----- Original Message -----
From: "Michel Lagace" <e-wolf@...>
To: <eqbards@egroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: [eqbards] How did you play when you were 15th?

> Reedwind,
> Hello! I've been a lurker here for a long time and a bard even longer
> (since June 6th 1999). The folks on this list are great! I haven't yet
> contributed since I'm fairly low level but I feel I have a good
appreciation
> of your situation so I'm posting now. ;)

Thanks, I'm not the sort of player that wants to get parties killed because
I don't understand my class.

> There seem to be three general types of bards I've met in my travels;
> bards who sing (twist/weave/other word of your choice), bards who melee,
> bards who think they can melee. With normal armour and weapons, bards
seem
> naturally to choose either the first or second path. Most twinks I've
> encountered become the third kind of bard and don't appreciate what it is
to
> be a bard until it's too late. It seems that you can either play a bard
as
> a poor melee class, or as a good bard (using melee or song as the
situation
> warrants.)

Yea, I'm afraid I'm going to be #3, so far I have nearly 40 days with my
ranger (about .5 with a necro, I just can't play EVIL). I realize that my
melee skills aren't at my ranger's level and certainly nowhere near a
warrior. I use the songs and even twist them to some extent.

> The key to playing a bard (at least at the lower levels) is to
> understand the capabilities of your songs and apply the right ones, with
> instruments or without, in the appropriate situation. Silly Songsinger
has
> provided links to excellent information about songs so I won't repeat
(much)

Yes, as soon as I started Reed I went to the bard sites I could find to
discover all the aspects of the songs. I was excited at 6th level thinking
I'd be gold to a group ... and didn't get anyone interested <shrug>. Then I
get to 12th and get into some throne room activity in Crush and the people
I'm grouped with didn't get that my songs are a huge taunt. I died but at
least I could run quickly back to recover my corpse.

> of it. Let me instead explain a few of the combinations I have used.
These
> tactics worked well even though I have low stamina (67) and low strength
> (70.) I was equipped in full leather and had a combine scimitar which I
> then upgraded to a Dragoon dirk and some banded by 15. (Actually, I'm
still
> in mostly banded and some special armour that I've picked up over the
months
> and still wielding my trusty Dragoon dirk.)

I'm a little heavy with some bronze, my ranger picked it up when I was in
Highkeep and I couldn't sell it so I'm using it. I'm overequiped for my
level having received some help from my higher level character. I have the
lambent sleeves, the bard paid for the gems but of course he couldn't hope
to get the rune or the firey vambraces.

> Soloing:
> Solo strategy #1:
> Try to pick creatures that don't bash. When I had more experience, I

Yea, orcs stop my songs A LOT!

> soloed the two gnoll guardsman in blackburrow near the door to the spike
> room but I had mostly perfected twisting by then. I wouldn't recommend
you
> start there because they bash and if you're not careful, you can hit other
> gnolls through the walls with your CoD and start really bad trains. Learn
> twisting somewhere safer first. You can practice this strategy fairly
safely
> out in the Karanas on silvermist wolves and switch to gnoll reavers when
you
> are a little better at it. (Stay in a zoomed out view so you can keep your
> eye on anything nearby)

I have been wary of AoE songs for this very reason. Standard newbie mistake,
even pre-warned, I ran to a guard in Kelethin from the newbie area with the
level 2 AoE on ... dead bard in an instant.

> Solo strategy #3:
> Find a single creature (or make a camp into a single creature with
> Kelin's Lugubrious Lament) then equip your weapons. I had a Dragoon Dirk
> and a Shiny Brass Shield (SBS) until I got dual wield. Start up Anthem
and
> HoR then pull the creature with Bellow. Keep twisting those three
> throughout the fight.

Here's a question I haven't seen the answer of, can you use dual wield to
equip a weapon and a instrument?

> Grouping:
> Bards are best at grouping. Try to avoid any group that considers you
a
> melee class since you will be limited to being a poor tank. There are
many
> great combinations you can use depending upon the members of your group,
the
> type of creatures you are fighting and the type of pull you get (solo,
> multiples.) Generally, I used the following:

Grouping I get, I've got to sell myself better to get in a group.

> Your group against casters:
> This one is best at level 18. Equip the drum and play Guardian
> Rhythms(GR), Elemental Rhythms(ER) or Purifying Rhythms(PR), Anthem de
Arms
> (to help the tanks take down the caster quickly.) Below 18, I usually
> equipped a drum and played ER/PR, HoR, Anthem. A completely different
> strategy is to use Kelin's Lucid Lullaby (Lullaby) with a lute if you can
> take a few blasts and the caster is significantly lower level (eg. low
blue,
> or green.) It's a fast ticket to your bind point otherwise.

Do we know if Lullaby clears the hate list except for the bard? I keep
hearing it's changed.

> Your group against high con solo creature:
> Generally, your damage songs won't affect them much so stick to
buffing
> the tanks as much as possible. Usually I equip a drum and use Anthem,
HoR,
> and throw in ER for some AC buffing then later in the fight switch to the
> lute for faster healing. The extra AC from ER is only a few points but it
> can make the difference between the tanks getting hit for max damage a lot
> vs getting hit for max less often and partial damage more often and will
> generally save downtime more than trying to get a bellow or CoD to stick
> while maintaining Anthem (the most important.)

This makes sense, in a group situation the last thing I want to do is waste
time with a AoE or DD when I can buff the entire party. I'm happy to say I
knew this one without being told. Seems like a good plan.

> I'm not sure how any of these strategies will change as I get to the
higher
> levels but for now, they seem to be good, at least to level 20. Thanks to
> everyone on eqbards for a lot of the ideas and strategies and sorry for
the
> long post!

Excellent information, thank you.