I don't really remember how I ended up boxing a Cleric/Bard. I usually group them, and its fine. Bard pulls, blah blah. Sometimes, I log in for like 40mins. I can't get a group in that timeframe, by the time I join, I'll kill 10mobs and have to go, and maybe I can't get a rep, and people are mad at me. So I need to duo them sometimes. In PoHate, I was able to root/chant mobs down. It was a little messy, and SLOW. Bards only have 3 chants available, and @50 I was doing like 120/tick. I'd twist mana regen and 3 chants. Cleric would root/heal. Some mobs in hate were damn near impossible to root(scorn banshee, looking at you), and clerics required a lot of attention to stun properly, so I tended to not do them. An alternate option was to do 3 chants and a snare, and have cleric root and fear, and re-root on breaks, snared mob runs away slow enough to not bring in aggro generally. Now I'm trying to decide how best to xp/farm with this duo. Now that the bard is 53, and finally has a decent mez(up to 55), I feel there are more options for me. I really do need an area where I can grab a 50/51 mob for charm in a bad situation, but with my limited bard mana pool, I can't use charm as a regular xp thing. Its essential for "oh crap" moments. So, other then root/chant, what are my options to duo these guys? With Kunark, we now have many summoning mobs, making root/chant less feasible then ever.
Bard + Cleric duo is pretty bad duo, but great for groups... As a duo you have an obvious damage shortage and therefore you should consider fighting NPCs with lower HP. As a duo, Bard - Single pulls - Tanks - Melee/Song damage - Slow/Snare Song (Consider gearing your bard like a Tank since they can wear plate.... You'll want high AC > AGI > HP > and Strength.) Cleric - Heals, - Melee Damage - Reverse Damage Shield on Bard - If mana is decent, use your direct damage spells to help with damage
adding off what Illusory mentioned about reverse DS...i'd ensure my bards DS was running non stop as well...bards get a pretty decent ds. low hp mobs is the key
I have a PMM, so that helps with DD's. Where do I find mobs with lower then normal HP's for their level?
Typically, you'd want to stay out of dungeon and old world raid zones. That said, in Kunark you could try Burning Woods or Dreadlands.
I've played bard/cler for years, and while I group 99% of the time I can tell you that the most fun I ever had as a straight duo was in howling stones on Fippy. I did it mostly at level 60 in the south and east wings, but I'm sure you can do it earlier, especially if you go to the easier wings north and west. Charm a pet with bard, mez adds as necassry then toggle to target attack/assist, toggle back to recharm pet as it fades, have cleric heal as needed otherwise go to town with undead nukes. I even got to take down Drusella 2boxing like this once, which was a highlight for me. I grinded hs off and on from kunark through luclin when I was waiting for a group, even in luclin it was pretty good AA exp (for a duo, still not preferable to a group) because you can rip through a lot of mobs pretty quickly. Might be even easier now the way all pets including charmed ones gain agro - should be a few less whacks on the bard. As my mana pool would get low I would use charm more sparingly and spend more time tanking myself. I suppose you could do it all without a charm pet but would be a lot slower (and less fun).
Bard charming is way underrated TBH. You would still need to gear the bard for tanking to get past the occasional break/resist in charm. A nice setup is to find a giant to charm and equip your new pet with a pair of Gnoll Hide Lariats. Those things proc a very nice stun and when you get the hang of it it's amazing
Yeah, bard charming is great, but in the low levels / early expacs mana is a real issue with doing it long term. By now on Phinny charm mana is a non-issue already, but I'd suspect on Agnarr, especially at those levels, it'll be noticeable, but definitely give it a whirl.
Oh also, not sure if it was mentioned - fear kiting as a bard is also pretty effective, if you can find a good outdoor spot to do it. I did that some at the giant fort in EW while working on dorf faction.
Update: I have no problem roaming through seb with 60cleric 57 bard. At least in the areas with plentiful pre-52 mobs so I can get a charmie. Shrooms/Juggs completely...impossible. Crypt: Doable if I avoid the ICG's. My normal setup does not entail root anymore, I do slow+3chants with a Selo's drum(14 percussion), which is giving me about 42dps with my 1 handed melee(no spell haste). My cleric does his hammer pet for 14DPS, and heals as needed. If mana gets low, I do cantana a bit. When I charm, a hasted charmie(almost everything in live seb is charmed) is doing 70DPS, so things go much faster. Using 2 weapons and haste and having cleric melee is significantly lower DPS. The chants just really work. Slow just really works.
Glad its working out for you! Are your 2 characters raid geared? Gear will make a huge difference with your combo.
I'd have to say...not raid geared. But maybe? I've been on lots of raids, but as a filthy casual, I don't get to win much. The drum I got on the raid was my most impactful item probably. Going from Hand Drum(8) to Selo's Drum of the March(14) was pretty huge with the chants. https://eq.magelo.com/profile/3745849 https://eq.magelo.com/profile/3745845
Why trying to slow or root the mob (and fail) when you can speed up. Twist your 3 dots and selos and run in circles. Let the cleric contribute in whichever way. Ye olde swarm kite: Grab 4 mobs outdoors, charm one, get it beaten up, break charm (invis clickie or song) and kill your pet. Rinse repeat.
I suggest grinding chardok faction and going there after you max it. I solo nameds there on my bard, but hes very well geared. With a cleric box you could make it a lot safer even with less gear. And with the cleric+bard grinding the faction would be real easy. Just sing double dmg shield and double aoe dmg songs on the bard and aoe 30 goblins at a time while you heal on the cleric.
