New to Bards, made one on a whim.
Sylvan Polearmer swinging a naginata. Figure I'll do 2x Poles, 1x Armor/PF/CM/Dodge/HP/Perception. Fill in ranks of Disarm Traps and LP when possible. Not sure what to aim for in terms of Lores though. Spells...do I need 406/413, or should I focus on Bard Base?
Thoughts/comments/suggestions? Heck, are Sylvans even good Bards?
~Imaera's Favorite
IMSATI
THROGG
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 11:56 AM CST
I am not going to even pretend to be an expert on bards and their training; this is a very secondary character which I haven't worked on in a couple of years. But this is what I have so far; your mention of polearm weapons is what triggered my memory. She has a 4x naginata as a backup weapon, but uses a sonic lance when there is enough mana. I went to 407 instead of stopping at 406, simply because she is in Voln, and 407 is useful for opening the GY gate.
>>Linisopril (at level 22), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 114 28
Combat Maneuvers...................| 102 24
Polearm Weapons....................| 148 48
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Dodging............................| 102 24
Arcane Symbols.....................| 25 5
Magic Item Use.....................| 30 6
Harness Power......................| 96 22
Mental Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 58 12
Perception.........................| 70 15
Climbing...........................| 62 13
Swimming...........................| 45 9
Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 7
Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 16
Training Points: 4 Phy 8 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)<<
>>Linisopril (at level 22), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 114 28
Combat Maneuvers...................| 102 24
Polearm Weapons....................| 148 48
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Dodging............................| 102 24
Arcane Symbols.....................| 25 5
Magic Item Use.....................| 30 6
Harness Power......................| 96 22
Mental Mana Control................| 50 10
Elemental Lore - Air...............| 58 12
Perception.........................| 70 15
Climbing...........................| 62 13
Swimming...........................| 45 9
Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 7
Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 16
Training Points: 4 Phy 8 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)<<
JGENGLISH
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 11:58 AM CST
They make fine bards. Naginatas are nice early on for that end-roll boost, but with your AGI/DEX bonus you could be swinging a lance at 3 seconds later on with Song of Tonis.
If you want to do lockpicking that's up to you, but I'd invest the TPs into Air Lore/Telepathy Lore. Air lore increases flare frequency on sonic weapons and boosts Song of Tonis benefits. Telepathy Lore greatly increases AS from Kai's.
406 is nice, but it's a lot of TPs for 5+10 DS that you can get from others pretty easily.
1005 is amazingly good at like-level, use it liberally to get easy kills.
If you want to do lockpicking that's up to you, but I'd invest the TPs into Air Lore/Telepathy Lore. Air lore increases flare frequency on sonic weapons and boosts Song of Tonis benefits. Telepathy Lore greatly increases AS from Kai's.
406 is nice, but it's a lot of TPs for 5+10 DS that you can get from others pretty easily.
1005 is amazingly good at like-level, use it liberally to get easy kills.
RATHBONER
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 12:18 PM CST
I grab 406 fairly early with my little bards but that's about it (except for my 1x MnE bard). Use mana for lullabye rather than singing weapons, and if you aren't going to sing weapons, why rush to get the song.
LEDBETTERM
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 01:28 PM CST
Unfortunately if you want any chance of maintaining like-level picking I would say you are going to need 2x picking, 1.5x disarm, 1x perception minimum, along with 403/404 (407 is helpful too, for plated locks.) 2x disarm would be better obviously, and 2x perception would be the final thing on the list I would bump up. A locksmith bard is absolutely doable, and doable with a wide variety of training paths, but it absolutely will require sacrifices. Dabbling has practically no benefit beyond picking boxes for much lower level characters out of boredom or for what is likely less xp/hr than you could make hunting for 15 minutes and AFKing for 45.
I have spent waaaaaaaay too much time planning out bard builds, and even specifically lockpicking bard builds. If you can give a little more information about what you want the character to be, and to what degrees, I could give more suggestions.
I have spent waaaaaaaay too much time planning out bard builds, and even specifically lockpicking bard builds. If you can give a little more information about what you want the character to be, and to what degrees, I could give more suggestions.
SUTTOND
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 01:44 PM CST
>Unfortunately if you want any chance of maintaining like-level picking I would say you are going to need 2x picking, 1.5x disarm, 1x perception minimum, along with 403/404 (407 is helpful too, for plated locks.) - LEDBETTERM
Depends what level range you're aiming for with the character. Brandain did just fine opening his own like-level boxes up to about level 50 with just 1x picking, 1x disarm, 1x perception. From what I understand about lock difficulties it would have got much harder after that, but up to 50 was no problem. I dropped all the picking to turn him into a Tonis-hasted VolnFuDeathMachine at that point, but I figure he would have needed extra ranks to carry on much farther.
Dave, Brandain's Bard
Depends what level range you're aiming for with the character. Brandain did just fine opening his own like-level boxes up to about level 50 with just 1x picking, 1x disarm, 1x perception. From what I understand about lock difficulties it would have got much harder after that, but up to 50 was no problem. I dropped all the picking to turn him into a Tonis-hasted VolnFuDeathMachine at that point, but I figure he would have needed extra ranks to carry on much farther.
Dave, Brandain's Bard
LEDBETTERM
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 02:03 PM CST
True, I should have been more specific about what I meant with "maintaining like-level picking." Having access to 403/404/407 can make a lighter, 1x kind of picking work for a while. It just won't hold up through the higher end of the level spectrum very well at all.
I also think it would be very frustrating to play for 50 levels being able to open your own boxes just to watch that slowly dwindle away into broken lockpicks and broken dreams.
I also think it would be very frustrating to play for 50 levels being able to open your own boxes just to watch that slowly dwindle away into broken lockpicks and broken dreams.
JGENGLISH
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 02:07 PM CST
>>I grab 406 fairly early with my little bards but that's about it (except for my 1x MnE bard). Use mana for lullabye rather than singing weapons, and if you aren't going to sing weapons, why rush to get the song.
That's fair. The renew costs to run 1012 and Kai's is pretty low, but if you have a decent polearm already it's not worth using until you're in the 30's with air lore and bard base high enough to have a 6-7x double flaring.
I've been a pretty big fan of running Song of Noise and just slaughtering unarmored casters (arch wights, fenghai, anything that tries to cast more than swing). Lance DF and AvD vs. unarmored is just silly good.
That's fair. The renew costs to run 1012 and Kai's is pretty low, but if you have a decent polearm already it's not worth using until you're in the 30's with air lore and bard base high enough to have a 6-7x double flaring.
I've been a pretty big fan of running Song of Noise and just slaughtering unarmored casters (arch wights, fenghai, anything that tries to cast more than swing). Lance DF and AvD vs. unarmored is just silly good.
RATHBONER
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/18/2012 05:08 PM CST
> From what I understand about lock difficulties it would have got much harder after that, but up to 50 was no problem. I dropped all the picking to turn him into a Tonis-hasted VolnFuDeathMachine at that point, but I figure he would have needed extra ranks to carry on much farther.
You should still get a substantial fraction past level 80. I think you have to be hunting capped areas before you get to the point of not bothering to sing the lock because you know you will not be able to pick it. That second rank really doesn't do a lot for you unless you are compulsive about opening all your own boxes.
You should still get a substantial fraction past level 80. I think you have to be hunting capped areas before you get to the point of not bothering to sing the lock because you know you will not be able to pick it. That second rank really doesn't do a lot for you unless you are compulsive about opening all your own boxes.
IMSATI
Re: Yup...another "How Am I" post
01/19/2012 04:21 PM CST
Thanks for the input. As far as picking locks goes, I'm really just doing it for the time-being. Nice to pick my own boxes during the younger years, but it's really not a priority for me.
Good to know about the spells and Lores. I figure I'll stick with naginatas, too, for now until I can get a lance down to 3 seconds. Not sure when that will be - I still need to figure out final stat placements, but I have 27 days. Do bards tend to gravitate towards one Society over the other? I typically go the Voln-route with all my folks, but that's sort of repetitive. Sort of anti-COL for some reason that I can't remember, but it dates back to 199...6? Maybe give Sunfist a try?
~Imaera's Favorite
Good to know about the spells and Lores. I figure I'll stick with naginatas, too, for now until I can get a lance down to 3 seconds. Not sure when that will be - I still need to figure out final stat placements, but I have 27 days. Do bards tend to gravitate towards one Society over the other? I typically go the Voln-route with all my folks, but that's sort of repetitive. Sort of anti-COL for some reason that I can't remember, but it dates back to 199...6? Maybe give Sunfist a try?
~Imaera's Favorite
