Update Jan. 18th, 2008- *Added Section III *Fixed some mistakes (left some mistakes also)
I will continue to work on this when I am free.
SECTION I- IntroductionWhy did I do this?Due to my newfound love for Bard and utter confusion as to how some of the skills actually worked, here we are.
What is a Bard?In SRO, a Bard is a buffing class that contains speed+, atk+, def+, and heals mana.
SECTION II- SkillsLets Explain the skills before we go deeper into the bard itself.
Note: The following skills are only from iSRO, not from kSRO and is for the 80cap.
The Skills are as follows:
Bard's Dream1. VibrationThis is a passive that increases your MAG atk permanently by a fixed %. Simple
2. EchoA passive skill that extends the effect range for skills belonging to the "Music Pleasure" Line.
3. Music LifePassive that reduces MP consumption per skill used.
4. PrismThis is another passive that only works for the skills in the "Music Pleasure" Line. For the "Tambor" Skills inside that line, when a monster attacks you, there is a chance that the buff will debuff. This passive will increase the chance of you not debuffing.
Battle Chord1. Horror ChordBasically a MAG-Based attack. Similar to a nuke.
2. Booming ChordAn AOE (Area-of-Effect) nuke. This nuke is a bit different. This does not require you to select a target to cast. Instead, the nuke uses your character as the center and hits everything around you.
3. Mana SwitchYou select up to 2 party members and cast this on them. Whenever they deal damage, you receive MP for their hits.
4. Weird ChordAnother nuke like Horror Chord. Hits 3.
5.Booming WaveNext book of Booming Chord
Music Pleasure1. Moving MarchThis is the Euro Grasswalk. It increases movement speed of you and your party members.
2. Guard TambourThis is a buff that increases your party member's phys defense. It lasts as long as you have MP.
3. Mana TambourSame as Guard Tambour but is for mag defense.
4. Hit MarchThis increases the ATK rating of your party members.
5. Swing MarchSame as Moving March, but faster.
Melody1. Holding ClamorThis casts "Bind" on a target. In other words, it stops their motions BUT not their attacks.
2. Cure MelodyBasically a Pill
3. TemptationCauses monsters to attack each other. Does not work on giants/champs
4. Rave MelodyConverts some of your already low HP in MP.
5. Patter ClamorSame as Holding Clamor, but a higher status level.
Sound1. Tuning NoiseThis deals absolute damage, meaning, whatever the defense of the opponent, it will always deal the listed damage (but against higher leveled mobs/players, it is evident that the damage goes down >.>) The amount of damage you deal with this attack will recovery the same amount to your MP.
Example:
Damage=100
MP Restore=100
but if you do this...
Damage=100
Monster HP=80
MP Restore= 80
Understood?
2. Mana CycleThis heals MP over 16 seconds. Every second, it will heal the listed MP Recovery amount.
3. NoiseThis prevents aggressive monsters from attacking you. Only works on yourself and moves with you.
4. Mana WindRecovers MP for 2 party members.
5. Discord WaveThis causes a monster that is charging at your Cleric to stop dead. Cast at a party member or yourself to lower their arrgo rating.
6. Tuning SoundNext book of "Tuning Noise"
7. Mana BreezeHeals MP of the party in one move.
Beautiful Life1. TrippingThis passive increases the effective range of the "Dancing Concert" Line
2. Screen DanceSimilar to "Prism" but only works for the "Dancing Concert" Line
Dancing ConcertNote: All of the following skills ONLY works with another Bard in range. The second bard
MUST use a skill from the "Music Pleasure" Line before you activate one of the "Dancing" skills.
All of these skills move with the caster and works for the whole party.
1. Dancing of ValorPhys Dmg+
2. Dancing of MagicMag Dmg+
3. Dancing of HealingIncreases the amount of HP healed by a Cleric
4. Dancing of ManaIncreases the amount of MP healed by a Bard
5. Dancing of FightPhys Dmg++
6. Dancing of WizardryMag Dmg++
SECTION III- Nuts and BoltsSkills to TakeBard's Dream- I suggest taking everything within this line. It can all be useful.
Battle Chord- Take everything in this line also. This is your may way to deal damage. In addition, "Mana Switch" is a valuable skill to have. You probaly won't have to heal your own MP after getting this skill in a party
Music Pleasure- I took everything but the "Hit March". From a grinding/PVP point of view, having more defense is better than getting more attack rating. And of course, take the Marches. ZOOOOMMM
Melody- This is where some of the useless skills shows up. "Holding Clamor" can be useful, but the time you used to cast it, you could have shot off another attack.
Rave melody imo is not useful either since your MP should be full most of the time.
Temptation is a fun skill. But mobs attack so slow, it makes it sort of useless.
Cure melody is the only must get in this line. It acts as a pill. Now you only need to carry one stack of emergency pills to grind. This saves space XD
Sound- "Tuning Noise" is nice for the first few levels, but the damage is so low, it isn't of much use. Every other skill should be in your arsenal. You might not need to MAX everything (except Noise-MAX IT!!) but your job as a Bard would be easier if you maxed the Mana healings in here. And Discord Wave is nice to have to help keep your cleric alive when the Warriors are ont doing their job.
Beautiful Life/
Dancing Concert- If you have a mate who is also a Bard to grind with steadily, add these skills. Dance of Healing/Mana is optional.
BuildA person playing a Bard as their main should stick with pure INT.
Reason:
You might think that bards are like clerics in that they will attract mobs when they heal others with mana. This is not true when you use "Mana Cycle" on your party members. "Mana Wind" will arrgo mobs to you like cleric's "Group Heal". However, "Mana Cycle" is better than "Mana Wind" in my experience in terms of MP healed. It is more demanding on the player to use "Mana Cycle" as the main MP recovery move since it is only a single target, but survival rate is MUCH higher. Hence there is no need to turn hybrid for more HP at all.
PS: All your attacks are MAG based, so PURE INT!!!
Taking a Sub-MasteryThe possible combinations of Masteries are:
Bard/Warrior
Bard/RogueBard/Wizard
Bard/Warlock
Bard/ClericAs a bard main, taking subs as a
Warrior or
Rogue is USELESS! End of story.
Bard/Wizard- This is not a bad mix. You can switch from solo grinding to supporter relatively. Also, both mastery does not use a shield, making weapon switching less of an hassle. Only downside to this build is the HUGE amount of SP needed for all the neccessary skills.
Bard/Warlock- Also not bad imo. Weapon switching can be hassle since Warlocks use a shield. The beauty of this combination is that you can cast your dots on like 4 mobs, and when they get close, they should either be dead or use "Booming Chord". If you do this, you should constantly be running around casting Warlock DoTs. This only works well because you have "Moving March"
Bard/Cleric- The FULL support character. It is nice, but it gets relatively boring if you don't have active guild members to grind with.
EquipmentNot much to choose from. You're only allowed to use a Harp and your gear is locked to Garments.
Of course, every +INT +STR +HP +MP helps, so try to get as much as you can within your budget.
Bard as a SubThese are the sklls that will remain on when you switch weapons:
Moving March
Mana Cycle
Noise
Not much.
What's to come:
Whatever I cook up (or pm a request as to what might be useful)