[Maeru]

Thanks a bunch for the quick replies guys.

As for being burned out on brd, I see what you're saying and I have whm around the same level as brd. While I want to spend most of my time on brd it will be nice to be able to take a break and play something else so I dont end up wanting to jump off a cliff.

Also, another question.

How should I make money as a brd? I've been telewhoring on whm up until now but the sheer amount of money I need for the gear I want really intimidates me. I have a feeling the answer is going to be "Level a DD job so you can farm" but I figured I'd ask anyways.

Thanks,

Maeru

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Sadly, the answer is level a DD. BRD and WHM farming is probably the most agonizing way to go about it.

Best farmers out there are THF and BST, though. THf for Treasure Hunter, obviously. BST because they spend so much time soloing for EXP they get farming done at the same time. They also fight money mobs that some jobs aren't at ease about facing on their own. CHR gear does play a role on BST, so its a respectable follow-up to BRD, though it takes much, much longer to get to 75 with it than BRD does.

BCNMs will only take you so far. If you're looking to be self-sufficent rather than HNMLS-dependant for gil, you have a long road facing you no matter what.

Some jobs go hand-in-hand with crafting, though. Cooking is great for mages, melee and also BST. Woodworking is great for RNG, but the market of RNGs themselves is somewhat limited, as is COR. Market varies from server to server, but going with a craft and farming to compliment it would be a fair idea. Cooking and fishing actually go together rather well.

[Aksannyi]

If you get a decent sword or dagger you can fight some lower level mobs that drop stuff. Don't need a melee job to farm, sure it might make it a bit faster but it also depends what you decide to farm. Shouldn't need a melee job for that.

Also, /THF helps.

[Sabaron]

The best way to make money using Bard is to use Mazurka/Sneak/Invis to move between mining points in Mount Zhayolm and dig up Khroma Ores.

Remember to keep your Lullaby sharp in case of a Wamoura aggro and remember that Wamoura's don't always sleep well since they're light based. This means that when passing through Wamoura areas (there are two), you should have SS/Blink up. There are zones close to the most dangerous areas.

You will want to level some basic crafts to do well in this mining endeavor:

Smithing (to make ingots and to make bullets from the resulting ingots--preferably high enough to process Iron Sand into steel, 55ish.
Alchemy (to desynth some moblin masks and convert the resulting glass into Prism Powder and to make firesand, steel bullets cap at 49 Alchemy).
Goldsmithing (to desynth moblin mails to make bullets and ingots, moblin mail desynth caps at 24).
Having the above array of skills will allow you maximum utilization of the material you'll be mining up. Some goblin armors use Clothcraft to yield cotton thread. I usually throw these away. Also, if you want to process Troll armor, you will need to have Smithing well above 60 (I believe in the 85 range).

For a beginner, though, just look for Adaman and Khroma ores and stack up some mats like Sulfur and Bomb Ash for the AH. If you don't have the skill to desynth just toss the beastman armors on the ground--they take up too much space. You should try to be able to process at least Iron Ingot (Minimum 11 Smithing) before you go up or you'll be tossing a lot of valuable ores. If you don't level Goldsmithing, you won't be able to process the metal moblin armors which can yield Gold Ingots and tons of Brass Ingots.

I usually try to run at least 6 stacks of picks if I venture up, and will usually get about 1 Khroma per 10 or so stacks.

[Malacite]

You forgot about Balarhn's Ring >.>b


Also maybe I'm wrong but I always thought that Singing Skill affected the power of your songs while Wind and String determined accuracy?

[Sabaron]

Originally Posted by Malacite

You forgot about Balarhn's Ring >.>b

{Please check it.} I most certainly did not. It's my favorite Bard ring.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Sabaron

As for Singing vs. Wind, I haven't heard that... Singing, in general, is a better choice since it stacks with both Wind and String anyway.. Therefore, when there's an option, I would always recommend singing over wind; thus the point of Singing vs. Wind is moot since singing is better anyway for more obvious reasons.

From: Kanican - Scholar Guide (Part IV)

Originally Posted by Kanican

I have some data regarding BRD Singing vs. Wind skill as well I might post sometime as well I found from a JP guide. Wind skill isn't nearly as effective as Singing skill I think in terms of accuracy.

It's a very meager clue. I still haven't came across the JP source material, but haven't been searching all that hard.

[ShadowHolyFlyingDragon]

While on the topic of BRD endgame gear and skills, I had a question about the Singing skill. Has it been proven in some forum or other that singing skill actually deals with overall accuracy of landing songs on mobs or has it been brought up that singing is the skill you use when you don't have an instrument equipped?

I've tried equipping more singing skill in place of wind skill and I don't notice a difference in landing songs in meripo. Wind Skill seems to make a noticable difference, mostly in landing Lullabies on mobs.

I've kind of always assumed that CHR was the same as INT when it came to skills and my thinking was that since brd skills are in the magic category and INT affects skill, CHR would do the same. But, I've always had a high CHR from equipment so I never tested anything without CHR.

I felt like a singing torque and earring along with gloves didn't make much a difference, until I put wind items in its place and noticed overtime that my accuracy was better.

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by ShadowHolyFlyingDragon

I felt like a singing torque and earring along with gloves didn't make much a difference, until I put wind items in its place and noticed overtime that my accuracy was better.

What is a "singing torque"?

* * *

Once, I had a Lv.55/56 synch'ed party with a SMN, and I noticed Ecliptic Growl (CHR+ at the time) made a pretty noticeable difference in Lullaby landing rate. And, at around ~Lv.73, there seemed to have been a large difference when food effect dropped while wearing Opo-Opo Crown (14 CHR swing here).

So, while I can't offer test data, I'm reasonably convinced CHR affects accuracy.

* * *

Someone should go naked and abuse the heck out of some Om'hpemde to test:
A) Instrument only
B) Instrument + Singing Earring
B) Instrument + Wind Earring

(Only using earrings, since they do not add any other stat.)

Unfortunately, since we are more-or-less expecting ~1% difference in accuracy (or less) per skill difference, and those earrings only bring skill+3, this test will probably need some obscenely large sample sizes to be considered statistically kosher.