D

    When with an SK (one of my fav duo partners), Aria, Warmarch, Song of suffering/spiteful lyric, and Spry Sonata/arcane chorus. Arcane chorus is kinda weak dps, most of the gain is from the bard for personal dps. However it's the 4th best song IMO as far as dps. Spry sonata is solid defensively, spiteful lyric is also the defensive option.

    Find yourself having trouble defensively swap in spry sonata, still having trouble swap in spiteful lyric, still having trouble, probably best to look for a diff place and swap back to the dps stuff. Even if you're not having trouble swapping in defensively may save the merc some mana leading to more kills/time meaning more xp overall.
  17. Redex Journeyman

    Good advice thanks all.

    I see the VoA T4 BP has this effect : BRD Thousand Blades Reuse Time

    Is that referring to the level 69 spell that is self only ? If so seems kind of a weird click for a BP.

    Maybe I'm missing something here ?
  18. doktartp Augur

    focus , not a click.
  19. JERUS Augur

    That's the focus effect. Considering we use instrument modifiers as our focus effect there's nothing lse that really fits other than the melee class style focus. We like that one, it works.

    It's a huge boost to personal dps just like any melee class disc, use it on named =), with the AA and that bp the reuse time is about once a respawn.
  20. Donroy Elder

    Couple other clickies not listed that I use.

    Nature's Melody (stacks with just about everything... good for the AC boost).
    Stormeye Band... DS stacks with most others