Class Guide · Updated for patch 0.30 (Early Access) · September 2026
How to build, level and play a Bard in Monsters and Memories — race and trait picks, the 0.30 song Measure and twisting, instruments, group and solo tactics, a leveling path and gear to chase.
01The Bard at a Glance
The Bard is the song-twisting support class of Monsters and Memories — a fast-moving performer who layers several songs at once to haste the group, speed its travel, raise its resistances, slow and mesmerize enemies, and pull the next fight into place. You carry one weapon in your main hand and an instrument in the other, and the instrument you pick decides which of your songs hit hardest.
The official class page describes the Bard as “a constant performer, always moving and weaving music into the flow of battle.” The deep dive puts the role plainly: a versatile support class that supplies buffs which stack with other classes’ signature buffs, crowd control, and pulling. You won’t be the biggest single contributor in any one category. You will be the reason every other contributor is a little better.
Strengths
Songs work as group auras and cost no mana · secondary haste that stacks with an Enchanter or Shaman · the best resistance buffs in the game · group run speed, invisibility and water breathing · short mezzes, an area slow and a de-taunt · songs can be played while moving, which makes you an excellent puller.
Weaknesses
Everything you do is modest on its own · you can only keep a few songs going at once, so you have to choose · detrimental songs still need constant twisting · limited, short charm · no Meditation, so your mana for shouts comes and goes · instruments matter, so you’ll carry and swap them.
02Is the Bard Right for You?
You’ll love it if…
You like being useful everywhere; you enjoy a busy action bar and a sense of rhythm; you like pulling and scouting; you want the travel tools (run speed, invisibility, water breathing) that make every group trip easier; you enjoy picking the right tool for each situation.
You might not if…
You want one role you can master and repeat; you want big numbers on your own screen; you dislike swapping instruments and managing timers; you want a pet or a strong charm to carry your soloing; you’d rather not be the person who pulls.
For a new player, the 0.30 Bard is far friendlier than older versions. Your group buffs now keep themselves running, so the early game is mostly “pick three songs, fight, add a shout.” Twisting — rapidly recasting songs in sequence — only becomes necessary when you want to maintain slows, damage songs or mezzes on top of your buffs. You can grow into it one song at a time.
03Choosing Your Race
Four races can be Bards at Early Access: Dwarf, Halfling, Human and Wood Elf. Your class adds +1 STR, +3 DEX and +4 CHA to your race’s base stats, and you get 10 bonus points to spend at creation. Starting values before bonus points:
| Race | STA | DEX | CHA | Starts in | Why pick it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | 17 | 19 | 21 | Night Harbor, Underdocks | Highest starting CHA of any Bard race, and Tenacity resists mezzes. Humans can’t take a night-vision trait. |
| Wood Elf | 14 | 21 | 20 | Faelindral, Night Harbor | Great DEX and AGI with strong CHA. Hide is a useful escape, and Faelindral has its own Bard quest. |
| Dwarf | 17 | 21 | 19 | Night Harbor | Toughest Bard option with top DEX. Stone Form is a strong panic button when a pull goes wrong. |
| Halfling | 17 | 19 | 19 | Faelindral, Night Harbor | Sneak and Forage, the highest WIS, and good resistances. Budget extra for food. |
Spending your 10 bonus points
Charisma is your main attribute. Since 0.30 it sets your mana pool and the damage bonus on your songs, and most of your songs’ effectiveness is tied to it. Intelligence and Wisdom do nothing for your mana.
- Recommended for most players: about +7 CHA and the rest in Stamina. Bards pull for their groups, and a few extra hit points help you survive the run back to your healer.
- Humans already start with 21 CHA, so +6 CHA / +4 STA is a good split.
- Don’t spend anything on INT or WIS.
04Recommended Traits
You pick one trait from each of four categories at creation (see the New Player Guide for the full lists). For a Bard:
| Category | Best pick | Why | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Combat | Charismatic | +10 CHA passive — more mana for shouts and more damage from your songs. The active (+100 CHA for 12s) is a burst button for a big shout or a charm you need to land. | Tough (more HP for pulling), Dexterous, Magic Resistant |
| Minor Combat | Virtuoso | Brass, Percussion, Strings and Woodwind start 25 higher and rise 25% faster, and you start with a Trainee's Recorder. Instruments are central to the 0.30 Bard, so this helps from level 1. | Vocalist (Singing starts at 50 and rises 50% faster — shouts, charms and many songs are Singing), Swordsman or Cutthroat for your weapon |
| Major Non-Combat | Infravision | Nights and dungeons are very dark, and as the puller you need to see what’s coming. Dwarves, Halflings and Wood Elves can take it. | Fast Metabolism (+25% Endurance for a class that is always moving), Master Artisan |
| Minor Non-Combat | Tracker | Tracking starts at 25 and rises 25% faster. Finding the right target to pull is half of a Bard’s job, and few classes can take it. | Medicine (bandages for the run home), Swimmer, any gathering trait for money |
05Getting Started
Your starter quest
Every Bard begins with a class starter quest that teaches the basics and hands out your first gear. For the full step-by-step walkthrough, with every NPC, location and reward, see our Bard Starter Quest Guide. Individual quest pages: Bard Starter Quest (Night Harbor) · Bard Starter Quest (Faelindral).
More early Bard quests
- Gifts for our Dear Friends — Jamee Langris again, gathering small gifts for his contacts for an Azure Enameled Golden Bangle.
- Instrument of Hospitality — Rais Alyssum, a Night Harbor instrument dealer, has you comfort the city’s beggars with drink and song, then gather materials to restore a beggar’s mandolin.
- The Yowling — help a grieving bard recover her late husband’s lute from the Tomb of the Last Wyrmsbane. Mayana rewards the Delicate Ashira Pack Ring.
Songs are bought from your guild’s vendors. Humans who start in the Underdocks should ask a guard for directions and consider taking the boat to Night Harbor, where the Bard guild and its quests are.
06Your Toolkit
Bard songs come in lines: you learn a song, then buy stronger versions every few levels. Levels shown are when the first version (and each upgrade) becomes available; a dash means 0.30 added the song without a published level.
| Line | Starts | Progression | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group melee stats0.30 | 1 | Beats of Battle → Beats of War (moved to a higher level in 0.30) | Raises STR, AGI and DEX for you and your group. Your default fighting song. |
| Haste songs0.30 | 12 | Allegro con Fuoco, Allegro Lento, Allegro con Brio (casting speed) 12 → Allegro Moderato 28 → Allegro Assai 44 → Molto Allegro 60 | Group attack speed, including secondary haste that stacks with an Enchanter’s or Shaman’s haste. Renamed in 0.30 to be clearer; otherwise unchanged. |
| Health regeneration | 4 | Healing Hymn → Anthem of Restoration0.30 (high level) | Group health regen between and during fights. Scales with your instrument. Not an actual heal. |
| Mana regeneration | 16 | Hymn of Inspiration → Anthem of Restoration0.30 | Group mana regen for casters and healers. Scales with your instrument. |
| Resist chants0.30 | 6 | Chant of Magic Protection, Chant of Purity, Chant of the Elements, Chant of Neutrality | Magic; Poison and Disease; Fire, Cold and Electric; Holy and Corruption. 5–10 resist each before your Percussion instrument bonus, and they stack with other classes’ resist buffs. |
| Protection0.30 | — | Faedawyn's Piping of Protection | Group Armor Class plus a damage absorb. |
| Run speed0.30 | 5 | Traveler's March (outdoors) · Aristam's Steady Tread (dungeons) · Aristam's Voluminous Voyage (high level) | Group movement speed. Steady Tread is a modest boost that works where Traveler’s March can’t; Voluminous Voyage combines speed, invisibility and slow fall. |
| Mesmerize song0.30 | 3 | Somniferous Serenade (now a Wind song) | Incapacitates a target for 18 seconds. Since 0.30, mezzes overwrite based on duration, so an Enchanter can replace yours with a longer one. |
| Whisper mezzes (shout) | 16 | Mesmerizing Whisper (2s) → Subduing 26 (3s) → Entrancing 36 (4s) → Somnolent 46 (5s) → Hypnotic 56 (6s) | Instant, very short mezzes. Interrupts and emergency breathing room. |
| Charm | 4 | Siren's Call → Siren's Allure 12 → Siren's Enchantment 24 → Siren's Compulsion 36 → Siren's Thrall 48 | Makes a target fight for you for 18 seconds. Since 0.30: beasts and humanoids only, no longer breaks when damaged, and charmed damage is reduced to pet-class level. |
| Area slow | 8 | Aria de Lento → Aria De Largo 28 → Aria De Grave 44 → Aria de Larghissimo 56 | Slows movement and attack speed of nearby enemies (a secondary slow). |
| Aggro-radius reduction | 9 | Languid Lullaby → Languid Lament 15 | Shrinks a target’s aggro range for 2 minutes. Great for splitting pulls. |
| Damage over time0.30 | — | Vellicosa's Fanfare + Vellicosa's Tantara (replace the Dissonant Riffs line) | Two Brass magic DoTs that stack. Tantara does bonus damage if Fanfare is already on the target. |
| Shout damage | 1 | Screaming Vocalization → Dissonant Vocalization 10 → Cacophonic 20 → Wailing 30 → Discordant 40 → Chaotic 50 → Thunderous 60 | Instant magic damage that costs mana. Shouts share a cooldown. |
| Other shouts0.30 | 7 | Repel 7 (area de-taunt) · Frightful Screech 13 (6s fear) · Paralyzing Shriek (3s area stun) | Instant tools you can use while your Measure keeps playing. |
| Melee ability0.30 | — | Whistling Blade | Modest damage plus a Strength buff; higher tiers add AC and primary haste. Short global cooldown. |
| Dispels0.30 | — | Disenchanting Blare (Brass) · Discordant Purge | Remove harmful effects from a party member, or strip beneficial effects from an enemy. |
| Cooldown0.30 | — | Crescendo | Long cooldown: boosts your bonus from all instruments and Singing. |
| Utility | 1–33 | Hymn of the Dead 1, Selstie's Aeolian Aria 14, Sonnet of the Unseen 20, Sneak 20, Harmony of Visions 33, Tembror's Booming Bravado0.30, Aristam's Aerial Aria0.30 | Find a corpse, breathe underwater, group invisibility vs. the living, see through a target’s eyes, silence resistance, slow fall. |
07Songs to Prioritize, Levels 1–28
You won’t be able to afford every song as soon as it unlocks. This is the order that matters most for a new Bard:
| Level | Key songs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beats of Battle, Screaming Vocalization, Hymn of the Dead, Throw | Keep Beats of Battle running in every fight. Hymn of the Dead points to a corpse in the zone. |
| 3–4 | Somniferous Serenade, Healing Hymn, Siren's Call | Your first mez and your first regen song. Healing Hymn keeps the group fighting longer between rests. |
| 5–7 | Traveler's March, Chant of Purity, Chant of Magic Protection, Repel | Run speed is the Bard’s calling card. Repel sheds aggro when a pull goes wrong. |
| 8–10 | Aria de Lento, Languid Lullaby, Dissonant Vocalization | Your area slow is excellent for kiting and for helping a tank with adds. Lullaby lets you split tight camps. |
| 12–13 | Allegro songs (haste and casting speed), Siren's Allure, Frightful Screech | Haste changes your group’s damage. Buy the attack-speed allegro first. |
| 14–16 | Selstie's Aeolian Aria, Languid Lament, Hymn of Inspiration, Mesmerizing Whisper | Mana regen makes your casters love you. Whisper gives you an instant emergency mez. |
| 20–24 | Sonnet of the Unseen, Sneak, Cacophonic Vocalization, Siren's Enchantment | Group invisibility for dungeon travel and corpse runs. Sneak helps scouting. |
| 26–28 | Subduing Whisper, Aria De Largo, Allegro Moderato | A much stronger slow and haste. At 30, Common Time adds a fourth song to your Measure. |
Watch for the 0.30 additions at your vendor as you level — Vellicosa's Fanfare, the new resist chants, Aristam's Steady Tread, Faedawyn's Piping of Protection and Whistling Blade weren’t in the pre-0.30 data. Past level 28, upgrade haste and slow first, then regen, then damage.
08Playing in a Group
This is where Bards shine. Your songs affect every ally in range, so the whole group benefits from each one.
Before the pull
- Set your Measure for the group you have: a typical early set is Beats of Battle, your haste song and Healing Hymn, with Hymn of Inspiration swapped in when the casters need mana.
- Pick the instrument that boosts the songs you’re running, and swap to a Percussion instrument for resist chants on dangerous fights.
- Agree on a system with your group: who pulls, which mob is the kill target, and who handles adds. If there’s an Enchanter, your short mezzes hold adds until they can land a longer one.
- Pull with care. Use Languid Lullaby to split camps, and remember you can play songs while moving.
During the fight
- Keep the Measure goingYour beneficial songs refresh themselves while they’re in your Measure. Casting a new beneficial song at capacity pushes out the oldest one, so choose deliberately.
- Twist in your detrimental songsSlows, damage songs and targeted songs push a song out of your queue, and only the most recent refreshes on its own. Recast them in sequence to keep them all up.
- Weave in shouts and meleeBetween songs, fire a shout or Whistling Blade. You can’t shout during a song’s 3-second cast, so time them around it.
- Control the addsMez an add with Somniferous Serenade, stop a runner or caster with a Whisper, or throw Aria de Lento over the whole pack.
- Shed aggroIf a mob comes for you, Repel reduces your threat on it and everything around it. Frightful Screech buys six seconds in an emergency.
09Soloing
Bards can solo with patience, especially outdoors. Your advantage is control and movement, not raw damage.
- Melee with your songs up: run Beats of Battle, a haste song and Healing Hymn, fight with your weapon and Whistling Blade, and add shouts when your mana allows.
- Kiting: with Traveler's March and Aria de Lento slowing the target, you can stay ahead of a mob while your damage songs and shouts wear it down. Twist your slow and damage songs as you move.
- Charm as a helper, not a plan: Siren's Call and its upgrades last only 18 seconds, only work on beasts and humanoids since 0.30, and charmed mobs now hit like a pet class’s pet. They no longer break when damaged, which makes a short charm safer.
- Pull singles: Languid Lullaby lets you pull one mob away from its friends.
10Leveling Path
A suggested route for a Bard. You’ll level fastest in groups, where your songs multiply everyone’s output, but Bards can solo outdoors between groups.
| Levels | Where | Why it’s good for Bards |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | Night Harbor newbie yards / Evershade Weald outskirts | Do your starter quest. Melee rats, bats and beetles with Beats of Battle running. |
| 3–11 | Tomb of the Last Wyrmsbane | The best early group dungeon, and where The Yowling and the Night Harbor quest send you. Great place to learn pulling. |
| 4–9 | Evershade Weald scout paths | Wolves and Fellstone orc scouts; good solo and kiting practice. |
| 8–13 | Evershade Weald Dryad Grove, Infested Crypt | Area slows and short mezzes help against the crypt’s swarms. Mistress Naelira in Evershade drops the Beguiler's Tunic. |
| 8–10+ | Shaded Dunes camps | Ashira and smuggler camps; Kingpin Marrek Voss drops Voss's Sealed Ledger. |
| 10–15 | Tel Ekir | Ashira camps with several CHA pieces for Bards: vests, leggings, a sash and a ring. |
| 12–16 | Tomb of the Last Wyrmsbane deeper halls | Ghosts, zombies and ghouls; High Marshal Fionna (~16) waits at the bottom. |
| 18–27 | Fallen Pass, Keeper's Bight | Dense camps where a good puller is worth their weight in gold. Several strong CHA weapons drop in Fallen Pass. |
See Where to Level in the New Player Guide for more spots, and each zone page for maps and named mobs.
11Gear to Look For
Stack Charisma first — it’s your mana and your song damage — then Stamina so you survive pulls, then Dexterity and Strength for melee. Since 0.30 you fight with one weapon and an instrument in your off hand, so look for one-handed weapons with CHA, and treat instruments as core gear rather than a bonus.
Instruments
| Instrument | Stats | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Lute of the Charmed | CHA +2, DEX +2, HP +10 | Final reward of the Faelindral starter quest |
| Lambent Lute | CHA +1, DEX +1, HP +10 | Faelindral starter quest |
| Simple Wooden Lute, Simple Wooden Flute | — | Plain instruments; the value is the song bonus, not stats |
| Fine Elven Flute | CHA +5, HP +15, Mana +10 | Sylvaine, Shallow Shoals |
| Ba'Haara Lute | AC 5, STA +4, CHA +5, HP +5 | A Ba'haara storyteller, Shallow Shoals |
Since 0.30, even a basic store-bought instrument adds 50% to applicable songs: stat buffs other than haste (including run speed and health regen), damage absorbs, Hymn of Inspiration's mana regen, and damage and DoT songs. Each instrument family has at least one song that scales with it. Rais Alyssum in Night Harbor is an instrument dealer.
Early gear (roughly levels 1–16)
| Item | Slot | Stats | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beguiler's Tunic | Chest | AC 8, INT +3, CHA +5, Mana +20 | Mistress Naelira, Evershade Weald |
| Colorful Leather Vest | Chest | AC 18, STA +3, DEX +3, AGI +1, CHA +1, HP +10 | An ashira alchemist, Tel Ekir |
| Chompers' Hide Tunic | Chest | AC 10, STR +3, STA +3, DEX +3 | Cheikho's quest, Shaded Dunes |
| Bated Leather Leggings | Legs | AC 8, CHA +4, Mana +20 | Tanner Daba, Tel Ekir |
| Sash of Herbs | Waist | AC 5, STA +1, CHA +3, HP +10 | Herbalist Qirfa, Tel Ekir |
| Voss's Sealed Ledger | Ring | AC 5, STA +6, CHA +5, HP +20 | Kingpin Marrek Voss, Shaded Dunes |
| Moonwhisper Knot | Ranged | STA +2, CHA +5, Mana +5 | Shimmering Shadow, Shaded Dunes |
| Cinder Beetle Horn | Primary | CHA +9, HP +20, Mana +35, DMG 14/37 | A cinder herald, Sungreet Strand |
Upgrades for later
| Item | Slot | Stats | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreadtide's Crown | Head | AC 10, STA +14, CHA +18, HP +20 | Captain Morvath Dreadtide, Shallow Shoals |
| Gaze of Empire | Face | AC 18, STR +6, STA +6, CHA +6, HP +30 | Grand Vizier Al'kithar, Vale of Zintar |
| Mawchant Rite Vest | Chest | AC 39, STA +5, DEX +5, AGI +3, CHA +3, HP +10 | Devourhymn Glomenda, Grimtide Sanctum |
| Deeproot Cudgel | Primary | STA +6, CHA +11, HP +5, Mana +10, DMG 14/37 | Jokan'daru, Fallen Pass |
| Thrym's Fury | Primary | STA +2, INT +5, CHA +12, HP +10, DMG 16/37 | Aidan Thrym, Fallen Pass |
| Pasha's Blade | Primary | AC 10, STR +8, CHA +7, HP +40, Mana +35, DMG 20/45 | Pasha Patrice, Night Harbor |
| Torvald's Grace | Ranged | STA +4, CHA +6, HP +5, Mana +10 | Edric Torvald, Fallen Pass |
Stats from our item database. Item levels aren’t published, so “early” is based on where they drop. Browse the database for more CHA gear your Bard can wear.
12Songs and Twisting
- Your Measure: beneficial songs you play stay active and refresh automatically. You start in Cut Time with a 3-song Measure; the Common Time trait at level 30 raises it to 4.
- At capacity: playing another beneficial song drops the oldest one, which fades shortly after. To choose which one goes, stop a song by using its ability again, then start the new one.
- Detrimental and targeted songs push a song out of your queue, and only the most recent song refreshes automatically. To keep several of them up — or buffs plus debuffs — you twist: recast them in sequence before they expire.
- Songs take 3 seconds to cast. Only stuns interrupt them, so you can play while moving and while being hit. Shouts are instant, but can’t be used during a song’s cast.
- Mana is for shouts. Nearly all songs cost no mana, and Bards no longer have Meditation. Your CHA sets your mana pool, so spend it on shouts where they matter.
- Instruments decide your strength. The equipped instrument amplifies matching songs. Carry the instruments for the songs you use and swap to fit the fight; Crescendo boosts all of them for a short burst.
- Stacking: your haste songs include secondary haste that stacks with primary haste from an Enchanter or Shaman, and your resist chants stack with other classes' resist buffs. Vellicosa's Fanfare and Tantara stack with each other.
13Common Bard Mistakes
- Playing the wrong three songs. Rebuild your Measure for each group and each fight rather than keeping one set forever.
- Forgetting the instrument. A song played without the matching instrument loses most of its 0.30 strength.
- Pushing your buffs out by accident. Every targeted or detrimental song bumps something from your queue — know what drops before you cast.
- Relying on charm. It’s 18 seconds, beasts and humanoids only, and deliberately weaker since 0.30.
- Pulling too much. Bring back what your group can handle, and use Languid Lullaby to split camps.
- Standing still. You can play while moving — use it to stay out of area attacks and in range of your group.
14Bard FAQ
Is the Bard good for new players?
Yes, more so since patch 0.30. Your beneficial songs now keep themselves running, so you can start with a simple three-song setup and learn twisting gradually. Bards are welcome in almost any group.
What’s the most important Bard stat?
Charisma. Since 0.30 it sets your mana pool and the damage bonus on your songs, and most song effects depend on it. Stamina comes next, especially if you pull.
Can a Bard dual wield?
Not anymore. Patch 0.30 removed Dual Wield and gave Bards Double Attack at the same levels instead, because the class is designed around one weapon and an instrument in the off hand.
How many songs can I keep running?
Three in your Measure at first, and four from level 30 when you unlock Common Time. Detrimental songs have to be twisted by hand.
What’s the best race for a Bard?
Human for the highest starting Charisma (21), Wood Elf for DEX, AGI and a Faelindral start, Dwarf for toughness and Stone Form, or Halfling for Sneak and resistances.
What happened to Dissonant Riffs?
The five-song Dissonant Riffs line was removed in 0.30 and replaced by Vellicosa's Fanfare and Vellicosa's Tantara, two Brass DoTs that stack and together do more damage than the old five.