Bard

Songs, dances and spoken abilities for party support and disruption.

Bards support a party with songs, dances and spoken abilities. A song and a dance can run together, while other skills are used as their cooldowns allow. Their effects include harder attacks, less damage taken and disrupted enemies.

The bard's instrument is a weapon only while a song is playing. Use instrument to summon it; its form changes with the song. A song costs SP every round while someone in your party in the room is fighting, so that cost runs alongside every other ability. When nobody is fighting, a song stays up for free.

Joining#

Bard is a remort class. A Rogue can be reborn as a Bard at level 1: at level 100 as a full remort, or from level 50 as a half remort, which gives none of the remort bonuses. The rebirth costs 4 remort points and needs the Bards' audition and an invitation from the Bards, which you take with accept. The audition is not yet available, so this route is closed for now. remort bard shows what you still need, and Remorting explains the rest.

The guild's Foyer is beside the Amphitheatre in Aurin. compass set bard points your compass there, and travel walks the route. In the Foyer, inquire gives the guild's requirements.

A new bard is given an instrument and a Box of Tricks. look box lists your active buffs and how long each has left. Out of combat, rummage box restores a fifth of your maximum SP and EP, once every thirty minutes.

How a bard plays#

A dance, a song and spoken abilities can all be used together. Each has its own cost and limit.

Layer	Command	How many at once	Cost
Dance	`dance <name>`	One	SP once, then held for as long as you like
Song	The song's own command	One, or two from level 54	SP every round, and nothing while nobody in your party is fighting
Words	The skill's own command	Any, as cooldowns allow	SP, EP or nothing, once

scales plays the instrument at no SP cost and with no party effect. It starts by itself when you attack with a silent instrument. Another song can replace Scales directly. To change from any other song, stop it first by repeating its command or using play stop.

From level 54, fanplay hands your song to your fan, who keeps it going at reduced strength while you start another.

What a bard does for a party#

Battle Hymn raises both weapon and skill damage. The table compares it with the other party effects at several levels, before the Virtuoso passive.

Level	Battle Hymn, everything the party deals	Dance of Valor, hit and critical points	Hype, one ally, on top	Incite, swings each ally in 45s	Dissonance, what foes deal	Dance of the Line, what the party takes
10	+12%	Not yet	+8%	Not yet	-15%	Not yet
20	+14%	Not yet	+9%	5	-17%	Not yet
30	+16%	+5, +6	+9%	6	-18%	-15%
40	+18%	+6, +7	+10%	7	-20%	-17%
50	+20%	+7, +8	+11%	8	-21%	-19%
60	+22%	+8, +9	+12%	10	-23%	-21%
100	+30%	+12, +15	+15%	15	-30%	-30%

For damage, Battle Hymn and Dance of Valor run together, with Hype on one ally and Incite on its own cooldown. Dissonance and Dance of the Line are the defensive pair. Soothe and Dance of Grace heal; March and Jig restore SP and EP. Double Time and From the Top work on the party's cooldowns. All of them compete with the SP that keeps the current song going.

Fighting alone, and tanking#

Juggle and Battle Hymn support the bard's own attacks, and spoken abilities add damage between instrument strikes. Dance of Seduction, at level 55, makes your songs, words and tricks deal a quarter more.

For defense, Dance of Evasion gives a chance to avoid attacks and spells; bleeds, burns and poisons still land. Mockery draws a target's attention, and Dance of Defiance combines evasion with threat. These use the song and dance slots that might otherwise support the party. Bards can wear mail, leather and cloth, but a tanking bard still depends on how hard the enemy hits, the SP left and the rest of the group.

Passives#

Applause is always on and takes no slot: when a foe dies in the room while you have a song playing, you get 3% of your maximum SP back, rising to 6% at level 100. The eight passives below share the two slots managed with passives.

Level	Passive	What it does
10	Perfect Pitch	Your played instrument deals 10% more damage, 20% at level 100, and hits a little more often.
20	Crowd Pleaser	Heals from your songs and words are 15% stronger, 30% at level 100.
30	Showmanship	Songs cost 25% less SP a round, 50% at level 100.
40	Strong Lungs	Your buffs and debuffs last 20% longer, 40% at level 100.
50	Stage Presence	In Dance of Evasion and Dance of Defiance you dodge 5% more often, 10% at level 100, and every taunt draws half as much threat again.
60	Second Fiddle	Your fan deals half as much again and has half as much health again, and a song you hand it plays at 85% of its strength instead of 60%.
70	Standing Ovation	When a foe dies in the room with your song playing, everyone else in your party there gets 3% of their SP and EP back.
80	Virtuoso	Battle Hymn, Hype, Crescendo, Clarion, Dissonance and the Dances of the Line, Valor and Grace are 15% stronger, 30% at level 100.

Talents#

You gain a talent point every ten levels, ten in all, spent with talents spend <tree>. The bard's trees are Performance, Trickster, Inspiration and Lore, shown against each skill below. Each point in a tree makes that tree's skills hit, heal and tick 2% harder and come back 2% sooner. Points in Performance also strengthen your instrument's blows.

Skills#

One new skill arrives at each level from 1 to 60. Type powers to see yours and help <skill> for any one of them.

Level	Skill	Tree	Command	Cost	Cooldown	What it does
1	Scales	Performance	`scales`	Free	None	Run scales on your instrument at no cost. It does nothing else: while any song plays, your instrument strikes with sonic force at your level, and Scales is the free way to keep one playing. Any other song takes over from it, and `play stop` ends it.
2	Cutting Remark	Trickster	`cuttingremark`	5 SP	8s	A spoken insult for psychic damage. It needs no instrument and shares its cooldown with Mockery.
3	Instrument	Performance	`instrument`	Free	None	Your bound instrument. You are given one when you join; it cannot be dropped, sold or stolen, never wears down and stays with you at death. From this level it takes any of eight forms when you ask, or by itself when a skill needs one. `instrument check` shows what it strikes for.
4	Hype	Inspiration	`hype`	8 SP	30s	Talk up yourself or one party member in the room, who deals more damage with weapons and skills for 30 seconds.
5	Bullseye	Trickster	`bullseye`	8 SP	10s	After a short wind-up, pull a rusty weapon out of your Box of Tricks and throw it. An old axe chops, a serrated knife cuts and a bent spear pierces.
6	Mockery	Trickster	`mockery`	8 SP	8s	A withering insult for psychic damage and heavy threat. It turns the foe on you, and a foe not yet fighting you charges in off balance.
7	Dissonance	Performance	`dissonance`	1 to 7 SP a round	None	A grating, off-key accompaniment that cuts the damage every foe in the fight deals, for as long as you keep playing.
8	Shake it Off	Inspiration	`shakeitoff`	10 SP	45s	Heal yourself or an ally for a quarter of their maximum health at once. Encouraging Word resets its cooldown.
9	Dance of Evasion	Trickster	`dance evasion`	15 SP	None	A stance that gives a chance to dodge attacks and spells outright. Bleeds, burns and poisons cannot be dodged.
10	Battle Hymn	Inspiration	`hymn`	1 to 6 SP a round	None	For as long as you keep playing, everything your party in the room deals, weapon or skill, lands harder. Played on a trumpet.
11	Juggle	Trickster	`juggle`	1 to 8 SP a round	None	Keep props in the air and throw one at your foe every round. It keeps your instrument singing, draws hidden foes out with the crowd's applause, and needs no instrument in hand.
12	Perform	Lore	`perform`	6 EP	None	Write a performance in an editor and deliver it to the room under a banner with your name. In an inn, a public lounge or the Amphitheatre with someone else listening, the crowd sometimes tips, a few times a day at most.
13	Wicked Burn	Trickster	`wickedburn`	15 SP	12s	An insult so scathing that the target takes psychic damage and bursts into flame, burning for five rounds.
14	Tiptoe	Lore	`tiptoe`	6 EP	1m	Your arrivals and departures go unnoticed until you use it again to move openly. It cannot be started in combat.
15	Soothe	Inspiration	`soothe`	1 to 8 SP a round	None	Heals every member of your party in the room each round for as long as you keep playing. Played on a harp.
16	Lore	Lore	`lore`	8 EP	None	Read an item as fully as a mage's identify. Creatures follow at level 30 and the area around you (`lore here`) at level 50.
17	Incite	Inspiration	`incite`	40 SP, or 20 for one ally	45s	On their next round, everyone in the party with a weapon in hand strikes a burst of blows, 5 at level 17 rising to 15 at level 100, and the threat is theirs. Name one ally for half the SP. Beaten out on a drum.
18	Fan	Performance	`fan`	25 SP	45s	Call an adoring fan out of the crowd to follow you and fight your enemies. It can also sell loot, deliver items to other players and bank your coins.
19	Fire Juggler	Trickster	`firejuggler`	15 SP	20s	Send lit torches round a foe in a juggler's arc. They circle it for a while, burning it every round.
20	Heckle	Trickster	`heckle`	20 SP	1m	A jeer timed to a foe's casting. A creature loses its lines and can only swing for a few seconds; a player who is casting is interrupted and left speechless. If the target is not casting, the heckle costs nothing.
21	Dance of Valor	Inspiration	`dance valor`	40 SP	None	Every member of your party in the room hits more often and lands more critical blows.
22	Peek	Lore	`peek`	5 SP	6s	Look into the next room, at its description and whoever is there, without entering or being seen.
23	Lullaby	Trickster	`lullaby`	20 SP	30s	Puts one foe to sleep until it is struck or the tune wears off. Bosses, and foes more than 10 levels above you, stay awake. Played on a lute.
24	Jig	Inspiration	`jig`	1 to 4 SP a round	None	Your party in the room gets stamina back every round for as long as you keep playing, and recovers faster between fights. Played on a tambourine.
25	Whack-a-Mole	Trickster	`whackamole`	20 SP	30s	Set fire to a mole and send it at a foe, where it explodes over everything near it. Out of a fight, `whackamole bury` leaves the mole waiting for the first foe to enter the room.
26	Palm	Lore	`palm`, `slip`	Free	4s	Sleight of hand. `palm` lifts a small thing off the floor unseen; `slip` puts one down or into someone's hand without anyone seeing.
27	Witty Comeback	Trickster	`wittycomeback`	Free	10s	Just after an enemy lands a critical hit on you or an ally in the room, fire back a retort that deals psychic damage, twice your level before your bard bonuses and Charisma.
28	Recite	Lore	`recite`	5 EP	None	Your song book: write short performances into numbered slots and recite them to the room. You start with one slot; the Recite upgrades below add the rest.
29	Craft Prop	Lore	`craftprop`	12 EP	10s	Make a stage prop of any object you describe. It gives itself away when picked up and falls apart after a while, but Prop Drop has a use for it.
30	Dance of the Line	Performance	`dance line`	30 SP	None	Every member of your party in the room takes less damage. This is the dance a tank wants behind them.
31	Swarm	Trickster	`swarm`	25 SP	30s	A swarm of bees comes down on one foe. It loses rounds, misses far more often and is stung every round. Played on a harp.
32	Just Dance	Trickster	`justdance`	25 SP	18s	Roots the target where it stands for a few seconds.
33	March	Performance	`march`	1 to 3 SP a round	None	Restores a lot of your own SP and a little of your party's every round. Beaten out on a drum.
34	Costume	Lore	`costume`	10 EP	15s	Pass for a stranger of the gender and race you choose. Nobody can find you by your own name until it wears off. It changes how you look and nothing else.
35	Resonate	Performance	`resonate`	30 SP	20s	Lock a vibration onto one foe: sonic damage every round for 20 seconds, and heavy threat.
36	Dirge	Performance	`dirge`	1 to 7 SP a round	None	A slow drumbeat that makes every foe in the fight swing less often and tire, for as long as you keep playing. Beaten out on a drum.
37	Dance of Defiance	Trickster	`dance defiance`	35 SP	None	Dance of Evasion that also pulls the fight's attention onto you with every dodge. This is the bard's tanking stance.
38	Fiddlebow	Performance	`fiddlebow`	40 SP	45s	Your fiddle bow leaves your hand and flies round the room for a few rounds, stabbing whatever is fighting you. Played on a fiddle.
39	Limelight	Lore	`limelight`	25 SP	25s	Flood the room with light or plunge it into darkness until it fades back. `limelight fog` fills the room with colored stage fog for 25 seconds, hiding everyone in it and making every blow a guess.
40	Prop Drop	Trickster	`propdrop`	30 EP	1m	Plant one of your props on a foe or a friend. Later, from anywhere, `propdrop` makes it weigh what the real thing would, and they cannot move until it falls apart.
41	Dance of Grace	Inspiration	`dance grace`	50 SP	None	No protection of its own: it lays a steady heal over the party and strengthens every heal they receive.
42	Intermission	Trickster	`intermission`	1 to 16 SP a round	1m	Every foe in the fight falls silent for five rounds, and no creature can use a special attack until it ends.
43	Earworm	Trickster	`earworm`	25 SP	15s	A catchy hook stuck in a foe's head: heavy threat, a small psychic sting, and a tune that hums a hidden foe out of stealth.
44	Fear	Trickster	`fear`	25 SP	15s	One foe breaks and flees for a few seconds, a little longer as you level. It deals no damage.
45	Clarion	Inspiration	`clarion`	30 SP	30s	For a while, fire, cold, lightning, water, acid and magic all land much harder on the target, from anyone. Played on a trumpet.
46	Lament	Performance	`lament`	30 SP	20s	Heavy psychic damage, and the foe can hardly see to swing. Played on a fiddle.
47	Charm	Lore	`charm`	20 SP	12s	Talk an NPC into a small harmless act: a bow, a wave, a line of speech. Out of combat only, and never on a player.
48	Stranglehold	Trickster	`fan strangle`	40 SP	1m	Your fan gets both arms round a foe's neck, pinning and throttling it for a few rounds. Now and then the fan dies for it.
49	Encouraging Word	Inspiration	`encouragingword`	Free	8s	Just after an enemy lands a critical hit on you or an ally in the room, heal the one it struck for a fifth of their maximum health and reset Shake it Off.
50	Double Time	Inspiration	`doubletime`	1 to 14 SP a round	30s	Halves every cooldown for the whole party while you keep playing. Beaten out on a drum.
51	Reprise	Inspiration	`reprise`	40 SP	1m	The longest cooldown one ally is waiting on comes back at once. It never returns From the Top, Reprise or anything with a cooldown over five minutes.
52	Seduce the Dragon	Trickster	`seducethedragon`	60 SP	2m	If it takes, the foe stops fighting you and turns on its friends for a while, and when the song ends it wanders off with the fight forgotten. Bosses are not fooled. Played on a mandolin.
53	Eavesdrop	Lore	`eavesdrop`	30 SP	10s	Hear the conversation in the next room for a while without going in.
54	Fanplay	Performance	`fanplay`	20 SP	1m	Hand your current song to your fan, who keeps it going at 60% of its strength for three quarters of its SP, while you start another.
55	Dance of Seduction	Performance	`dance seduction`	50 SP	None	A dance for a solo act: your songs, words and tricks deal a quarter more damage, and your charms take more often.
56	Crescendo	Inspiration	`crescendo`	1 to 30 SP a round	1m 30s	Five rounds of building music: your party's damage climbs every round, and the last chord strikes every foe in the fight.
57	From the Top	Inspiration	`fromthetop`	150 SP	10m	Every cooldown you and your party in the room are waiting on is reset, except From the Top itself.
58	Orpheus	Performance	`orpheus`	80 SP	2m	Every beast in the room lies down, and wind and weather strike everything else in the fight. Bosses are struck but never calmed. Played on a flute.
59	Ventriloquist	Lore	`ventriloquist`	20 SP	10s	Throw your voice so the room hears words in another character's name.
60	Wail	Performance	`wail`	100 SP	30s	After a 6 second wind-up, scream at everything in the room that your area skills do not spare. It starts a fight. The damage is half sonic and half psychic, deafens everything it hits and stuns on a critical shriek. An interrupt during the wind-up stops it.

Upgrades#

These improve a skill you already have. They are learned at their level, need no command and take no passive slot.

Level	Upgrade	What it adds
30	Lore II	Lore reads creatures.
30 to 92	Recite II to IX	A new song book slot at each of levels 30, 33, 36, 47, 63, 69, 83 and 92, nine slots in all.
35	Shake it Off II	Shake it Off heals a third of maximum health instead of a quarter, and heals your whole party in the room while you hold Dance of the Line.
40	Juggle II	A thrown prop sometimes staggers the foe it hits.
50	Lore III	Lore reads the area around you.
55	Juggle III	Props hit harder, and sometimes a second follows the first.
55	Shake it Off III	Shake it Off also removes every debuff from its target, including bleeds, stuns and roots.
57	Encore	From the Top also gives the party a short burst of accuracy and critical strike.

The guild#

The Bards Guild is beside the Amphitheatre in Aurin. Lyana teaches in the Training Hall east of the Foyer and hands out your guild's story a chapter at a time, from your first note to Valdris Manor. Members can type backstage in the Foyer to go behind the curtain. The Green Room there mends you faster than resting does, and Corin Vael in the Rehearsal Room also gives out chapters and takes them back. The Score Library keeps a song book shared by the whole guild, Ione Sable sets up your instrument once a day at the Luthier's Bench, and the Wardrobe changes your costume for free. help bardguild has the full map.

Bard skills use no supplies; their only costs are the SP and EP listed above.