On Fri, 28 May 1999, Lynn Uhlman wrote:
>
> i love my lvl 15 bard but when i comes to dishing out
> damage in a battle i am weak. I know the bard class is
> not designed to be a warrior, but for example, i bought a
> mino axe at lvl 9, i still dishes the same amount of
> damage now at lvl 15 as it did at lvl 9 except for the
> below song and it only does 8 damage.
I don't think we're that bad off at melee. We use the same
weapon as a warrior/ranger/paladin. With the Whistling
Warsong, you get a 15%-20% attack speedup based on research I
and someone else have done. That btw is more than the
difference between a combine longsword and a well-balanced
longsword, and is like hitting for about 3 extra points damage
with a 17 point hit from a minotaur axe. The same song also
buffs our str and AC. Our bellow takes the place of a kick.
And at L17 we get dual wield. Our melee skills are weaker
than the melee classes, but IMHO the difference is only just
starting to become apparent at L17. (The biggest difference I
see is with my warrior friend, but he has double attack as
well).
> I would like to
> solo eventually but i'm afraid because i have a hard time
> with creatures that con blue to me.
If you try to fight like a tank, yes you're going to have a
hard time. You're not a real tank. You're a bard. You can
kite (twist Accelerando and Bellow). If you disapprove of
that, you can run and heal (twist Accelerando and
Restoration), then turn to finish the fight when you think you
have the upper hand again. (Do what I did and map all your
keys to the left side of the keyboard, so you don't have to
reach all over to do things like auto-run while changing your
weapons and instruments.)
I have had no problems soloing from L12-17 (and if you're
wondering, I've only kited once, and that was a couple nights
ago when a red pirate in the Ocean of Tears spawned on top of
me. The only way to zone out of the OOT is via the boat, so
it was either kite or die. I used up half my stamina running
with Accelerando while mulling over what to do before deciding
to kite.)
IMHO, the bard's biggest asset is Accelerando. Use it,
whether to kite, or heal, or flee. I haven't died above
ground since L12, and that was to a train. In that time, I've
attacked ghouls (before I had a magic weapon), Dorn, and sand
giants; been attacked by werewolves, griffins (yeah, the big
nasty cousins of griffawns), DVinn, Kiz, and the Minotaur
Hero. I haven't died to any of them. The game is *very*
different for the folks who don't have SoW or Accelerando.
Every fight is a do or die (or zone) affair for them.
> You high lvl players,
> is the bard worth the wait? Will we eventually do more
> damage and be able to hold our own?
You may be in a low point because you are just shy of getting
dual wield. The other low point seems to come at around twice
that, when the "kick" from dual wield has faded.
> group. Higher in lvl's groups are looking for wizards,
> tanks, and healers where do we fit in? Just a little
> frustrated i guess from dying 3 times in Unrest
> yesterday...
Bards are great at augmenting the tanks and healers. We buff
everyone in the party, and you save the healers from having to
constantly top off the tanks. We're also great at train
control with the lullaby (which probably doesn't work that
great for you at L15). I spent three hours with my group in
Befallen level 2 and 3 and we had a blast. We dropped to
about 2-3 bubbles of health all around after a particularly
nasty fight (green wisp kept fleeing and bringing back more
monsters), but nobody was every in danger of dying. I had to
get to sleep so I left, and the group took in a paladin as a
replacement (warrior, 2 paladins, 3 clerics). While at the
bank, I got a /tell saying one of them died and they all had
to zone because they couldn't handle a train that would've
been a piece of cake with me around.
I just have not had problems finding a group, and lately have
been getting unsolicited /tells asking if I'd like to join a
group. My friends know I'm not primarily there to fight; I'm
there to make them fight better (or the monsters fight worse).
That's the nature of the class - we're a lot like enchanters
in that respect. But if this indirect approach is
unfulfilling and you have an urge to "kick ass" :-) from time
to time, I suggest you start a second character (warrior or
monk or wizard - they level quickest) and switch between the
two.
--
John H. Kim
kim@...