[Guide - 3.0] Volorin's Bard Leveling Guide!

[volarin]

Welcome to the Bard leveling guide!
This Guide will cover and inform you on how to successfully level your Bard through the harsh and dangerous world of Sarunat!
Lets get this started, shall we?

Table of Contents
1. What is the traditional Bard?
2. What is a Bard in Allods Online?
3. Spell types
4. What roles does a Bard take on?
5. Valuable stats to a Bard
6. World Mystery Abilities
7. Talent Tree Spells & Abilities
8a. Ruby Grid Spells & Abilities - Dissonance Grid
8b. Ruby Grid Spells & Abilities - Elegy Grid
8c. Ruby Grid spells & Abilities - Acoustic Barrier Grid
9. Leveling Build Progressions
10. FAQ
11. Contributors

[volarin]

1. What is the Traditional Bard
In the olden times, Bards were amazing Instrumental players.
They would roam the streets telling their stories of love, adventure, comfort, danger, and historical events with their soothing music.
They were very often sot after by the more ruling classes to play their music at frequent events that the king or queen would have.
Some believed that a Bard's music would heal the grave injured soldiers.
Other believed that Bard's were a scam.
Regardless, Bards believed in their love of Music, and through it, could tell a story of great agony, or of great love.

[volarin]

2. What is a Bard in Allods Online
Bards in Allods Online are a newly added class upon the patch of 3.0, Game of Gods.
Bards are a instrumental class that uses Energy as our base for all of ours Spells & Abilities.

Armor & Weapons
The only piece of armor that Bards can wear is Leather.
This is because if Bards were a Mana user, then that would be 3 classes after Caster Leather gear, and we can't have that.
Anywho, from level 1 to level 51, we use Leather armor; so I suggest you get used to that padded cow skin. *I made a joke. I'm funny

The weapons us Bards can use varies. The different types of weapons we use are:
- Swords
- Daggers
- Axes
- Maces
- Spears
- Off-hands
- Wands
Quite the selection, right?
However, I am deeply sorry to have to inform you guys this, however, you really only want to us Axes or Maces for your Main Hand. We have a very strong spell called "Flying Blade" and to get the most out of this hugely OP spell is by using a Axe or Mace. I shall go deeper into "Flying Blade" later.

Races & Racials
Allods Online has 4 playable races that can be Bards. Two on League side, two on Empire. They are:
Elf Minstrels - Blind their enemies
Kanian Skalds- Immobilize their enemies
Xadaganian Agitators- Silence their enemies
Orc Balladeers- Stun their enemies

Whichever race you decide to play is up to you. I highly suggest picking whether or not you wish to be League or Empire, then just picking whichever race feels the most appealing. Racial abilities are known to be changed.

[volarin]

3. Spell Types
Bards are very unique with their different types of spells and abilities.
Bards have 4 main key points of spell types. These are:

Chords ♪ Chords are instant cast abilities used for damage attacks.

Etudes ♪ Etudes provide a variety of uses, including control effects, defensive abilities, and damaging attacks. Etudes generally act as channeled spells.

Songs ♪ Songs provide passive buffs with no duration. All Bards begin with the Singing ability, allowing them to preform 2 Songs at once. Preforming 2 Songs costs 5 energy per second, where performing only one is free.

Marches ♪ Like Songs, Marches provide passive buffs that are automatically refreshed. Marches are similar to auras.

Schools of Magic
Bards are a Magical and Physical class.
The schools of magic that Bards tap into for most of their spells are Astral, and Holy.
Bards also have a very useful variety of Physical abilities to deal damage to their foes with.

[volarin]

4. What roles does a Bard take on
Bards in Allods Online act as a Supporter class.
We have many tools and abilities to aid our fellow teammates.
However, we also have a extremely well supply of Offensive abilities to defeat our enemies.

How do we support?
The way Bards support our teammates in Allods Online is through the power of Music!
On a more serious note, we use:
- Crowd Control
- Buffs
- Debuffs
- Off-heals
- Off-damage *This is a optional tasks Bards can take on

How do we level then?
The best way to level through level 1-51 is to purely go Damage.
Once you reach end-game I advise respec to Support.
By all means you can roll Damage Dealer end-game, however don't expect to be too popular. ;P

[volarin]

5. Valuable Stats to a Bard
Stats sure can be quite bothersome.
Allods Online has thee most annoying and complex set up of Stats I've seen in all the games I've played.
Lets do a summary of what the beneficial stats are, shall we?

Stat Summary - Primary Stats

Strength - Increases Physical damage by XX%. Increases effectiveness of your Healing and Offensives spells by YY%.

Expertise - *Physical - Your enemies have a XX% chance to dodge your attacks
* Magical - Damage from your Magical attacks is reduced by XX%
* Off-heals - Your healing is decreased by XX% due to wound complexity

Finesse - Decrease/Increase your effectiveness of your Healing, Magical, and Physical spells by XX%

Luck - Increase your critical strike chance by XX%
Reduce your chance for your healing, and damaging spells to result in a glancing
blow by XX%
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Not to cause you more to worry about, but you will need to balance these stats whilst leveling. o.o"
What I suggestion you do with your primary stats whilst leveling is:

Luck: 45%+ to deal a critical strike

Expertise: *Physical - Below 13% chance to miss with your physical abilities
* Magical - 26/27% of spells reduced

Finesse: Just keep this in the Increase slot. If Finesse gets too low, it will switch to Decrease. Decrease is bad.

Strength: Whatever you can get of Strength without violating the above 3 stat rules!

Now I understand leveling you can not really keep your stats in that set up the entire time, which is okay. Just try your best to get all your stats around those specific areas.

[volarin]

6. World Mystery Abilities
Here we have the Bard's two wonderful World Mystery Abilities.

Rhapsody

Cast Time - Few seconds
Cool down - One minute
This World Mystery spell acts as a buff. It will amazingly DOUBLE the entire health of whoever this buff resides on. This buff can only be cast on one player at a time. This does not stack.

Allegro

Cast Time - None
Cool down - None
This World Mystery spell acts as a buff. Allegro has two different affects depending on combat status.
Out of combat - Increases you and your party member's speed by 15%
In combat - Attempts to remove a movement impairing effect every few seconds

[volarin]

7. Talent Tree spells & abilities



Tier 1
Dissonance and Disharmony

Radius: 20 yards
Energy Cost: 40
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Chord
Inflicts Astral damage to the nearest enemy within 20 yards and silences it for 1 second.

Elegy and Cantata

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Song
Plays an song that passively inflicts Shadow damage to all hostile enemies in a 20 yard radius. Elegy/Cantata will remain active until canceled.

Acoustic Barrier

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 4 seconds
Etude
Surrounds you with a protective barrier that damages attackers for Astral damage and has a 50% chance to absorb damage. Acoustic Barrier can only damage enemies within 20 yards and no more than once per second.

Tier 2

Solo

Energy Cost: 60
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 90 seconds
Chord
You perform a solo, playing Dissonance or Disharmony on 4/5/6 random targets within 10 yards. Solo does not apply silence effect.

Love Song and Serenade

Range: 10-40 yards
Energy Cost: 15
Cast Time: 3/2/1.5
Cooldown: 60/30/20 seconds
Chord
Plays a provocative tune. After 3/2/1.5 seconds the target rushes to attack you, but is knocked down upon reaching you. The target must be at least 10 yards away. Additionally, Serenade deals Shadow damage every 0.5 seconds. This damage is significantly increased if the target is moving.

Protective Tune

When your health is below 50% you play a tune that causes 17/34/50% of physical attacks made against you to miss. While affected by Protective Tune your energy regeneration rate is decreased by 1 point per second.

Tier 3

Nocturne

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Song
Grants the Nocturne effect to all party members within 20 yards every 4 seconds. Nocturne heals the target after 6 seconds. Any damage taken will dispel the Nocturne effect.

Lullaby

Range: 40 yards
Energy Cost: 50
Cast Time: 12/8/7.5
Cooldown: 4 seconds
Etude
Plays a peaceful tune that puts the target to sleep. For every 4/2/1.5 seconds played, the target will remain asleep for an additional 8 seconds. Receiving damage will decrease the duration of the lullaby's effect. Does not work on undead or mechanical creatures or targets below 99/95/90% health. Only one target can be slept at a time.

Tier 4

Power Chord
Range: 20 yards
Energy Cost: 40
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Chord

Deals Astral damage to the nearest enemy within a 20 yard radius and heals you. The target becomes immune to Power Chord for 30 seconds. Power Chord cannot be used on targets below 50% health.

Requiem

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Song
Plays a requiem affecting all nearby enemies every 2 seconds. Requiem decreases incoming healing and increases the damage received from Elegy and Cantata by 2.5% per stack. This is a stacking effect.

Musical Notation

Teaches you 4 Marches that passively enhance your party's performance.
March of Fortitude - Increases health, mana, and energy.
March of Regeneration - Increases mana and energy regen.
March of Ferocity - Increases physical damage dealt.
March of Potency - Increases magical damage dealt.
Only one March can be active per bard, and similar Marches from different bards do not stack. All marches cost 50 energy to perform and share a 15 second cooldown.

Tier 5

Timpani

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Chord
Your next Dissonance, Disharmony, or Power Chord played within 3 seconds will also damage all enemies within 10 yards of the target, but their cost will be increased.

Dancing Blade and Raving Blade

Range: 20 yards
Energy Cost: 8
Cast Time: 6 seconds
Cooldown: 11 seconds
Etude
Animates your weapon for 6 seconds. The weapon flies to the enemy target and inflicts damage 5 times.

Muse

Energy Cost: 10
Cast Time: 1 second
Cooldown: 90 seconds
Call on your muse for 30 seconds. Your muse is invisible to other players. While you within 30 yards of your muse you receive the Inspiration effect that decreases the cast time of most etudes and the cooldown of most abilities.

Tier 6

Ballade

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: None
Song
You play a Ballade that refreshes every 5 seconds, preventing the effects of 1 offensive control spell for you and 2 other randomly selected party member within 20 yards.

Haunting Refrain

Range: 40
Energy Cost: 20
Cast Time: 8 seconds
Cooldown: 2 minutes 6 seconds
Etude
Plays a haunting refrain that causes the target to howl in terror. This howl stuns the target and fears all enemies within 10 yards of the target for 3 seconds.

Overture

Range: 40
Energy Cost: 15
Cast Time: 1.5 seconds
Cooldown: None
Etude
Plays a simple tune that dispels one magical effect from the enemy target. If an effect is successfully dispelled you will be healed.

[volarin]

8a. Ruby Grid spells & abilities - Dissonance Grid




Unison

Successful hits from your Grand Finale, Flying Blade, and your racial ability apply the Unison effect to the target. Unison inflicts physical damage every 2 seconds for 20 seconds and stacks up to 3/6/9 times. The Unison effect is removed if the target is healed to full.

Flying Blade

Range: 40 yards
Energy Cost: 35
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 10-30 seconds
Your weapon rushes to the target and inflicts physical damage. Cooldown of this ability varies randomly from 10 to 30 seconds.

Grande Finale

Your successful Dancing Blade and Raving Blade spell casts perform one additional attack for physical damage.

Long Solo

Your Solos include 1/2/3 additional applications of Dissonance or Disharmony.

Loud Timpani

Increases Timpani's damage radius by 3.3/6.6/10 yards.

Sharp Chord

Increases critical strike chance of your Dissonance, Disharmony, and Power Chord by 25/50%.

Virtuoso

Increases your Expertise by 3/6/9%.

Perfect Ear

Increases your Finesse by 3/6/9%.

Second Fiddle

Increases damage you deal by 1/2% and decreases your threat by 7/14%.

Combat Tune

Decreases Dancing Blade and Raving Blade's cooldown by 15/30/45% and their energy cost by 6.6/13.3/20%.

Loud Chords

Additional targets that are damaged when using Timpani receive 5/10/15% more damage.

Resonance

our Dissonance, Disharmony, and Power Chord apply the Resonance effect to the target for 30 seconds. Resonance increases physical damage you deal to the target by 5/10/15%.

Passionate Performance

You damage is increased by 3/6/9% when your health is above 75%.

Masterful Solo

Decreases Solo's cooldown by 10/20/30%.

[volarin]

8b. Ruby Grid spells & abilities - Elegy Grid



Octave Doubling

Increases damage of Power Chord by 33/66/100%. In addition, there is a 33/66/100% chance the Acoustic Shock effect will be dispelled when its bearer deals critical damage to you.

Invigoration

Energy Cost: None
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 10/5/2 minutes
Grants you the Invigoration effect for 10/20/30 seconds allowing you to sing an additional song at the same time.

Euphoria

Every 2 seconds the songs you're performing have a 2/4/6% chance to grant you the Euphoria effect. Euphoria increases your energy regeneration rate by 10 points per second for 6 seconds.

Reverberation

Rhapsody applied to another player grants you the Reverberation effect, increasing your maximum health by 33/66/100%. In addition, your damage is increased by 1/2/3% for each active song.

Silver Lining

Increases your Endurance by 5/10/15%. In addition, critical damage you receive grants you the Silver Lining effect that increases healing you receive by 10/20/30% for 10 seconds.

Trickster

Increases your Agility by 5/10/15%. Additionally, your Protective Tune becomes activate at 5/10/15% higher health.

Consonance

When the Nocturne effect is removed by receiving damage it still has a 20/40/60% chance to heal you.

Protective Overtones

Every song you perform increases your armor by 3/6/9%.

Temperament

Playing two Songs at once only consumes 4/3/2 energy per second, instead of 5.

Rock and Roll

Allows you to parry incoming attacks. Your parry chance is equal to 50/100/150% of the standard chance.

Funeral Dirge

Your Elegy and Cantata spells cast on a target at 25% health or lower apply the Funeral Dirge effect. Funeral Dirge lasts for 10 seconds and increases the Astral damage you deal to the target by 33/66/100%.

Protective Rhythm

Your Protective Tune consumes 33/66/100% less energy. In addition, your Protective Tune decreases damage you receive from area-of-effect attacks by 15/30/45%.

Modulation

Effectiveness of your Elegy, Cantata, and Nocturne increased by 6/12/18%.

Melpomene's Favor

Muse cooldown decreased by 17/33/50%.