Bard

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Description

PC bard.gif

Bards are the do-it-all class of Norrath. Wandering minstrels, troubadours and satirists, Bards are equally at home on the battlefield as they are performing songs and plays for the royal courts of Norrath. Through his extensive travels, the Bard has learned from many of Norrath’s other classes: He picks locks and sneaks like the Rogue, tracks and forages like the Ranger, safe falls like the Monk, casts spells as well as many Wizards, and dual wields like the Warrior. Although he is not as skilled in any one of these abilities as more specialized classes, he has by far the widest range of skills and abilities of all the adventurers of Norrath.

Bards have the ability to wear plate armor, the sturdiest (and heaviest) of all armor types. The Bard also has an array of weapon skills to choose from, including One-Handed Slashing, Blunt and Piercing weapons.

The Bard’s trademark, though, is his ability to play magical songs. Songs are a powerful type of magic unique to the Bard class. Only a couple of these songs require mana, and songs can be played at any time, even in the middle of combat! Most Bard songs affect all members of a Bard’s group, multiplying the Bard’s usefulness to the group for every additional member that joins. Multiple Bards in the same group can only make things better, as there is no limit to the number of songs in effect at the same time. Even a single skilled Bard can some- times put up to three or four different songs into effect at once.

A Bard is a charismatic and popular jack of all trades. Bards can fill the role of tank in a group lacking a Warrior or Paladin. If the group needs a healer, the Bard’s very popular healing songs can help reduce downtime. The Bard can also play the role of Enchanter, by charming and mesmerizing enemies to do his bidding.

In the rare case that the adventuring Bard finds himself without a group of fellow adventurers, he can still draw on his considerable soloing prowess. The Bard’s speed songs enables him to run faster than any other class in Norrath, while his direct damage song can hit enemies from a distance.

Although Bards are formidable in offensive combat, with the ability to wield a weapon in each hand, they may also choose to play a musical instrument. Instruments increase the effectiveness of their songs dramatically, and the power of magical instruments can truly swing the tide of a battle.

For those that choose to go the way of player vs. player combat, the Bard is a fearsome class to face in a duel. It is the only class with a limitless supply of magic and this, combined with power in melee combat, makes the bard a truly formidable foe.

- Julien Beasley

Class Titles

Level 1-50 Level 51-54 Level 55-59 Level 60
Bard Minstrel Troubadour Virtuoso

Creation Guide

It is important to make good decisions on Race, Starting Stats, and Religion. These things combined will allow you to create the Bard that makes you most happy.

Choosing Race

Human

The Human Bard is the strongest Bard, and the least dexterous. He has no night vision, and may only wear medium armor. Humans may start in either of the two Human cities, Freeport or Qeynos. Humans also have the highest Stamina, and thus the most hit points, of any Bard race.

Half-Elf

Half Elf Bards are the second strongest, and the most dexterous. Half Elves may only wear medium-sized armor, but they share the Infravision ability of their Wood Elf cousins. Half Elves also have the greatest choice of starting location — they may start in Kelethin, Freeport or Qeynos.

Wood Elf

Wood Elf Bards are the weakest Bards physically, and the second most dexterous. They have the ability to wear small or medium armor to offset their lack of Strength. They have night vision and the ability to Forage at level 1. Wood Elves also have the racial ability to Hide (although all Bards acquire this ability eventually) and are the most agile of Bards. Wood Elves start in the sylvan city of Kelethin, on the continent of Faydwer.

Starting Statistics

Race Str Sta Agi Dex Wis Int Cha Bonus
Wood Elf 70 65 95 90 80 75 85 25
Half Elf 75 70 90 95 60 75 85 25
Human 80 75 75 85 75 75 85 25

Spending Your Bonus Points

Bards have perhaps, the most number of useful stats of any class. Some have a bit more value than others though.

  • Strength - Affects maximum and average melee damage and also the bard's ability to carry armor and treasure. Bard armor can be heavy and they do melee, albeit not all the time.
  • Stamina - Affects your total hitpoints. Bards recieve 4HP per stamina at level 60. Players receive very small benefits from stamina at lower level, which scales up as you level up.
  • Agility - Affects how often melee attacks miss the bard, and lowers the average hit taken. A little.
  • Dexterity - Affects how often weapons proc, how quickly you learn melee skills and reduces the chance to miss a note, bringing your song to a close (song fizzle). In a test comparing 100 songs on a 60 bard with 100 base DEX, 7 notes were missed. On geared 167 total DEX, 131 songs before a single note was missed.
  • Wisdom - Affects the speed of general and craft skill gains if higher than Intelligence.
  • Intelligence - Affects the speed of general and craft skill gains if higher than Wisdom. Increases the size of the bard's mana pool. Only two songs, Solon's Bewitching Bravura and Denon's Desperate Dirge, require mana to cast.
  • Charisma - Affects bard lull, mesmerize, and charm abilities. However, all songs are on fixed duration (unless it breaks early), meaning duration can never increase past the song's tick-limit. Kelin's Lugubrious Lament (lull) is a fantastic pulling tool, and charm will also be frequently used by a skilled Bard.
Allocation Recommendations
All-Around: 25 points into Dexterity
Grouping: 25 points into Charisma

Religion

Generally speaking being agnostic is a fairly safe bet in Everquest. Religion serves only to get you into trouble in many situations. The disadvantage to doing this is that some items and some quests can only be done by followers of certain religions. Following a religion will at worst get you killed in some areas, but generally you can avoid these. In the end it will not make an enormous difference to your character which Deity you choose..

Skills

Male Bard from Casters Realm ~2000

Musical Skills

Level Trained Skill Cap at Kunark Launch[1] Cap Until 50 Cap Above 50
1 No Singing 200 235 235
5 Yes Percussion Instruments 200 235 235
8 Yes Stringed Instruments 200 235 235
11 Yes Brass Instruments 200 235 235
14 Yes Wind Instruments 200 235 235

Casting Skills

Level Trained Skill Cap Until 50 Cap Above 50
10 Yes Meditate 1 1
  • The meditate skill for the bard has the sole purpose of allowing spells to be scribed into the spell book and memorised into song slots in a timely fashion. It does not increase bard mana regeneration.

Combat Skills

Level Trained Skill Cap Until 50 Cap Above 50 Feb 21, 2001 Oct 8, 2001
1 No 1 Hand Blunt 200 225 250
1 No 1 Hand Slashing 200 225 250
1 No Bind Wound 100 200
1 No Defense 200 200? 252
1 No Hand to Hand 100 100
1 No Offense 200 215 252
1 No Piercing 200 210? 250
1 No Throwing 113 113
10 Yes Dodge 125 155
17 No Dual Wield 210 210
26 No Intimidation 100 100
53 Yes Parry 75 105? 185
58 Yes Riposte 75 75

Miscellaneous Skills

Like all classes, a Bard can raise the following skills:

Level Trained Skill Cap Until 50 Cap Above 50
1 No Alcohol Tolerance 255 255
1 No Begging 200+ 237+
1 No Fishing 200 200
1 No Sense Heading 200 200
1 No Swimming 200 200

Additionally, Bards get an assortment of utility skills:

Level Trained Skill Cap Until 50 Cap Above 50
12 Yes Forage 55 55
17 Yes Sneak 75 75
20 Yes Sense Traps 75 75
24 Yes Safe Fall 40 40
25 Yes Hide 40 40
30 Yes Disarm Traps 100 100
35 Yes Tracking 100 100
40 Yes Pick Lock 100 100

Disciplines

Bard disciplines were introduced with the Velious expansion; they offer short term advantages with a long re-use: These are most useful in dragon/boss encounters.

Bards MUST turn off songs in order to start Disciplines, failure to do so will result in the Discipline being cancelled but the cool-down will still activate.

Discipline Name Level Obtained Description Duration Reuse Time Expansion
Resistant Discipline 51 +10 to all resistances. The reuse time for this discipline will decrease as you level. 1 Min 72 Min Veliousicon.gif
Fearless Discipline 54 Immunity to "Fear" and all spells that cause "fear". The reuse time for this discipline will decrease as you level. 11 Sec 72 Min Veliousicon.gif
Deftdance Discipline 55 Auto dodge attacks from the front and auto dual-wield. 10 Sec 72 Min Veliousicon.gif
Puretone Discipline 60 Makes it as if you are wielding the best instrument of every type, whether or not you are actually wielding an instrument. Increases to 28 modifier, and does work on singing mod. 4 Min 72 Min Veliousicon.gif

Messages for activation and ending

Resistant Discipline: Starting: You channel your will into magical resistance. / Ending: Your resistance fades.

Fearless Discipline: Starting: Your will drives fear from your mind. / Ending: The specter of fear returns to your mind.

Deftdance Discipline: Starting: You dance about nimbly. / Ending: Your movements return to normal.

Puretone Discipline: Starting: Your voice becomes perfectly melodious. / Ending: Your voice loses its perfection.

Songs

Songs with Strikethrough indicate that they are unavailable on the server either due to being out-of-era thus far (songs added in later Kunark Era patches or Velious Era songs), or due to client limitations (Stamina is now Endurance).

Level Song Name Skill Duration Target Range Description Expansion
1 Chant of Battle Percussion 18s Party 0 Increase AC by 1 (L1) to 6 (L70), Increase STR by 5 (L1) to 22 (L70), Increase DEX by 5 (L1) to 22 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
2 Chords of Dissonance String 18s PB AE 0 Decrease Hitpoints by 2 (L2) to 19 (L70) per tick, (Area 30) Original.gif
3 Jaxan's Jig o' Vigor [2] Percussion 18s Party 0 Decrease Stamina Loss by 10 (L3) to 27 (L70), (Area 35) Original.gif
4 Lyssa's Locating Lyric Singing 0 Self 0 Locate Corpse, (Area 900) Original.gif
5 Selo's Accelerando Percussion 18s Party 0 Increase Movement by 20% (L5) to 65% (L50), (Area 150) Original.gif
6 Hymn of Restoration String 18s Party 0 Increase Hitpoints by 2 (L6) to 12 (L70) per tick, (Area 30) Original.gif
7 Jonthan's Whistling Warsong Singing 18s Self 0 Increase Attack Speed by 16% (L7) to 25% (L40), Increase AC by 2 (L7) to 12 (L70), Increase STR by 8 (L7) to 40 (L70) Original.gif
8 Kelin's Lugubrious Lament String 30s Single 200 Frenzy Radius(5/60), Reaction Radius(10/60), Pacify, Uses: Lute x 1 Original.gif
9 Elemental Rhythms Percussion 18s Party 0 Increase Magic Resist by 9 (L9) to 40 (L70), Increase Cold Resist by 9 (L9) to 40 (L70), Increase Fire Resist by 9 (L9) to 40 (L70), Increase AC by 2 (L9) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
10 Anthem de Arms Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Attack Speed by 10%, Increase STR by 10 (L10) to 40 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
11 Cinda's Charismatic Carillon Wind 18s Single 100 Increase Faction by 120 (L11) to 710 (L70) Original.gif
12 Brusco's Boastful Bellow Singing 0 Single 100 Decrease Hitpoints by 7 (L12) to 36 (L70) Original.gif
13 Purifying Rhythms Percussion 18s Party 0 Increase Magic Resist by 11 (L13) to 40 (L70), Increase Poison Resist by 11 (L13) to 40 (L70), Increase Disease Resist by 11 (L13) to 40 (L70), Increase AC by 2 (L13) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
14 Lyssa's Cataloging Libretto Singing 0 Single 100 Identify Original.gif
15 Kelin's Lucid Lullaby String 18s Single 100 Mesmerize(2/30) Original.gif
16 Tarew's Aquatic Ayre Wind 24s Party 0 Water Breathing(1), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1, (Area 125) Original.gif
17 Guardian Rhythms Percussion 18s Party 0 Increase AC by 3 (L17) to 12 (L70), Increase Magic Resist by 13 (L17) to 40 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
18 Denon's Disruptive Discord Brass 18s PB AE 0 Decrease Hitpoints by 8 (L18) to 21 (L70) per tick, Decrease AC by 5 (L18) to 21 (L70), (Area 35) Original.gif
19 Shauri's Sonorous Clouding Wind 18s Party 0 Invisibility, See Invisible(1), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1, Focus: Wooden Flute, (Area 45) Original.gif
20 Largo's Melodic Binding Singing 18s PB AE 0 Decrease AC by 4 (L20) to 12 (L70), Decrease Attack Speed by 15% (L20) to 35% (L60), (Area 30) Original.gif
20 Cassindra's Chant of Clarity Singing Instant Party 0 Increase Mana by 2 Veliousicon.gif
21 Melanie's Mellifluous Motion Wind 0 Party 600 Shadowstep, (Area 200) Original.gif
22 Alenia's Disenchanting Melody String 0 Party 0 Cancel Magic(1), Uses: Lute x 1, Focus: Item #1, (Area 25) Original.gif
23 Selo's Consonant Chain Singing 18s Single 150 Decrease Movement by 53% (L23) to 100% (L70), Decrease Attack Speed by 16% (L23) to 40% (L70) Original.gif
24 Lyssa's Veracious Concord Wind 18s Party 0 See Invisible(1), Ultravision, Uses: Wooden Flute x 1, (Area 80) Original.gif
25 Psalm of Warmth Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Damage Shield by 5 (L25) to 12 (L70), Increase Cold Resist by 35 (L25) to 80 (L70), Infravision, Increase AC by 3 (L25) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
26 Angstlich's Appalling Screech Brass 18s PB AE 0 Fear(1), Uses: Horn x 1, (Area 25) Original.gif
27 Solon's Song of the Sirens Wind 18s Single 200 Charm(1), Decrease Magic Resist by 4 (L27) to 9 (L70), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1 Original.gif
28 Crission's Pixie Strike Wind 18s Single 100 Mesmerize(2/45), Decrease Magic Resist by 5 (L28) to 12 (L70), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1 Original.gif
29 Psalm of Vitality Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Damage Shield by 5 (L29) to 12 (L70), Increase Disease Resist by 39 (L29) to 80 (L70), Increase AC by 3 (L29) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
30 Fufil's Curtailing Chant Percussion 18s Single 200 Decrease Hitpoints by 11 (L30) to 24 (L70) per tick, Decrease Magic Resist by 9 (L30) to 19 (L70), (Area 30) Original.gif
31 Agilmente's Aria of Eagles Wind 18s Party 0 Levitate(1), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1, (Area 80) Original.gif
32 Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity Singing 0 Party 0 Increase Mana by 5 (L32) to 7 (L48) per tick, (Area 30) Original.gif
33 Psalm of Cooling Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Damage Shield by 6 (L33) to 12 (L70), Increase Fire Resist by 43 (L33) to 80 (L70), Ultravision, Increase AC by 3 (L33) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
34 Cantana of Soothing Singing 3 ticks Party 0 Increase Hitpoints by 4 per tick; Increase Mana by 5 per tick; Decrease Stamina Loss by 4 Veliousicon.gif
34 Lyssa's Solidarity of Vision Wind 24s Single 10000 Bind Sight, Uses: Wooden Flute x 1 Original.gif
35 Denon's Dissension Brass 0 PB AE 0 Decrease Mana by 22 (L35) to 40 (L70), (Area 30) Original.gif
36 Vilia's Verses of Celerity Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Attack Speed by 20%, Increase AGI by 23 (L36) to 40 (L70), Increase AC by 5 (L36) to 10 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
37 Psalm of Purity Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Damage Shield by 7 (L37) to 12 (L70), Increase Poison Resist by 47 (L37) to 80 (L70), Increase AC by 4 (L37) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
38 Tuyen's Chant of Flame Percussion 18s Single 200 Decrease Hitpoints by 20 (L38) to 36 (L70) per tick, Decrease Fire Resist by 11 (L38) to 19 (L70), (Area 30) Original.gif
39 Solon's Bewitching Bravura Wind 1m Single 200 Charm(1), Decrease Magic Resist by 5 (L39) to 9 (L70), Uses: Wooden Flute x 1 Kunarkicon.gif
40 Syvelian's Anti-Magic Aria Singing 0 Single 200 Cancel Magic(4) Original.gif
41 Psalm of Mystic Shielding Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Magic Resist by 51 (L41) to 80 (L70), Increase Absorb Magic Damage by 15, Increase Hitpoints by 5 per tick, Increase AC by 4 (L41) to 6 (L70), (Area 50) Original.gif
42 McVaxius' Berserker Crescendo Brass 18s Party 0 Increase Attack Speed by 18% (L42) to 25% (L70), Increase STR by 15 (L42) to 24 (L70), Increase AC by 6 (L42) to 10 (L70), Uses: Horn x 1, (Area 45) Original.gif
43 Denon's Desperate Dirge Singing 0 AoE 150 Decrease Hitpoints by 311 (L43) to 365 (L70), (Area 20) Original.gif
44 Cassindra's Elegy Singing 12s Party 0 Increase INT by 12 (L44) to 18 (L70), Increase WIS by 12 (L44) to 18 (L70), (Area 100) Original.gif
45 Jonthan's Provocation Singing 18s Self 150 Increase Attack Speed by 48% (L45) to 50% (L47), Increase STR by 13 (L45) to 19 (L70), Increase ATK by 13 (L45) to 19 (L70) Kunarkicon.gif
46 Tuyen's Chant of Frost Percussion 18s Single 200 Decrease Hitpoints by 24 (L46) to 36 (L70) per tick, Decrease Cold Resist by 13 (L46) to 19 (L70), (Area 30) Original.gif
47 Niv's Melody of Preservation String 18s Party 0 Increase STR by 10, Increase Absorb Magic Damage by 10, Increase Hitpoints by 6 (L47) to 9 (L70) per tick, (Area 45) Original.gif
48 Selo's Chords of Cessation String 12s PB AE 0 Decrease Hitpoints by 26 (L48) to 37 (L70) per tick, Decrease Attack Speed by 17% (L48) to 22% (L70), (Area 30) Original.gif
49 Shield of Song [3] String 18s Party 0 Increase Absorb Damage by 20, Increase Absorb Magic Damage by 20, (Area 150) Kunarkicon.gif
50 Verses of Victory Singing 18s Party 0 Increase Attack Speed by 30%, Increase AGI by 30, Increase AC by 15, Increase STR by 30, (Area 50) Original.gif
50 Melody of Ervaj Brass 3 ticks Party 0 Increase Haste v2 by 5%; Increase AC by 5 (L50) to 6 (L65) Veliousicon.gif
51 Selo's Song of Travel Percussion 3 ticks Party 250 Increase Movement Speed, Invisibility, See Invisible, Levitate Kunarkicon.gif
51 Largo's Absonant Binding Singing 3 ticks Single 150 Decrease AGI, AC, Attack Speed, Movement Speed Kunarkicon.gif
52 Nillipus' March of the Wee Percussion 3 ticks Party 0 Increase AGI, AC, Absorb Damage, Shrink Kunarkicon.gif
53 Song of Twilight Wind 3 ticks Single 100 Mesmerize (up to level 54) Kunarkicon.gif
53 Song of Dawn Wind Instant Single 100 Decrease Hate Kunarkicon.gif
54 Vilia's Chorus of Celerity Singing 3 ticks Party 0 Increase Attack Speed Kunarkicon.gif
54 Selo's Assonant Strane String 3 ticks PB AE 35 Decrease Movement Speed, Attack Speed Kunarkicon.gif
55 Cantata of Replenishment String 3 ticks Party 60 HP Regeneration, Mana Regeneration, Endurance Regeneration Kunarkicon.gif
55 Brusco's Bombastic Bellow Singing Instant Single 100 DD, Stun Kunarkicon.gif
55 Occlusion of Sound Percussion (Required) 3 ticks Single 200 Unresistable Decrease CR, FR, MR Veliousicon.gif
56 Song of Highsun Wind Instant Single 75 Stun, Remove Buffs, Short Distance Teleport Kunarkicon.gif
56 Song of Midnight Brass 3 ticks PB AE DoT, Fear, Increase Movement Speed Kunarkicon.gif
57 McVaxius' Rousing Rondo Brass 3 ticks Party 0 Increase STR, ATK, Attack Speed, Damage Shield Kunarkicon.gif
57 Cassindra's Insipid Ditty String Instant Party 0 Decrease Mana, INT, WIS Kunarkicon.gif
58 Niv's Harmonic Singing 3 ticks Party 0 Increase AC Kunarkicon.gif
58 Jonthan's Inspiration Singing 3 ticks Self Increase STR, ATK, Attack Speed Kunarkicon.gif
59 Denon's Bereavement String 3 ticks PB AE 35 Dot, Poison, Stun, Decrease MR Kunarkicon.gif
59 Solon's Charismatic Concord Singing 3 ticks Party 0 Increase CHA Kunarkicon.gif
60 Kazumi's Note of Preservation Wind 3 ticks Party 0 Invulnerability Kunarkicon.gif
60 Angstlich's Assonance Brass 1 minute Single 150 DoT, Decrease Attack Speed Kunarkicon.gif
60 Composition of Ervaj Brass (Required) 3 ticks Party 0 Increase AC, Attack Speed Veliousicon.gif

Bard Song Merchants

North Freeport

  • Lysric Loresinger - Song: Chant of Battle, Song: Chords of Dissonance, Song: Hymn of Restoration, Jaxan's Jig O' Vigor, Song: Jonathan's Whistling Warsong, Song: Lyssa's Locating Lyric, Song: Selo's Accelerando
  • Inisis Trimpet - Song: Anthem de Arms, Song: Brusco's Boastful Bellow, Song: Chant of Battle, Song: Chords of Dissonance, Song: Denon's Desperate Dirge, Song: Denon's Disruptive Discord, Song: Denon's Dissension, Song: Fufil's Curtailing Chant, Song: Jonathan's Provocation, Song: Jonathan's Whistling Warsong, Song: Largo's Melodic Binding, McVaxius Berserker Crescendo, Song: Tuyen's Chant of Flame, Song: Tuyen's Chant of Frost, Song: Verses of Victory, Song: Vilia's Verses of Celerity

Kelethin

  • Beleth Streamfoot - Song: Chords of Dissonance, Song: Hymn of Restoration, Song: Jaxan's Jig o' Vigor, Song: Jonthan's Whistling Warsong, Song: Lyssa's Locating Lyric, Song: Selo's Accelerando
  • Astar Leafsinger - Song: Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity, Song: Hymn of Restoration, Song: Purifying Rhythms, Song: Psalm of Warmth, Song: Psalm of Purity , Song: Psalm of Cooling, Song: Niv's Melody of Preservation, Song: Psalm of Mystic Shielding, Song: Elemental Rhythms, Song: Guardian Rhythms, Song: Psalm of Vitality
  • Serilia Whistlewind - Song: Angstlich's Appalling Screech, Song: Cinda's Charismatic Carillon, Song: Crission's Pixie Strike, Song: Kelin's Lucid Lullaby, Song: Kelin's Lugubrious Lament, Song: Solon's Bravura, Song: Solon's Song of the Sirens, Song: Syvelian's Anti-Magic Aria

South Qeynos

  • Topala Xenem - Song: Alenia's Disenchanting Melody, Song: Cassindra's Chorus of Clarity, Song: Elemental Rhythms, Song: Guardian Rhythms, Song: Hymn of Restoration, Song: Niv's Melody of Preservation, Song: Psalm of Cooling, Song: Psalm of Mystic Shielding, Song: Psalm of Purity, Song: Psalm of Vitality, Song: Psalm of Warmth, Song: Purifying Rhythms
  • Lysric Loresinger - Song: Chant of Battle, Song: Chords of Dissonance, Song: Hymn of Restoration, Jaxan's Jig O' Vigor, Song: Jonathan's Whistling Warsong, Song: Lyssa's Locating Lyric, Song: Selo's Accelerando
  • Chalea Volesga - Song: Anthem de Arms, Song: Brusco's Boastful Bellow, Song: Chant of Battle, Song: Chords of Dissonance, Song: Denon's Desperate Dirge, Song: Denon's Disruptive Discord, Song: Denon's Dissension, Song: Fufil's Curtailing Chant, Song: Jonathan's Provocation, Song: Jonathan's Whistling Warsong, Song: Largo's Melodic Binding, McVaxius Berserker Crescendo, Song: Tuyen's Chant of Flame, Song: Tuyen's Chant of Frost, Song: Verses of Victory, Song: Vilia's Verses of Celerity

Erudin (Library)

  • Altrusan Belstince - Song: Cassindra's Elegy, Song: Lyssa's Cataloging Libretto, Song: Lyssa's Locating Lyric, Song: Lyssa's Solidarity of Vision, Song: Lyssa's Veracious Concord, Song: Psalm of Cooling, Song: Psalm of Warmth, Song: Shauri's Sonorous Clouding, Song: Shield of Song

Highkeep

  • Justin Ryhmes - Song: Agilmente's Aria of Eagles, Song: Jaxan's Jig O' Vigor, Song: Melanie's Mellifluous Motion, Song: Selo's Accelerando, Song: Selo's Chords of Cessation, Song: Selo's Consonant Chain, Song: Tarew's Aquatic Ayre

Note: Instrument information marked with an (*) was pulled from an archive of EQ Casters Realm [1]. If you can confirm (or correct) this with in game information or experience, the help would be much appreciated.

Bard-Specific Quests

Original

Original - Plane of Sky Era

  • Bard Plane of Sky Tests

Kunark - Epic Era

Velious

  • Bard Thurgadin Armor Quests
  • Bard Kael Armor Quests
  • Bard Skyshrine Armor Quests

Gearing

IMPORTANT - The "best" gear for a bard varies widely depending on what the bard is doing. The best drum and the best lute a bard can afford are the two single most important items a bard will ever need.

RAIDS - Almost all the time, a bard is best served in raids by wearing gear with the appropriate resists in every equipment slot possible. Bards provide HUGE resist boosts (and sometimes other songs) to their whole group, so it is crucial that the bard never be killed or feared by AE and expose his groupmates to the same. Most raid encounters require magic resist.

GROUPS - In experience groups, bards usually will be meleeing while singing 3+ different songs as needed. Different groups will need different songs (won't need haste when there is an enchanter, etc.). When doing this bards are probably best off in str, dex, hp, and ac gear. When a bard is pulling or doing CC, magic resist can be very helpful to avoid snare/root/blind/stun, and charisma can be important to helping with the success of lull.

SOLO - If a bard is AE kiting, getting hit probably means you are going to die no matter what gear you're wearing. Resist gear, especially magic resist, can help protect a bard from a death while pulling or if he accidentally picks up a caster and doesn't notice. When fear kiting, a bard again will want str, dex, hp, and AC gear (and perhaps charisma gear for lulls).

Consequently bards end up with multiple backpacks full of different gear they may need in any different situation. Tweaking which pieces of resist gear you wear in a fight where multiple resists are needed (for example, on Talendor) depends on how high your main resist (MR) can get. If you are at 400 MR at level 60 with buffs/gear/songs, you may consider swapping in great FR pieces in a few slots to bump up your FR without significantly increasing your chance of being feared.

Keep these things in mind when looking at the gear lists below, which are generally set up for a grouping or soloing bard

Illusion Clickies

For Illusion clickies, see List of Illusion Items.

Instrument Progression

Thanks to Grimmly Fireforge for first compiling this instrument progression list.

Vendor

Entry level

Intermediate

High End

Kunark High End

Best in Slot

References

  1. Everquest: Ruins of Kunark - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (Revised & Expanded!)
  2. Disabled; Stamina was later changed to Endurance in the December 18, 2003 patch and is not currently possible on clients built after 2003 (or servers built to support them) since it does not exist on clients that EQEmu supports. See Client_Limitations#Stamina.2FEndurance for more information.
  3. Currently disabled until further progression; Added in the Nov. 29, 2000 patch on EQ Live; see http://web.archive.org/web/20010611013116/http://everlore.com:80/magic/magic.asp?list=6&mode=list .