BARD GUILD HELP ---------------- A life as a bard is a very interesting and entertaining one indeed. Bards enjoy knowing about all manner of things, and the best way to learn about the world around you is to explore it! Walking, flying, or breathing underwater, the bard will find a way to see that which he has not set his eyes on before. So be prepared to get out your lute, warm up your voice, and sing a merry song as you explore the world! WARNING TO NEW BARDS : One of the requirements for levelling past level 15 in the Bard Guild is completing a set number of Level Quests, up to 14 for level 20. Level Quests are quests assigned to a certain level. They must be completed BEFORE that level to count, once you reach that level, it is too late. Do not miss too many of the easy first few Level Quests, or you may find reaching the requirement of 14 difficult. You will find a board 2 rooms north of the Stage, or in many fine bars across the 6 worlds. There, you can "list" all the quests in the game and get "info" on any particular quest. The first quest being at level 5, don't level up at all until you've taken a look at it and given it a try! When in doubt, ask on "bard say", and above all else, have fun with it! BARDIC SKILLS/SPELLS (4-15) --------------------------- PLAYING: The most basic skill for you as a bard. It is an automatic skill but effects just about everything you do. The higher you train it the more benefits you'll see in other skills. SINGING: Like playing, it effects your other bardic skills/spells. You will not see as direct a result from this skill in your early levels, but be sure to train it while training is free. ATTACK: Most likely you will be doing more attacking with your songs than with your hands. Not to mention that the lute is a two-handed held item and you cannot attack while holding it anyway. Useful when you have no choice but to solo, but experience can be better spent once this skill is at 70. EPITAPH: Bards' way of cleaning up corpses. Random chance of getting bard points when using, but basically its main use is to keep corpses from rising. LIGHT/DARK: Makes the room brighter or darker, check your race to see what conditions you need. GRACEFUL EXIT: Allows you to flee without panicing, which means you'll be able to calmly go in the direction you chose. Prevents you from running into an even more dangerous room and also prevents you from losing bard points. REVERB: The first/only attack spell available until sonic strike at level 13. Will be your main means of offense. A quick and effective spell at lower levels. ESSENCE EYE: Shows you how many rounds left on your spell casting. Good to know when soloing and watching your hps drop. The higher your ability in the skill the more likely you are to see each round of casting. MONSTER LORE: Shows you more about a monster than consider does. You will gain bard points when you are the first to lore your target. So lore everything you see as you explore, you never can tell what some other bard may have missed. A great perk for being the first bard into a new area, since you'll be getting bps for both exploring and for loring! PRACTICE: A wonderful and vital skill that you find yourself using often. It converts EPs into SPs. The higher your playing skill the more Spell points you will gain. WATER BREATHING/FLIGHT: A Must-Have(TM) for every bard. It insures you the ability to explore everywhere, underwater and in the air alike. Obviously, races that can already do either of these things do not need to cast them on themselves. MANA SAVE: Reduces the spell point cost of failed spells. The higher your percentage trained the more likely you are to save on failed castings and the more mana you will save. HEROISM: Essential spell for soloist and partying bards alike. Increases hit points (200max) and boosts str, int, wis, and agi temporarily. SHMOOZE: Increases your charisma, since bards are loved by all. Helps when training/studying and when selling. Hey, who doesn't want to look better anyway? SONIC STRIKE: This is it. The main offensive power until Sonic Blast at level 20. Study it well. RESONANCE BURST: Area attack. Useful when you have run out of spell points or in a room that doesn't allow spell casting. Note: needs a target even when in combat and can't be used in melee. HEARTY LAUGH: Can startle your opponents and interrupt their skills/spells. Uses eps though, which are useful for turning into sps with practice. SCREECH: Area spell. Good for partying as it will hit every monster in the room and will also help you keep your sps around a bit longer. Same effect as resonance burst except uses sps instead of eps. MINSTREL SIGHT: Tired of casting light/darkness a million times just so you can see in one room? Well this spell is the answer. Allows you to see a variety of different things including all lighting conditions. REMEDY: Here is a great skill. Recovers around 200 hps with each use on the target. A great partner for the Heroism spell. SPEEDSONG: Train this skill to its max. Can halve the casting time of your bard spells if trained well enough. You MUST be wielding the lute for this skill to work (the lute also has a bonus to this skill that you can embue). MASTERS AND APPRENTICES: ------------------------ Any full level 20 Bard can take new Bards on as apprentices. HELP MASTERS and HELP APPRENTICESHIP will explain all about it. Now, for the apprentice's 3 spell and skill bonuses, it is usually recommended to boost the 2 vital Bard skills, Playing and Singing. The last bonus is most often given to Reverb, and switched to Sonic strike when the apprentice gains the spell at level 13. But since we Bards are all about fun, it isn't rare to see apprentices asking for bonuses to Seduce instead. Finally, Masters can give their Apprentices titles (HELP TITLE), so make sure they get a good, colorful one, we do have an image to uphold! GETTING USED TO THE BARD GUILD: ------------------------------- One main thing that sets the Bard Guild apart from any other guild is our system of getting dues. Unlike barbaric fighters that must craft their corpses into warning signs or the enslaved fallen that must tirelessly work to increase their fellblade, Bards must simply EXPLORE. Explore and keep exploring, then explore a little more when you're done. Adventure, look around, travel, and quest. You will need to explore 45% of the retroverse in order to advance to guild level 20. You will also need to complete 14 levelquests to advance to guild level 20. Check in the nearest pub for a list of all level quests available (Note: there are 9 quests completed with exploring alone). The easiest way to explore at first is to go to each city on each planet. Walk up and down every street on the map and into every store/building you can find. Also ask your guide about newbie areas on every planet and explore every room you can find. You must be in verbose mode and must be able to see (ie: can't be too dark) in the room in order to get the explore points for it. Use 'Show Summary' to check how many new rooms you have gotten each session, and 'score' to see your total percentage explored. It is commonly considered a wise choice to store up experience and horde cash before advancing past newbie levels, although it is not a requirement. I recommend saving at least enough experience and cash to advance quickly to level 18 and study the WORLD TRANSPORT spell. This will make travelling much easier after losing newbie transport devices. THE AMAZING LUTE, BARD POINTS, and YOU! --------------------------------------- Type 'instrument help' to get the basics on your lute. Use 'instrument status' to see what bonuses you have given your lute. Ignore the fields that weren't listed under 'instrument help' (ie: weapon class, hit bonus, lighting value, regen) as these cannot be changed. The lute is an instrument, not a weapon. It is wielded in both hands and cannot be used in melee. The stat bonuses available to the lute are its main attraction. Using your bard points (you can see how many bard points you have acummulated by typing 'bard points') you can embue your lute with different bonuses. You gain bard points for every new room you explore. (Note to reincs: There is currently no way to get credit for rooms explored before you were a bard) There is also a chance you will gain bard points when using monster lore or any bard song. You can LOSE bard points when killing another bard or when fleeing from combat (check out the skill Graceful Exit to avoid this problem) though it is very rare. NEWBIE AREAS ------------ Since the major way of gaining experience points is exploring, and bards have the luxury of gaining dues from it as well, you should focus MORE on exploration than on fighting. You can 'ask guide about newbie areas' when you are on different planets in order to explore there. Don't forget hurting another bard can get you in trouble! If you happen to get the urge to pierce some eardrums, here are some suggested areas: CRYPT Gnome Pyramid Kobold Area Utopia PERDOW Goblin Lair Newbie Village Monastery Warrenhome (don't kill bards!) RAJI Quarry Sco'land SOSEL Drum-Filled Jungle Kanku Village Monk Training Grounds WELSTAR Azalin's Lodge Fallen Fort Necro Camp Tsoda Pools WYSOOM Artist Retreat (don't kill bards!) Trimer Area (lv 9 and under) Warehouse (under merchant guild) THE PLANETARIUM: ----------------------- The planetarium is a great way to begin to learn the layout of the worlds. Inside are modles of all 6 of the worlds floating around the sun in their orbit. Simply navigate around the orbit of the planet you wish to see until you come upon the world. Then read map # (numbers range from negatives to posatives and go with the elevations of the world) and read map legend. The planets can also be asked questions about themselves. GOOD PARTYING COMBOS: --------------------- Here's the best part. Bards make good party mates for any guild!! There is no align-restriction, we don't need corpses for dues, and have a good variety of attack and helpful spells. So be sure to speak up and volunteer yourself for parties. Exploring alone can be dangerous you know! SELECTING GUILD COMBOS: ----------------------- After reaching guild level 20, you will be ready to join secondary and tertiary guilds. Type 'choices' to get a list of those a bard can join. Of the secondary guilds, Entertainer is made specifically for Bards. Entertainer also gives you access to Songsmith, Spellsinger, and Harper. These guilds are also designed exclusively with bards in mind. They offer bonuses that complement your abilities. However, they are not easy to join, because only the most well-travelled are accepted into their ranks. If you choose something else, be sure to check if the guild is hermetic or spiritual and also to check your racial spiritual and hermetic maxxes. SEND OFF: --------- A basic understanding of the guild does not compare with experience. Go out, test your skills and spells, and determine how to use the bard guild to best complement your character. Most importantly, go have fun and pass that fun onto others (even if they don't seem to want it, it's like pulling teeth sometimes). Remember, every new room explored, new battle fought, and new trip to the Judgement Fields is simply another story to tell and another song to sing! |