>1. Twist your spells. Almost all the spell songs have a 4 to 6
>second duration. It takes about 3 seconds to switch from one song to
>another (I'm at level 11). So you should be able to keep 2 songs
>continously up, or 3 songs where you manage to replace the 1st song
>right before it fades away.
>
actually 3 songs is fairly easy to do, four songs CAN be done, but you have
like 3 tenths of a second or something to do the switch. You have to almost
anticipate the switch.
>
>3. Magic gloves will not give you the ability to punch with magic.
>It seems only monks have that ability. So stick to magic weapons, or
>your songs.
Agreed, and to boot our h2h skill maxes at like 60, so dont worry about
trying to keep on your h2h, its almost worthless later on.
>
>4. Maximize your weapon skills. 1H Slash is great for the beginning
>levels, but the best bard weapons are in Piercing. I use 1H Blunt in
>trying out the theory that you can get better pelts if you don't hack
>the animal up -- haven't proven it yet.
>
Umm, i sincerly doubt that 1hblunt will yield better skins. I nearly fell
out of my chair laughing when i read that.
Sure it makes sense in the real world... but your in verant's world now...
Anyways, the best weapons are not necessarily piercing, but you are correct
in that you want all your skills maxed, but this is not hard to do later on
especially if you are in a full group and the local mobs are dropping
finesteel. I picked up 2 fs rapiers and maxed my piercing in no time, and
later grabbed 2 fs warhammers and did the same with 1h blunt. At lvl 47 now
i use dvinn's dagger in my ranged slot for the 2 dex and magic resistance,
and the demon claw in the primary and the silvery war axe in the secondary.
I sometimes use the staff of writhing when im bored and or want to show off
:). I think a silvery scimitar would be better than the claw for the first
hand but i have yet to get one. Also the crystaline sword might be a nice
primary, but i hate slow weapons. Course if the stupid ghoul lord would
ever drop anything other than barbutes i might get myself a nice littel
ykesha. Or if i had the patience and a group willing to go to mistmoore i
could get a electrum plated wakizashi. Alright, starting to ramble.
>5. Trust us bards: Faster Weapons are Better. Statistically, if
>you weigh the damage with a probability to hit, you would want more
>chances to hit. Besides, heavy weapons are a drain on stamina, and
>with the bard's various combat speed songs, faster weapons definitely
>outdo the heavier weapons. The best weapon for its current
>availability is the Dragoon Dirk from Ambassador Dvinn in Crushbone.
Slow weapons suck :)
>
>7. Travel light. There's a theory that getting anywhere near
>encumberance levels detracts from our fighting skills. I'm currently
>only wearing cloth armor; while I am currently having difficulty with
>blue monsters, I survive pretty well (Chant does wonders for AC, eh?)
>
um, im pretty sure that this ranks right up with the using 1h blunt to get
better skills theory =)
If you go OVER your encumberance your agility will drop along with some ac
and any chance of getting a dodge off. Ditch the cloth :)
Im seriously starting to wonder if ac isnt more important that attribute
boosts.
>You can kite by alternating Selo's and Bellow. If you don't have
>that, your next best option is Selo's and Hymn (run away, heal up
>fast, turn back and fight). If you're in a safe area and know how to
>run around monsters, you can swap Selo's and Dissonance.
>
I killed 2 scythe beetles in nk that where red to me using this technique.
I nearly died of boredom. But it works :)
>Anthem and Chant will not stack. So Chant when solo, and Anthem
>(group +10% battle speed) when in a group. Always use Whistle (+20%
>battle speed) if you're tanking. Whistle and Anthem will give you
>25% battle speed.
>
Later you get celerity which doest stack with chant. I use this in
preference to berserker, and probably will be doing so till lvl 50 when we
get verses.
>When running with Selo's in a group, try being the last one so that
>no one is left behind. If you're stuck as pointman, switch to walk
>(I have agility 90, with selo and the hand drum, I seem to be walking
>just as fast as anyone else is running. Heh!)
Agility does not affect movement speed. laggy connections DO seem to effect
running speed though, i have seen some extreme examples of this before.
>
>Jig restores stamina. Most known use is to allow you to swim above
>water for longer periods of time. You can also use it to avoid
>hunger&thirst death -- you'll still be hungry, but you are "tough"
>enough to take it ... until you get to your corpse.
Jig is GREAT in kedge keep (course kedge keep sucks since its not itemized
yet). 1 maybe 2 pulses and everybodies stamina is at full.
Course you might be right about 1h blunt and skins and the encumberance
thing, but i dont think so :)
I do think bards need a better web site, there are some nice ones out
there, but they could use some more info.
Gendal Concorden, worst dressed bard on Tunare, lvl 47
Who also happens to be too busy playing eq to make his own web site :)