Questions for any BARD mains out there

[BabyBlue]

I'm currently leveling Bard and trying to figure out what abilities to choose as well as what skill to pair it with. Anyone who mains bard I'd love to know your general used treasure mods/abilities/skill combos. I mostly play solo and I know Bard is group oriented but I am curious to see the solo capabilities.

Also a few questions:
Does Song of Resurgence heal pets at all? AH or Necro?
Does the damage/healing of songs scale well at level 70? Healing seems very light and Damage seems ok.
Do you think a song oriented bard is viable for solo play?
Do you only use Lute or Horns or both?
I see mention of Poetry Appreciation being required but can't find where that comes in at, what does Poetry Appreciation give bards?

I'd love to pump out songs while a secondary skill deals out additional damage. The automation of pets seems fun but last I tried pets they were kind of sluggish and weak, looking forward to experimenting with them more.

I just want the ability to be a stationary dps fountain, while being able to aid/assist other players I come by during solo play.

[Entropyy]

So I have been maining Bard for quite a few months and I really enjoy the skillset. I have paired it with quite a few things, Druid, Shield, Ice magic, but I think decided I like Mentalism the best. I do a fair amount of solo play and have not had too many issues, although I generally don't attempt dungeons unless I am duo'ing with a friend.

To answer your questions:
Does Song of Resurgence heal pets at all? AH or Necro? -- I am not sure since I don't use pets and my friend doesn't either.

Does the damage/healing of songs scale well at level 70? Yes and no respectively. Song of Discord is my favorite ability in the game and when properly modded it can do between 250-350 damage per tick, as well as have the potential to stun, reduce rage, and restore hp/armor to you. I think the healing on Song of Resurgence is rather lower at high levels and doesn't really handle the burst damage the baddies dish out. That being said I haven't ever played around with mods for it which I am sure help significantly.

Do you think a song oriented bard is viable for solo play? Yes, I do it all the time. I built my character on the tankier side and wear metal armor. I can pretty much stand in the middle of a lot of enemies use Song of Discord to kill them while not dying. My AoE damage is pretty substantial over time, and my single target dps is okay, but the sustainability is through the roof.

Do you only use Lute or Horns or both? I use both a lute and a horn. Some of the horn abilities (Blast of Defiance) really help with sustainability. That being said if you need your offhand to use a different skill I think forgoing the horn isn't the end of the world.

I see mention of Poetry Appreciation being required but can't find where that comes in at, what does Poetry Appreciation give bards? As you level up and purchase higher ranks or your bard abilities they can have additional requirements. Poetry Appreciation, Nature Appreciation, and a few others that Rappanel mentions. If you don't meet those prerequisites you can't buy the new rank. Overall, they are not that hard to meet and I attended the poetry jam a few times when leveling and it was never an issue for me.

As far as Bard abilities and mods go, I prioritize Song of Discord, and then Thunderous Note for damage. I also go for Blast of Defiance mods next to help with sustainability. I also keep Rally and Moment of Resolve on my bar for HP and Armor restores as needed. The damage output at higher levels is moderate, but I can tank a lot of stuff and win a fight of attrition in most cases against tougher enemies.

I hope this was helpful and if you have anymore questions feel free to ask or send me a PM on the forums or in game on Entropyy :)

[BabyBlue]

Wow! Thank you Entropyy, this is the exact kind of perspective I was looking for. This is all good info and encouraging me to continue training Bard, and potentially get Mentalism up as well. I think I'm just seeing those skill requirements because I just had to raise vocabulary to buy an ability rank up, haha. Also damn near forgot about Nature Appreciation which I'm going to raise as well.

What aspects of Mentalism and abilities do you use the most when paired with Bard? I always put of training it so I only have a little experience with all the psi-wave buffs. I'd imaging the health and armor help waves help a good amount.

If anyone else has any thoughts to share or answers please do!

[Entropyy]

Since Bard normally gives me a lot of HP/Armor regen when using songs I tend to run Adrenaline Wave for Mentalism (especially when duo'ing), at high levels it amps direct damage by 4 or 5% per wave on you which adds up significantly. You can also mod waves to give you armor or hp on a delay after they are cast which is useful as well.

In terms of attack skills, Pain Bubble and Agonize are really great for Mentalism. I usually keep Reconstruct on my bar as well for another heal when it's needed. Im still in the process of working on my Mentalism gear so I'm not sure what the final skill line up will be but the above abilities will be in it for sure. All of the Metalism skills have a pretty nice range on them as well which means you won't have to move or interrupt your Bard song as well.

[poulter]

A slightly different perspective. TLDR: Bard shines in both solo and group settings, but, as usual, it is all about your gear and the mods you use.

I have run Bard builds at level 70 both solo and in groups e.g. Gazluk Keep (GK) using Bard (Blasts and Songs) with Druid, Psychology, Mentalism plus Archery /Bard (Songs only). All have performed well in groups, but the Archer /Bard set-up outperformed all of the others, even allowing me to solo GK patrols.
(The only other builds that I have been able to solo GK patrols with have been Archery /Druid, Ice /Druid, Ice /Psychology)

Gear used: Max crafted with Augments (57 mods fitted), leather evasion build with 8 mods on Song of Bravery and 7 on Mangling Shot

Bard Spells: Virtuoso' Ballad, Thunderous Note, Moment of Resolve, Rally, Song of Resurgence, Song of Bravery
Cast sequence: Song of Bravery (15% chance of +25% damage every 4 secs x 2), Virtuoso's Ballad (+40% direct damage) followed by Archery:Mangling shot (base damage of 1,648 +stun), Heavy Shot (Base damage 1,991). This combination can 1- or 2-shot most things outside of GK and bosses /manticores. The horn blasts cannot match the damage output of Archery.

Once engaged by mobs, if needed, I switch to Song of Resurgence (group AOE healing, which has exceeded 400 healing /4 seconds in GK), supported with Rally (+374 solo heal) and Moment of Resolve (+260 AOE armor restoration).

With gear and builds like this , I have been in 3-person groups in GK that can clear all the level 1 chests (but still needing to avoid any bosses).

PS: Plus the build has a very useful group /AOE resurrection spell