Bard Masteries
Bard Masteries were introduced with Publish 66: Once a bard reaches a skill level of 90 in musicianship and one of the three complementary barding skills, he may attend any conservatory to archieve mastery in this complementary skill. These Mastery is archieved by completing one of the mastery quests:
- Wielding the Sonic Blade quest for the Discordance mastery,
- The Beacon of Harmony quest for the Peacemaking mastery,
- Indoctrination of a Battle Rouser quest for the Provocation mastery.
A Book of Bard Masteries will be rewarded upon quest completion containing songs. Through the books context menu, a bard select his active mastery. (For details on use of the book see there). Having a bard mastery active, a bard receive
- buffed skill use
- ability to intone songs
Buffed Skill Use
- Bards get a 10% bonus to their success chance when using the skill of their active mastery ('mastery focus') and a 5% bonus when using any other bard skill.
- Cool down on use of a bard skill is 8 seconds but having a bard mastery active reduces the cool down by 1 second with an additional second reduction for the skill of the active mastery.
Intone Songs
- A bard with an active mastery can intone (via casting macro or double click on draggable icon) up to two special songs according to this mastery.
- By intoning discordance songs the bard debuffs and damages opponents. By intoning peacemaking & provocation songs, he buffs himself and his party.
- The buffs/debuffs provided by the songs do not stack with the same ones of other bards (first comes, first serves).
- Faster Casting (cap: 4), Faster Cast Recovery (cap:6) and Casting Focus help to (re-)intoning a song, but not to upkeep it.
- Upkeeping a song requires Mana dependent on how many are being affected by the ability: Every 5 mobiles (characters, pets and mounted pets) raise upkeep costs by 1 Mana every 2 seconds.
- Upkeep costs are reduced for every secondary bard skill above 100 (GM, Real Skill) by 1 Mana per second each.
- While a bard upkeep songs, he is able to cast magic spells too. This does not interrupt a song.
- A songs can be ended by recasting it (instant cast time) or disturbed by received damage. Effects of discordance songs expire in 2 seconds from the last pulse, the other ones expire in 4 seconds.
- To receive the songs buffs/debuffs, the target have to stay within the range of the bard. (Regardless of visibility or Line of Sight.)
- The peacemaking and the provocation songs are subject to beneficial checks. If a member of the party is flagged grey, a bard running a beneficial song gets flagged too. The discording songs are subject to agressive/criminal checks.
- Note that Bard Masteries songs can be used to train Musicianship and the three complementary barding skills Discordance, Peacemaking and Provocation.
- All bard songs receive a bonus to their effects if the bard has additional bard skills over GM (Real Skill).
- For Musicianship and the active mastery skill you get 1 point per 10 skill points above 90. (Since the minimum requirements is 90, you automatically are starting at 2 points - one from each skill.) Thats up to 8 points.
- From the other bard skills you get 1 point per 10 points above GM, so thats a potential of 6 points.
- The weighting of those points vary by spellsong and may be a factor or exponential.
- For example: Inspire would be weighted at 2 per point of Musicianship & active mastery and 1 per point of the other bard skills. So thats (2 * 8) + (1 * 6) for a 4x Bard to HCI/SDI -> 22%
| Path | Icon | Name | Minimum Skill | Mana Cost | Upkeep Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discordance (Desponder) |
|
Tribulation In Jux Hur Rel |
90 Skill | 24 Mana | 11 Upkeep | This is a bard spellsong which disrupts the target's ability to concentrate, reducing their Hit Chance and Spell Damage (by up to 32). The spell song also has the chance (up to 84%) of causing any damage taken by the target to cause a burst of direct damage proportional (up to 50%) to the damage taken. The amount of direct damage is proportional to the Discordance skill of the bard and the chance for the direct damage to take effect is proportional to the Musicianship skill of the bard. The damage is further increased 1.5 times by the use of Slayer instruments. This spell song is affected by the target's Magic Resistance. |
|
Despair Kal Des Mani Tym |
90 Skill | 26 Mana | 13 Upkeep | This is a bard spellsong which will reduce the target's strength(up to 22) and periodically (every 2 seconds) inflict damage on the target (up to 48 against a player character = 14 damage after 70 resist), as long as the target remains in range, and the bard has enough Mana to sustain the effect. The damage inflicted is proportional to the bards Discordance and Musicianship skills and its 1.5 times more for NPCs and 3 times more with Slayer instruments. This spell song is affected by the target's Magic Resistance. The type of damage is selectable through a context menu on your Book of Bard Masteries. | |
| Peacemaking (Galvanizer) |
|
Resilience Kal Mani Tym |
90 Skill | 16 Mana | 5 Upkeep | This is a song of fortitude interwoven with magical energy. It increases the natural resilience of party members giving them bonuses to regeneration and resistance to detrimental effects: Hit Point Regeneration, Stamina Regeneration and Mana Regeneration increase by up to 22, reduced duration on Curses, Bleed and Mortal Wound. Increased resistance to Poison. |
|
Perseverance Uus Jux Sanct |
90 Skill | 18 Mana | 6 Upkeep | This is a song of protection interwoven with magical energy. It envelopes party members in protective magical energy: Defense Chance increase by up to 30%, damage taken reduced by up to 30%, Casting Focus increased by up to 6%. | |
| Provocation (Exhilarator) |
|
Inspire Uus Por |
90 Skill | 16 Mana | 5 Upkeep | This is a battle hymn interwoven with magical energy. It increases the confidence and focus of party members giving them bonuses to their offensive combat prowess: Hit Chance Increase and Spell Damage Increase by up to 22%, Damage Increase up to 58%, and Bonus Damage Modifier up to 15% which applies to all damage types. |
|
Invigorate An Zu |
90 Skill | 22 Mana | 6 Upkeep | This is an invigorating tune interwoven with magical energy. It increases the alertness of party members and makes them feel empowered, giving them bonuses to their stats: Hit Points increase by up to 26, Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity increase by up to 14. All party members healed for up to 19-22 damage every 4 seconds. |