Hello all!

[Delily]

Hello all, I have a question for the higher level bards out there. First I should explain.

I made a decision that before I get my Summoner to significant levels, I would like to have both Fenrir and the Carbuncle mitts. So, I looked at what classes meshed well with a /whm sub and decided on brd because I was very impressesed with their wide variety of skills and they look just plain fun. So I have begun the process of getting good brd gear, because although I want to be a summoner, I also want to be the best brd I can be.

My questioin is this: what level do I need to be to a good partcipant in the Fenrir fight? Can I be useful in a Fenrir fight at level 70 with Dark Carol, Mage's Ballad, and the accuracy/attack songs, or do I need to be level 75? I ask because although I want to be a good brd, I would like to save some things for my Summoner, one of which is the fight with Maat.

I thank you in advance for any answers.

[Vilurum]

70 BRD will be fine for your bardic purposes (ballads, mambos, carol). You may have more difficulty landing elegy on Fenrir than a higher level BRD would have, and because level difference factors into the random chance of how much damage his 2-hour does, it's more likely that it'll kill you than it would if you were level 75.

Having said that, a hefty portion of the reason a BRD is taken to the Fenrir battle is to provide dark defense for the 2-hour (Soul Voice the Dark Carol yourself when Fenrir's at around 55%-60% HP, and use a Crumhorn +1 - this instrument offers +10 elemental resistance to carols to begin with, and that instrument boost is doubled to +20 with Soul Voice), so even if it happens to kill *you* even with that dark defense, you've still provided it to the others.

Fenrir doesn't AOE (except with dispel and 2-hour), and you have a hard enough time getting hate to begin with (especially if it gets reset by dying), so it's quite safe to get raised and take the second half of battle weakened if necessary.

For all that, it's still more likely that you'll survive it than that you'll die from it, even 5 levels "too weak". In all my experiences with Fenrir, I've found that being a taru is more a risk of death to Fenrir's 2-hour than being in the lower 70's or even the 60's.