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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Bard showcase, next livestream?
Saabynator
Member
Steven said, within the next couple of months. Then the nodewar was on display, so its Bard next?
2
Comments
So looking forward to see the bard in action man.
Bard in EQ1 was kind of boring though. It was all about changing songs constantly. Got boring, but was effective. EQ2 bards were very cool though, and very useful.
I hope AoC will make them a bit more dmg based, like eq2. They werent the top dmg dealers, but they could do some dmg, enough to be fun.
I too, am really looking forward to bards.
I really enjoyed the Bard in EQ1, DAoC and Rift. I'm an OG backer who party backed the game because of a Bard class. Brad really was the guy behind Ashes having a Bard. I was so sad when he left and has left me worried even since.
Longest played a Bard was in EQ1. Too old to twist like I used to. But I sure loved the class. I loved that no matter where I went, I was always needed. I used to have line ups of people wanting me to join their teams. The reason people wanted me was because a Bard could support almost every role. With CC to boot. Was built to be a puller as well. Man the class was fun. So many peoples lives were in my hands lol knife edge living.
DAOC Skald was fun as hell, awesome take on the bard.
It's been a while, but from what I remember what Vanguard did was instead of twisting you formed a 'song' ahead of time. You had a list of maybe 10 different buffs, and chose a set of 3 as a 'song'. You played the one song for buffs. It let you do other things besides just twisting buffs (which got boring).
Point being, just buffing would be boring. Doing actions that give buffs and allow you to do damage is the way to go.
There are some interesting thoughts on Bards in other MMORPGs here, though.
I'd love to see more examples of Bards you all liked and didn't like in MMOs you've played, and more importantly, why that is! 👀
Instead of requiring 100% upkeep on all buffs, I would prefer support classes to have to make choices on who to buff and when. It would be great if they have DPS buffs, both short party cooldowns and single person, tank buffs and healer buffs, along with utility things like movement speed increase or resource generation.
If someone can't really feel that they have been supported (I'm looking at you 1% damage buff) then even if the numbers make it worth it I probably wouldn't enjoy it.
I think there should options to focus on being a dps-support builds and healer/tank support build.
Throwing out a conversation point, since weapon combos are critical in Ashes, how would Bard skills activating based on your teammate using a weapon combo feel to you all? Example: A bard pops a mana buff on an ally, but the buff wont activate until the player uses their weapon combo. Or they could pop a stagger buff were the user will have a stagger effect on all their attacks for 5s after completing a weapon combo.
The idea I am trying to play here is would the Bard's utility and support be better as pure and immediate throughput, or would the idea of a Bard being most beneficial if players play well? Which style is appealing?
For me it's about support that happenes by being active in battle. Make the Bards response to battle positively enhance the team/raid. My actions should impact every player I am connected to. The better my choices in battle are. The more my team/raid should be enhanced.
For me Bard should be Support NON Healing class. With skills like: increase ally move speed, negates next hit on the target, covert the target dmg to burn/freeze, teleport the target close to you, Channeling ability that transfers your stats to the target while channeling (increasing his dmg and deff), some stuns/roots/slows,
And also spells that combo with other class spells like: apply burn, or if ally applied burn (not applied from the bard) - then convert the burn to combustion that deals more dmg and all skills that get bonuses from the burn status get extra 20% bonuses. Apply freeze (root or slow), and if ally applied freeze - then convert it to deep freeze (stun that decrease target dmg taken by 50% and heal taken by 50%), some of the sub specializations may have skills that increase the max bleed stacks that 1 target can have to 120 (from 100).
Maybe even some aggressive skills like: Increase the target's dmg done and dmg taken, so it makes the target glass canon. or the opposite - reduce the target dmg done and dmg taken. This can be the same skill and on every use it converts to the opposite - for example cd is 30 sec and after you increase dmg done and dmg taken, after 30 sec on its next use the same skill will reduce dmg done and dmg taken from the target.
My bet is that the Bard will be the boss of resource bars. Mana/energy/momentum drain with innervate and invigorate. Obviously with some damage. It is going to be a good main and probably a fun augment as well.
Another game with a great bard is dark and darker. Playing songs at the correct timing is extremely fun.
we get the "Month" of the Alpha Two start. And when the Start is only like Three Weeks or so away, we get the exact Date. Yes, this has nothing to do with the Bard in particular. But damn i would really like to have this kind of Informations for everyone.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
I could see Steven give us a boring update title and shadow drop A2 date
I think for me, as i remember, the Skald is one of the better exambles. It had some really cool utility, and was really wanted in PvP, especially because of the speed buff. They were a decent dmg dealer. They were not top notch, but they had great dmg, some ranged dmg too, but they died fairly quickly. So they had to step in and out of combat and assist others.
EQ2 bard was really cool too. They had both good support and directional attacks. They were a bit boring on raids, where they were like 100% support (if I remember correctly).
In general, bards needs to be a support class, that can handle themselves ok. They dont kill quick, but have enogh umph to do well. They need to be able to win fights, but not dominate.
My 2 cents is that the more engaged the Bard is in battle, the more powerful their buffs and heals are. I hope Bards have options for their combat type. Ranged, melee, magic. With the different subclasses. This could really change the type of buff given as well. Maybe a staff / mage sub class could trigger a buff to give spell hates to the team mates as the Bard does damage. DW Swords / Rogue subclass could do melee haste as the Bard does damage. More damage, more buffs.
Thats not a bad idea actually. That bards would build stacks, that lasts for x amount of time. Then you can spec into abilities, sp they can give you more stacks or longer linger time - not a a bad idea sir!
I think bards can choose their weapons and stick to it. Sound like the general direction they are going. So bards can be melee, ranged or wand. I think most would probably use 2 weapons, as it seems you cvan equip both. Then I guess its up to you, to choose your class abilities that builds up around your prefered weapon.