Saying Hello and a couple of questions.

[Stickybuds]

Once you get 70 on the bard do some ldons to get song of the orcslayer. its 40% overhaste and 40% boost to all spell dmg combined in one song.

the bard will be more of a buff bot and less of a dps class until you get some good weapons and augs so he is procing a lot. bard white dmg is very low compared to the other melee classes.

[lantril]

Hi all, just back from a weeks holiday so back to the levelling again now

I'm a bit underwhelmed by the bard atm, every time I look away he seems to drop a note and I rarely get him into the fight before the Warrior and rogue have things as good as dead.

I cant atm see how he is going to be better than the shaman, who seems to slow and haste more reliably and can heal and nuke on top, as well as have a pet for extra DPS.

Seems like a caster is easier to box as well, not requiring to get into melee range.

Maybe im missing something here ?

Thanks - Lantril

[Deeone]

If you havent already, there is an npc next to the spell guy who will raise your bards instruments skills up to 200. (in the forest)

Shaman haste and slows arent nearly as important later on, there is plenty of clickies for haste and most mobs past T1 are immune to slow. The dps from pet is really not much at all once you start gearing up.

Both bard and shaman will buff dps a fair amount, I cant personally say which would add more but I'd be leaning towards bard.

The shaman will add healing power but I think more importantly will be the pulling ability of the bard. The cleric alone is really an excellent healer and can handle quite a lot.

My opinion would be to stick it out with Warrior / bard / cleric. If you could handle an extra char then I'd add a necro or mage, the pet dps will really help early in the tiers.

Anyways that's my 2 cents.

[Sian]

Check the npc in forest as you got told. Also I think I heard someone saying that to raise properly instrument skill, you should sing one song at a time (to raise it, not in fight) so maybe if you can leave your bard singing while afk, it will raise up. Not sure about that though.

About bard being useless in fight because mobs are down too fast there are few things :
1) Make sure when you pull (if it's a pull) to bring mobs close to him, so you just have to switch windown and push /assist warriorname. You won't have to move your bard then, just to push the button. I don't remember if you are using MQ, that's why I am talking about the good old assist button (with /assist on, so bard will auto attack when asssisting).

2) Bots have the great ability to react very fast, unlike players. On low hp mob, it's true that your bard won't always have time to attack, that's true and not only for your bard (will be the same for any other dps class, unless wiz with instant cast maybe). But keep in mind that you will progress through tiers and that mobs will have more and more hp. You will have plenty of time to attack with your bard in Ssra, kael, tov and following tiers.

3) Shaman are great, no doubt on that. Gladiator and Spirit of Lion line are great for dps and they heal pretty well (I wouldn't leave aside my shaman). But you can forget their slow because, as it's been said, slow is resisted (or just immune mobs) so often in late tiers (even ldon ones) that I don't bother meming it anymore. Keep going the bard, honestly.
And forget about the shaman pet. His dps is as ridiculous as his ability to survive. Mine was already dying all the time in early tiers. So no regret on that side

4) You will enjoy the Faded Memories AA of bard and the dps / support it can bring. Anyway, if you change your mind later, it will be fast to level up the shaman with your warrior, but keep working on bard.

5) Your bot rogue is doing pretty well now, but as you progress, his dps won't be enough and you will need more and you will need a dps that can stay alive longer than the bot (thanks to AAs that bots don't have). Your bard will then be good in my opinion.

Just two questions : where do you stand in progression atm ? Where are you fighting ?

[lantril]

Thanks for those 2 replies, useful info.

I had upped the bard skills to 200 but I notice that some have now edged over that a bit so I must have passed a cap point and need to work on them a little.

I will keep plugging away with the bard for a bit then.

As far as progression goes, the new warrior and bard are chaotic armour equipped with life shard augs mostly and about to go into Seb at level 60.

The old Cleric / shaman / druid are 70 and Seb geared with about 20 unspent AA.

Ive just started to add the cleric into the group with the Warrior and bard.

What I may do is add the shaman in as a 4th box, or maybe level a mage, hmmmm.

Always decisions lol.

One other thing, I have about 60k saved and want to make best use of it for spells.

Whats the best spell purchases for the cleric thats not going to conflict with Sune buffs ?

Thanks again. Lantril

[yaeger]

My opinion would be to stick it out with Warrior / bard / cleric. If you could handle an extra char then I'd add a necro or mage, the pet dps will really help early in the tiers.

Anyways that's my 2 cents.

I'd recommend a melee. Might start out slower than a pet class, but they eclipse them in dps in later tiers. Plus the Kiss of Life procs from augs, spells, and auras will help keep your group alive.

Better flexability =)

[jsre]

if you're boxing a bard, it's ideal to have a client other than titanium as the newer clients do not stop singing when you miss a note.

[Stickybuds]

There is AAs to help with missing notes as well, although i cant remember the name atm.