Question - Any way to get the Bard to mez like a pro similar to Ench?

[Mythaniel]

I'd reeeaaallly love to have a bard instead of an Enchanter on my team. The biggest issue is mez though, for some reason it just doesn't work as smoothly. The enchanter has the adds locked down before they even reach the camp and the Bard sometimes decides to mez and always lets mez's expire before remezzing.

Is this just a known item and Ench will always be superior?

 

[william12]

ench mez last longer and is more reliable.

 

[Casca]

You can try increasing the mez radius.

 

[ChatWithThisName]

Bard AoE mez: Recast Time == Duration

If using AoE mez, the mez -will- break before you can even start recasting it. There is nothing that can be done for that.

Bard targeted Mez: Bard targeted mez requires the same effort that twisting songs do, however you must continuously re-target the mobs in a loop while twisting the song. This means that you aren't meleeing, this means that you only twist a limited number of additional songs in conjunction with the mez song based on the number of targets requiring a mez. Thus the bard is not suited for such things and remain useful for the other things they are useful for. It is possible to mesmerize 1-2 targets while engaged in combat and still be able to put 1-2 additional combat related songs into the mix without the mez failing. However, if you obtain additional targets beyond 3 the manageability goes down.

 

[surfdog21]

I like enchanter AND bard in group. You may too... nice to have bard when additional aoe mez is needed when shit hits the fan-like 5 or more mobs inc... i only use bard mez then, rest of the time he is utility

 

[LorDeth]

Mythaniel Yeah, I definitely get the feeling of not wanting a chanter if you have a melee group going.. A shammy or even another melee toon (ZERK!!) cries out as a better fit..

But, yeah, chanter just owns the mez role better.. That being said, I've done fine without a chanter.. but bard does stay busy when adds in camp and on mez duty..

Try increasing mez radius to 200, thats the max range that bard's mez spells reach.. The mobs move in so fast i never find he's mezzing stuff miles away anyway..

 

[Sum1]

If using AoE mez, the mez -will- break before you can even start recasting it. There is nothing that can be done for that.

Not entirely true. There IS something you can do about it.

There is an activated AA bards get called "Tune Stuck in Your Head." If you activate that AA and THEN cast AOE mezz, it will extend the duration of the AOE mezz by at least one full 6 second tick, which in turn, allows you to recast before it fades and the mobs get loose.

That is honestly the best use of the AA that I've found. The other is if you REALLY want to maintain another song or two in your raid lineup during a dps burn.

 

[ChatWithThisName]

I'll keep that in mind for the bard mez routine :-)

 

[shadowfall]

yeah bard mez routine needs looked at ChatWithThisName as it sits now it will cast ae mez then go thru and single target mez everything right after which keeps songs down and lowers group dps there dont seem to be a check if target is mezed or how long left on timer ect. i find that as long as i have ae and single target mez in ini mobs get locked down but lose adps.

 

[ChatWithThisName]

That would be a message for @ctaylor22 as I don't handle the code in kissassist. Just something I wanted to keep in mind for when I can get a chance to work on devbots again. Devbots do the same thing as of right now. Sadly that is the nature of the beast for the time being. AEMez uses mana and does have a bit of a recast issue. to arbitrarily use an AA without in somehow being implemented into an INI option would be bad form for the coders, so likely a change like that would need an INI entry generated. Additionally, the point of continued mezing with single target mez is in the event of a failed mez attempt with AOE mez, it's not very easy to conduct testing for if it landed or not. AoE Mez would certainly put an immediate stop to a large portion of mobs but the follow up by a bard should be what maintains the mez. Yes, that is no bueno for the DPS aspect of things. But the alternative is to have things running a muck inside the camp while you twist combat songs in the event the AoE doesn't land. Plus, I haven't checked, but there is also a matter of a recast timer for A Tune Stuck In Your Head which needs to be taken into account. I don't really play all that much. I do have a level 93 bard. But I imagine that is where it will be for a while. All the same, it's a good mental note to take into consideration moving forward. I do have an offer on the table to get my main power leveled to 105 for free were I to purchase EOK for him, though I haven't decided at this point. Perhaps I will, not sure.

I'm not entirely certain what the mez detection for KissAssist.mac looks like. I know that dev's bots uses a combination of mob animations, existing debuff with their timers, and of course the elusive it's kicking me in the head clearly not mezed issues.

                /call MezTimerCheck ${vID}
		/if (${Macro.Return.Equal[FALSE]}) {
			/varset retValue FALSE
		} else /if (${Spawn[${vID}].Moving}) {
			/call EchoLog "${Spawn[${vID}].CleanName} | ${vID} does not seem to be mezzed because it's moving" TRUE
			/varset retValue FALSE
		} else 	/if (!${Select[${Spawn[${vID}].Animation}, 26, 32, 71, 72, 110, 111]}) {
			/call EchoLog "${Spawn[${vID}].CleanName} | ${vID} does not seem to be mezzed based on it's animation" TRUE
			/varset retValue FALSE
		} else {
			/call timer inspect ${vID} NULL NULL
			/if (${Me.LAInspectBuffs} && ${Macro.Return.Equal[FALSE]} && !${Me.Combat}) {
				/squelch /target ID ${vID}
				/delay 1s ${Target.ID}==${vID}
				/delay 2s ${Target.BuffCount}
				/call timer inspect ${vID} 30s NULL
				/if (${Target.Buff[${mezSong}].ID} && ${Target.Buff[${mezSong}].Duration.TotalSeconds} > 5) {
					/varset retValue TRUE
				} else {
					/call EchoLog "${Spawn[${vID}].CleanName} | ${vID} does not seem to be mezzed based on it's buff list using leadership ability inspect buffs" TRUE
					/varset retValue FALSE
				}
			}
		}

 

[Maskoi]

Mez is fucking mez. If a bard is mezzing group DPS is irrelevant. Keeping the mobs locked down is the priority.
Kiss mez ,bard and ench, is always over mezzing that is the way it was designed. So you have to fight an extra minute who cares.
Fuck with the mez routines and you will wipe. We have hardly changed them in 7 years because they work.