Wind vs Strings...

[Serif]

It has finally come to my attention that I have been leveling up my Wind Ability and not my Strings. Is it necessary to have both maxed out all the time?

I am too lazy right now to go farm for the +1 instruments, and I know that some of them are harps. I am just wondering at level 49 will I gain levels quicker if my Strings level is only 3?

I just never really needed the range for the Harp, I can easily pull off all of my songs in that limited range.

So all I am asking is if I need to level up my Strings by just singing in town one day.

[mlwolfinger]

I think that most songs are scaled up based on your skill level. If your wind skill is 90 and your string skill is 3 then songs like Minuet are going to be noticeably less effective cast from your harp than from your horn/flute. I guess if you are planning to NEVER use a harp then you don't need to worry about it. I would consider leveling it up though just in case. Who knows, you may want an Ebony Harp someday for singing Paeon or they may introduce new harps in the future that you'll want to have (still waiting on that Dream Harp ;) ).

Personally I use my Cornette +1 for singing Minuet and Madrigal, my Ryl.Spr. Horn for singing Requiem, Lullaby and Threnodies and my Maple Harp for singing Paeon. Harps have greater range than horns and I find that if I start singing Paeon too late at the end of the battle the added range from the harp can help me hit the puller as he's running to get the next mob. Plus it gives me a way to keep string skill high. Usually my singing and wind are maxed and my string is just a few levels behind using this method.

They really do need to come out with a more desirable harp though... or even better, a lute! :thumbsup:

[Mylek]

The instruments with bonuses for the most usefull songs are all wind. Also the range on your songs will increase a bit as your level and skill goes up. I find the range of wind instruments to be more than adequate for most situations and I prefer them because of their smaller area.

As for gaining skill you will go nowhere just singing songs to yourself in town. You might be able to gain a couple points doing this but it is an unnecessary waste of time. Skill goes up very fast however when you sing songs on enemies. (requiem/threnody/elegy/finale)

I have the appropriate instrument macroed with the various songs that I sing in group which happen to all be wind. I also use a wind instrument with ballads because the extremely long range of ballad1 with a harp is prohibitive.

As for string, for the last 5 or so levels I only used a harp when casting magic finale and my string skill still manages to reach cap before I levelup though not nearly as fast as wind. This is kind of a good thing though because wind skill actually benefits the PT where string skill doesn't do much of anything.

[mIze]

I used to cap each before staying on Wind for the rest of the level, but I got tired of the hassle. I stopped my string at 104, and my wind is currently 140ish I believe. I've never really had an occasion to use a string instrument, if you're worried about future level caps and items/songs, then you can max both. It's really up to you.

Also, the +threnody and +requiem instruments are both wind I believe, so it's not like you should have longer range for the debuffs and sacrifice the better skill bonuses for it. I can't see how you would ever need so much range, except if you pulled maybe (which I only do rarely).

[Niland]

i've kept both capped.

well the paeon harp at 60 is nice and also who knows what instruments will be introduced one day, if a +2lullaby harp comes in at level 65 or something then i'd feel pretty silly with only 5 string skill^^