What am I doing wrong?

[Raahl]

<p>The other day I logged in with my 76 Troubador and started the new RoK quests from LU 52.  Kylong planes was not a problem.  In the Fens, I started having a lot of trouble killing the blue solo groups in the camps.  Most of which are single to double down arrow mobs.  They end up killing me rather quickly.</p><p>The green solo groups are not a problem. </p><p>Character:  <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=635696102">http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...terId=635696102</a></p><p>Here are my AA's</p><p>Bard Tree</p><ul><li>WIS:  4/4/8/8/1</li><li>STA:  4/4/8/7</li><li>AGI:  4/4/4/8</li></ul><p>Troubador Tree Sonics: </p><ul><li>Shrill 5/5</li><li>Alin's Keening Lamentation 5/5</li><li>Eli's Thunderous Hymn 5/5</li><li>Precision of the Maesto 5/5</li></ul><p>Troubador Tree Inspiration: </p><ul><li>Jester's Cap 5/5</li><li>Bria's Stirring Ballad 5/5</li><li>Aria of Excitement 5/5</li><li>Quiron's Joyous Celebration 5/5</li></ul><p>Troubador Tree Calming: </p><ul><li>Cheap Shot 4/5</li></ul><p>Shadow AA lines have 0 points in them.</p><p>I usually start the fight by using my encounter debuffs/attacks on them from max range.  By the time they get to me I'm spaming my single target spells and combat arts.  I cheap shot and us our back attack on them as it comes available.   I pretty much stand toe to toe with them. </p><p>I've gone with mostly INT on my jewelry items.  Should I have gone more AGI/STR?  Int helps my spell damage, correct?</p><p>BTW My spells/combat arts are Adept III or better.</p>

[Kulaf]

<p>Are you fighting multiples or pulling singles?</p><p>If you need to get singles out of a group you are going to need to body pull them using proximity agro rather than hitting them with a debuff or attack so they don't bring their buddies.</p><p>But bottom like RoK mobs hit dang hard.  I would suggest getting points into the mez and charm abilities and if you get two or more MOB's mez one and charm the other then beat the crap out of the one that is left.</p>

[Raahl]

<p><cite>Kulanae@Blackburrow wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Are you fighting multiples or pulling singles?</p><p>If you need to get singles out of a group you are going to need to body pull them using proximity agro rather than hitting them with a debuff or attack so they don't bring their buddies.</p><p>But bottom like RoK mobs hit dang hard.  I would suggest getting points into the mez and charm abilities and if you get two or more MOB's mez one and charm the other then beat the crap out of the one that is left.</p></blockquote><p>These are grouped solo mobs.  Usually with one or two down arrows.  So when I pull one the others will automatically follow.</p><p>Single mobs generally are not an issue.  It's just with these quests, a large number of them are the grouped mobs.</p><p>I'll try and use my mez and charm more. </p><p>BTW I'm running with both the defense buff and health regen buff.   Other than that, I run anything to increase my DPS.</p>

[Inggy]

<p>Yep RoK zone trash mobs hit hard till they start to green out with typical MC/Treasured gear.</p><p>I play a Troub as my raid - main but it would be a bit unfare to compare due to gear differences so here's my very [Removed for Content] alt dirge to use as for comparrison. </p><p>Treasured/Legendary/MC/quest geared:</p><p><a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=804161106">http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...terId=804161106</a></p><p>Notice his gear is not centered around "spell damage or spell crit".  It addresses STR, STA, then Agi/Int.  It concentrates on + Melee mods and not + Spell mods.  You need to find a ballance of both, you are not a mage and you are not strictly a scout.</p><p>Your DPS at that level will be roughtly 40/60 Auto Attack/Spell CA but AA will always be your highest overall DPS if dual weilding unless strictly ranged.</p><p>If you're running out of HP before the mobs do then up your STA/HP.  More INT will not gain you much if you're dieing in a few seconds due to low HP vs mob hits.  Str affects both AA and CA damage.  Int only affects damage spells and 1/3 of your power pool, Agi is 2/3.  Agi affects your avoidance but really as a bard you'll rarely have more than 36% avoidance unbuffed.</p><p>Full TSO/RoK Raid geared:</p><p><a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=780652106">http://eq2players.station.sony.com/...terId=780652106</a></p><p>You won't find Int/Spell centric Jewelry on the Troub unless it also comes with Melee mods.  Between the two there is a large difference in surviviabilty and DPS but the stat order is basiclly the same; Str, Sta, Int/Agi with a slight favor to Int over Agi at this level depending on typical group makeup.</p><p>Either way, solo'n a bard in RoK was a pain regardless of gear.  You have to pick your encounters with care and still avoid adds.  Adds while leveling usually ment quick revive <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.  Have fun, bards are fun just have to work a bit slower solo.</p>

[Wilderbeast25]

<p>I swear I almost quit when I had to solo from 70 to 80 when RoK came out and I was fully fabled in EoF gear and EoF fabled weapons.  (My friends and my Ridged Scaled Bow saved me from going insane.) It was painful especially if you wanted to move at a decent clip. Onoes has some good advice that you should follow. As for leveling in general - keep up with your Adept IIIs (Expert).  It really does help. Don't be in previous tier gear unless it is just godly. If nothing else make a mastercrafted set set of gear and get a decent bow for kiting. It just take longer on a troubs and adds are a death sentence in most cases. Don't feel bad about running. If you can make a healer friend that will lvl with you then you will have a much better time and a lot more fun. Personally I got a second account and made a healer after my RoK experience because I never wanted to go through that pain again. (Note my Templar Alt below - stoneskin, reactives, buffs = win)</p>

[YasikoSetsu]

<p>They give us crowd control spells for a reason. Cant just rush an encounter on a bard and expect everything to go dandy. Takes a bit of skill.</p><p>Do this:</p><p>1. Pick a mob, start casting your charm.</p><p>2. While the charm is casting, switch targets to another mob in the encounter, and Que your mez.</p><p>3. Once the charm lands (or doesnt land), and mez starts casting, target the 3rd mob in the encounter, and send your new pet on it, and open up with DPS at this point.</p><p>You wont have to fight like that once you get decent gear, but if the encounter is 3 or more mobs in RoK, on a lesser geared troub, you're gonna have to make use of your CC spells.</p><p>Cant say I had any trouble soloing from 70-80 on my troub, I thought it was rather fun. Much better than leveling my healer. xD</p>

[Raahl]

<p><cite>YasikoSetsuna wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>They give us crowd control spells for a reason. Cant just rush an encounter on a bard and expect everything to go dandy. Takes a bit of skill.</p><p>Do this:</p><p>1. Pick a mob, start casting your charm.</p><p>2. While the charm is casting, switch targets to another mob in the encounter, and Que your mez.</p><p>3. Once the charm lands (or doesnt land), and mez starts casting, target the 3rd mob in the encounter, and send your new pet on it, and open up with DPS at this point.</p><p>You wont have to fight like that once you get decent gear, but if the encounter is 3 or more mobs in RoK, on a lesser geared troub, you're gonna have to make use of your CC spells.</p><p>Cant say I had any trouble soloing from 70-80 on my troub, I thought it was rather fun. Much better than leveling my healer. xD</p></blockquote><p>Good strategy.  I do have one question though.</p><p>We have a pet?  Did I miss something?</p>

[Pogopuschel]

<p>He was simply refering to the charmed mob as "pet".</p>

[Raahl]

<blockquote><strong><em><a href="mailto:Uyaem@Runnyeye">Uyaem@Runnyeye</a> wrote:</em></strong> <p>He was simply refering to the charmed mob as "pet".</p></blockquote><p>Ahh I understand.  I guess I'll need to respec my AA's to add the extra time to my Charm and Mes.  Right now the charm doesn't last long enough to be really useful.</p>

[Wilderbeast25]

<p><cite>Raahl wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><blockquote><strong><em><a href="mailto:Uyaem@Runnyeye">Uyaem@Runnyeye</a> wrote:</em></strong> <p>He was simply refering to the charmed mob as "pet".</p></blockquote><p>Ahh I understand.  I guess I'll need to respec my AA's to add the extra time to my Charm and Mes.  Right now the charm doesn't last long enough to be really useful.</p></blockquote><p>Be aware though that not everything can be charmed or mezzed.</p>

[Ardnahoy]

<p>I was doing the Rime quests in Fens with my 77 troubie and also had a hard time with the group encounters at first. Good thing I have two high level enchanters, because the best way to handle those is to use charm/mez.</p><p>I did the following, which takes some practice, and requires quick fingers and a quick mind if things go bad:</p><p>(1) Target the strongest mob in the group (the Rime groups usually have one no-arrow, and two down-arrow mobs)</p><p>(2) Cast Charm</p><p>(2a) While Charm is casting, switch targets to the weakest mob in the group by hitting the <Tab> key or by clicking it with your mouse (this has to happen quickly, so be ready with targets before commencing)</p><p>(3) When Charm sticks, send your pet to attack (make a /pet attack hotkey); the entire encounter should be attacking your pet at this point, and your pet should be attacking the weakest member of the group</p><p>(3a) Quickly hit <F1> twice to switch targets so that <em>you</em> are now targetting your pet</p><p>(4) Run behind you pet's target and crank out positional attacks - mob should die pretty fast this way, definately before Charm breaks</p><p>(4a) Continue to attack your pet's target until Charm breaks - on a good pull, you should be killing the second mob at this point</p><p>(5) When Charm breaks, run away from the encounter while casting Mez (can be cast while running = FTW); since you switched targets in step (3a), you will be mezzing your previous pet which happens to be the strongest mob of the group</p><p>(6) Kill the remaining mob(s) while your old pet is mezzed; keep it mezzed as long as there are adds</p><p>(7) Keep your old pet mezzed until you regain some health</p><p>(<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Kill old pet</p><p>I did this with great success on multi group encounters in Fens, wearing mastercrafted gear, and apprentice/adept spells/CAs. Mobs died very quickly, usually before charm broke. Of course, I have a lot of practice mezzing and charming mobs, so it wasn't hard for me to do this, but it does take some finesse and finger speed to master so make sure to practice until you get the hang of it.</p>