411 REFERENCE · Wikibooks
EverQuest/Character classes/Bard
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
WIKI links
Bard Uncommon Spells Image:00%.png
External Class specific links
http://eq.crgaming.com/menu/bard.asp - - from Skill caps to basic infos, Casters Realm is still running and being updated once in a while.
http://www.eqdiva.com/ - Has not been updated in a few years, but it used to be the best bard specific site.
http://forums.theconcerthall.net/ - Considered to be a higher level Bard site, only forums.
Overview
Bards are almost always welcome in a group. They are also a competent solo class with a variety of kiting methods available. While they are not as good at any particular thing as any of the specialized classes, they do a little of everything. They can cast, tank and heal as circumstances dictate and are considered among the best pulling classes in the game. No other class gets the variety of spells and skills that the bard gets. Bards can also cast forever since they don't use up mana when they sing aside from their later charm songs and a few other abilities. Some of the most coveted bard songs for group play are haste, over-haste (which allows players to exceed the haste cap), mana/health regeneration, resists and various songs the bard uses to pull mobs. As well, bards make for fair crowd control and slowing when an enchanter or shaman isn't available. Bard songs are of short duration (usually 18 seconds), however a skilled player may "twist" three or four songs to keep multiple effects up at the same time.
As a class, bards may seem frighteningly complex to the novice player due to the wide array of song effects and the stress of keeping multiple songs up. But a skilled bard is a valuable asset to any group or raid and bards are one of the least played classes in the game so a well-played bard is almost always appreciated and rarely lacks for a group. Few classes in any MMORPG are as flexible or do as much as Everquest's bard class.
Armor: Plate
Weapons: Hand to Hand, Piercing, 2 Handed Piercing, 1 Handed Blunt, 2 Handed Blunt, 1 Handed Slashing, 2 Handed Slashing
Class: Unique(INT Caster Hybrid)
Race: Human, Half-Elves, Wood Elves, Vah Shir
Roles
Group Roles
Tank
Pulling(Level 63 AA Fading Memories)
Slow/Haste/OverHaste
Crowd Control
Mana and HP Regen
Raid Roles
Pulling(Level 63 AA Fading Memories)
Mana Battery/Caster Protection
Overhaste/Tank Buffer
Bard Specific Commands
Melody
/melody <list of spell gem numbers> - Allows bards to spend less time on keeping a twist up. This command will play the list of songs specified over and over again until the bard is interupted, misses a note, clicks on a spell gem, or types /melody without a list.