EQ Chronicles: Coming Of Age
Just recently my Bard discovered himself. You’d think this would have happened before level 40, but it turns out Bards are late bloomers.
Bards are not tough. In fact, in contrast to real fighters (called tanks in EQ vernacular) they are decidedly on the whimpy side. At lower levels this isn’t too much of a problem, as all classes are tough enough in comparison to the mobs they are fighting to take them on alone. At intermediate levels the distance between tanks and other classes grows. Up toward the higher levels, however, the difference is absolute.
Tanks hit harder, are harder to hit, and have a much larger pool of hit points to draw upon when they are hit. Spellcasters are weak but have a range of magic that generally allows them to deal large amounts of damage from safe distances. Bards, being a type of hybrid of both, can tank if necessary and use magic (music) if necessary, but they are not outstanding at either. It is in the combination of approaches that Bard’s shine.
But lately I noticed my ability to avoid damage that wasn’t disproportionately greater than that which I was dealing out during melee reduce. Actually, most of the time I got hammered. This wasn’t too much of a problem as a Bard’s role within a group was mainly to support other members who didn’t get hammered, and provide some useful extra damage. In solo I used a combination of songs to get the mobs running away from me in fear, and slow them up so I could hit them from behind while they did so. This is called “Fear Kiting”. Not particularly honourable, but rather effective.
However, recently even that hadn’t been working as the tougher mobs started resisting my songs and turning around mid back stab to give me a right (arguably deserved) whalloping. On top of that, more and more often their mates had wandered past and joined the fray (these are called “adds”). More than one add, and I was scuttling off to the zone with a fraction of my health and a nice little train in tow.
Having hit the low 40’s and the type of tough mobs that are meant to be my staple diet at that level, I had been left at a bit of a loss. There were several very juicy quests I’d like to do but couldn’t without significant help from others, who had their own business to take care of. What to do.
I’d been reading about the increased effect of some of my damage songs when sung with particular instruments equipped. Now equipping an instrument means you cannot wield a weapon at the same time, rendering you pretty much helpless. For this reason I had always resisted the idea. But in a moment of whimsy I loaded up my drum, targetted a nearby mob, and started singing a damage song.
The mob’s health bar dropped as the first song kicked in. I twisted in a second damage song. The health bar dropped again. Gee, that wasn’t bad. Hang on, this was doing more damage than my beloved Flameweaver mace and Symphonic Sword! The mob died. I understood.
I’m a Bard. I sing.
Somewhere my Bard had crossed a line marking the point at which singing became more effective than meleeing, and I hadn’t noticed. This was an amazing discovery. On the heels of it came the realisation that because my drum also empowered my running song it meant I could stay ahead of the mobs while killing them with dissonance, so to speak. Welcome to chant kiting, and welcome to an entirely different game.
My Bard now spends a good deal of time running around in circles, singing. This looks silly to observers until the large group of monsters following in hot pursuit start dropping one by one, all without getting close to touching me. I have watched more than one dual-wielding tank stand in bemused silence as five different mobs follow me in gentle circles and fall to the ground.
Encased in platemail with a massive weapon in each powerful hand and more hit points than I will ever possess, they watch me take on and defeat a group of mobs that would bury their impressive frames without ceremony. Then I run away with full health to do it all again.
I love being a Bard. Now for those quests…
posted by monty · at 2:39 am · filed under EQ Chronicles
ur bard sucks~