The Bard Codex grants no damage, mitigation, Discord vulnerability or Resonance slow against players. Native barding skill checks are separate from Codex effects.
Musicianship
Barding · Skill guide
Helps you play an instrument successfully before a Bard effect is attempted.
MAX SKILL120with Power Scroll
SKILL GROUPBarding
PVPSee rules
PVMYes
TRAININGSee route
How do I train this skill?
Recommended activities for Musicianship at each skill range.
View the training tableHow It Works
Play an instrument well enough to use Bard skills. Think of it as the foundation: the tune must work before the special musical effect is attempted.
Skill summary, training and related paths
Power Scroll and cap information
Maximum skill: 120 with a matching Power Scroll. It starts with a 100 cap. Scrolls unlock 105, 110, 115 or 120; you still train the points and keep the same shared total of 720.
Understanding effective skill
Which value counts? These numbers use the effective skill: the value after applicable skill bonuses or penalties. This can differ from your trained base value. Bless changes your stats; it does not directly add trained skill points.
The Codex of Resonance has maximum Hymn +15% damage and Dirge 15% damage reduction. Resonance and Discord vary by creature rank. The four Bard skills form one power layer, followed by Codex Rank; see the complete Codex reference.
Requirements
Carry the Codex and meet the technique rank, instrument, mana, target and range requirements. The highest valid nearby Hymn or Dirge is used; identical songs never add together.
How to use it, step by step
If a step says to use a skill, open your character window, choose Skills and use the button beside that skill. If it says to use a tool, double-click the tool in your backpack. Passive benefits work automatically.
- Carry a lute, harp, drum or another usable instrument.
- Double-click it to practise playing.
- Use a Bard skill and select the instrument when asked. Musicianship is then checked as part of that action.
What changes as your skill rises
Read the conditions above each table. A percentage may describe a chance, a damage component or a multiplier: those are different things. The other values stay fixed unless the table says otherwise.
What the skill affects: These numbers use the effective skill: the value after applicable skill bonuses or penalties. This can differ from your trained base value. Bless changes your stats; it does not directly add trained skill points.
Detailed formulas and comparison tables
Playing the instrument successfully
This check happens before the separate barding check against the target.
| Effective skill | Chance |
|---|---|
| 80 | 80% |
| 90 | 90% |
| 100 | 100% |
Help against difficult barding targets above 100
For targeted Peacemaking, Discordance and Provocation, each effective Musicianship point above 100 lowers the target-check difficulty by 0.5.
| Effective Musicianship | Difficulty reduction |
|---|---|
| 80 | 0 |
| 90 | 0 |
| 100 | 0 |
At 100 the instrument check succeeds, but the target barding check can still fail. Barding range belongs to the skill being used, not to Musicianship.
100–120 scaling: what you gain
100–120 scaling: what you gain
Only the skill in the first column changes unless the table says otherwise. Each extra trained point still uses one point from your shared total of 720.
Target difficulty support
The instrument check is already 100% at skill 100. The separate barding skill stays at 100; target difficulty before Music adjustment is 90.
| Musicianship | Difficulty reduction | Final barding chance |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 70% |
| 110 | 5 points | 80% |
| 120 | 10 points | 90% |
Bard Codex skill contribution
All four base barding skills rise together; their mean is counted once, then Codex Rank applies. Spirit Speak, Focus and Meditation are excluded. Raising only one from 100 to 120 gives 92.5%, not 100%.
| All four barding skills | Power factor |
|---|---|
| 100 | 90% |
| 110 | 95% |
| 120 | 100% |
The creature, instrument and target skill determine the real chance. This does not automatically make a boss vulnerable to barding.
Examples in play
Easy examples
Two checks for one action
At Musicianship 100, the ordinary instrument check succeeds. Your attempt to provoke a powerful monster can still fail because Provocation has its own target-difficulty check.
Skills that work with it
Advanced notes
Things to remember
- You still need an instrument. A high skill does not put one in your backpack.
- Native Bard range depends on the skill being used: Peacemaking, Provocation or Discordance. Bard Codex abilities have their own distances.
- Wait through the instrument’s normal reuse delay instead of repeatedly clicking it.
Training and Skill Progression
TRAINING / SKILL PROGRESSION
One recommended activity for each skill range, with a short note on what you need.
Before you start: set Musicianship to Up and leave room under the shared 720-point total. Set an unwanted skill to Down if the total is full.
NPC training: when the trainer listed for this skill offers a lesson, the fixed price is 300 gold and the lesson can reach 50.0 if both the individual and total caps have room.
Training area: supported Academy actions receive 5× normal gain through 80.0. An action still needs to run a real skill check; the Academy bonus cannot make an automatic or blocked action train.
Beyond 100: consume the matching 105, 110, 115 or 120 Power Scroll first. A scroll raises only the individual cap; it grants no trained points and does not increase the shared 720-point total.
Recommended training
Repeat the single activity listed for your level. These are practical training choices; the ranges are recommendations, not new unlock requirements.
| Your skill | What to repeat | Quick note |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0–50.0 | Bard lesson | Optional NPC lesson; 300 gold when offered and room under your caps. |
| 50.0–80.0 | Play a usable instrument | Play a usable instrument or complete an eligible barding instrument check. |
| 80.0–100.0 | Play the same usable instrument | Play a usable instrument or complete an eligible barding instrument check. |
| 100.0–120.0 | Play the same usable instrument | Play a usable instrument or complete an eligible barding instrument check. |
Rules and numbers
The ordinary instrument success chance is Musicianship divided by 100. At 100 it passes, but the separate Bard skill can still fail against a difficult target. Native range uses the skill being performed, not Musicianship: Peacemaking 80, for example, gives Peacemaking a 13-tile range. Codex distances are separate.
Exact rules and scaling
| Skill or situation | What it means |
|---|---|
| Musicianship 50 | 50% instrument success chance |
| Musicianship 80 | 80% instrument success chance |
| Musicianship 100+ | Instrument check succeeds; target check still applies |
Listed amounts describe the stated conditions. Equipment, target rules, damage, healing limits and other effects can change the final result. An example of a chance is never a promise of the same outcome on every attempt.