Squishy bards

[Chette]

My warchanter bard is always in the thick of melee, that's why I built her.

It's really hard for bards to give eachother advice though, as we are all so different. That's what is great about being a bard!!! For instance, my level 10 spellsinger is sitting on just over 110 hp right now...ya...she hides in corners a lot :P

Any warchanter that expects to melee (which should be all of them) should have a starting Con of at least 14, preferably 16, minos, greater false life, and be working on an HP item. I'm sitting a little over 450 right now and still have some gear to grind. Should be able to make it to about 500.

The main problem I find with lightweights going down in Shroud is lack of heavy fort, not hit points. Although hit points can also be the cause.

Spellsingers can dish out damage from a far as well though if you pick up a heavy repeater. Every build is different, so figure out your limitations before you jump in.

[ConnorMacLoad]

Hey der. The fun thing about a bard is that he really can adapt to most situations (depending on build) and can fit in somewhere. The problem is, they are not the best at anything. (except CC.....That might be debatable)

If you are finding that your melee is too low, and you are squishin it up, then fall back in line and help the healer. Add some CC with a few fascinates. If you have levels of rogue you can also take over that part pretty easily. You can also take some of the buffs off of the wiz's SP pool.

IMO that is what a bard is. They are a class that has value added in the form of taking some jobs off the plate of others so that the ones that are great at what they do, can focus more on that.

A good paralyzing repeater is nice. If you are front line. paralyzing/banishing/destruction/vorpal etc.

[Irinis]

IMO that is what a bard is. They are a class that has value added in the form of taking some jobs off the plate of others so that the ones that are great at what they do, can focus more on that.

So Bards exist only for other classes to have more fun and aren't allowed to be great in and of themselves? It looks like the devs share your opinion unfortunately.

Personally I think a Bard needs to be versatile enough to 1. Help the party through songs and buffs 2. Kill stuff - either through pure DPS or through CC/Sonic spells. 3. Be versatile enough to be able to step up to the plate and "bring it" in various different situations: Healer down? Bard is now a healer (and can even repair WF through UMD). Need extra DPS? Bard is now swinging in melee. Need a breather from being pounded? Bard fascinates or charms everything and gives the party a chance to recover. Would love a debuff song that could be used on rednames. Need a trapmonkey? There's a Bard build for that.

Very few people actually LIKE playing a pure healbot (with zero offensive casting) or pure buffbot (I hate taking my arcane to Amrath without epic gear and max DC). But that's what a Bard should be and nothing more? No thanks.