On Mon, 12 Jul 1999, Schafer, Timothy L 1425 wrote:

>
> I personally don't twist, I may switch up songs in battle if the needs
> arise, but I have never found twisting to be that big a benefit. At 17th
> level the healing song only restores 7hp/tick while standing, and the
> average monster is hitting for 20-50 pts per hit, so the heal isn't worth
> it, when if I play anthem and it doesn't ever quit they get a more increased
> attack rate, so therefore they do more damage.

17th is one level before Hymn gets upgraded to 9hp/tick with a
lute. If everyone in a full party is wounded, Hymn would be
healing 54 points every 6 seconds. If the mob swings every
3.0 seconds on average for 27 points damage per hit (factoring
in misses and double attacks), your party is effectively
taking *zero* damage. Part of the challenge in playing a bard
IMHO is recognizing little nuances like this and learning
which situations call for which songs.

> I know that most bards do twist, and I do not hold this against you in any
> ways, but are you wanting me to believe that the game was designed to do
> this? I don't believe it was, I think the reasons the songs don't stop

As several others have pointed out, Verant employees have
stated that bards are balanced with twisting/weaving/juggling
in mind.

--
John H. Kim
kim@...