Bard Overview

Bard
Description
The Bard is the heart of any adventuring party, capable of motivating even the most disheartened companion. They specialise in using instruments to play songs with a magical aura that can range from benefiting their own parties strength and stamina, to causing damage to their surrounding enemies.

Bards have the greatest spell range of any of the arcane professions and are unrivalled in their flexibility and ability to fit into almost any situation. In a pinch they can act as a healer and even regenerate their parties mana but most commonly use their songs to slow their opponents attacks and speed up their own. Unfortunately this great flexibility does have a down side, Bards are unable to compete on an equal level with any profession that specialises in an area their songs cover.

Due to their wide range of abilities and magical songs Bards are quite capable of adventuring alone but are far more effective in a party. Almost all of a Bard's songs have a generous area of effect, making them more efficient the greater number of members in the group. One of a Bards great abilities is being able to switch songs quickly and mix (known as 'twisting') their effects together; they are the only class capable of casting every spell in their repertoire almost instantly (while moving) and using more than one spell in this way.

The Bards most famous song is known as 'Selos', it grants the fastest movement rate of any spell or effect in the game and when used to full strength enables them to outrun even the fastest horses of Norrath. This kind of speed allows a Bard to 'kite', staying ahead of the pursuing creature and using another song to harm it as it follows. It can take a considerable amount of time for a Bard to finish a battle in this way but unlike many other classes they are able to fight multiple enemies at the same time. At high levels kiting is the only effective way for a Bard to gain combat experience alone and requires a great deal of space and concentration to perform.

Races
Drakkin, Half Elf, Human, Vah Shir, Wood Elf

Skills
Weapons: 1HB, 1HS, H2H and Piercing.

Combat: Dodge, Parry and Riposte.

Utility: Forage, Lockpicking and Tracking.

Stats
With the introduction of defiant armor pieces which give huge stat bonuses right up through the levels, creation bonuses have now become somewhat redundant.

Dexterity influences the chance of fizzling songs and improving weapon skills, while charisma is believed to influence the resists of charm songs.

Plate armor can be heavy at low levels with low strength but strength boosting equipment is easily attained.

Tips
At low levels a bard is a poor warrior, a poor rogue and a poor enchanter, this situation can be greatly improved by obtaining a warrior mercenary to handle combat hits for you.
Don't forget to set your warrior mercenary to the main tank role (right click them in the party window), otherwise they will still let you get beat on when surrounded (not a good idea with the low starting hit points bards receive!).
There is a command available (/melody) which allows you to mix songs together without the obligatory button bashing, learn to use it now and your fingers will thank you later (/melody followed by the spell gems to cast, e.g. 4 6 7).
/stopcast can be used to stop current songs so that the melody will immediately begin to play: create a social (right click an empty space in the socials tab of the actions bar) with two lines, one with stopcast, followed by melody on the second.
Bards often have to carry multiple instruments and weapons so investing in a big weight reducing backpack may help you early on (though most defiant armor has instrument modifiers which increases availability of songs restricted to particular instruments).
Learn how to use macros (keys that when pressed do pre-set actions) effectively (faster and less lag prone than the mouse) and try to fit the keys you use fairly close together to minimise reptitive movements.
If in doubt ask your party what they want you to sing as you have such a wide range of songs there may be a class they need that you could help fill in for.
Don't neglect your instruments, you are capable of doing a reasonable amount of damage with your weapons at low levels but using your instruments may be a better use of your talents. Songs are your specialisation and most important tool in a party, your weapons are only secondary and most useful when they can double as an instrument.
The lockpicking skill cap has been raised considerably which can help unlock some of the Ruins of Kunark doors that were previously only accessible by rogues.
Bards are able to get around so quickly (and safely) that you may wish to travel to those hard to reach zones which most others do not.
Sites

Allahazam: Spell List
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/spelllist.html

Useful for finding out what songs you need to buy next!

Allahazam: Bard Epic 1.0 (Singing Short Sword)
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=756

This links to the allakhazam quest page for the first bard epic.

The Concert Hall
http://www.theconcerthall.net

Bard related forums and another large Bard community, a good place to find discussion on the songs and quests available to a Bard.