Well, I learned one super valuable lesson when I transitioned my BattleBard from Wilt to Thid; people have there crap together in Thid.

Once I got to Thid, it's like the game completely changed. I had to relearn everything about the way I had played my bard up to this point. My focus had to switch from solo runs, to working with a group. I couldn't land a mez, and I had no idea how to interrupt casters/healers without draining my mana like crazy. After having quite a few groupmates rage quitting and throwing out "worst bard ever" comments I realized that if I wanted to be able to keep playing this toon, I would need to change my playstyle.

So I used a career respec stone, and changed my spec, twice, and finally settled on abandoning the "BattleBard" idea, mostly. Hello speed 5; how did I get around without this? I'm at 45.5 now but my 49.5 spec is going to be;

Nurture 43
Music 44
Regrowth 9
Blades 18

Yesterday running around in Thid with a 1.5 groups having great fights with Albs and Mids showed me what my role really is. Get the group to the fight, run endu, mez whoever I can, lock down the casters/healers when possible and de-mez. No longer was I pushing early in the fight, but rather staying back with the healers and pushing midfield to keep pace with the tanks. We ran around for about 2 hours, had TONS of amazing fights and won most of them, then we took the CK. This is what DAOC is all about.

So I am not entirely abandoning the BattleBard as I'll be back at 21 blades at 50, but I've learned to play to my strengths. Thanks all who grouped with me in Thid and put up with me fumbling around. I appreciate your patience. To all the haters, thanks for the motivation!

Hi mate,

I think that you are moving in the right direction but your reflexion is not quite there yet.

A long time ago, battlebards were "accepted" - and actually you could still play like this if you like to solo a lot or if you find a (very) patient guild. Funnily enough, if you find such a guild, they will probably need a 2nd bard to do the actual job, because - you know what ? bards are critical in a group. Let's put it this way : no bard means amputated group.

As you have seen, people will expect a lot from you. If you choose a weird spec, they won't understand and will probably not want to play with you.

Bards are not damage dealers. Forget the idea. Plenty of other toons deal damages much much better (bm, eld...). If you want to hit people, level up another toon - you will probably enjoy that much more.
Bards are here to support a group, to control the enemy, to bring decisive regen, to interrupt casters and to heal when necessary. A good bard needs to understand the battlefield, to see the big picture. A good bard will be able to be extremely offensive and extremely defensive depending on the situation. A bad one will kill a group. A good bard will save a group and will help to ensure the victory. This is your task, this is what people will always expect from you, no matter what spec you are. If you fail to meet those expectations... well, it seems that you have experienced the result.

To be honest with you, specing 21 in blade will not help you. You loose precious spec points. Keep in mind that 99% of the time you will draw your sword, this will mean that you are not doing your job. It's just that simple.

Go for something like 43nurture, 37music and 33regrowth (for instance - there are plenty of good specs for bards, just skim through the forum) and you'll see that you will do much better. And I also bet that you will love the ability to mez, sing, heal and interrupt. You don't need a sword for that.

Best

Uvea

Dear mate,

Happy you tried a battlebard spec, and sad to learn that it was a tough experience ^^

Itotally agree with Uvea, about bard job and what is expected from your group mates.

I would advice that same, not to put points in blade, as they are, in my opinion, a waste of points.
- 21 in blade doesnt deal damage
- during a fight, you have to run endu, and if you take your sword to interupt an ennemy, it means that: your dd not available, the ennemy is 1hit to die and you will be able to run endu as soon as the ennemy is dead, or that it is the end of the fight, and you can do whatever you want (but risky), and so, points in blade are not very useful here,
- By saving points, you can go 33regen/37music or 47music/16regen.

About the spec, I run with 44music until my 5L, and then I respeced to 47music for ae imezz. This, you have to do your own opinion, but I think if you spec traditionaly, 47/43/16, it's better for you to learn bard job ^^

/Cheer and /Hug ^^

I must be the only Bard that actually utilizes the lvl 10 Side Snare

_Oglop_ wrote:I must be the only Bard that actually utilizes the lvl 10 Side Snare

I am not sure that the OP has your experience and would be able to determine when _not_ to side snare.

I am 43 nurt, 44 music, 20 reg, 12 blade since 6 months or so... i am happy with the specc, and yes ofc i got the sidesnare
if you're fast enough to switch u can play endu, side snare and put in drum again - u wont loose the endusong then.
But it needs experience.
And ofc, its often not the best to get offensive to snare someone if u can be catched and die. This is what they call FAIL!

Great points guys, I really appreciate the feedback.

I really see your points about the 21 blades...I think will skip that.

Also, how important is it to have MP instruments vs 99% for twisting and such?

pro bards kill with pets.

kediedia wrote:Also, how important is it to have MP instruments vs 99% for twisting and such?

MP drum+lute are essential for twisting.

Ino wrote:pro bards kill with pets.

kediedia wrote:Also, how important is it to have MP instruments vs 99% for twisting and such?

MP drum+lute are essential for twisting.

pretty sure you only need drum.

u need 2 mps otherwise it s a pain in the ass.

pweet wrote:u need 2 mps otherwise it s a pain in the ass.

Better to have MP drum + luth, but as Seethoven said, you can run with only MP Drum. It works (I'm the proof ^^)

I don't know if you are curious folks and if you go to Mid forum, but I just found this post :
viewtopic.php?f=65&t=24011

It is excellent, and gives lots and lots of very relevant points for pac healers - and by extension, for bards. Inspiring, I believe. At least, it is for me.

Fabulabelle wrote:

pweet wrote:u need 2 mps otherwise it s a pain in the ass.

Better to have MP drum + luth, but as Seethoven said, you can run with only MP Drum. It works (I'm the proof ^^)

99 drum ticks for 3 sec, 99 lute ticks for 11 sec, MP drum ticks for 11 sec.

You only need 99 lute and MP drum to twist

Adianne wrote:

Fabulabelle wrote:

pweet wrote:u need 2 mps otherwise it s a pain in the ass.

Better to have MP drum + luth, but as Seethoven said, you can run with only MP Drum. It works (I'm the proof ^^)

99 drum ticks for 3 sec, 99 lute ticks for 11 sec, MP drum ticks for 11 sec.

You only need 99 lute and MP drum to twist

and 100 lute? is there no difference between 99 and 100 lute?

Uvea wrote:I don't know if you are curious folks and if you go to Mid forum, but I just found this post :
viewtopic.php?f=65&t=24011

It is excellent, and gives lots and lots of very relevant points for pac healers - and by extension, for bards. Inspiring, I believe. At least, it is for me.

Huge! Very nice, thank you ^^