your thoughts on songs/eqp for a bard

[kirbys_dead]

hi i just got my bard a couple of days ago and ive been lvling in the gustaburg/highlands/dunes. as more and more spells become open to me ive noticed thats theres a song that can be learned at every lvl from 10 up ( i think its 10 ).

here is my question?
1. is it worth to get all the songs i can get my hand on. ( ie a song that lowers light damage )

2. should i keep the string and wind insturment lvls about the same?

3. is up to date armor really required? i mean i dont fight and i have yet to get attacked ( lvl 11 bard in the dunes )


If these have been answered just post the link. THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT

[Xelios]

Hello I think I can help ya here.


1. From what I see you should buy all the songs since they are not THAT much money if you get them from stores heres a list to help ya http://www.roguishness.com/daoc/uploads/Jiggs/songlist.txt

2. Well thats a good idea but if you put like a macro to equip a harp for paeon and like a cornette for minuet etc. then they should lvl up just fine but yeah try to keep it near the same as wind.

3. Well it's not a big deal to upgrade that much on armor but! you should upgrade eventually you can go to qufim or anything in like a tunic lol but atm i'm using beetle armor still but its up to you. Other than that though go for your songs,instruments, and stuff that boost chr


Hope that helps ya!

[Gbz]

"1. is it worth to get all the songs i can get my hand on. ( ie a song that lowers light damage )"

Threnodies help increase a specific elemental attack on the enemy. You will want these to increase Magic Burst damage. Buy them all from NPCs. Songs like threnodies on AH are just waiting to rip you off. Song like Goblins Gavotte (resist bind), you won't need. Just make sure you get +attacks songs, +accuracy songs, hp regen, elegy songs, requiem songs, mp regen, finale and march songs. Another note on threnodies is that you can cast it to increase the effect for your own songs. Light threnody for requiem and earth threnody for your elegy songs.

"2. should i keep the string and wind insturment lvls about the same?"

hehe i think generally people do that but I slacked off on strings. Wind instruments have better stats overall to offer than strings. Besides having one skill maxed out isn't all too bad :sweat:

"3. is up to date armor really required? i mean i dont fight and i have yet to get attacked ( lvl 11 bard in the dunes )"

You will *rarely* get attacked. On the other hand since you have to be close to the melees while singing, area attacks will really hurt you if your armors are very outdated leaving you with very little defense. I say upgrade them when you can, as in having the gil to afford them provided you have all the important songs/instruments already.

Have fun

:biggrin:

[Leri]

I to stopped leveling my strings at like 43 or so. :sweat: I've noticed a trend where most high level bards got a bad string rating simply because I can't think of a spot to use one where my song won't resisted. I used to do Harp for Finale but that even be resisted so now I use my + CHR horn for that.

Resisted songs = bad. Very bad. :thumbsup:

Anyway what he said is all good but I'd like to add on the armor note is that if you sub /WHM at one point you will get Blink. And that helps alot if you have outdated armor. (Like I do now, trying to get the AF set. :angel: ) I've noitced blink doesn't always work on area attacks but sometimes it does. I rarely use my mp as bard really... the WHM or RDM or combo of the two have the healing down pat during battle and after battle a curaga or two is easy to regen the mp with Ballad. :cool: Point is you can spare a blink or two incase you grab aggro.

52/26 BRD/WHM

~L

[Rekiem]

Keep your String skill up to date. I know a couple bard who don't do this and I can understand them, seeing that theres no really good songs that get buffed by most Harp. The first one is at Lv60, the Ebony harp. But not many BRD seems to use string. I find harp to be very usefull when you have a PT that move too much or takes too long to get into the formation formation when the puller come with the monster. This is when string instrument show their usefullness. Because of their large range, you can start singing earlier and not be afraid to miss someone. Sometime, it can take so long until the fighters get buffed because they can't place themself properly and you have to wait after them that losing the small bonus from your special wind instrument over the harp range makes you less effective.

String Instrument are also really nice when hunting and farming keys with a group. People tend to get unorganized and it can be hard to keep your songs up on everyone. With a string instrument, the range gets bigger and you're able to hit everyone with your songs effect ;)

But normally, Wind instruments are almost always used so don't stress to much if you String skill is behind.

[kirbys_dead]

wow thanks for your replys. i have another question

whats the diffrence btw string and wind and what weapon should i use at early lvls

[Silkiv]

strings has a larger distance so if you want it to affect the whole group use strings. Winds is a shorter distance so if you want to use specialty songs like melee songs and mage songs. Was stated before above.

Also hume, galka and mithra have Chr boosting RSE that may be worth going for. At least it feels cool to earn.

[Siven]

I think you can skillup string just like any weapon, start with easier mobs that won't resist. Use with offensive songs produce the most results. I've had no problem at all with keeping both string and wind maxed just by using string for elegy and half the threnodies, or just any song you don't have an optimal instrument for, all with a lowly harp.

[Ripersnifle]

When I was a hume bard in beta, I found the really early levels (1-10) were easy to breeze through with a sword. Fast blade beats wasp sting almost any day of the week, and the combination of regen and buffing songs with the appropriate food lets you go through the early levels with an obcenely small amount of downtime.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Bards get a B- in both daggers and one-handed swords so it's largely a matter of what you like as you probably won't be expected to really dish out the pain. Keep your weapon reasonably updated and your skill at least somewhat up to date. Ideally, you'll be able to just sing your songs and heal as needed, but everyone should be prepared for non-ideal situations and a little better fighting skill can't hurt.