> The critical hits are nice, but I tend to consider them as procs. The
> Crippling Blow is nice, but my understanding is that Warriors need to be
> below a certain Health threshold for this to kick in, which they usually
> won't stay at (if they're that low, a healer is gonna be healing them).
Is
> that understanding incorrect? And yes, I'll concur that monks and rogues
> are just badasses (I consider them to be the melee version of a nuker).
This is incorrect. Warriors make a crippling blow at any health. You're
thinking of their ATK stat going through the roof (Berzerk) whenever they go
below 30% of their health. Thus they hit more often when hurt badly. But
the crippling blow is just another kind of crit. And Warriors crit a LOT
more regularly than any proc'ing weapon I've ever seen.
> >The fact that we get Dual Wield and that other hybrids get Dual
> Wield/Double Attack (plus Kick, Bash,
> >Slam, whatever) means that they ALL do significantly more damage than we
> do. And don't even begin to talk
> >about the three pure melee classes.
>
> Kick/Bash/Slam contributes even less than a bellow every third twist
would,
> from what I've seen, when speaking of outright damage.
Incorrect. At level 34 a Ranger can kick for up to 23 points. Kick
recycles about every 10 seconds. So no, this is incorrect.
> >I logged some fights between level 43 and 45 just to get a feel for
things,
> and I estimated that Bards do
> >about 50% of the melee damage that other hybrids do, and about 25% of the
> melee damage of the three pure
> >melee characters. That was including my dual Ykesha procs. Btw, using
> "similar weapons" is not really a
>
> 50% of a ranger's damage is not insignificant in my mind, considering he
> gets double attack. Again, though, you used the magic word "estimated."
> I'm looking for numbers (if you still have the logs around) -- I want to
> know that X class at level L does Y damage per second against a mob of
level
> Z, gathered from N fights. I'm stubborn/anal that way ;).
Agreed, you're looking for numbers. But I think we can all pretty much
agree that we do 50% of the dmg of a normal hybrid in Melee without having
to crunch numbers. I mean, why crunch numbers when that's already pretty
obvious?
> >good measure; weapon selection is part of the ability to do damage, and
the
> fact that weapons are
> >class-limited gives advantages to classes with good class-specific
weapons.
> Oh yeah, Bards don't GET
> >any... The amount that a Bard contributes to melee shrinks drastically
as
> he and his groupmates go up in
> >level.
>
> Good point on the weapons. (Except for rangers, of course... they're
> typically dual wielding Ykeshas and EBW's just like us, until they get
their
> planes weapons.)
Agreed, but we don't really need weapons (see below)
> >PS - Given that Verant's design intent re: Bards was to make a class that
> significantly augmented groups,
> >and that they balance this by making them weak soloers, one would like to
> think that Bards would be one of
> >the first classes that a large (4-6) group would look for. We're way
down
> on any list that I've seen.
> >What does that tell you?
>
> Actually, I often hear shouts in Guk and Sol to the effect of "Enchanter
or
> Bard wanted." I get invites often for dragon raids, planes raids, and
Kedge
> outtings. Of course, it's usually because they want one of the Clarity
> forms or to break a room. Also, there are more bards coming of age these
> days, and a group generally won't have more than one bard (unlike tanks or
> casters).
>
> On a side note, the new Chant upgrades should make life a bit easier for
the
> kiting-solo bard.
>
> Raiel
Agreed. I have no trouble whatsoever getting in groups with my bard. I
would hazard to state that I have an easier time getting into groups than
almost anyone I know. Even on an extremely crowded server.
Now, as to this comparison of Melee dmg. Why are we comparing our 2nd rate
dmg method to other hybrid's 1st rate dmg method? Our #1 damage producer is
our songs. Our songs vastly outdamage any hybrid's damage curve when used
correctly. If I twist CoC, DDD, CoD, NiV with my 50 bard on Test I do
damage very comparable to what a ranger or paladin or shadowknight of equal
level can do. Add to that my ability to regen mana for others, heal others,
speed others combat up etc. I'd say that Bards are not nearly as bad off as
many seem to paint us.
Bottom line: Bards are not a melee class in the classic sense. Yes, we can
(and should) get in there and mix it up. But no, we aren't meant to be up
there swinging swords all the time. 90% of the time our songs are our best
weapons.
~ L