Charm swarming (reverse charm kite) is a powerful solo technique. Pull 10-12 mobs, charm one and send it to attack another mob in the pack. The pack kills the charmed pet, earning you XP. No AoE penalty applies.
Body pulling is critical to this technique. Get into melee range of mobs without doing any damage — if you DoT or damage mobs before charming, they will attack you instead of the pet.
The flow: Charm a mob and have it attack another mob in the pack. Then run the remaining aggro'd mobs over the pet so they attack it when they come into range.
Walk into melee range of each mob to pull aggro without dealing damage. Do not DoT, nuke, or use any damaging abilities during this phase. Damage before charming causes mobs to attack you, not the pet.
Pick a mob from the group to be your pet. Ideally choose one with good stats for your zone — strong mobs make better pets. Cast charm and confirm it lands before proceeding.
Direct your charmed pet to attack one of the other mobs in the pack. The pet will start fighting, and the rest of the pack will begin attacking the pet as well.
Use Selo's to run through or around the aggro'd mobs, funneling them toward your pet. Mobs that enter melee range of the pet will begin attacking it, maximizing the damage the pet takes per second.
Keep an eye on your pet's health bar. Break charm when the pet reaches 3-5% HP. This gives you a brief window to finish the mob yourself while it is still low. Breaking too early wastes the pet; breaking too late risks losing it unexpectedly.
If the mob still has meaningful HP after charm breaks, use Chant of Flame, Chant of Frost, or Fufil's to burn it down. At very low HP, Brusco's Boastful Bellow finishes the kill faster than waiting for DoT ticks.
Charm the next mob from the remaining pack and start the cycle again. Keep Selo's running to maintain positioning control. Re-body-pull if you need to reset the group.
Inventory click — no need to equip. Break invis instantly with a single click. The gold standard for bard invis-breaking. Expect to pay 6-8k plat.
Lasts 4 seconds, which is long enough to body pull reliably. Better than relying on Sneak since it is consistent and not subject to cooldowns.
Must be equipped to use — a meaningful downside compared to Mosquito Boots. Cheaper at 2-3k plat but the slot cost makes it less practical for most bards.
Only works about 50% of the time and sits on a cooldown. Not reliable enough for consistent body pulling. Avoid depending on this method.
Charm kill using the free level 27 charm. Hill Giants are also excellent for plat farming, making this one of the most efficient early-game spots for XP and income simultaneously.
Excellent from levels 51-58. Fixed ZEM (Zone Experience Modifier) and mobs are level 47-51. One of the best sustained XP spots in this range for a bard.
Charm Thought Horrors and keep snare up at all times — pets here are very strong. Give weapons to your pet. "Young Spirit" mobs make excellent pets and are the priority charm target.
Charm Molkor or Bulthar. A Wind instrument helps significantly with charm breaks in this zone, so keep one equipped or in inventory.
Swarm, charm, and fear kite here for levels 32-52. The Aviak village offers dense mob populations suitable for all three solo kiting styles in the same area.