At 01:53 PM 6/28/00 -0600, you wrote:

>Only problem is I don't have Clarity, or Psalm of Cooling, or Dennon's
>Dissention.
>
>That would leave me twisting Chant of Battle and Hymn with resists and the
>odd Pixie Strike.

you can do damage shield too.

>My weapon damage is laughable. Even with a Harpoon of the Depths and an
>Obsidian Shard, with the low taunt songs I'm twisting, a ranger 5 levels
>below me got the mobs attention twice as much as I did. The only times I
>was the target of choice was when I pulled or had to charm a mob off
>someone. Even with our high taunt factor, the songs I was singing weren't
>effective enough to warrant more attention from the mobs.

umm, i always thought it was a good thing when i didn't get attention from the mobs.

>I'm sure when I have manasong I'll have another option for twisting but
>without being able to use my hard hitting songs I won't be an offensive
>force when the 'chanter is around until I have three Chants.

you don't need to be an offensive force to contribute to the group.

>It's not in my nature to be solely a defensive presence, and I'm not sure I
>have the tools to do that job anyhow except vs. casters.

well, that is a large part of a bard's nature. at level 51, i am almost purely
a defensive presence with 2 heal songs and Verses of Victory and the occasional
crowd control

>What are good defensive tools against melee mobs? The Damage shields seem
>weak considering we are fighting 1 mob 90% of the time.
>
> Kit