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 skills by completing:
- 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 at the cost of his mana (see table below) .
- 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) helps to intone 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 complementary bard skill above 100 (GM, Real Skill) by 1 Mana every 2 second each.
- While a bard is keeping up songs, he is able to cast magic spells too. Since Publish 67 this does not interrupt a song.
- Peacemaking and Provocion songs run as long as the bards mana last. Discordance songs are additionally limited to predefined numbers of rounds (see table below).
- A song can be ended by recasting it (instant cast time) or can be disrupted by damage received. Effects of discordance songs expire in 2 seconds from the last pulse, the other ones expire in 4 seconds.
- To benefit from the songs buffs/debuffs, the party member/opponent 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 party member 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 durations and effects if the bard has additional bard skills over GM (Real Skill), based on points:
- 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 & Provocation and 1 per point of the other bard skills. So thats for a 4x Bard to HCI/SDI (2*8)+(1*6)=22%
| Path | Icon | Name | Minimum Skill | Intone Cost | Upkeep Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discordance (Desponder) |
|
Tribulation In Jux Hur Rel |
90 Skill | 24 Mana | 8 Mana | This is a bard spellsong which disrupts the target's ability to concentrate (5-11 rounds up to 14 at 4x Legendary barding skills), reducing their Hit Chance and Spell Damage (by 5-22% base to 32% at 4x Legendary). The spell song also has the chance (15-60% to 84% at 4x Legendary, proportional to the Musicianship skill) of causing any damage taken by the target to cause a burst of direct damage (8-32% base to 50% at 4x Legendary, proportional to the Discordance skill) to the damage taken. 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 | 10 Mana | This is a bard spellsong which will reduce the target's strength (4-16 to 22 at 4x Legendary) and periodically (every 2 seconds, 5-11 rounds to 14 at 4x Legendary), inflict damage on the target (9-36 damage to 48 at 4x Legendary. Against a player character with 70 damage resist = 14 damage) 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 in PvM 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 the context menu on your Book of Bard Masteries (cannot be changed while ability is active). | |
| Peacemaking (Galvanizer) |
|
Resilience Kal Mani Tym |
90 Skill | 16 Mana | 4 Mana | 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 increased by 2-16 +2 per 10 points in each of the three barding skills over GM (22 at 4x Legendary), reduced duration of Curses, Bleed and Mortal Wound 10-40% up to 60% at 4x Legendary. Increased resistance to Poison. |
|
Perseverance Uus Jux Sanct |
90 Skill | 18 Mana | 5 Mana | This is a song of protection interwoven with magical energy. It envelopes party members in protective magical energy: Defense Chance increased by and damage taken reduced by 2-24% up to 30% at 4x Legendary, Casting Focus increased by 1-4% base to 6% at 4x Legendary. | |
| Provocation (Exhilarator) |
|
Inspire Uus Por |
90 Skill | 16 Mana | 4 Mana | 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 4-16 (base) +1% Bonus per 10 points in a inactive mastery skill above GM up to 22% for a 4x Legendary (Subject to PvP cap!), Damage Increase 20-40% +3% per 10 points in complementary skills above GM up to 58% at 4x Legendary, and Bonus Damage Modifier 1-15% which applies to all damage types. (This damage modifier is similar to slayer effects and so is counted above the weapon 300% damage cap from items/tactics/strength/anatomy and above the SDI Cap in PvP) |
|
Invigorate An Zu |
90 Skill | 22 Mana | 5 Mana | 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: Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity increased by 8 (base) +2 for each complementary skill at 120 up to 14 at 4x Legendary. Hit Points increased by up to 20 +2 for each complementary skill at 120 up to 26 at 4x Legendary. This Hit Point Increase is not capped by the 25 HPI from suit properties, so it is possible to achieve 176 Hit Points (150 strength + 25 Hit Point Increase + 26 from this mastery song. All party members are healed every 4 seconds by 4-16 (base) up to 22 HP at 4x Legendary . |