Vanguard Saga of Heroes Bard Guide OverviewRacesSong CompositionPower vs. RestInstrumentsTwistingMelee CombatRanged CombatKnown Abilities, etc.Quest Guide News, InformationLinks I. OverviewBards have traditionally required skill to play. In EverQuest, Bards had to be able to multitask and twist their songs. While there will be no twisting for Bards in Vanguard Saga of Heroes, multitasking and skillful play looks to be a prerequisite of the class. First and foremost, Bards are offensive fighters who rely primarily on their melee damage. Bards can also compose and name their own songs.II. RacesVanguard Saga of Heroes HQ Thestra Race GuideHalflingHigh ElfThestranDark Elf QaliathariHal ElfRakiWood ElfIII. Song CompositionAs a Bard advances she will obtain song components that can be added to a bard’s song such as melodies, embellishments, lyrics, choruses, verses, bridges, rests and codas. These effects can be placed into slots to create a song. The Bard will gain more song composition slots to which she can add effects as she increases in level. However, a Bard can only choose one melody per song. If there is an effect (other than a melody) that the Bard likes, she can layer it multiple times multiplying the end effect. The Bard will create and name her own songs deciding which effects to add. The Bard will be able to create up to 30 songs, which will be stored on the server. The name the Bard chooses for a song will appear on the icon on player screens. nbsp;Types of components: Melody - The backbone of a song. Every song must have one and only one melody. Melodies cost 2 energy per second. Embellishment - A song can have potentially 5 embellishment slots. Minor additions to a song. Small resistance buffs, debuffs and other minor buffs. Lyric - Potentially 4 Lyric slots available. Lyrics provide many different effects. They can be power buffs, debuffs, increased run speed, weapon procs, levitation and more. Chorus - Potentially up to three chorus effects per song. They are high powered lyric like components. Verse - Potentially up to three verse effects per song. High powered effects such as DoT’s, snares and regenerative effects. Bridge - Potentially up to two bridge effects per song. Very powerful effects. Coda - Potentially up to two coda effects per song. Very powerful effects. Coda’s use 8 energy per second. Rest – Do not add anything to the song but rather negate some of the energy consumption. Rests can go in any slot.IV. Power vs. RestEach song effect adds benefit to the Bard’s group and consumes power every time the effect is refreshed. When creating a song, the Bard must choose between adding additional effects and conserving power. A Bard can conserve power by adding rest effects to his songs rather than adding beneficial effects. Rest effects can be placed into a song to lower the power usage. Using rest effects lowers the song’s overall utility, but allows the Bard’s song to play longer, possibly indefinitely, if enough rest effects are used. V. InstrumentsInstruments are used for out of combat effects like run speed and regeneration. Instruments magnify the effects of the song’s components. Each instrument has a mod on it. If the mod matches the mod of the particular song component it will amplify the effect even more.VI. TwistingThere is no twisting per se. While songs can be changed, the song effect instantly ends when a new song begins. Although, the ability to add multiple effects to a song essentially has the same effect as twisting.VII. Melee CombatBards are an offensive damage class. They will do much greater damage than they did in EverQuest. It is not planned that they will ever want to sit back and play their instruments during fights. See below for a partial list of melee abilities.VIII. Ranged CombatOne of the latest videos confirms that Bards can use bows. Bards also will be able to use throwing knives.IX. Known Bard Abilities, Songs and SpellsBard Songs and Abilities ListX. Quest GuideComing Soon.XI. Class News and InformationTopicsAdditional InformationBeta testimonialAugust Beta NewsletterVanBard ArticleXII. Bard related websites and forumsVanguard Bards