Question - Bard for CC with sk and shammy

[Goose_Herder]

Hi all,

Wanted to get some opinions on using a bard for CC with the above 2 classes. Keep hearing sk/shm/brd is super strong so after a few years away i'm coming back and considering the above combo.

For info I mained a sk for a lot of years, raided with him etc and am comfortable playing one, probably above average skill level, not terrible but nowhere near the best played ones, heh.

I'll be playing on FV, that's where my main is, currently level 105 and last expansion I was messing about with was EoK. I was boxing 3 at that point (no mq, all manual) the aforementioned SK, a 105 druid and a 105 bard, with healer/dps mercs depending in what I was doing. Did pretty well and enjoyed the combo, but always had a lack of CC, although I didn't really CC with the bard.

Got my feet wet with MQ when i rolled up a group on Rizlona, ended up playing 24 over there and had a blast, so am comfortable with MQ now and will be running modbot for the shammy and bard, so will be getting much more out of the bard this time round, but will he be enough for CC duties? always had an enc and bard in my main group on Riz where the enc did all the cc work, plus was only level 75 when i stopped playing there and am not sure if bards get any better cc tools at later levels.

I do have either a 87 enc and 95 mag on FV i could add to the group, leaning more towards the mag atm for dps, but having auto cc is so nice.

Guess best answer is to try all combos out to see what works, been very casual at the mo though so not loads of time to experiment

Any insights or tips would be great!

 

[Wlaten]

I assume you're just sticking with 3 boxing? In which case I'd strongly suggest doing the golden set up of Sk/Shm/brd. There isn't much group content you won't be able to do.

I ran Sk/shm/mnk/brd and never had any issues with CC

 

[Tommythekat]

Bard is awesome, perfect addition for the sk/sham. adps, crowd control and selo, double invis is very nice to have

 

[Darkwynd3]

Bard’s are awesome, although the way the game is now, with a few exceptions CC, isn’t even needed once your tank is geared if you’re running an SK. I think you’ll find overwhelming support for the bard.

I did run a team for a bit with a Druid healer and a warrior that was a caster group with an enc. The CC happened a little faster which was nice with the weaker healing and lack of self healing.

Bards are more than adequate since you’ll eventually get to a gear threshold where your Sk can tank 3+ at a time anyway and CC becomes unnecessary. The chanter shines in the instances where your gear is weaker or the exceptionally few places anymore where you see pulls bigger than 3 mobs.

 

[Mikey02]

You’re just delaying the inevitable. May as well work on filling out the rest of your group now. While you’re low lvl, it’s easier to get new toons caught up.

Echoing everyone else, thank/shm/brd is the holy trinity for an effective group.

 

[hackzimus]

Bards work just fine CC wise, enchanters are ahead by quite a margin but they don't offer the adps a bard otherwise would.

You can't go wrong either way

 

[an_image]

You’re just delaying the inevitable. May as well work on filling out the rest of your group now. While you’re low lvl, it’s easier to get new toons caught up.

Echoing everyone else, thank/shm/brd is the holy trinity for an effective group.

@Mikey02 Nah best combo IMO...tank/2x dps of your choice/brd/enc/cleric - because it just works, forget adps and dps...killing that group once well equipped is hard as fuck...will dps be a tad lower? sure...but only if you pick the wrong dps classes...you can go rog/zerk and be super solid. or 2x mage...etc...just depends how obvious you want to be when out and about...

 

[zarroth]

As alluded to, though not explicitly stated above, the game is pretty much completely trivialized as far as the CC aspect and has been for over a decade at this point. You don't even need it these days.

There are a lot of people that also say you NEED full augs/gear/etc as a tank. I've found the game gets trivialized as soon as your tank is about 2/3 slotted up with current gear, even without any augs at all. Talking specifically about group gear since I don't raid these days.

 

[Goose_Herder]

Thanks for the advice guys, sounds like i'm over thinking the CC aspect, so will stick with the bard. Gonna add in the mage too though as never really done much with one, apart from cothing other chars, hehe

Gonna try and stick to 4, if i keep adding more, gonna end up with 24 again and don't have time for that madness these days

Good chance I'll end up with 2 or 3 on Fangbreaker when that drops in May too

 

[rfmeier]

I am running with the same base setup (SK, Sham, Bard) currently all at level 90 and the bard can handle it. He even takes some swings at the current target when mezzing.

My KA bard is far better as mezzing than I was when I played one......

 

[98bcobra]

I use a bard in my group. It handles CC fine especially after you get AE mez. Bards are also great for pulling and offer a ton of boost to a group plus solid dps and Selos!

 

[delfnec]

I will try sk+shm with no bard this year.
I think it should be ok after I get my sk raid geared.

 

[afortner87]

Sk,bard,and shaman are a great combo. I would recommend RGmercs or the cwtn plugins for all the classes it might be easier than modbot idk. If you do that throw in 3 wizards too and your group is gonna be Duke nukem haha

 

[Goose_Herder]

I've used modbot for most of my MQ career on Riz playing 24 with it, is awesome for what I'm after, I do write code for work so I enjoy tinkering with it, nearly as much as actually playing EQ. Have used cwtn plugins too before. They're good no doubt but abstract away all the fun (for me) parts of optimising a character yourself.

Still planning on sticking with 3 though!

 

[edsarto]

SK/SHM/BRD but you wont need him as crowd control you have an SK! With shammy slows the bard should be DPS with songs the SK loves.

 

[Nunyo]

I like a Cleric in the group. It has one-dimensional gameplay, and it is dang good at it too. Let's you focus on your other characters to develop and fine tune. Also, Clerics need very few AAs to actually be useful. I buy a couple lines of AA in the focus tab, and then I feel like I'm finished.

The tradeoff is DPS but your tank can play above its ability.

Also, enchanter > bard in my opinion.

 

[Canddyman]

All the SK love in here. Use a pally for group tanking, wont need the cleric buffs can go straight to bst for more dps and buffs. Also pal rez is amazing. Having a tank that can heal is amazing and stunned mobs dont really attack.