Christopher Mills wrote:
> From: Christopher Mills <xopher@...>
>
> The other night a crazy Barbarian friend of mine suggests we try working on
> our hand-to-hand skills against the reavers. Sure, I say, let me learn
> a few appropriate songs (Chords, etc) and I'll equip the Lute.
Hmm...I wonder how much a barbarian warrior can punch for at high levels
with a maxed hand to hand. 10? 20? I *think* I punched for 6 once, but I'm
not sure...average seems to be 2 to 4, with lots of misses.
> After realizing that I switched over to pure hand-to-hand, thinking that the
> Lute was the problem. I still didn't notice any skill-ups, but I didn't
> fight very long this way before giving up (without the Lute it was hard to
> take down the reavers). Perhaps I didn't see any skill-ups because my hand-
> to-hand skill is pathetically low to begin with?
Well, another thing to consider is the delay on hands is kinda slow, compared
to a dirk or longsword. (30 delay is what I've heard before.) So, less punches=
less chances to hit=less chances for skill to increase. And yes, I believe it
does
go raise slower the lower the skill is. I used to punch a lot back in the
teens/20s,
and the skill would hardly move - I was never able to maxed it. Recently, at
level
30, I've been using the lute in Cazic to lullaby some monster huge pulls, and
while punching away (for 2 to 4 damage at a time, grr) my skill shot up 10
points or so, way faster than it had before.
> Anyone with more experience in the support-bard role have any tips for a
> battle-bard? I was pretty impressed at how effective I am at higher levels
> with just songs...
Well, lullaby just gets better and better...I hadn't used it for a few levels,
because it was such a hassle finding a spot where I wouldn't sleep people
in other groups. (On Rallos Zek) But lately, with Cazic having 10-15 people
on average, I've pulled it out again, and have been rather amazed how well it
works. 5+ lizzies, almost no resists, very few of them waking up early...its
beautiful.
Lull has proven useful lately too. Nice trick: Invis up, sneak past what you plan
to pull, lull the stuff thats within agro radius that you don't want to fight yet,
then
have your puller pull the mob. This way, with almost no risk, you have 3 fewer
mobs incoming...
-Lohengrin