NEW BRD 75 QUESTION

[Sephknight]

Just hit brd 75 recently , and never could find answeer for the following question,so gonna try here
Singing skills VS Wind Skills
Whats the diference ¿
Should i stack one or the other ?
Merit one or the other? or both?

[Telamond]

Last thing I read about this is that noone has really been able to do any good parsing for this.
For capping things like march, the more skill you got, the better your haste% from march get. But for resistance, nobody really knows anything...
There are people who believe that singing > wind, there are people that believe that wind = singing, and then there are people who believe that wind > singing.

If you don't plan on levelling any other mage jobs, you should look into meriting both singing and wind. If not, previously people recommended 4/4 wind/singing.

[Euphoriaw]

tbh, on debuff I'd always go for both, then m.acc, then CHR.

on buff, wind + singing in every slot you can till you hit the cap.

[Tsuki]

The way I always understood Singing Skill is pretty simple,

Basically Singing is both skills, and either or at the same time. If you have 250 singing and you're using a horn then it counts toward 250 wind and vice versa for String; it simply combines with whatever skill you're using at the time. Generally, most of your debuffs/buffs will use a Wind instrument so most people tend to go with the wind/singing skills to lvlup. As for which to stack, I think equipping 5 singing is equal to equipping 5 wind skill if you're using a horn, so it doesnt really matter, go for that wind torque/earring, its cheaper ^^; until you can get musical earring at least! Congrats on 75 BRD and good luck ^^ I hope this post offers you a bit more insight. If you're still confused you can check out ickywiki minuet and march pages to give you an idea of how stacking the skills and combining singing/wind increases the strengths of your buffs.

[Ahlah]

I have sold most of my BRD gear after playing the job for almost 2 years. Stacking wind/singing skill does not give the same return as enfeebling/elemental skill magic to RDM and BLM, the BRD gear choice thus really depends on how you play the job.

Do not merit wind/singing skills unless BRD is your only mage job. It's really not worth it.

Most ppl level BRD to get into merit party. A general rule of thumb is - stack as many singing/wind gear you can find since there are plenty of CHR gear out there. You only need enough CHR/skill to land lullaby on greater colibri 90% of the time and sleep mage type mamool with both horde and foe lullaby (i.e. you can fail either one of them but not both at the same first cast). The same setup will also allow you to land Elegy on non TAU HNM without elemental seal.

You don't really need a lot of expensive gear or skill merit to achieve this. Musical earring/AF+1 hands/AF+1 legs (limbus), AF2 hat/AF2 pants (dynamis), Nerid ring is pretty cheap on most servers. Wind torque is worth the money since it gives you 7 skills for the price of few hundred k compared to singing/wind earring. If you have multiple mage jobs try using gears such as Omega ring (Einherjar) and Errant body (don't need Osode). You probably should know by now Mary's Horn can land lullaby better than Nursemaid's harp and get the corresponding HQ instrument for common songs and HQ light/earth staves. Sub BLM for elemental seal for any HNM you can't land elegy on reliably.

Should also take a look at haste/-song casting/recast gear. I dinged lv75 when SE first released TAU expansion, that's when I actually learned how to pull properly in merit camp. Player's skill and gear do make a huge difference since you are competing for mobs with another 4 BRDs. Personally I have never owned a manteel or minstrel ring but I can definitely see their uses in those extreme situations.

If you do salvage, Marduk head and legs are the best you can get in their corresponding slots. Marduk shalwar upgrade is dirt cheap and have decent drop rate. I tossed my SMN af horn/legs and BRD af2 after getting those 2 pieces and they free up a lot of inventory space.

[Duber]

In b4 this is advanced and it hasn't been asked anywhere......

[hagun]

I strive to get a skill as close as possible to A+ status. With that said, I will stack as much wind skill as possibe since there is more wind skill available versus singing skill. Where I can't put wind skill will have singing skill. I have found this more effective for landing debuffs.

[Classikmage]

I usually strive for a kind of balance on BRD. I like to keep a minimum of 110-120 CHR than I stack skill/M Acc everywhere else.

Only time I see resists is in Salvage when I'm fully locked, or when the mob is immune to the spells.

I have no merits in BRD except the Job Specific category and I do fine, wind/singing merits are not needed. If you are planning BRD to be yoru only mage job, go ahead and merit them. If you have thoughts of other in the future, I would say don't waste your time.

[Ultimagi]

Singing Skill and Wind Instrument Skill have the same effect as far as I've seen. If Bard is the only mage job you'll ever level, merit Singing Skill, and if you still want more then do Wind Instrument Skill. You should generally prioritize Singing Skill over Wind Skill, just in case you ever actually use a String Instrument for any reason. As for Charisma and Magic Accuracy, you really only need to equip it where you can without sacrificing much skill, such as Jester's Cape +1, Gleeman's Belt, Marduk's Shalwar, Omega Ring, Balrahn's Ring, and Piper's Torque.

[Sephknight]

Thank you all for the reply, and rly apreciate it,
As asked before , no brd wont be my only mage job and doubtfully ill get to come as brd to any hnm or event, since im the ls main tank.
Still , i whant to gear up my brd as good as posible since i really enjoy playing it, is a big change from my other jobs.
This being said i wish some1 would parse singing vs wind,and what does each effect ,since aparently is gonna stay as another great mystery in FFXI world.

This is my current gear,
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1294/brdgear.jpg

I still need ;
Head af2,
Af+1 pants
rpumps
Omega ring,
Light -earth grip
HQ staves,

I cant figure out anythin else that would improve my brd, apart from salvage gear, that i wont see anytime soon.
One more question , would Ixaern cape- with skills +5 be better than my current +10 char cape ¿? i know on other jobs such as melee or rdm-blm is situational, but honestly i have no idea in brd.
Thanks again

[Ultimagi]

Use Astute Cape only for increasing March potency. Terra's and Apollo's staves should be your top priority, they'll help most with resists.

[Sephknight]

Use Astute Cape only for increasing March potency. Terra's and Apollo's staves should be your top priority, they'll help most with resists.

Thankz a bunch /bow

[Classikmage]

Use Astute Cape only for increasing March potency. Terra's and Apollo's staves should be your top priority, they'll help most with resists.

Actually, you can use Astute Cape for debuffing as well, but only if you have the CHR on other slots to support the loss of +10 CHR from the Jester's Cape +1.

I currently have exactly 120 CHR on my BRD, and could get another 9 more w/o sacrificing anything if I ever got my hands on an Astute Cape.

As long as you have 110 or over though, you should be fine maining it.

[Ultimagi]

Actually, you can use Astute Cape for debuffing as well, but only if you have the CHR on other slots to support the loss of +10 CHR from the Jester's Cape +1.

I currently have exactly 120 CHR on my BRD, and could get another 9 more w/o sacrificing anything if I ever got my hands on an Astute Cape.

As long as you have 110 or over though, you should be fine maining it.

10 Charisma for 5 Skill is the largest trade off in any slot, if you're wearing Charisma instead of Skill in other slots, you should be trading those for Skill, not vice versa.

[Gabai]

Your setup looks fine since it looks like you have a good idea where you are heading and which upgrades you need. Couple of things I would suggest: if you don't want to get manteel, the yigit body is a nice option at the start of songs for the -songcast; also, as far as your feet (i think those are sha'ir) i would suggest oracle's from znm or goliard feet over going through the trouble of getting r pumps. Grats on 75 and gl with everything.

[shaddix]

astute isn't bad for debuffs iirc, I believe you have to be pretty pimped out though to use it. marduk head/legs/body. piper's torque omega etc etc

[liquinas]

Most really good BRD I know go with Singing being a higher tier affecting both wind and string. Gjallalalalalahorn gives singing skill, which probably fuels this theory.

Not saying it's right or wrong, that's just the word around.

[TacoTaru]

One suggestion I would make would be dump Errant for NQ AF pants and swap V.Belt to Gleeman's for debuffing. This will only net you one less CHR, but adds 5 skill. The only time I would using Errant is for a Stoneskin macro.

Also, I would invest a small amount of time (if you haven't already) viewing that march tier chart and comparing your skill to that to see if you can bump it up a notch. Some pieces you didn't list that are extrodinarily easy to get to add to it are Wind/Singing Earring, Chanters, and Minstrel's Coat. This really doesn't highlight a difference of Singing and Wind, but it does show their importance ^_^

[Bregor]

Most really good BRD I know go with Singing being a higher tier affecting both wind and string. Gjallalalalalahorn gives singing skill, which probably fuels this theory.

I hope I'm being whooshed.

Get Terra's/Apollo's, Yigit body and a couple more instruments, then worry about maxing CHR/skill potential. Just remember, CHR does absolutely nothing for buffs so just macro stuff like Errant and Osode for debuffing. Also if you plan on doing any Assault/Salvage/Nyzul as BRD I would look into getting a Storm Fife.

[Ultimagi]

Storm Fife.

My healers want to have my babies when I ballad them with this.