Champ Spawn Bard

[Mistura]

My Mage/Bard is almost completed. When finished my template will be:

120 Music
120 Disco
120 Prov
120 Magery
115 Eval
115 Med

(710 Skill Cap)

I am planning to use this character for various things, but one of the most important things will be champs where I will provoke later level spawn and disco the boss. I will be working in a group of about 4/5 people.

Question one: What is the best way to deal with multiple casting creatures on screen such as Liches and Lich Lords? There is quite a lengthy delay between provoke attempts so whats the trick to controling the crowd and staying alive?

Question two: When tackling Neira the Necromancer, will i struggle to provoke Lich Lords and Rotting Corpses onto her, or should this only take one or two attempts?

Question three: Should I use slayer instruments for the champ bosses or just exceptional quality gm ones?

Any other tips on working a champ spawn well with my template would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[Farsight]

1. Invisibility (you need to stay close to your targets, or I'd say run away) or summons. A demon or earth elemtal may not kill your enemies, but they can take the heat off of you for those crucial few moments.
2. It will take multiple attempts to provoke a LL or RC on Neira (provoke chance = 66% for lich lord, 41% for rotting corpse with undead slayer)
3. Slayer instruments: Baraccon = repond, Semidar = demon, Rikktor = reptile, the spider = arachnid, Oaks = exceptional instrument, Neira = undead

To maximize your power, use summons rather than EV's to keep the heat off of you in later stages, use area effect attacks like chain lightning or meteor swarm to kill groups more quickly. Since you're working with friends, keeping them alive keeps you alive and saves tons of time and effort.

The mistake most people make in PvM is they don't use all the weapons they have at their finger tips, for example, the tamer will simply follow a dragon and not cast spells to speed up the killing process. The mage will use energy vortexes then run away rather than using spells to kill things faster. The warrior will go at it alone rather than in pairs to enable good cross healing. So as a bard, use discord, provoke, summons and offensive/defensive spells at all times. If you have full mana ever, you're doing something wrong. If you haven't barded something in longer than 15 seconds, you're doing something wrong.

 

[Mistura]

Thanks for the resposne Farsight, some helpful hints in there for sure

The barding calculator seems to think that I would be better off with a gm instrument rather than a slayer against all bosses, 10% chance to disco with slayer and 20% chance to disco with gm.

This can't be right can it? I know that barra is definitely vulnerable to Repond slayer spellbook and weapons. Could it be possible that it doesn't count for instruments?

 

[Seismic]

The calculator sounds off to me. I always equip an equivalent slayer type when fighting any big boss/enemy! Though I've never done the champ spawn with my bard - I've been doing town invasions and I'm always running out of mana .. it's a bit frustrating.

And all the disco failures .. ahhhhhhh .. it gets old..

Farsight has some great advice...think I may change some of my tactics..

 

[Flutter]

Question one: What is the best way to deal with multiple casting creatures on screen such as Liches and Lich Lords? There is quite a lengthy delay between provoke attempts so whats the trick to controling the crowd and staying alive?

Work from the outer edges and work your way in. Stay clear of wither. Invis until everthing is provoked.

Question two: When tackling Neira the Necromancer, will i struggle to provoke Lich Lords and Rotting Corpses onto her, or should this only take one or two attempts?

Make sure Neira is discorded

Question three: Should I use slayer instruments for the champ bosses or just exceptional quality gm ones?

I carry one of each slayer and an exceptional. (the double slayer arties are a big help)
Some work for the entire spawn and some don't so be aware of what instrument to use.

Any other tips on working a champ spawn well with my template would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

I sent you a PM

 

[Obsidian]

Work from the outer edges and work your way in. Stay clear of wither. Invis until everthing is provoked.

Why do you recommend staying clear of wither? Are you talking specifically about using wither while trying to provo the higher level spawn on the champ?

I have a template in mind that I plan to put into action soon. Here's what I'm thinking:

120 Musicianship
120 Provocation
120 Magery
115 Spirit Speak
110 Meditation
110 Evaluate Intelligence
105 Necromancy

Yes, that is 800 Skill points, but it is doable with the right skill items. That said, my plan was to wither away for levels 1 & 2 and then go into provo-mage mode for levels 3, 4 and the champ. I plan to use many of the tactics Farsight recommended... slayer spellbooks, invis, and earth elementals being my greatest friend while I provo the baddies. Also, i would be wraith form for mana leech and use a dark wisp. I'll be weak for defensive skills (both magic resist and a weapon skill) so I would have to keep from being targeted.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Flutter]

Wither not only makes your HP go down really fast but also will make whatever withers you auto target a LOT of the time and turn on you.

Let me know how that template works out for you.

 

[Shelleybean]

Why do you recommend staying clear of wither? Are you talking specifically about using wither while trying to provo the higher level spawn on the champ?

I have a template in mind that I plan to put into action soon. Here's what I'm thinking:

120 Musicianship
120 Provocation
120 Magery
115 Spirit Speak
110 Meditation
110 Evaluate Intelligence
105 Necromancy

Yes, that is 800 Skill points, but it is doable with the right skill items. That said, my plan was to wither away for levels 1 & 2 and then go into provo-mage mode for levels 3, 4 and the champ. I plan to use many of the tactics Farsight recommended... slayer spellbooks, invis, and earth elementals being my greatest friend while I provo the baddies. Also, i would be wraith form for mana leech and use a dark wisp. I'll be weak for defensive skills (both magic resist and a weapon skill) so I would have to keep from being targeted.

-OBSIDIAN-

I have the poor man's version of that template and it works great. I also use the same strategy that you plan to use. I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[HeavyMetal]

How are you guys managing all of those instruments?

I am just coming back to the game, trying to get used to the KR client... if i recall the bardic skills use the last instrument you played right? Are you just keeping your pack open and being really quick about playing the right instrument first, or are you macroing it somehow or what?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Diggity]

The KR hotbar system is great for bards. I carry one of each slayer, Iolo's Lute for doom and several exceptional instruments. Put each instrument in a hotbar and assign a hotkey to it. Then just press the appropriate hotkey when you need to switch instruments. Works great.

When an instrument breaks, you do need to drag a new one to the hotbar. That's why I hotkey 2 exceptional instruments. One always seems to break at the worse times.

 

[canary]

I have close to that:

120 Resisting Spells

120 Magery

120 Meditation

120 Provocation

120 Music

120 Eval Int

I find myself pretty much being the crowd control for all the players at the champ spawn, and the one who generally has to do the healing, as well. Provo is a GREAT PvM skill to have, imo. The other thing I find it easy to do is on certain champs provoke and of the last tier monsters at it. You usually get spared any of the special hits the other players get, as the monster you provoked takes it.

 

[Aibal]

I have a similar template and it is awesome. My only suggestion, if you can afford it, is to drop the Med to 110 and increase Eval to 120. You won't notice the smidgeon of med lost, but the extra damage from more Eval is well worth having. JMO.

 

[Laina]

Why do you recommend staying clear of wither? Are you talking specifically about using wither while trying to provo the higher level spawn on the champ?

I have a template in mind that I plan to put into action soon. Here's what I'm thinking:

120 Musicianship
120 Provocation
120 Magery
115 Spirit Speak
110 Meditation
110 Evaluate Intelligence
105 Necromancy

Yes, that is 800 Skill points, but it is doable with the right skill items. That said, my plan was to wither away for levels 1 & 2 and then go into provo-mage mode for levels 3, 4 and the champ. I plan to use many of the tactics Farsight recommended... slayer spellbooks, invis, and earth elementals being my greatest friend while I provo the baddies. Also, i would be wraith form for mana leech and use a dark wisp. I'll be weak for defensive skills (both magic resist and a weapon skill) so I would have to keep from being targeted.

-OBSIDIAN-

I have the poor man's version of that template and it works great. I also use the same strategy that you plan to use. I think you'll enjoy it.

I have been struggling for a while now with a new template for my bard. I love the bard I have had for many years but she has become quite outdated. This template sounds like so much fun! Could either of you elaborate a bit maybe on the items you used to cram all these skill points into this template?

 

[Obsidian]

I have been struggling for a while now with a new template for my bard. I love the bard I have had for many years but she has become quite outdated. This template sounds like so much fun! Could either of you elaborate a bit maybe on the items you used to cram all these skill points into this template?

Lainia -- I actually have been working a different bard template at the moment (a stealth bard) but hope to come back to the one I proposed above. So I can't really give you any update on how it is working yet.

As for the items, this is what I was thinking to get 800 points:
+10 Spirit Speak -- Bloodwood Spirit
+5 -- Bloodwood Spirit
+25 -- Ring (whatever skills)
+25 -- Brace (whatever skills)
+10 -- Spellbook (or Scrappers)

That's 75 there. The +25 ring/brace aren't too hard to find if you keep looking and are willing to adjust your skills accordingly. Not everyone is looking for a provo/necro ring or a meditation/music bracelet (for example), but on this template you are mixing a bunch of skills. The hard part is finding those skills and still getting FCR (I plan to use protection, so FC is unnecessary). Keep searching, however, and you'll find something that will work for you. I'm not rich by any means and I'm pretty confident this template can be done if you take the time to find the items.

-OBSIDIAN-