Starting bard gear advice

[shlence]

Hey everyone,

I play a bard as my main, named Skee. I've been gifted a Fine Steel Shortsword from a kind soul but I'm a bit confused by what armor I should be aiming for? What would be a good armor progression for a non-twink fresh start character on the server. I have about 60 plat saved up from doing gnoll fangs and such. Would it be better to save for bronze straight off, instead of going for banded? Also, the FS weapon should last me till late teens or so shouldn't it?

Thanks for your time,

Skee|7 Half Elf Bard

[Elendae]

I think banded is the way to go. Maybe a few bronze pieces as you find them, but the weight isn't worth it for a bard. You should be able to find a cutthroat ring of a vendor for ~1pp and a cheap +str ring from a jeweler for 5pp or so. FS weap should last a decent amount, but you're going to need a magic weapon for your teens. I'm not sure on the market for weapons so someone else will hopefully field that. Early 20s you'll start doing your lambent armor; banded is good at least up until then.

[Jify]

Don't focus so much on weapons, instruments will be your bread and butter for most, if not all, of the game. Stick with very fast hitters (shark tooth, AoF claws, Kerran Fishing Pole, etc.) if you can, until you get charm. If you can't afford those, stick with anything magic and easy to get! :)

Once you get charm, master the charm kite. It will be about on par with group exp, at times a little slower, but it's steady. It makes you a better bard. ;)

Pick up gear as you go. I stress dexterity as a bard, you'll miss way less notes and when Kunark is released you'll be in a better position to use the "proc" weapons that come with it.

Send Doug a tell in game some time. I've got a Staff of Withering you can have.

Cheers!

[astarothel]

If you find you need a magic weapon and want to stick to 1hSlash, Jambiyas are fairly common and can be inexpensive. I might even still have one banked you could have.

A set of med banded will usually run about 70pp and is 91AC.
Buying it piecemeal tends to cost about the same as bronze -- 1pp/ac.

If you're kicking around Freeport area I could make a full set for you at cost which is about 40pp (barring combine fails).

Most medium banded you find for sale on a vendor costs roughly the same to buy as to make it, so checking out places by a forge like Armor by Ikthar in East Freeport where aspiring smiths attempt to recover costs by selling vendors skill up pieces like gorgets, and bracers can get you some good deals.

You'll be doing Dervs soon so I wouldn't worry about buying up a pair of rings, you'll soon be seeing plenty.

[shlence]

Thanks for the tips everyone, looks like I'll be grabbing up a set of banded and hopefully a magical weapon at some point! I appreciate the fast responses and willingness to help!

[toddfx]

Yeah at level 7 somebody gave me a Jambiya (7/26 if I remember correctly) and I love it. Up until that point I was using a Fine Steal Scimitar (5/24?) with my 1HS skill up to ~55, so I was a little hesitant to switch to piercing. But within a level and a half my piercing skill was already up above 50 too, and I hit much harder than I was before.

[Samuel]

There are a lot of helpful suggestions already, I'd follow the above advice.

However, when you outgrow blackburrow you'll most likely want to head to the freeport area for groups. At this point if you hang out in north freeport during prime time, chances are some level 50 will hook you up with a decent weapon (which I guess Jify already offered)... especially if this is your first character!

[shlence]

Yeah hopefully I'll find someone online eventually. I live in Japan so I play during Aussie times. I've actually never seen the server greater than 230 players at a time. Maybe on a weekend though when my times change a bit!

Thanks for the tip on where to go, blackburrow was starting to get a bit stale I thought.

Skee|Halfelf Bard

[mitic]

stay in dungeons for maximum exp...go unrest after lvl9 (Pungius piercer drops in groundfloor), MM after lvl 25ish(possible instrument upgrades), guk after lvl 32ish (DE mask)..thats the way i did