Classes
Bard
The jack of all trades — songs grant speed, DPS, mana regen, resist buffs, mez, pulls, and emergency rescue.
Bard is the hybrid of hybrids — chain-mail melee with a song book. Songs are short-duration buffs the Bard refreshes continuously, shifting between run speed, DPS procs, mana regen, resistance buffs, health regen, and pull utility in the same fight. Played well, the Bard is the most mechanically complex class in EverQuest. The Bard identity is utility everything. A Bard leads runs (Selo's Accelerando), pulls dungeons (Swarm kite), DPS-melees (chain-song procs), emergency-heals (Hymn of Restoration), and mana-regens caster cohorts (Cassindra's Chant of Clarity). In raid content, the Bard does mana regen for the caster wing and melee proc enhancement for the tank wing simultaneously.
Role and identity
A Bard exists to multiplex utility. The class can be playing four songs at once on rotation, each one a different buff — speed, regen, resist, mana — and shift the entire mix mid-fight when the situation calls for it. No other class plays this rapidly across so many roles.
Identity is the chain twist. Bard mastery is the song twist: cycling 3-4 songs in rotation so the active effects all stay up. This requires constant keypresses, no auto-attack-and-watch downtime, and clean instrument-swap timing per song category. A Bard who can't twist is a Bard who isn't doing the job.
Strengths
- Selo's Accelerando — group run-speed buff, always on
- Mana regen songs (Cassindra's Chant of Clarity, Cantata of Soothing)
- Mez (Kelin's Lugubrious Lament) — single-target sleep
- Swarm kite — pull entire dungeons solo and DoT to death
- Resist song buffs cover all five resist schools
- Pull songs (Largo's, Selo's Sonata) for distance-and-snare control
Weaknesses
- High keyboard skill floor — twist mastery is mandatory
- Melee DPS is mid-tier without song procs
- Mana pool small relative to pure casters
- Mez breaks under DoT or AE
- Instrument swapping during song rotation is fiddly
Solo, group, and raid
Solo
Excellent. Swarm kiting — pull an entire area, snare-song them all to you, run in circles while Brusco's or Cassindra's DoTs them. Advanced Bards swarm-kite entire dungeons on foot. Basic Bards solo on the outdoor edge of every zone with Hymn of Restoration sustaining HP.
Group
Any group. Run speed + regen + utility make the Bard welcome everywhere. Signature contribution is the run-speed-plus-mana-regen combo that makes long camps efficient. Mez chains as backup CC when the Enchanter is down or the pull goes wide.
Raid
Bard becomes raid-critical at PoP cap. Mana song rotations keep the caster wing topped between burns, and melee song procs add proc damage to every weapon swing in the tank cluster. AA priority is Hastened Selo's, Innate Charisma (song landing chance), and the Bard-specific Instrument Mastery lines.
The Last Camp any-race-class combos
The Last Camp opens Bard to races that never had it. Iksar Bard is the standout — Cabilis starting, regen, and Bard chain progression in Kunark zones built for the race. Dark Elf Bard of Bristlebane is the redeemed-Teir'Dal build, traveling from Neriak to Kelethin on a faction grind for Bard guild access.
Ogre Bard brings frontal stun immunity to the song line — a stunned Bard can't sing, and Ogre Bards are the only Bards that can guarantee song uptime against caster bosses. Troll Bard stacks regen on chain melee, the most attrition-proof swarm-kite Bard in the game. Halfling Bard is the smallest evade-and-twist build, with AGI / DEX layered onto chain. Erudite Bard unlocks the highest INT for mana pool depth, useful for sustained song rotations in long raid fights.
Spell / discipline highlights
Defining songs: Selo's Accelerando (run), Hymn of Restoration (regen), Cassindra's Chant of Clarity (mana regen), Brusco's Boastful Bellow (taunt-song), Kelin's Lugubrious Lament (mez), Largo's Melodic Binding (snare-pull), Niv's Melody of Preservation (resist), and the Pulse of Nife (HP buff). Twist rotations interleave 3-4 of these depending on group needs.
AAs to prioritize
Hastened Selo's, Innate Charisma, and Singing Mastery first. Then Instrument Mastery (one per category), Mana Conservation, and the Bard-specific Hastened Fading Memories. Selo's Improved Run Speed and Improved Twist line round out the kit.
Leveling path summary
- 1-15: Freeport, Kelethin, or Qeynos bard guild.
- 15-30: Warrens, Paludal Caverns (Luclin), Mistmoore. Swarm kite starts viable here.
- 30-45: Swarm-kite Paludal / Marus Seru / outdoor Kunark zones.
- 45-60: Swarm kite Frontier Mountains, Dreadlands, Velketor's.
- 60-65: PoP mana cohort plus melee party. Bard becomes raid-critical.
Notable gear by tier
Early Bards prize Lute of the Howler, Drum of the Beast, and any chain piece with CHA. Kunark adds Gnoll Hide Lariat instrument variants and Iksar-flavored horns. Velious provides Coldain instrument quest rewards and the Plane of Growth Bard set. PoP endgame is the Time-tier chain set and Singing Steel instrument-clicky drops. Epic 1.0 Singing Short Sword carries instrument clickies for every song category — the most important weapon in the Bard's bag.