VelvetWinter wrote:
So order your pet to engage someone else before singing the chord. Then it's distracted.
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This.
Also, bards have no excuse not to be buffed. No excuse whatsoever. They have a skill that gives them access to just about ever buff in the game, and have the skills/songs to get enough favors from any sorc/priest to get the scrolls or vials necessary for any other buffs they can't get on their own.
A bard in stance defensive, fully buffed, dancing, with songs of sleep going is very, very hard to hit. When they do get hit, it's going to hurt, a LOT, but they have a great chance of dodging, or deflecting, most of the hits that come in on them. For example:
Zellidon wrote:
I once saw Tyna tank 9 bronze dragons
I didn't just charge in, naked or in unenchanted gear, unbuffed, and shooting from the hip. Bards rank up amongst the highest prep-intensive classes in the game, and some of the most complicated to play effectively in the hugely diverse number of circumstances a bard is useful. I think my buff list during this encounter was something like 12-14 lines long, and my gear was hardly sub-par. Even then, I didn't last more than four rounds before I had to tumble out behind another group member and pick up songs of sleep again and soak a few heals (and to be fair, I think only about 6 of the 9 were focused on me during that time).
Kin, bards are hard to play. The number and intensity of tweaks you're looking for is unreasonable. They don't need that much. What they do need is a lot of time, preparation, and effort, and some key relationship-building skills to keep that level of prep on their person at all times.