A Bit on Bardic Powers Aria ~~~~ This is a great attack skill because it takes over when you lose Newbie and it cost less. Fabricate ~~~~~~~~~ This is how you make your instrument, since Bards can't use normal weapons, we use instruments to fight with. make one, wield it, and have fun. Requiem ~~~~~~~ I'm biased on this skill, I say a Bard should never have to use fangs. Yes the fangs give more hp/sp when you first get requiem but requiem gives xp and that adds up. Ballad ~~~~~~ Tells you the alignment of things, nothing big. Useful if you want to know if something is good or bad. Ballad Shift ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lets you TRY to change mobs' alignment, I wouldn't go trying to change Kain's or the Chilblain when you first get this skill. You can't change player's alignments. It can only be used once per mob. Jest ~~~~ Forget this skill when you first get it.. you won't be able to kill anything you normally don't kill.. but later you will live on this skill. Warchant ~~~~~~~ One of the greatest party skills ever. One, it doesn't bring you into combat. Two, everyone BUT you in the room gets 2 or 5 each hits that round. Three, every one gets +5 to their attack skill and it stacks. Shamsay ~~~~~~~ A good fun skill, you can make Mobs talk, I love to make pages and squires talk... poor fighters :) Sidestep ~~~~~~~~ You can sidestep into auto-attacker's rooms and combat won't start. Bardic ~~~~~~ Like Warchant, one of the greatest party skills ever. Lets you heal everyone in the room (yes YOU too). When you first get it you can heal around 20 hp for everyone but it goes up a lot from there. It never heals a lot at any level, but it can make the difference if you or your party members have gotten in over your heads. Fandango ~~~~~~~~ Another attack skill, this skill does damage to ones target and then lets you attack 2 more times in the round. Since it costs 30 make sure to use it on monsters you can hit or stick with Aria for a little while. Just because you get extra attacks doesn't mean you'll be able to hit with them. Legend ~~~~~~ Useful skill, Tells you who killed the monster last if you type 'legend here' in the room, or sometimes it can tell you a secret about the room. If you legend an item, it will tell you who had it last and if it is anything special. Brew ~~~~ A nice skill, you can make ale, mead and wine for getting drunk. So stock up on honeycombs, rice cakes, and flowers. With twenty of any of these ingredients you can make a keg, barrel, or bottle depending on the type of alcohol. Stormsong ~~~~~~~~~ The only true bard defense.. er.. sometimes. It adds to your overall armor from when you start the skill to when you logout and then it can special to block some or all the damage from a target per round. Getting an inspire before you start the skill will increase the skill's effects. Attune ~~~~~ Fighters have sharpen, Thieves have poison, Psions have temper. We bards have attune. You can attune an instrument up to 3 times (finely, silver, golden). Of course there is a chance of making your instrument tuneless, then you have to trash it and make a new one. The chance that you'll fail the tune goes up depending on how many tunes the instrument already has. By the time you're level 20 you should be able to consistently golden tune things, but don't even think about it when you first get it. Of course, tuning when you have an inspire will greatly improve your chances of success. Bardic Pose ~~~~~~~~~~~ The show off skill of the guild! You can send a message to everyone in the realm. Good times to use it is when you first enter or leave the realm, weddings, or when you have the free sp :) Perform ~~~~~~~ While every one has to use emote with the ::: we can emote with a * and this skill doesn't cost a thing! We are special! Croon ~~~~~ Since we are bards, we should sing. You can now sing in pink with music notes around notes around it. Aurora sings, o/~ "Tra la la." ~\o Lullaby ~~~~~~~ This stops an attacker's combat when it works. Don't run out and test it on Kain or someone really hard when you first get this skill, give it time... it gets better. Costume ~~~~~~~ Putting on a play or going out to a special place with that special person? Make an outfit with this skill. Too bad it doesn't auto-load or be pvaulted. It can be closeted, however. Dye ~~~~~~~ Allows you to dye clothing made by you different colors. You can dye multiple colors, the number of colors depends on level. Harmony ~~~~~~~ This can be a good skill or a bad one. It makes a safezone in the room you cast it. You can't be attacked, stolen from, or harmed. But you can't take it down too. So watch where you cast it... it lasts about 10 to 12 some mins when you first get the skill. Dirge ~~~~~ A good attack skill, it does a fair amount of damage. It has a bit of a long timer, though, so use it wisely. Bladesong ~~~~~~~~~ A good defense skill, it isn't really an attack skill because the swords don't do that much damage. I normally start combat with a jest then use bladesong so I don't get pummeled waiting for the sword to take flight and fight. Barfly ~~~~~~ I love this skill, it lets you go to basically any tavern/pub in the realm. Need to go to Sakai? ... Barfly to the Black Dragon. That easy. Wail ~~~~ This is supposed to be a room attack skill but it does about 80% of it's damage to one target and 20% to the other Mobs in the room. And it has a small insty kill chance... I don't know what to make of this skill. Some people insty everything with it, and others don't ever insty, for no apparent reason. This skill will not work on undead mobs as well, it will only room attack mobs that already fight cooperatively. Inspire ~~~~~~~ A great skill but you can't inspire yourself. It lets you give some sp back to the target and gives a HUGE bonus to guild skills. Great for mages who need to charm, or for fighters, clerics, psions, and paladins who are making their own weapons. Symphony ~~~~~~~~ A good room attack skill, it hits every mob in the room for 100% of it's power. And it does a fair amount of damage.