Bard for ranged attacks?

[pong3d]

I started playing DDO with 2 friends recently. We have a barbarian, a cleric, and a bard. The guy who plays the bard has been complaining because he tends die easier than the two of us when we're questing. I suggested he use range weapons but he said when he used a bow the enemy always just ran up to him and starting attacking. There has to be a way to effectively use range weapons otherwise they wouldn't be in the game. Should his bard be using range weapons and is there a more effective way to use them? Thanks for any suggestions.

[InSoNiAc]

Ranged weapons are typically a poor choice for a bard unless he invests a lot of enhancements and feats (which is probably still not worth the effort).

The key to avoiding death at the lower levels is to let the enemies see one of the other party members first and let someone else do some damage. After one or two swings it is then usually safe to start ranging.

Effective solo ranging is much more difficult but if you have a static group that should not be a problem.

[pong3d]

thanks for the advice

[arjiwan]

Hi,

The bard class is very fun. What prestige is he planning to? I don't know about the warchanters or virtuoso builds, but for my spellsinger, I still do melee. I suggest is he/she swings his/her melee weapons, and if he/she gets hit, jump away from the fight and heal yourself. Don't depend on the cleric to heal the bard, they have healing capabilities also.

Also the basic stuff, like the Constitution should be minimum of 14, toughness feat and grab yourself a fortification item.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!