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twaindamain
02-03-2011, 05:21 PM
Hello,
I recently just started play P99 and I love it. I play a bard and was wondering what weapons and equipment would be good to get for leveling. Also whats the best way to level. I am currently lvl 13.

Mcbard
02-04-2011, 11:50 AM
I think the best starter equipment is probably going to be banded or bronze, although if your strength is really low that could be a problem. Once you get higher level you can start questing some Lambent which will tide you over until you get planar loot. When I was starting I found a druid kind enough to make me a full set of banded at cost which was about 30pp if I remember correctly, and I wore that until I had all of my lambent in my 30s. A Polished Granite Tomahawk is a nice started weapon to have, as are some of the cheaper maces (EBM/Cold iron morning star).

Edit: I should probably address your second question. IMO getting your second dot at 18 by leveling in Oasis or HHP if you can is crucial. When you get 18 and a little buffer you should begin trying to AE kite gnolls and Gorge Hounds in EK until around 25. Once you learn how to ae kite you should have no problem pulling down a level about every 1.5hours there. Around 25 or 26 some people continue ae kiting aviaks and centaurs in SK, but in my experiences unless you can play at the weirdest hours of the day they're so overcamped it's not worth it. You may want to try an HHK group or a SolA group if you don't want to go the solo route at those levels.

knottyb0y
02-04-2011, 02:59 PM
Hello I hope this is some what helpful. Here is the gear progression and hunting I've done with my bard so far. It has been a fun ride I hope you enjoy your character as much as I do mine. As far as Instruments Weapons and Gear here is my suggestion.

Instruments

1) Get a Mistmoore Batle Drum as soon as you can
2) Get a Lute of the Gypsy princess shortly there after

Before having these instruments I wouldn't even worry about weapons even if you just have fine steel. Fill in the rest of your instruments with whatever you can find, I rocked a minotaur Horn (wind), Vendor Horn (brass). I suggest the drum and lute because they can be acquired for pretty cheap if you play your cards right in EC, and Percussion and Strings affects most of your songs that you use in groups and combat.

Weapons

1)Polished Granite Tomahawk (either buy one or get in a group around level 15 in Highpass and camp the crap out of it its worth the time)
2)Jambaya (nice piercer for dmg) if you can get a fire crystal staff they are fun (not best ratio).

There are much better weapons but if you don't have enough money these will hold you fine.

Armor

If you are short on cash I suggest the patchwork/raw-hide to banded/bronze to lambent path. Bronze is heavy but you should be able to afford some crucial pieces by level 20 if not earlier. Once you get to your mid twenties you should be able to quest for most lambent pieces other than BP and legs. Fill in the spots with cheap and effective items such as.

Wrists
Silver Plated Bracer (get a lord group in upper guk and you'll have a set of these in no time) this will replace banded or bronze till you get lambent or Hero bracers

Gloves
Elf Hide Gloves (get a warden group in upper guk, nice gloves (4 ac 5 dex 5 agi) these are nice till you get lambent or planar

Arms
Barbed Arm Plates (7ac +5 dex)(get a befallen group, perhaps the most dangerous thing ever, or just buy them the lamben arms quest is easy enough to finish by level 25)

Shoulders
Blood Stained Mantle (6 ac 3str 10 sv magic) (snag one in EC or get a unrest group and kill the undead knight) Not sure a good replacement for these any suggestion would be welcome

Legs
Shin Greaves (10 ac 5 svdisease) till you get lambent before then I'd go with bronze or banded or whatever you can snag, why? Lambent legs for bards are very solid, before then most legs are too heavy don't have good enough ac or stats or too expensive. Shin Greaves are EASY to get, invis down to lowerguk deadside and see if you can pick up a rotting pair, or kill shin knights in upper guk

Boots
Dwarven Work Boots (8 ac 3str 5dex) if you can afford these guys they are solid, I personally rocked banded till I could do the ridiculously easy lambent boots quest around level 24 or 25.

Cloak
Lizard Scale Cloak (8 ac 5 dex) easy to get with a good group of 30s or so in CT or just buy them I don't recall them being too expensive) until then rock banded or whatever you can afford

Neck
Split Paw ToothNecklace (2ac +5cha 5 sv poison) easy to get in SK people will even give them away, nice cha boost. untill you get this use banded or whatever you can afford.

Face
Mask of Deception (4 ac +13cha 7 sv magic) really honestly you don't need a mask before this just wear whatever can get. by the time you are 25 you can probably sneak into guk and see if you can loot it off the assassin or just get into a group around 34 at the assassin/supplier and get it your self

Helm
Turtle Shell helm (5ac +3 str) easy to get in ec or off ogres in WK. I personally skipped this and saved enough money to buy a skull shaped barbute (13 ac +35 hp +10 svmagic) but because of that I don't even know if I am gonna quest for the lambent helm. IF you dont go that route you should be able to get the lambent helm easily by level 25 or 30.

Ears
Opaline Earring x2 (+5 cha) easy to get in unreast from the undead barkeep. Easier to get from EC if you catch them on sale

Fingers
Str rings until you can afford HP rings, I don't have much of an opinion on this slot so far I just found I always needed more str to carry my gear.


Hunting

My suggestion is GROUP GROUP GROUP. Get a good network of tanks and healers that you can make your own groups with and take advantage of the added power. You can solo, you can solo well, but soloing won't get you the gear you really need if you are broke and its not as fun imo. Building a social network is imperative to your future success as a character grouping often helps build that network and you will find it easier and easier to find groups. Here are my suggestions.

1-6) Newbie Area
6-10) CrushBone or Blackburrow or EC/NRO
10-15) Nro Dervs, or Befallen Groups (its scary!) or Oasis Caimens and Crocs
15-20) Oasis Orcs or Deepwater Crocs and Caimen, High Pass Gnolls, East Karana hounds/spiders,
20-25) Upper Guk Scryer/Warden/DeadSide ZL, Unrest Bar Area
25-30) Upper Guk Lord/3-way/DeadSide ZL, Sol A Bar, Cazic Thule Maze
30-35) Lower Guk Deadside ZL area/Bedroom/Assassin, Cazic Thule Temples/Gators, Sol A King
35+) Lower Guk Various Camps, Sol B, Ocean of Tears Seafuries

As you can see I'm fond of Upper Guk, Sol A and Lower Guk. Quite frankly they are great Large dungeons with good loot that you can equip yourself or trade/sell to get better gear. I will gladly go into further detail about camps if you need. Good Luck!

fugazi
02-04-2011, 03:10 PM
If you're in the Qeynos area, I'd stick to Blackburrow up to lvl12-13. Just farm green/low blue/blue gnolls by the dozens for their fangs and turn em in at the Qeynos warrior guild.

twaindamain
02-04-2011, 05:28 PM
Thank you all. I mostly have Lambent Gear and I also have that drum and lute already. Mostly What I need is a better weapon and a list of places to lvl / ae kite. I played a bard on EQ Live Zek Server for the past 6 months so I know how to kite just didnt remember the best places to go on classic. Thank you for your help.

Anorz
Pandemonium of Zek