Bard Guide for Dummies

[Tromp]

1. Ok starting my first Bard (Human) and he is going to be an archer. I used the auto allocator figuring I can tweek it. He's still Level 0. Anyone able to give me some decent stats here?

2. From reading the threads, it seems the best training plan consists of the following:

1x armor (I wanna stop a brig)
2x ranged
1x perception (not sure why recommendations are for 2x)
1x spells
1x harness power
1x lore telepathy (which I have no idea)
1x Physical (till about 20+ ranks unless you guys say otherwise)
1x Dodge
1x mana control (till over 20 ranks or so)

3. will be in the other society

4. Can someone explain how the spells work? Do you cast them like regular spells or... ?

Basically I'm bardidiot and need a guide of some sorts. Help help help....

[Kitsun]

I started a low level bard recently and did consider the ranged route. There are certain limitations to the style(1. Can't make a sonic bow 2. Your singing blade won't work either)

Ranged weapons also get a ranged bonus which is based off AMBUSH and PERCEPTION training. In order to maximize it, you need 2x training in both. With only going 1x, you won't see it kick in until much later. Thereby losing ground(in terms of AS) to any melee hunter that goes 2x weapon and 2x CM.

PT is the main factor in redux, just singling will eventually get you some. If you stop training I'm not sure that you'll ever see it.

Bard spells can be prepped and cast. Their boosting songs are kept running once you start them. They drain some mana to keep running every so often.

[Czeska]

I'd never play a ranged bard, just because I love my sonics. Czeska is OHE trained. Although, if you want sonics, add air lore to that training list.

[Tromp]

so you guys/gals recommend switching to OHE?

[Jonty]

OHEs suck.

[Drew]

Bards use polearms....

[Kitsun]

You should probably run with whatever weapon style you feel most comfortable using. I personally chose OHE/Shield just because my pures had dumped their geared when switching to runestaves and I had the stuff lying around.

Ranged did not look terrible but the cost to utilize the potential meant I couldn't train in the secondary abilities I had wanted.

Most bards do seem to go polearm.

My recommendation is to start the bard and use the one month grace period to play around with all the styles you're considering. It really might not matter much since bards can use 1005 to sleep damn well near whatever they want to kill.

[xShadowMerchantx]

TWC/Brawlin Bard kicks ass

[Stunseed]

At level 10, my Bard swings a 0x halberd at 159 AS. I'm easily obliterating most creatures I've tried.

[Soulpieced]

Bards use polearms....

.

Bards who are 100 don't use polearms.

[Drew]

Bards use polearms.....

Unless they are Soulpieced



You don't think it can be done Soulpieced?

PS: Does Soulpieced have that horn that when you die with a free hand it blows an alert?

[Kitsun]

I remember SP posting a clip with him blowing a fear horn or something. Not sure if it is one and the same.

[Drew]

Yeah I saw that clip as well, It'd be a shame if the horn didn't get used because he didn't have a free hand when he hunted. I know there are several similar horns though, that's why I asked.

[Celexei]

if you are honestly interested in keeping with your ranged bard plan you need to talk to Archales, i have NO clue how he does it, but he fits in ohe/shield AND archery with his bard plus has i think at least 1x spells...he's very very effective either way and i've seen him use both styles. I started a ranged bardess at one time but i just couldn't get with it so i dropped to OHE/Shield, but then ended up rerolling to a ranger so other than the name tipoff, thats about all i can get ya.

[Amaron]

polearms are the best!

J

[Xenostrus]

Polearms are the way to go!
Im level 27 swinging with an AS of 323 with just signs (no madness). Oh, and im still migrating skills so it should be higher than that.

[Drew]

Originally posted by Xenostrus
Polearms are the way to go!
Im level 27 swinging with an AS of 323 with just signs (no madness). Oh, and im still migrating skills so it should be higher than that.


Bogus!

Giant bard with max strength, doing 2x polearms and 2x CM at level 27: 227

CoL signs: +35

Maxed out Kai's song with telepathy ranks +22

4x weapon: +20

= 304 AS

Now it's doubtful you 2x CM, so subtract 13 AS from that.


So what are you using, a 10X weapon? Might want to mention that if you are talking about how high your AS is.

[Czeska]

I think you can be fully viable with either OHE or Polearms. :shrug: Depends mostly on preference. Course I've never been obsessed with the numbers. I do know that Czeska's toughest foe at 35 trains was a MTK (no, she wasn't alone, but she killed the damn thing).
Also, I love 1025 for banshee hunting. My singing weapon finds those bitches when they fade away ;)

[Xenostrus]

Im using an 8x weapon! a regular Naginata is 4x and it can be ebladed to 8x so that helps a lot.

[theotherjohn]

Originally posted by Soulpieced
Bards use polearms....

.

Bards who are 100 don't use polearms.


They use lockpicks

[Soulpieced]

Not anymore, I haven't picked at all since the change to lockpicking. So my script is probably grossly obsolete. Anyway, Kolts and Larktrill are the only bards I know over 90 that use poles. Lark switched over to it because her and Reife have a sick stockpile, and Kolts is a multi-accounter (so he has it easier than a usual peon hunting by himself. This is in no way inflammatory towards him or other MA'ers). That said, an OHE user with more than 1x in shield use will have a DS much much much higher than a pole user. And myself, Quivalin, Heartpierced, Bonehitter, Spunkwhort, Morfred, and Xenosphere all use OHE/Shield.

[theotherjohn]

Originally posted by Soulpieced
Not anymore, I haven't picked at all since the change to lockpicking. So my script is probably grossly obsolete.

just teasing you Soulpie

You actually taught me that it was best to have min ranks in lockpicking to max the learning

and how to sing to gems, orbs, imbeds

and tons of other stuff I cant remember to list now

[Soulpieced]

I did? No fooling. I don't really remember helping out other bards all that much. But if anyone asked I didn't mind to offer my opinion.

[theotherjohn]

Originally posted by Soulpieced
I did? No fooling. I don't really remember helping out other bards all that much. But if anyone asked I didn't mind to offer my opinion.


look familiar

You sing:

"Pearl that I do hold
reveal your purpose bold"


Roundtime: 6 sec.

and the locksmithing was when I played Keisa

[Czeska]

Soulpieced helped Czeska out too.. questions on the 'net.. picking boxes..
But i swear I NEVER said anything nice about you.

[Soulpieced]

Nope, though I can tell you that loresong is very old because it's not my generic purpose macro, in my loresinging script, and I don't sing to gems for other people. So that would mean it was probably on Teras, but I still have no clue who you were :spin:

[Tromp]

ok so now the advice to OHE?

How about this idea? I just max him out for combat like a warrior until 20 trains and then fixskill him to a bard? I'm hearing horrow stories about the early years.

[Soulpieced]

Yeah, if you plan on using the fixskills, it's best to go straight combat stuff up to about 20. This goes for stats and skills.

[Tromp]

Soul,

Can you help me out with some decent bard combat stats for a human bard? please please please.......

[Norator]

horror stories about the early years? I doubled on poles, singled on cm, an got telepathy when I could, an like...this is the easiest I've ever seen it. But I never tried a swinger before either, I'd assume that a warrior is prolly the easiest, but I can't play a warrior, no offense to those that like playing them. I was hunting reivers at like 13. An now, at 20, wit songs, strength, signs, an a pure potion, I swing at like..284ish I believe, 4x warlance. oh, 8 ranks in telepathy so far.

[AnticorRifling]

Don't use fixskills. Get your skills for combat. Then when you're about to lose your fast migration switch to your real training plan saving your fixskills. Its the best way to run a little character up some lvls.

Also I switched my bard from polearms to something alittle different(but I'll probably go back to polearms with the fixskill we are getting)

My 23 bard is currently

35 armor ranks
24 shield ranks
24 CM ranks
48 OHE ranks
24 ambush ranks
48 hide ranks
24 PT
12 dodge
20 spell songs
5 climb

I think that's it. I'll have to look when I get home. Basically it's 1005, hide, ambush, search critter.

[Czeska]

Gah.. i'd never skip a spell during a train. Never never never. But that's me :)

[Amaron]

oh never skill training in spells. Song ranks help with many aspects of casting

J

[Edited on 12-6-2004 by Amaron]

[Tromp]

so telepathy not air?

[Tromp]

noticed no harness power... don't bards need mana?

[AnticorRifling]

Ohh yeah 1x HP..

Here I got in game he looks like this:

(at level 23), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 130 35
Shield Use.........................| 102 24
Combat Maneuvers...................| 102 24
Edged Weapons......................| 148 48
Ambush.............................| 102 24
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Dodging............................| 58 12
Harness Power......................| 102 24
Stalking and Hiding................| 148 48
Climbing...........................| 25 5

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 20

[Czeska]

Air lore for 1008 and most of all for sonics - - shields, armor, weapons.

[Tromp]

how do you stop a song from continuing once you cast it? only 4 trains now but his song keeps renewing over and over.

[Czeska]

Stop singing (song number)

[Myitkyina]

Here's the plan for my little half-sylvan bardess. She does pretty well, has a high AS and decent DS, but suffers from a pretty low TD. She's working her way through the Voln steps at the moment, and she's not wasting favor by using her symbols, so I expect the situation to be even better after she masters.


(at level 21), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 99 23
Shield Use.........................| 99 23
Combat Maneuvers...................| 99 23
Edged Weapons......................| 146 46
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 99 23
Physical Fitness...................| 99 23
Dodging............................| 62 13
Magic Item Use.....................| 30 6
Harness Power......................| 99 23
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 54 11
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 99 23
Perception.........................| 20 4
Climbing...........................| 40 8
Swimming...........................| 20 4

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 1

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 21

[Tromp]

i just can't see how you fit all those items in your training with the amount of tp's

[Czeska]

Czeska at 38:

Armor Use..........................| 138 39
Shield Use.........................| 138 39
Combat Maneuvers...................| 82 18
Edged Weapons......................| 180 80
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 25 5
Physical Fitness...................| 136 38
Dodging............................| 128 34
Harness Power......................| 174 74
Elemental Mana Control.............| 54 11
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 96 22
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 90 20
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 82 18
Climbing...........................| 90 20
Swimming...........................| 30 6

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 6

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 35

Note that I play her very magically. She sings 1003, 1006, 1007, 1009, 1010, 1014, 1019, and 1025 on EVERY hunt, and uses 1012 when hunting living.

I can still sing other songs while I am out, too. I'm going to work on getting more CM next.



[Edited on 12-7-2004 by Czeska]

[Tromp]

can someone develop some primo stat placement for a human male bard and maybe I can be enjoying the amount of training points everyone else it.? I'm depressed now (not really but you know what I mean).

[Snapp]

I'm not very good at stats and all that, but I do have a human bard.. hopefully this helps?


(at level 26), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 114 28
Combat Maneuvers...................| 114 28
Polearm Weapons....................| 156 56
Physical Fitness...................| 114 28
Dodging............................| 114 28
Harness Power......................| 114 28
Elemental Mana Control.............| 50 10
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 70 15
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 62 13
Perception.........................| 70 15
Climbing...........................| 30 6
Swimming...........................| 30 6
Trading............................| 62 13

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 3

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 25

Level: 26
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 98 (29) ... 98 (29)
Constitution (CON): 63 (6) ... 63 (6)
Dexterity (DEX): 80 (15) ... 80 (15)
Agility (AGI): 86 (18) ... 86 (18)
Discipline (DIS): 66 (8) ... 66 (8)
Aura (AUR): 98 (24) ... 98 (24)
Logic (LOG): 46 (3) ... 46 (3)
Intuition (INT): 45 (3) ... 45 (3)
Wisdom (WIS): 68 (9) ... 68 (9)
Influence (INF): 98 (24) ... 98 (24)

Level 0 Stats for , Human Bard

Strength (STR): 90
Constitution (CON): 50
Dexterity (DEX): 70
Agility (AGI): 80
Discipline (DIS): 60
Aura (AUR): 90
Logic (LOG): 40
Intuition (INT): 30
Wisdom (WIS): 60
Influence (INF): 90

[Myitkyina]

Originally posted by Tromp
i just can't see how you fit all those items in your training with the amount of tp's

I'm not sure if that was referring to me or someone else, but here are her stats...

Name: (Removed to protect the innocent) Race: Half-Elf Profession: Bard (shown as: Storyteller)
Gender: Female Age: 29 Expr: 550319 Level: 21
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 97 (23) ... 97 (23)
Constitution (CON): 61 (5) ... 61 (5)
Dexterity (DEX): 79 (19) ... 79 (19)
Agility (AGI): 52 (11) ... 52 (11)
Discipline (DIS): 82 (11) ... 82 (11)
Aura (AUR): 100 (25) ... 105 (27)
Logic (LOG): 73 (11) ... 73 (11)
Intuition (INT): 65 (7) ... 65 (7)
Wisdom (WIS): 40 (-5) ... 40 (-5)
Influence (INF): 99 (29) ... 104 (32)
Mana: 47 Silver: 0

[Tromp]

any of the bards in vaalor interested in a protege? rp'ing a bratty royal (like it has never been done) with some other twists to the character. let me know

[Czeska]

My bard hates EN. There are lots of nice bards on Teras though!

[Tromp]

he's only 5 trains... guess i should have mentioned that (and human)

[Czeska]

Czeska's human, but loves elves, has always wanted to be an elf, and has elven feature alters (which coincidentally match her brother's although it wasn't planned). She hates EN cause with all her time with elves, she's still "mistreated"

[Tromp]

sounds like pointed ear envy to me. be proud that you won't live past 100 years. sounds like an interesting facet to your bard though.

i guess that leaves you out of my bard mentor candidates then :(

[Marl]

My little Giant after fixskills, seems to be doing ok but, brawling weapons dont hit hard for shit.....


(at level 15), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 70 15
Shield Use.........................| 70 15
Combat Maneuvers...............70 15
Brawling...........................| 128 34
Multi Opponent Combat........25 5
Physical Fitness................... 70 15
Dodging............................| 70 15
Harness Power.....................70 15
Mental Lore - Telepathy....... 70 15
Survival...........................| 70 15
Perception.........................| 70 15
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
First Aid..........................| 70 15

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 15
Training Points: 5 Phy 5 Mnt

[Tromp]

man i must be doing soemthing way wrong with my human bards stats because I couldn't fit all those skills that your giant has.

this is my base

STR 80
CON 39
DEX 53
AGL 65
DIS 64
AUR S,M 88
LOG 69
INT 74
WIS 39
INF P,M 89

anyone see some tweeking here?

[AnticorRifling]

Dwarf Bard

(at level 24), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 130 35
Shield Use.........................| 102 24
Combat Maneuvers...................| 102 24
Edged Weapons......................| 150 50
Ambush.............................| 105 25
Physical Fitness...................| 105 25
Dodging............................| 58 12
Harness Power......................| 102 24
Mental Lore - Telepathy............| 5 1
Stalking and Hiding................| 149 49
Climbing...........................| 25 5

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 21


Strength (STR): 90
Constitution (CON): 50
Dexterity (DEX): 70
Agility (AGI): 80
Discipline (DIS): 60
Aura (AUR): 90
Logic (LOG): 40
Intuition (INT): 30
Wisdom (WIS): 60
Influence (INF): 90

That was my lvl 0 stat placement. Not sure why.

That training was/is just for fun and I'll probably use my fixskills to go back to my real training which is polearms. But right now it's just 1005, hide, ambush, search.

He spanks that ass. With a 3x weapon, and strength his AS is 281.

[Praefection]

Okay guys since I'm a retard when it comes to stats and stuff, I could use any suggestions on my bardess before her instant skill migration ends. I reactivated her last week after 4 years. I'm mainly looking for someone who can do my gem purifying and loresinging. Critque away!


Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 90 (20) ... 90 (20)
Constitution (CON): 60 (5) ... 60 (5)
Dexterity (DEX): 78 (24) ... 78 (24)
Agility (AGI): 77 (18) ... 77 (18)
Discipline (DIS): 62 (1) ... 62 (1)
Aura (AUR): 95 (27) ... 95 (27)
Logic (LOG): 44 (-3) ... 44 (-3)
Intuition (INT): 61 (5) ... 61 (5)
Wisdom (WIS): 65 (7) ... 65 (7)
Influence (INF): 83 (16) ... 83 (16)
Mana: 69 Silver: 0


Treana (at level 17), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 90 20
Combat Maneuvers...................| 82 18
Polearm Weapons....................| 136 38
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 30 6
Physical Fitness...................| 78 17
Dodging............................| 78 17
Magic Item Use.....................| 30 6
Harness Power......................| 90 20
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 15 3
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 86 19
Climbing...........................| 30 6

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 1

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 17
Mana: 69 Silver: 0

[Tromp]

if you are not going to hunt the bard just throw everything into magic and lores but if you are i would:

drop armor use to 1x
same with cm's
1x dodge and physical
cut polearms down to 2x
don't need that much MoC that young (5 times maybe?)
what is all the magic item use for?
harness power ranks over 1x is kind of a waste
usually lores trained in are Telepathy or Air (for sonics) so I'd do a cumulative of 1x in those and maybe throw more into one with xtra unused pts.
Climbing looks good for now
maybe since you are going to make her a gem and loresinger you should 1x in trading in order to take advantage of it at the shops
Spells look good.

Hope that helps.

you know my ranger by the way... (so hiyas)

[Heshinar]

Well I bit the bullet and migrated around.

Name: Maintaining Innocence of Bard Race: Half-Elf Profession: Bard (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 43 Expr: 652268 Level: 23
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 97 (23) ... 97 (23)
Constitution (CON): 61 (5) ... 61 (5)
Dexterity (DEX): 81 (20) ... 81 (20)
Agility (AGI): 87 (28) ... 87 (28)
Discipline (DIS): 65 (2) ... 65 (2)
Aura (AUR): 97 (23) ... 97 (23)
Logic (LOG): 45 (-2) ... 45 (-2)
Intuition (INT): 41 (-4) ... 41 (-4)
Wisdom (WIS): 67 (8) ... 67 (8)
Influence (INF): 99 (29) ... 99 (29)
Mana: 75 Silver: 22

Innocent Bard (at level 23), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 102 24
Shield Use.........................| 102 24
Combat Maneuvers...................| 108 26
Edged Weapons......................| 150 50
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 30 6
Physical Fitness...................| 108 26
Dodging............................| 102 24
Harness Power......................| 102 24
Elemental Mana Control.............| 15 3
Mental Mana Control................| 15 3
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 102 24
Survival...........................| 10 2
Perception.........................| 102 24
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
First Aid..........................| 10 2
Trading............................| 35 7

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 6

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 19


Well I still can play around some and havent used fixskills either.

Opinions?

Also what the heck do I hunt now?
When I left 3 years ago I was fighting Storm Giants and Ice Trolls and such.
Zombies as well.



[Edited on 8-10-2005 by Heshinar]

[Myitkyina]

That looks a lot better to me, Heshinar... I hope it works out for you. When she was that level (just a few trains ago), my bard was hunting spider temple and monks/liches. The latter were a bit of a challenge for her, but she's voln and needed the favor. At 27, she finds pookas extremely easy (prolly could have handled them sooner), and she's started to hunt mezics and such out in Solhaven. I'm thinking of sending her to Zul to hunt the stuff out there, just for a change of pace.