Soloing Bard build

[Pieburglar]

Hello there folks,

Cutting right to the chase here, I've been trying out a bard/nightblade build for soloing. Now I know the bard class is better at support and will never solo as fast or as easily as many other souls, but I love my bard too much to not spec down it!

Without further ado, this is my current build (mind you, I'm 43 at the moment):

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0M...iqszoz.VhxMh0g

My eventual build will look something like this:

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0M...qskoz.VhxMh0go

I fight as follows

First to note, I have macro'd Cadence and Fiery Spike together under one button, this means that when I am stood still I will always cast Cadence, and when I'm moving I will always cast Fiery Spike

I have also macro'd Power Chord and Dusk Strike together, Dusk Strike does better DPS but isn't always off cooldown, when it's on cooldown or you are not in melee range Power Chord will fire.

1. Make sure Hellfire Blades, Smouldering Blades, Fanfare of Power and Anthem of Fervor are running
2. Cast round of motif's to start off
3. Pop into stealth
4. Lost Hope any adds you don't feel like dealing with
5. Open up with Dark Malady on your primary target
6. Cast Fiery Spike x3 on target whilst you get into melee range
7. Cast Coda of Wrath for single target DPS, or Coda of Distress to prepare for AoE DPS
8. Cast Cadence, follow up with Power Chord/Dusk Strike and finish with Coda of Wrath or Coda of Fury
9. Repeat step 8 until target is dead, re-apply motif's/Fiery Spike where necessary (Personally I only refresh Motif of Bravery and Motif of Focus, stuff tends to not last long enough to warrant a whole set of motif's and constant refreshing of Fiery Spike)

In case of elites, it tends to be a little hit and miss. If an elite is affected by Verse of Captivation you're golden and can kite to your heart's content, otherwise I try opening with Dark Malady, Fiery Spike x3, Virtuoso, Coda of Distress and then spam Coda of Wrath until the elite is dead, or you need to heal yourself with Coda of Restoration (and if you hit this point you are in trouble). I still have the luxury to switch out Saboteur for Blade Dancer and use Side Steps to give me 15 seconds of highly reduced incoming DPS, but Elites will always be hit and miss with this spec.

Please bear in mind that this build would fold like a wet paper bag in PvP, and isn't meant for that. Nothing beats Bard paired with Riftstalker for PvP barding if you ask me, and I doubt it'll hold up well in raids because a lot of your DPS comes from being in melee range and auto attack proccing weapon buffs.

Now I would like some feedback from you handsome rogues. Is there something in my build you think can be improved? How about rotations? Let me know! Help out your fellow Bards in need, for I know there are many others who love the Bard soul as much as I do!

Much appreciated chums!

[Baynne]

The only bard builds I have seen were all meant for grouping, so I would like to see input on this idea as well. I never figured bard to be solo-friendly compared to ranger.

[RedRover57]

Your rotation sounds like a lot of work. Personally, I use my full support bard build for solo PvE (questing, etc.), group PvE and PvP. Currently at level 34 my build is 33 bard/8 NB/4 RS. It works fine for everything. I bought a second role (full ranger) for solo PvE and never use it. I prefer the survivability of the bard, particularly on a PvP server, even if it takes a little bit longer to kill things. My rotation is really simple - Cadence - Cadence - 5 pt. Guarded Steel (refresh this when it drops) - Cadence - Cadence - Coda of Wrath or Fury depending on if I have one or more mobs on me - rinse/repeat. I don't usually bother with motifs when soloing - sometimes I throw on the increased AP and crit motifs. Obviously I have Virtuoso if things get hairy (like if I am hitting 3 mobs and get jumped by an assassin). Mine is definitely the lazy man's build - one size fits all. I do like your idea of macroing Fiery Spike to Cadence though.

[Bearmug]

The only bard builds I have seen were all meant for grouping, so I would like to see input on this idea as well. I never figured bard to be solo-friendly compared to ranger.

Bard is very nice for soloing. Yes, slow, but I survived fights no other spec I use could.

Only difference from my party/support spec is +15% damage on codas and the aoe coda.

[Carnagel]

24 ranger / 4 RS or 13NB / rest bard (I prefer RS for the endo stack but both work)

greater razorbeast, /petattack 3-4 mobs while pulling 4 more onto yourself, HoT+essence proc HoT, pet passive/wait until next to you/defensive, cadence/powerchord/coda of fury * 5-6 (rotating to highest HP mob), loot, repeat

If you get low on health or your pet does, just replace fury with resto once or twice and you are never in any danger

[RedRover57]

Again YMMV, but for me the trade-off is between ranger and NB since RS is mandatory for the shadow shift for PvP (that has saved me so many times). Plus, as stated previously, with just 4 points invested in RS you get the "blink", a nice End buff that stacks with bard End buff, a good boost to AP (increased Cadence damage) and a decent armor buff if you keep up a 5 point Guarded Steel. You can't do much better for 4-5 points invested in a secondary soul.

With regard to ranger vs. NB, I leveled to 30 with 0 point ranger in beta and it was good but I decided that going deep into ranger post-30 was not going to be worth the points for me. NB gives you a good damage (and therefore healing) boost in all situations. My leveling speed really is not that much slower without the pet, but I don't attempt to speed level anyway. I suppose if you really want to rush to 50 by aoe grinding then ranger would be the way to go. As it is I think leveling is too fast and I find myself skipping too much content due to outleveling the area before I have finished everything.

So if you want a faster leveling build for speeding to 50 then ranger would be a good secondary soul choice. But if you want a versatile all-in-one build then full bard works fine for basically every situation.

Edit" Also i forgot to mention that the ghetto stealth you get with NB can be really handy. Particularly on a PvP server or if you want to bypass mobs. Another big factor that caused me to drop ranger for NB.

[GoldenArrow]

Solo bard builds are easymode but really uneffective.
I would avoid them at all costs unless you are new to games or keep constantly dieing with other builds.

[Arielle]

Solo bard builds are easymode but really uneffective.
I would avoid them at all costs unless you are new to games or keep constantly dieing with other builds.

I kind of accidentally did a hybrid Ranger/Bard build (with Marks as the 3rd soul, but not much in it) and find it to be really good for survival. When I swapped to a full Ranger build, I was dying a lot and not doing a whole ton more DPS, either.

Full support Bard probably isn't good for soloing and killing things fast, but if you can stand the pace, you'll really know the class when you get to endgame - is what I'm thinking.