Well to start off with, I’m not a bard. I’m a stumpy little dwarven cleric. I was a bard for a while (10th level) and it was during that time that my wife became interested in EQ. She often watched me play and of my stable of characters, she loved the bard best. Always got places fast. Got to use two weapons later. Had healing. And to steal a quote from her favorite movie, Aliens, she could kill things with "harsh language".

Well when she stated playing, we began teaming up 100% of the time. There are only a few hours in a week where one of us is online without the other. So, while this isn’t about bards exclusively, it is about teaming with a bard, so it may help you in understanding how others see the bards in their midst.

As a cleric and a bard combo, we have a helluva lot of healing power. I try to explain to folks that despite the fact that I’m a cleric, she heals more HP in an evening that I do. If I throw 2 heals in a fight it’s unusual. Generally, I act as an attack cleric (unless the party is large). We get the beastie down quickly. Then while I med back up she sings her healing song with her lute. So while I may heal 300 or 400 points in a combat when a crisis occurs, she sings and heals 10 points per pulse for 2 to 6 people for a 2 minutes after the fight. That’s an average of 40hp per pulse every 7 or 8 seconds. It doesn’t take long to see that by far the best way to be a healer is with a bard in the party. 40 hp per pulse with 8 or so pulses per minute is over 600 points healed. So while they can’t restore your health in a matter of seconds, they allow a cleric to hit full mana twice as fast as normal, so clerics LOVE bards.

Now the rest of your party generally does not perceive the value of the cleric until it is explained to them. They sit and rest up and because the healing effect of the bard is subtle, they don’t say "wow". But you can teach them the power of the bard. In battle, the bard has many options. Be they direct attacks, area effects, buffing or healing. Again, these efforts are not full appreciated by others
as they do not see a "the bard makes you X% more effective in combat" message. They also do not see the damage reported by the bellow, so to them it’s just pretty lights. And if your song effects are targeted to de-buff or negatively buff the enemies, your party may never realize it happened.

So my message to bards is to advertise yourselves more. When someone joins our group for the first time, I always stop for a moment and instruct folks on why I won’t be healing everyone to full after a combat. Either you or a member who understands the role of the bard needs to explain this to a party.

So, how do others actually perceive bards? Well, some folks think of bards as either "only half as good" or as fast runners. And when they think "half as good" they tend to think about one aspect. Only half as good as a warrior at doing damage. Only half as good as a druid at making the party faster. What they typically fail to see is that while the bard is not the master of any one aspect, they have the widest ability to do everything. This is a problem that it is up to you, as the bard, to set straight.

Next time you are in a party fighting a single monster, instead of using your healing song or area effect song or party buff song, use your two weapons, bellow and twine in an area effect damage spell and do so much damage that the monster jumps to you instead of the warrior. Let them see, that when you put your mind to it, you can do a ton of damage. You only have to do this once to let people know you are capable of being a warrior.

The next time your in a party with a healer, tell him before the fight to only worry about damage during the fight. Take care of the party healing afterwards. Jump right in and tell them about how you can get them ready for the next fight faster. They will love you for it because they can use the extra mana to keep up buffs. Again, it only takes once to prove the point.

Offer to be the fetcher/puller for your party. Let them see you race across the screen faster than they can turn their head. Stop in plain view and bellow at a monster 30 yards away. Show off your distance weapon. Those seeing it for the first time will ask what it was. Make sure that they respect the power of the bard. Who else can wear plate and throw spells like you can? Paladin? Forget it. They don’t get damage spells except against undead. Clerics? Not likely, they have tons of downtime when they burn their full mana. And clerics hate having to med up , heal everyone, med up and buff everyone then med up again to fight.

One often overlooked spell for most casters is the ability to de-buff the enemy. To remove their spells and buffs. Most casters don’t use this type of spell because they are fixated on throwing direct damage spells over and over. And to them, casting this spell robs them of mana that they would rather spend on damage spells. Worse, it often must be cast several times in order to take effect. Well for the handy bard, Alenia's Disenchanting Melody at level 22 does the same thing. And it won’t cost your casters anything. Advertise to your party that when the magic using or buffed monster comes out, you’ll take care of the cancel magic. The casters will
be delighted.

At later levels, the most sought after spell changes from SoW to Clarity. This spell allows magic users to regain mana at twice the normal rate. At level 32, bards get the song Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity which increases the mana regeneration rate of all party members. Once again, the bard has the mojo that people want.

"Too bad there isn’t a magic user here to root." Well, bards can’t technically root, but you can sure slow down the bad guys. Selo's Consonant Chain lets you slow down those enemies and lets your party either get the kill or get out of dodge. Then when they are at a safe distance, pop on that Accelerando and fly outta there yourself. And what an advantage bard speed, or as my wife the bard puts it, "happy feet" is. At level 23, I’ve seen her toy with a friend using SoW. She literally ran circle around him. And in S Karana there is a monster than can run down a player using SoW. Not so for the bard. She darts around like a hummingbird and never get’s caught.

Send in the warrior to pull or fetch? Are you nuts? Let me say two things that absolutely define that bards are the ultimate fetchers "Shauri's Sonorous Clouding" and "Selo's Accelerando". First, nothing makes for easier monster selection when fetching than invisibility. Second, over lvl 20, even without using the drum, you can outrun any mob you may find in a dungeon once you select a target. As the ultimate fetcher, go in invisible, when you select a target, below from 15 paces away, then speed song out and back to the party. (psst. Be sure to stop and wait for the monster to catch up or you might lose him). The warrior goes out for a monster and comes back with the first thing to jump him and 1 and a half bubbles of health missing. The bard goes out and comes back with a perfect monster and a smile.

I guess the point I’m trying to make, is that you bards should be proud of what you can do. You may not get 10 spells every level and you don’t get kick and double attack, but that’s ok because you are not wizards and fighters. What you are is a bard. The finest all-round party member that can be found. Advertise your abilities and let people know what you can do. Make your party the envy of the zone.

Ofbac, Cleric of Tunare, Solusek Ro