by Karen Hertzberg on Jan 20, 2007
by Changul
href='http://ads.tentonhammer.com/adclick.php?n=ad7a76f2'
Bards
have traditionally required skill to play. In EverQuest, Bards had to
be able to multitask and twist their songs. While there will be no
twisting for Bards in Vanguard Saga of Heroes, multitasking and
skillful play looks to be a prerequisite of the class. First and
foremost, Bards are offensive fighters who rely primarily on their
melee damage. Bards can also compose and name their own songs.
Strength, dexterity, and vitality
are the Bard's primary attributes. Strength helps the Bard do as much
damage as possible. Dexterity gives him a greater chance of landing
critical melee hits. Vitality gives the Bard greater regeneration in
combat so that he can use abilities more often.
Building a good Bard takes some careful planning at the
character
creation screen and requires you to learn a handful of tactics in the
lower levels.
Bards of all races start with the same attributes, but the
choice
of race can affect how many points the Bard automatically gets placed
into its prime attributes.
Starting
attributes:
Each character
gets 20 attribute
points
(AP) per level, starting at level 10. 6 of your AP are placed
for you automatically--one per attribute (STR, CON, DEX, VIT, INT,
WIS). 4 points are assigned to attributes based on your race if you are
not a human (humans are kojani, mordebi, qaliathari, and thestran).
You can
place 10 (14 for humans) wherever you want to within soft caps of 5 per
level.
Additionally,
characters get
racial bonuses to their soft caps. These
are called preferred stats and allow characters of a race to flesh out
in a way that reflects the traits of the race. Non-human races get 4
bonus points to soft caps (usually two or three attributes only) while
human
races get 6, 1 for each attribute. Thus, a human can be more balanced,
while a non-human becomes more specialized.
The table below shows the attribute scores at level 50 before
gear
and buffs for
the Bard based on the race selected. We've highlighted the best
results for each of the primary attributes for you. It is possible to
reach the soft cap for three attributes as a human, but those soft caps
may be lower than those attainable by other races.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album32/BRD.jpg">
The other important factor to consider when picking the race for your
Bard is racial abilities. With their short durations and long
recasts,
racial abilities are less important than attributes in the selection
process, but they can be used to pick between races that are otherwise
equal. The racial abilities are listed below.
Thestran: Inspirational
Commands
You will have 3 inspirational commands at your disposal:
Inspirational Presence, Inspirational Wisdom, and Inspirational
Tactics. Each command is a group buff that will add either 2% to
mitigation, a 3% reduction to mana cost of all spells, or a 2% increase
in damage. You may only maintain one command at a time, however you may
have all 3 effects active at the same time. Recast is instant.
Human Ingenuity: + 10 bonus to all weapon skills, and dodge.
Crafting: +10 Ingenuity
Harvesting: +5 Lumberjacking
A Bard is able to solo efficiently from level 1-10, providing you use
the tools given properly. One of those tools is your ability to compose
songs that increase your health, vitality and speed. Another is the
ability to use Ranged Attacks. A Bard is considered a Light Offensive
Fighter but has the capability of wearing Medium Armor, and equipping
very nice weapons as well. From Level 1-10, you will do your best
soloing against any mob at your same level, + or - 2 levels, providing
it is not a named mob. Grouping will certainly make things go faster
and better, but it is always best to know how to solo as well.
A few things will help you with this: Songs, Weapons, and your choice
of Instruments.
Music Soothes the Savage
Beast
Bard Songs are going to save your life and those of your group. While
some are not as effective as others, or are more costly in Energy,
there are some that will make you wonder how you ever did without them.
At level 1, you are given Mellarien’s Anthem of War,
Weirlaun’s Minim Rest, and Emboldening Embellishment. It is
best to play around with your songs, add embellishments, lyrics and
rests to find what you like. At this point, it is not really important
to worry about costs. Each melody, lyric and embellishment costs
energy, but your rests can reduce that cost to zero. You want to watch
the use of moves that cost Endurance, such as Striking the Mountain
(level 2). At level 8, you have some very nice moves and songs
available, and with the proper setup of your toolbar, you will find
yourself slaying with ease, or running away, which can save your life
and the lives of your group. Not running away when appropriate will
cost you dearly in experience points.
Weapons
Bards can use many weapons, such as axes, swords or daggers and knives
(even dirks), but don't be fooled. A dirk will not help you cause
damage; in fact, it will not help you at all. Since you can dual wield,
a nice short sword and dagger are your best bet—and a good
bow. It doesn't matter whether you choose a crossbow or regular bow.
The advantage lies in the ability to pull your target away from the
other targets. You want to be careful about pulling more than one or
two mobs at a time, because you cannot regenerate or heal fast enough
should you get ganked from all around. But do not despair! Even should
that befall you, there are a couple of options available. A song that
increases Health Regeneration can be played at no cost and is useful.
Or simply run away.
You will level 1-6 quickly doing the newbie quests in your starter
village. Be sure you check your Bard trainer for new moves and songs
every 1 or 2 levels. At level 8 you will gain your first Chain ability,
Hewing the Mountain. To use this attack, you must first gain a critical
hit; then you will see the ability light up, and you have 10 seconds to
use the attack. Hewing the Mountain deals 400% weapon damage and stuns
your opponent for 3 seconds but only can be used after a critical
strike, so it is important to watch and have that button handy when it
lights up.
A good opening move for Bard is Ranged Attack, followed by Eaon's
Blasting Bellow, Hinder, Razor Parts Silk, and Sever the Tie. Add in
Striking the Mountain (Or Hewing) when you can, as these do good damage.
Run, Forrest, Run!
(Instruments)
As a Bard, you can't heal yourself, so getting attacked by more than 2
monsters can put you in a spot. If your health falls too low, RUN.
Casting a speed song and at the same time equipping an instrument will
dramatically increase your movement speed, enough to outrun just about
anything at this level even if your health is at 25%. A good macro will
help. For example:
/cast "Tynen’s Melody of Acceleration"
/wear "Redcap Drum"
You do not actually need to equip an instrument to use a song, even if
the song says "Percussion" or "String", but equipping the correct
instrument will dramatically increase the buff of the song, be it
speed, damage, health, or vitality. Several NPC's stock instruments,
and they are free, but looted instruments carry better bonuses. Tip:
Right now, the general consensus is to only equip instruments for
movement buffs.