Barding now and Barding in future expansions

[Chiefthunder]

As bard there are a few things I don't like about being one lately. I can't find rvr groups, nor any pve groups for all that matter now every druid or buffbot has fop these days and way better buffs then I have. I keep in touch with some bards and I find our numbers decrease every week, rvr wize. Now why could this be...

-RvR groups are hard to get, if ur not in RvR guild, random groups ya can get sometimes but that's it.
-Durability in RvR, I usually get ganked first as instrument wearing support class with the only decent ability is to interupt with LuL while playing end.
- <random reply from a hib> 'We still need bards to mezz and play end!" End yes....Mezz....I got RvR specc on my bard and Mastery of Focus 2 and the best I can do against any decent rvr group of albs/mids I do is a lazy 20 second mezz. Have you got an idea how long mezz lasts against a good tank with high determination? Exactly 13 seconds, I've counted them. So, don't read the spell duration on ur mezz cuz it'll say 1:10 min but ya get lucky if u get 20. Result, group gets pissed cuz I supposedly didn't mezz or so and I end up with a nice assist train on me but and a nice hib mud dinner.
-Artifacts, When ya meet an alb group or mid for that matter at least 50% of their casters have that nice mezz/stun feedback item. Very nice, can I use that nerfbat for a minute there Mythic?
-Future DAoC, Horses...yeah there cool! Awesome! Propably go near bard speed! There goes my job as Taxi!

Last group I had was 3 rangers that just wanted me for end in some tower...Last night I was going sightseeing and /stick on a group I saw departing at crau... I wanted to move through hib mile gate at aggramon then go on my own, exploring this new piece of rvr. They yelled at me (won't tell names, u know who you are) 'we don't like to get follow' 'don't leech' blabla... I said 'just sightseeing' and my words weren't cold yet or mids jumped us. At first I didn't do much, I even /sit in front of a troll for a few and shake my head at them. Then I saw some in trouble and used heal on them. I helped as much as I could, mezz here, playing my AE End for their tanks in range, lulled their healers so they couldn't heal up and in the end I died...leeching exactly 0 rps from what I did... They got them in the end, buffed up and left towards mile gate...oh wait...they didn't rezz me...you big ego'd 1337 wanna be f*cktards! Start playing as a realm for crying out! I wish with all my heart the cluster will make ur gank groups' life so hard u will appreciate somebody helping ya out.

Oh wait, i'm just a bard...forgot that...but at least I rezz people I meet dead and they thank me for it, and no its not for the lazy 73 rp I get for it, but for team spirit in general cuz after all, we're still a realm and in the end we gotta stand and mids/albs have to die, period...

Now to other bards out there, tell ur experiences, tell how much it sucks most of the time being a bard....then maybe they know why they have to stand yelling at DL 'looking for bard' for 1/2 hours and maybe appreciate us a whee bit more.

/flame or discuss

 

[Vodkafairy]

good rvr groups don't just fall from the sky, its a slow process where a small core eventually turns into a bigger one, can take many months... rvr can be a pain if you aren't in such a group but then again, everyone is easily capable of finding some people they enjoy playing with and just go out and do whatever you wanna do. along the way you can pick up new people until you're eventually a fg

and 'helping' like that can also mean that you totally negate the point of a fight, for many people a fight with even odds is what they pay and play for. i agree that insulting is completely unnecessary but also i dont see why other people wont respect this way of playing.

im sure many groups appreciate your help in a fight, just a select few that dont.. everyone has a different way of having fun ingame Oo

and theres nothing wrong with the bard class at all, there's far more to it then just lullaby and you know it .P mez helps loads, just has to be there at the right time.

 

[Howley]

Very nice, can I use that nerfbat for a minute there Mythic?

they got a Bat ?? ..i just thought they get drunk and laugh while holding hands at how funny it is to watch WL's stopping 1s to kill sumthing or a vamp to run threw a zerg and kill a fg..decides to hot and charge away!

 

[Gear]

I think barding is one of the most challenging jobs, however at the same time it's one of the most frustrating ones. A bard is the one who can win a fight and noone will give him/her credit for it just because they can't see what s/he is doing.

Mezz is not everything, you are absolutely right in what you say about CB. I see myself mostly as an interrupter, someone who helps my group do their job better. Keep their support locked down, FZ a bodyguarded caster, DD someone who was just PRd, fill in a heal or two if the need arises, etc.

Personally I only bard for CF GGs, where at least I know the people that break my mezz Many times I like duo-ing with a damage dealer in the Bold-Renaris area. Many times when I solo on my vamp, I wish I had a bard with me more than any other class, and that's only for the oh soo precius interrupts.

Another problem (if you can call it a problem) with barding is that you have to lead the group, and by that I don't mean just drive them around. When we fight I shout out instructions on TS/vent, telling people when to engage, when not, in which direction to withdraw, when to drop everything they're doing and come to me to take off etc. At the same time, when we're running around I'm trying to explain to them why we're going to a particular place, why we did this and that on the previous fight, so we get a nice understanding.

Conclussion? I love barding, and defo not for being a mezz/speed/end bot

 

[Omega]

Last night I was going sightseeing and /stick on a group I saw departing at crau... I wanted to move through hib mile gate at aggramon then go on my own, exploring this new piece of rvr. They yelled at me (won't tell names, u know who you are) 'we don't like to get follow' 'don't leech' blabla... I said 'just sightseeing' and my words weren't cold yet or mids jumped us. At first I didn't do much, I even /sit in front of a troll for a few and shake my head at them. Then I saw some in trouble and used heal on them. I helped as much as I could, mezz here, playing my AE End for their tanks in range, lulled their healers so they couldn't heal up and in the end I died...leeching exactly 0 rps from what I did... They got them in the end, buffed up and left towards mile gate...oh wait...they didn't rezz me...you big ego'd 1337 wanna be f*cktards! Start playing as a realm for crying out! I wish with all my heart the cluster will make ur gank groups' life so hard u will appreciate somebody helping ya out.
/flame or discuss

Dont even care about these people. Just stick, get through a mile gate and move on. The fact that they did not resurrect you shows us all that they don’t deserve to be listened to. Just can’t stand this kind of attitude. Fine - I can understand a group adding onto another group’s fight but one bard and not resurrecting takes the piss.

Chief - Bardings always been tough thats why you like it

 

[Ruath]

Well to comment on yur post a little,..

after the first engage, yur lul isnt yur only interrupt ofc, u can use dd and aoe/single mezz and when the fight takes long enough (so after their immune timer expierce) you WILL mezz healers/casters for a long time. When that happens u can start interrupting another healer/caster.

About the assist train, its what u have sprint for and as long they follow you, they are not following some1 else from yur grp. Try to think more like a healer positional wise and stay outside of the main fight and take position on the edge of it, so u have overview and can pick out the healer or the casters that try to pwn you.
The bard i usually run with is almost always the last one to die and he doesnt slack on his job, this totally has to do with positioning.


Speed from the mounts in darkness rising is 150% bardspeed is 204%, so no worries about that, bards will still have the highes speed in the game.
So even when the whole grp is on mounts, they will go faster with a bard in the grp.

I still think the whole assist part of a grp is the most important of it.
Bard, Druid, Druid and Warden, the rest isnt that important, may it be 3 caster and a tank or 3 tanks and a caster, or any combination of these.
As long as those first 4 ppl do their job right yur chances of winning will increase substancial and a bard plays a vital part in that.

And ofc dear god, END song, there just isnt life without it....

But that just my 50c

"Cuz I'm a P.I.M.P."

 

[Phantomby]

I dont play my bard much (at all) out of guild groups as i tired of the endless whines about not doing this or that because they were too busy being owned not to notice me doing my job.

click / face / lull / aoe mezz / aoe mezz another / end chant / reposition repeat until the opposites steam towards me and i run like a headless chicken until caught or nuked.

tbh i prefer duo / trio (easier for my ageing reflexes to cope with) and just as much fun. I fear however that my bard will become a speedbot for my light eld in the end tho ;/

 

[cuddled0rf]

don't play my bard in rvr anymore for several reasons; No appreciation, like phantomby said the group rarely notices when the bard does his job apart from the mezz, and you always get the blame in random grps. Bard class has no "fun factor" once mezz is done, like sorcs DD or healers spec heals/aoe stun. Like Ruath said, when you got the assist train on you atleast theyre not on someone else, aka once you've mezzed your the most expendable class in the grp, and btw try n sprint from a tank with charge....

Imo the bard needs some more fun factor, would even trade some cc for it.

 

[angrysquirrel]

yeah barding should be more accessible now with the new island, the people who wont rez will always be about so i wouldnt worry about it, its also more fun now to run small groups and as a bard that can be great fun, yeah you get ganked but there is nothing to stop you and a bm ripping through other small groups!! dont give up !!

 

[Phantomby]

yup, its where i find my fun now with the bard, valwalker and light eld, plenty of utility and some h-h skills, snares nukes etc.

just a lack of real targets like similar trio's as we try to avoid the fg and zerg action although it sems anything else is pretty scarce atm. still hoping cluster livens things up