In the following sections you will find some info regarding the role of a bard in certain
groups. Of course it depends on your play style and with who and at what level you are
playing together with others, so here you will find some general guide lines and hints for
certain situations but a lot simply comes from experience – as in critical situations you often
will have to act without a second thought.

Qeynos Aqueducts (level 3-16)
The Sewers of Qeynos – a labyrinth of tunnels and passages with 2 floors. Be careful with the
necro and SK guilds. As a bard, your starting race/class combination is disliked by them.
Their members are deadly and will kill you on sight. Consider everything when you´re new in
this zone as levels of different mobs vary a lot.
The Warrens (level 4-20)
Be careful when zoning in because you can easily walk into the wrong zone. In case you
entered – The Hole – go back to where you came from or you´ll be dead in no time. The
Warrens has two advantages. The mobs get stronger the deeper you go, so you can stay here
for quite a while and you receive faction with both Erudite cities. You also can get good
faction in Erudin and Paineel if you spend enough time here. As a bard, you’re KoS in Paineel
so you will need quite a bit of time to be able to go in safely.
Paludal Caverns (level 7-25)
A network of tunnels with widespread mobs. They are easy to pull. The best places to fight
are near the tunnel exits or in groups at the bandit camps. This zone has a very high
experience modifier, making it a good leveling ground that is still very popular. The only
drawback to the experience flow is that you tend to level too quickly for your skills to keep
up, which can make later fighting more difficult.
Kurn’s Tower (level 12-20)
The biggest advantage of this dungeon is the extremely short aggro ranges of the mobs. Early
on, you’ll want to stick to the first floor when soloing. Nearly all mobs on the first floor and
in the areas upstairs are undead, so forming a group with clerics, necromancers, or paladins
can be very effective. When the upstairs mobs become too easy, you can try killing in the
basement, which is full of Burynai. They can be several classes, including warriors, shamans,
necromancers, and shadow knights, so be very careful. A healing class is strongly
recommended for a basement group. If you drop down a hole in the lower part of the
basement, you will land in a network of tunnels and will have to fight your way to a zone out,
but the mobs down there give excellent experience.
Echo Caverns (level 15-20)
This dungeon has the advantage that it’s very small – it is easy to reach the zone fast when
having a problem. You can take much higher risks when pulling here. The best place to camp
is at the zone to Shadow Haven. The mobs often come in packs of two and have few HP´s.
Upper Guk (level 15-30)
The dungeon is near the ogre city and vast numbers of froglocks live there. The loot can be
good, but you need to be careful because it’s very easy to make a train. Work your way
through the dungeon as you advance level-wise. Around level 27+ you might want to team up
with someone for the Ancient Crocodile spawn. Another interesting camp is the scryer, which
is already an option in the mid-twenties – a partner might help here as well to break the spawn.
However, nowadays it can be a bit hard to find a partner here as it’s almost always empty.
Splitpaw Lair (level 35-40)
In some places the pathing of the mobs is very complicated which makes it difficult to fight
them. Most people do not hunt in the middle of the dungeon but rather the guards at the
entrance. Many mobs are dangerous spellcasters, keep an eye on them.
Lower Guk (level 35-55)
A famous zone because quite decent loot drops here. It is also a good choice for making
experience, especially with the dungeon experience bonus. For bards the darkelf illusion mask
dropping here is quite interesting. It allows you to enter evil aligned cities. Especially the
undead targets in this zone are a good source for experience. They can be found near the zone
in which makes it easy to escape if anything goes wrong.
Mines of Nurga (level 50-60)
The mines are rather dangerous because mobs that easily get aggro’d are never far. Since the
recent re-vamp the area is far more dangerous than before and you should be very careful if
you decide to adventure alone. Some mobs can HT up to 700 hp damage. Many spellcasters,
some nuke truely hard for up to 1k of damage.
Akheva Ruins (level 50-60)
One of the best dungeons for a solo bard. The entrance is a good spot to set camp. There is a
wandering mob once in a while, but you can see him coming from far away, so he’s not really
a danger. Some are spellcasters, necromancers, and will dot you. It’s not recommended you
go too far in alone as there are traps that will spawn mobs on you, making it especially easy to
make a train.
Old Sebilis (level 55-60)
As many other dungeons, the entrance is a good solo spot. There are several spawns you can
split easily. Just be careful, if you get a train you’ll be dead in no time. The exit is also a good
spot if you’re 60+, but there are many spawns and may be harder to split.

You slow down the enemy, give speed to yourself and then start attacking. A good 3rd song to
play is Shield of Songs or Nillipus’ March of the Wee. Some of the damage you receive will
be absorbed this way. Optionally, you can test mobs in very small rooms, regarding their
paths when they get feared – you are looking for those that start running towards a
wall/corner. Pathing gets changed from time to time so you have to test around a bit to find a
location where it works. During your downtime always play Hymn of Restoration. For
splitting a camp, use a lull song. You choose the strongest mob as a target and then lull the
others, since the song has the best chance to succeed on the weakest mobs. Be careful! The
song doesn´t neutralize the aggro but only lowers it a lot. You can still aggro the other mobs if
you touch them by getting too close or if you let your target touch the others (chain aggro).
So never run straight through them and stay away from the lulled mobs while you are still
fighting. You can stay solo in a dungeon all the way to 60. In the late 50’s the situation
improves a lot if you get your epic. Beyond 60, it’s much more efficient to group or solo in
Planes of Power zones and the like.

You slow down the enemy, give speed to yourself and then start attacking. A good 3rd song to
play is Shield of Songs or Nillipus’ March of the Wee. Some of the damage you receive will
be absorbed this way. Optionally, you can test mobs in very small rooms, regarding their
paths when they get feared – you are looking for those that start running towards a
wall/corner. Pathing gets changed from time to time so you have to test around a bit to find a
location where it works. During your downtime always play Hymn of Restoration. For
splitting a camp, use a lull song. You choose the strongest mob as a target and then lull the
others, since the song has the best chance to succeed on the weakest mobs. Be careful! The
song doesn´t neutralize the aggro but only lowers it a lot. You can still aggro the other mobs if
you touch them by getting too close or if you let your target touch the others (chain aggro).
So never run straight through them and stay away from the lulled mobs while you are still
fighting. You can stay solo in a dungeon all the way to 60. In the late 50’s the situation
improves a lot if you get your epic. Beyond 60, it’s much more efficient to group or solo in
Planes of Power zones and the like.

A list of songs you should have memorized while hunting in dungeons can be found here:
Shield of Songs and Nillipus’ March of the Wee: These songs absorb incoming damage,
making them handy for mobs that hurt.
Angstlich’s Assonance (Or an equivalent slow for lower levels): You should always slow
mobs. This will make your life much easier. Also, a warning about Angstlich’s Assonance in
particular: it has a DoT component, meaning it will break mez, so don’t use it if you think you
plan on mezing a mob to give yourself time to regen.
Jonthan’s Whistling Warsong: A self-only haste, AC, and strength buff – ideal for soloing.
The faster you attack, the more damage you do.
Battlecry of the Vah Shir (or other overhaste song appropriate to your level): This line of
songs makes you attack even faster! Beginning at level 52, the overhaste songs stack with all
other forms of haste and can exceed the haste cap.
Kazumi’s Note of Preservation: This song is very useful when you´ve pulled too many mobs
or you can´t kill something you´ve pulled. A pity that it’s only available from level 60 on.
Kelin’s Lucid Lullaby (Or an equivalent mez for higher levels): Useful for mezing mobs if
you get a bad pull or need to escape. Also, if you’re running low on health during a fight, you
can stop attacking and twist this song with Hymn of Restoration to regain your HP. This is a
particularly effective at higher levels, where mobs tend to deal lots of damage.
Hymn of Restoration: HP regeneration. This shortens downtime between fights.
Psalm of Mystic Shielding or Niv’s Melody of Preservation: Both of these songs increase
HP regeneration slightly. If you really want to regain HP quickly, twist one of them with
Hymn of Restoration. Both songs stack with with Hymn of Restoration, but they do not stack
with each other. In terms of HP regen, Niv’s is better than the Psalm.
Kelin’s Lugubrious Lament: Important for single pulling mobs. It will reduce the aggro
range of each mob (use your lute to improve the chance of success) and thus helps if mobs are
close to each other.

You should learn how to kill in dungeons because you get an experience bonus there and
receive far better items than in outdoor zones. Very often it’s a good way of getting some
extra experience and cash by fighting near the entrance of a dungeon, while you are waiting
for free spot in a group.

1.3.2. Spells
Level 39: Solon’s Bewitching Bravura (Charm)
Level 49: Selo’s Accelerating Chorus (run speed for 2 mins)
In case charming gets too easy or in case you want to speed things up you can throw in extra
DDs and DoTs. Although when trying the tactic out the first time things are a little confusing
if it comes to chosing the right targets, but with some practice it will become easier.
1.3.3. Strategies
There are two ways to charm kite
Single Charming
Charm one mob and let it attack another. Help your pet with DDs and DoTs
Area Charm Kiting (a.k.a. Swarm Kiting)
More risky but way more rewarding: Charm one mob and let it attack a bunch of other mobs
(up to 10). As your charmed mob gets low on health, use Shauri’s Sonorous Clouding or
another invis effect to break the charm. You can now chant kite that mob for a few ticks to
kill it. Then just charm another and repeat. If your swarm of mobs starts to thin out, you can
go find more and pull them into the fray. When you run low on mana (charm songs take
mana starting with the level 39 song), you can switch back to fearkiting or chant kiting.

1.3.4. Equipment
Charisma helps with charming, try to get as much as you can. Hitpoints and Armor Class are
of high importance as well in case you accidentally run into the mobs.
A very nice example of armor that helps with charm kiting are Sorrowsong boots (effect:
cinder bolt). Not only awesome for charm kiting. They drop in Cazic-Thule, but are extremely
rare. The effect is a 300 dmg DD and since bards are able to cast while running you will get to
love this extremely powerful effect.
Another extremely useful item for swarm kiting in particular is the Goblin Gazughi Ring,
which is a very rare drop off the Sarnak Courier in Lake of Ill Omen and has an instant right
click Invis vs. Animals effect that will break your charm quickly. The Courier is a random
pop near the windmill in the southeast corner of the zone. This ring is also rarely on sale in
the Bazaar since it is droppable.

2.1.2. Grouping

The perfect group setup depends on the hunting area and strategy. In most cases there is only
a limited choice of classes so you might have to vary the strategies described here to kill in
the most efficient way.

2.1.3. Zones

Levels: 1 – 4

Fight in the newbie zone of the city you are starting in. Nearly all mobs are between lvl 1 and
4 and you should have no problems advancing at the very beginning.  You can also kill the
rodents that roam your starting city.

Levels: 5 – 9

Befallen
A rather small dungeon with mostly undead mobs. A cleric or a necro would be perfect for the
group in here because they have the most powerful spells against them, also a cleric will be
able to cure the disease many mobs will proc on you. It’s quite a nice zone to obtain some
money and experience. The only disadvantage is that you need keys, which are dropped by
mobs in the zone, to advance to the next floor. Pick locks are a good idea in this place. Get
some training before you go there. However, it’s not advised to go past the 2nd floor or you
may have trouble. It’s extremely easy to make a train of spellcasters that will get you and your
partner dead in seconds with no chance of surviving.

Blackburrow
Here you can find weapons that are very useful for you at low levels if you don’t know
anyone who might help you out with a higher level char.  Be careful with some rare spawnes,
some of them are too strong for your group. Ask the mid lvl groups for some help in case you
get into trouble. Respawn is slow but nowawadays it’s almost empty, with the exception of
the occasional twink. Solo or duo recommended, mobs are pure melee (for the most part),
therefore very easy for their level.

Greater Faydark
Very good for hunting, since the orcs located here drop belts that can be turned in to gain
experience through quests in Kaladim. Also see exp quests – faction gained here can not only
help you to shop cheaper (useful at early levels) but also lets you access more quests in this
area.

Levels: 10 – 14

Butcherblock Mountains
The PoK book in the zone makes it easy to get there. The recommended hunting spot here is a
huge chessboard located at the end of the right zone wall (coming from Greater Faydark). The
king and the queen are rare spawns but haven’t got any special drops.  Necros and others
sometimes solo here, so striking up a duo with them can be very effective.  The only
drawback to grouping is that the respawn time at the chessboard is fairly slow.

Crushbone
You can get a lot of money for your lvl here by selling belts and legionnaire pads. There are
also some items that are quite useful for an untwinked bard.  The mobs mostly spawn close to
each other, so it makes sense to pull several at once when the zone isn’t overcamped, which
nowadays seems rare.

Field of Bone
This zone is a viable option because it has a PoK book.  The pit area near the center of the
zone is full of mobs that are ripe for the killing.  They tend to chain aggro, so use your Lull
song to your advantage.  A group can make killing a breeze, and the experience rivals that of
Crushbone.  The mobs become increasingly powerful as you move northward through the pit,
so be careful.  Also, since you aren’t an Iksar, stay far away from the road leading to Cabilis;
you will be KoS to the guards.

Levels: 15 – 19

East Karana
It’s a good zone to gain experience: few people hunt here and there is a wide variety of mobs.
Later on you will find the spiders around here to be a reliable source for making some extra
platinum since spider silk becomes more and more requested with trade skills getting involved
in many higher level quests (high level players pay up to 50pp for a stack of silks and 125pp
for a stack of swatches).

Unrest
There are mostly undead mobs. It would be wise to invite a paladin, cleric or necro to your
group. Some people claim that this is the central train station of EverQuest – the home of all
trains and future dead pullers – they learned it here from scratch.  In spite of the trains, it has a
very interesting background and thus is a nice place if you are out for more than just
experience and loot. The recommended place for groups is along the wall in the courtyard and
later on near the fountains – also some mobs might be light blue already, it is rather safe and
your puller will be able to zone anytime.

Highpass Hold
At the Kithicor zoneline there are enough orcs for one or two groups – good experience with a
chance of getting a weight reducing backpack. On the other side of the zone it’s the same
game with Gnolls – the Polished Granite Tomahawk (procs a damage-absorbing effect) is a
useful weapon that you can acquire on your own at this level. Nowadays you will be lucky to
find someone to group with here, like many other low level zones, it’s almost always
deserted.

With level 39 you receive your first long-duration charm song. Since there are no real
interesting areas for this strategy during that level, fear kiting will be a better option in most
cases. In general you should stick to fear kiting whenever there is a free spot and switch to
charm kiting in case you don’t find a proper fear kite spot.
1.3.1. Zones
There are only few zones where this way of leveling is really benefitting:
Timorous Deep
Around level 53/54 you can start charm kiting raptors and keep doing it till level 60. Due to
many quad kiters this spot is very crowded most of the time.
Maiden’s Eye (Luclin)
Starting at 55/56 you can start hunting here for Alternate Advancement points.
The best targets are Toilers and although you can charm skeletons you should be aware that
they hit really hard.
Plane of Nightmare (PoP)
At 55 and beyond, you can try the ravenous nightstalkers located north of the zone-in. Also,
once you get the level 64 charm song (Call of the Banshee), the hobgoblins become possible
targets for charm kiting. This is an excellent plat-farming method as well.
Qinimi, Ferubi, and Riwwi (GoD)
Any of these zones can make a good kiting spot, but a word of caution: mobs in GoD
tend to be very nasty. Nocs run very fast and have a powerful DD and DoT proc called Chaos
Claws. Ukuns can cast a snare effect on you. Mastruqs can bellow a warcry that deals DoT
damage. Be sure to get a feel for the area before you start kiting, and stay near zonelines
when possible.

2. Groups

In the following sections you will find some info regarding the role of a bard in certain
groups. Of course it depends on your play style and with who and at what level you are
playing together with others, so here you will find some general guide lines and hints for
certain situations but a lot simply comes from experience – as in critical situations you often
will have to act without a second thought.

2.1. Groups in general

The bard is the perfect character for any group. He is able to replace nearly any other class to
a certain degree. He can increase the speed of the casters’ mana regeneration and improve
attack speed, strength and armor class of the tanks. Often a bard is requested to replace an
enchanter in a group. He is very important on most raids, since many songs, like Elemental
Chorus or Purifying Chorus, prove quite helpful in many encounters. At lvl 55 bards get
Occlusion of Sound, which lowers the resists of the target. Without this song, slowing on
raids would be a pain in the a…err, back.
When leveling in PoP and beyond, bards initially lose most of their ability to do crowd
control, due to the level limit on their mez and charm songs. In exchange, they become
excellent pullers thanks to Silent Song of Quellious and the Fading Memories AA.

During your downtime
At level 6 you receive Hymn of Restoration, your first HP regen song, which should be your
default choice during downtime until your group members are back to full health. At lvl 20
you get Cassindra’s Chant of Clarity – the first version of “the mana song” – a very effective
way of speeding up your healers’ mana regeneration.  I recommend always twisting your heal
and mana songs (at least till as long as not everyone has full hp) until you get the level 34
Cantata of Soothing, which does both at once.

During the fight
Turn off all your songs during an incoming, otherwise you will aggro the mobs too soon and
won’t be as effective during the battle.  In case you lack an Enchanter, though, start off right
away trying to mez any adds.  If your group has many melees, you should stick to haste songs
and other buffs during battle.  This means a huge overall power increase.  If your group has
many casters, then a mana song and debuffing the mobs’ resistances can be very helpful.  If
you have an even balance of both, then compromise and try to help everyone at once.

2.1.1. Level

A bard is a useful group member from the low levels on, due to his strength, dexterity and
agility song, though it doesn’t make sense to team up till lvl 7.  Before then, gaining
experience would take much longer in a group than solo. The lvl 6 heal song makes the bard a
famous addition for low level groups. The lvl 10 song is an expansion of the lvl 1 song that
doesn’t give strength and AC, but haste instead. With lvl 20 every bard should be in heaven -
the first mana song!  Now it’s even easier for you to find a group. Snare and Slow become
available at lvl 23 and complete the all-round image. Level 32 gives you the 2nd manasong,
and 2 levels later you get a song that regenerates not only mana but hitpoints as well. From lvl
36 on you get a better haste song that you use until level 42. Then you get a haste song with
the same attack increase, but it adds strength instead of agility, which is much more important
- 17 -

for most melee fighters. Lvl 49 gives you a run speed song that lasts for 150 seconds. Lvl 60
is the real highlight. A new slow and a new overhaste song! The overhaste song is a drop from
Luclin mobs, so check the Bazaar for it as soon as possible. But until you get there you have a
slightly weaker level 52 song – also dropped, but easier to get.