Bards in Combat

This bard guide is combat oriented, and there are several reasons for this.

• Combat is the meat of EverQuest.
• The good combats are what you'll remember afterwards, especially those where you were in a party and just managed to win a tough fight.
• A good bard can be an awesome addition to a party.
• Sadly, I've seen a lot of bards working at way below full efficiency, in effect being just a weak tank with a party buff or two.

So this guide contains tips mainly on how to be a better addition to a party in a combat. It also contains a chapter on how to fight without weapons, using just songs and instruments.

At the time of writing my bard is level 25, so some tasks and tactics will be somewhat different if your bard is at a different level.

From active sports I've learned that a team is most efficient when each team member has specific work tasks to solve during the match. It is no different in EverQuest, so I've set up a set of work tasks for the bard. The tasks assume that the group is fighting a tough fight, but one that your group will win if all perform optimally.

• In small groups or low-level groups: Act mostly as fighter, using weapons.
• In large groups: Act mostly as a buff-giver, using instruments or weapons.
• Expect heal from healers when down to three bubbles of HP.
• Disengage temporarily if down to two and a quarter bubbles of HP, do not reengage until up to more than three bubbles. Sometimes it may also be necessary to stop singing any song so the fighter can get those monsters off you. Exception: If you've started singing Kelin's Lucid Lullaby, it's usually a BAD idea to stop singing.
• Disengage if attacked by multiple enemies, or use Kelin's Lucid Lullaby.

• When opposing several magic-users, use protection songs preferably with drum (the fighters should engage the monsters).
• When opposing mainly non-magic-users, use party healing, combat, protection or monster de-buff songs.
• When opposing large groups, use Kelin's Lucid Lullaby to reduce enemy firing power. The effect is awesome, but be aware that most, if not all monsters that resist will attack YOU. You need to make the group healer aware of this.
• Step in as fighter if fighters have to withdraw for a short while.
• Engage monsters that attack party magic-users or use Kelin's Lucid Lullaby.
• If the going gets too tough for the entire party, play Selo's Accelerando (outdoors only) or Angstlich's Appalling Screech.
• Not your job to take care of fleeing monsters, but you may use Selo's Consonant Chain to snare runners if no mage or cleric types are around to do the job. "Runner control" is essential in dungeons like Guk and Runnyeye.

Note: Because most of the bard's songs affect the whole party, he will very often be the target of any monster that is not engaged by another party member. The other party members (especially the cleric) must be made aware of this; if they aren't, the life expectancy of a bard in a fight against multiple monsters is often quite short.

Setting up the above work tasks, I've assumed that the other party members have their tasks too. These tasks are roughly:

• Main task: Take most of the heat by making sure that most monsters concentrate on them. Pure and simple, and very important.

• Main task: Keep party members alive through a tough fight.
• Disengage from the fight and heal any party member who has three bubbles or less health left.
• Give mana reports frequently.
• Do not use mana in easy fights.
• Root any monsters that try to run away. Don't nuke, that is the wizard-type characters' job.

• Main task: Turn the tide against tough monsters and kill off runners.
• Give mana reports frequently.
• Do not use mana in easy fights.
• If group is fighting a particularly tough monster, back off and use high damage DD or DOT spells.
• If a monster is trying to run away, finish it off with damage spells. Maybe THE most important task in train dungeons like Guk or Black Burrow.

I guess most Bards are aware of this ability, but I'll briefly repeat it just in case.

Most Bard songs continue to have an effect for a period of time after the song is ended. This makes it possible for the Bard to have two or three song effects going at the same time. As soon as the effect of one song starts (for example Hymn of Restoration), end the song and immediately start another one (for example Anthem de Arms). As soon as the effect of that song starts, end it and start yet another - or the first one again.

When my bard's level was in the low teens, I was only able to twist two songs. Now, in the mid-twenties, I can twist three. Part of the
explanation is that I have become better at timing WHEN to end the songs (you can actually end it just BEFORE you get the effect message from the server, thanks to lag), but I also think the songs last a little bit longer as you progress in level or instrument skill.

Anyway, you should always twist songs to be as efficient as possible. The one exception I've found so far is Kelin's Lucid Lullaby - it only lasts one tick, so when you need it, you must sing it constantly and you cannot twist it with other songs. Unfortunately. There is also a rumor that you cannot twist the Hymn of Restoration anymore, but this is not true, as you will easily find out if you test it yourself.

Because a bard will have to twist his songs to be as efficient as possible, the player will usually have more keyboard action going on during combat than players with other characters. A good hotkey setup is then important for you to handle your bard optimally. What I've found useful is to have different hotkey setups for different situations and tasks.

Hotkey setup 1:

• Contains the spells I use when soloing with weapons.

Hotkey setup 2:

• Contains the spells and inventory/melee slots I use when soloing using only songs (see below for details on pure song attack).

Hotkey setup 3:

• Contains the spells I use when I'm grouped and fighting with weapons.

Hotkey setup 4:

• Contains the spells and inventory/melee slots I use when grouped and fighting (or mostly supporting, actually) with instruments.

Hotkey setup 5:

• Contains inventory and melee slots used for swapping weapons and instruments.

Hotkey setup 6:

• Contains miscellaneous abilities and socials that I sometimes use.

A much overlooked fighting potential of the Bard is that of fighting using just songs with instruments. This is a pretty fun way to fight, and can be more efficient than standard fighting (weapons and songs without instruments).

To do this efficiently you need a good hotkey setup. Here's what I personally use for the pure song attack:

1. Denon's Disruptive Discord
2. Chords of Dissonance
3. Hymn of Restoration
4. Selo's Accelerando
5. Melee slot 2 (Horn)
6. Inventory slot 1 (Mandolin)

As you see from this setup it's possible to make inventory slots and melee slots into hotkeys. You can then use them just as if you had your inventory up, meaning you can switch items between different slots by left-clicking on them. This makes switching between two instruments much easier and faster.

The fight is often initiated by bellowing the monster, then running to a "safe" place to fight. During the fight I then follow this routine:

• Play Denon's Disruptive Discord with a horn equipped (melee slot 2).
• As soon as the song takes effect, switch equipped instrument to mandolin and play Chords of Dissonance. Switching instrument is easily done by clicking on the appropriate slots in the hotkey setup.
• As soon as Chords takes effect, play Hymn of Restoration, still with the mandolin equipped. (In the meantime, the second tick of the Discord should have taken effect.)
• As soon as the Hymn takes effect, switch equipped instrument to horn and start from the beginning again. (In the meantime, the third and last tick of the Discord should have taken effect, as well as the second out of three ticks of Chords). During all this time, I do of course punch the monster too. It doesn't do much damage, but during a fight it adds up.

Many times I've experienced ending a fight with the monster dead and myself at full health. This is perfect - no downtime resting! Not many other classes (if any) can accomplish this.

This guide should enable you to get the most out of your bard in combat. When performing optimally, the bard is not the poor fighter cousin but rather an awesome addition to any party. So go out there and show Norrath the true power of music!