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Bard Songs and Charm

Bard Songs and Moving Auras

A selected song repeats its cast and renews its own duration.

Performing continues while moving or casting an ordinary skill.
Selecting another song changes which song repeats.

Repetition stops if the Bard dies, loses the required equipment, or enters a state other than idle, moving, or casting.
Stopping a song also stops its repetition.

Bard songs require an equipped instrument.
Losing it stops the repeating cast.

Two songs can remain active by default.
Polyphony adds one slot, for three active songs.
A new song at the limit removes the least recently refreshed song and its effects.

Earlier songs remain after a switch until they expire, are stopped, or are displaced.
Stopping repetition alone does not remove an active song.

AuraRecipients
BeneficialThe Bard, nearby living party members in the same zone, and their active combat pets and mercenaries.
Familiars do not receive these auras.
HarmfulEnemies in range of the harmful song.

Leaving a song's range removes that Bard's aura.
Returning can restore the remaining effect of a song that does not share a buff category with other songs.
If cleansing weakened a harmful effect, leaving and returning does not restore its original strength.

Songs that share a buff category instead apply a fresh effect when you return to range.
Aegis Aria can restore its ward this way before the next cast.

A resisted or removed aura needs a fresh song cast to apply again.

Similar beneficial songs in the same category do not stack.
The stronger effect wins, and an equal-strength effect already present stays in place.

Buff Scaling gives the Charisma formulas.
See the Bard class page for skills and ranks.

Bard Charm: Verse of Beguilement

Charm turns one monster into a temporary ally.

Charm targets a living monster.
Bosses, elites, training dummies, and monsters returning home cannot be charmed.
Debuff immunity blocks it.
Other targets can resist it.

Each nonnegative Charisma point reduces the charm resist chance by 0.02 percentage points.
Each magic resistance point adds 0.05 percentage points to the monster's base resist chance, up to 90% before other modifiers.
The base roll also changes by 0.5 percentage points per level of difference, up to 10 points either way.
Each level above the Bard adds another 2.5 percentage points.
The final resist chance cannot exceed 95%.
A charmed monster starts at 45% of its usual physical damage.
Each nonnegative Charisma point adds 0.045 percentage points to that share, up to 100%.

The creature follows the Bard when it has no target.
It searches for nearby reachable monsters threatening the Bard or the Bard's party.
It does not automatically attack each monster the Bard selects.

A Bard can control one charmed creature at a time.
Another Bard cannot take control of that creature while its charm lasts.
Selecting a different monster does not replace an active charm.
Releasing the old charm makes a new target possible.

Charm uses one active-song slot.
At the song limit, a successful charm can displace the least recently refreshed song.

Renewal keeps the existing creature as its target, even if the Bard selects another monster.
The creature must be within cast range and visible for renewal.

Charm ends if its effect expires or is removed, or if the creature dies.
It also ends if the Bard dies, changes zones, or leaves the game.

A released monster can attack its former Bard if the Bard is alive, nearby, and in the same zone.