Coming back as BRD, hoping to catch up.

[Tradition]

So I've been on break since August '07, and I'm coming back this weekend, so I'm looking for pointers on what I've missed.

So here's what I have:

Terra's Staff
Demon Helm
Wind Torque
Antivenom/Insomnia Earring
Minstrel's Coat
AF Hands
Angel's Ring x2
Jester's +1
Gleeman's Belt
AF Legs
Rostrum

Are there any immediate upgrades I should work on? I'm going to be selling off my THF gear (nothing special, Dusk, Harpe.. something else), I think I'm done with the class. Career BRD is actually kinda fun.

I remember being on like... ToAU mission 28 or something, I need to clear that asap. Also stuck on Three Paths in CoP, which I should be working on. I believe I'm about 3k away from Yigit body, so that's my first priority, I think. Also, aside from Pianissimo, are there any stupidly momentous changes to BRD or what BRD does?

Thanks for any help you can give :]

[Conrad]

Everything Elphaba said, plus...

Loquacious Earring when you get sea access, and Bard's Roundlet if you can do Dynamis. You already mentioned Yigit Gomlek as a priority; the other pieces of the set are good to have for a Stoneskin/resting/idle build.

Bard doesn't change much and hasn't changed much, so there isn't really anything new to learn. Just make sure you have /whm /blm and /nin available at the very least, and you're golden.

[Rafike]

Imo if you are going to get into salvage then you may wanna look as aiming for marduk's as opposed to upgrading AF legs.

[Falisa]

Well even though it seems kind of obvious, I have met quite a few bards that are clueless to the whole different setups on BRD. Try to make a party buff setup (try to aim for fast cast/song casting down and stick in skill wherever you cant get that) and a seperate offensive song setup (Lay on as much CHR until you hit 130 and then stick in skill in where you cant get CHR or theres alot of skill on the piece). Seems pretty common sense, but you never know. The rest of your gear seems good for what you have access to right now and other people have said the obvious choices.

Imo if you are going to get into salvage then you may wanna look as aiming for marduk's as opposed to upgrading AF legs.

Been doing salvage since release with marduk legs as my #1 pretty much the whole time. They are not an easy piece to get usually from other people's experience as well but of course its all luck. Just trying to say, don't stop going for the other piece of gear because of that salvage piece, because it will definitely take longer to get marduk than limbus pieces. AF+1 is better for buff setup anyways.

[Bakthi]

It is good to start thinking in terms of different sets of gear. Mine are somewhat limited due to still being on PS2, but right now I have debuff, buff, haste, stoneskin, and "ohshit" sets. Everything people have already mentioned is good; I'd add:

Cheviot Cape, Jelly Ring, Marduk's Dastanas, Goliard legs, maybe some Darksteel stuff are good for when you know you are about to take a beating.

Haidate, W.turban, Swift Belt, Sha'ir Gages, and Loq will compliment your Rostrum Pumps for situations where you need to spam Finale or Lullaby and you know they'll land easily. I use this in Einherjar, although it's slightly less necessary now with the linking changes.

With enough MND, you can theoretically cap Stoneskin, though for me (as a Mithra) it's a bit hard. I'm closing in on it; even if I got the new +10 MND staff, I'd be 13 MND away.

What else? Oh, Goliard feet if you can do Nyzul, for debuffs. Astute Cape once you hit sea. I'd go for a CHR body for debuffs: Errant is good, and if you're not going to aim for Marduk then you can get AF+1 (after hands and legs). Omega Ring if you do Einherjar. Marduk Head if AF2 head refuses to drop for you in eleventy million billion runs (it looks better, and is better, but is almost 2m versus "free", if hours of agony count as free).

For really new stuff, Oracle's Pigaches look good, for macroing in for buffs (start casting in Rostrum then swap to Oracle's) if nothing else; not sure if I'd debuff in them over Goliard, but they may be easier to get depending on your situation.

I also have a melee setup for Campaign Battle, but...well, that's just me.

[Crizto]

I'm leveling Bard right now as well, so I have a few questions in terms of 75 gear.
I won't have any Wind or Singing merits because I'm a RDM and BLM main. I plan to upgrade the AF Legs and Hands to compensate a bit, but is there a need to get an Astute Cape? Or will a Jester's +1 work fine?

[benny]

I'm leveling Bard right now as well, so I have a few questions in terms of 75 gear.
I won't have any Wind or Singing merits because I'm a RDM and BLM main. I plan to upgrade the AF Legs and Hands to compensate a bit, but is there a need to get an Astute Cape? Or will a Jester's +1 work fine?

I have both, and I still use Jester's+1 on debuffs but I'm not confident that it's the right choice. Astute however is definitely useful on party buffs. There are skill tiers for Madrigal and March (for most buff songs actually) that you can probably find if you search, and you should keep those in mind when planning your party buff equip set. If you can't hit a new tier then you'll want to stick in song cast time down or other useful gear.

[Crizto]

Would it even be possible for me to hit the next tier buffs without the proper skill merits though? I really haven't looked too much into tiers on Minuet/March.

[benny]

Would it even be possible for me to hit the next tier buffs without the proper skill merits though? I really haven't looked too much into tiers on Minuet/March.

Well, I capped my magic merits for BLM so I don't have any BRD magic merits either. Just found my BRD notes and it looks like Madrigal tiers are at 472/490/508 combined skill, capping at +34 acc for 508 or more. If my hasty math is right, +63 skill (=513) should be possible with perfect gear, no merits, but that's a lot of time and effort invested for one more accuracy on your madrigal, so you have to consider how invested you want to be in BRD gear.
March is even more interesting, tests seem to show no discernable cap for V March haste, every 6-7 skill raises the haste a tiny amount. Without knowing the melee's specific gear and being a Haste Scientist, there's no real way to tell which tier is going to actually impact recasts so I generally just pile on the skill here (of course every bit helps for attack speed as well).

[Tradition]

Guess I should've mentioned that I do have a Light Staff (Apollo's was actually more expensive than Terra's in July) and Walmart Turban, but they're so commonplace I thought I didn't need to >_>

I've been sitting on my codex since January 07 I think, and I do have Gages, I switch into them for Ballad, mainly. My subs have been done for ages, so weeeeeee :D

I need to bug Thorny when I get back on..

Thanks again for the posts. :]

[Bakthi]

Would it even be possible for me to hit the next tier buffs without the proper skill merits though? I really haven't looked too much into tiers on Minuet/March.

I'm not sure if that's a typo and you meant Madrigal/March, but the cap for Minuet IV is super easy to hit. You just need +12 singing/wind above capped, unmerited values at 75. NQ Demon Helm + Wind Torque will give you this.

[Tyr]

Wanted some help with my gear sets - I'm actually brand new to BRD, although I'll be using a player with BRD75. Sorta know the very basics of the job, just wanted to see if I could get my sets looked at:

(Doing spoiler tags because I'm c/p'ing my Windower Macro sheets, and they're long)

130 CHR (For Elegy/Lullaby/Requiem)
[spoiler:3lt9r3wp]input /echo *~* 130 CHR *~*
input /echo *.* 240 WIND | 233 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Bard's Roundlet"
input /equip neck "Star Necklace"
input /equip l.ear "Melody Earring +1"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Chl. Justaucorps +1"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Light Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Jester's Cape +1"
input /equip waist "Gleeman's Belt"
input /equip legs "Mahatma Slops"
input /equip feet "Dance Shoes +1"[/spoiler:3lt9r3wp]

Minuet
[spoiler:3lt9r3wp]input /echo *~* MERIT MINUET (70+22) *~*
input /echo *.* 240 WIND | 235 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Walahra Turban"
input /equip neck "Wind Torque"
input /equip l.ear "Loquac. Earring"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Yigit Gomlek"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Jester's Cape +1"
input /equip waist "Swift Belt"
input /equip legs "Byakko's Haidate"
input /equip feet "Rostrum Pumps"
input /equip range "Cornette +1"[/spoiler:3lt9r3wp]


Madrigal (TierII 493 Skill)
[spoiler:3lt9r3wp]input /echo *~* MERIT MADRIGAL (70+23) *~*
input /echo *.* 248 WIND | 245 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Bard's Roundlet"
input /equip neck "Wind Torque"
input /equip l.ear "Loquac. Earring"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Yigit Gomlek"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Light Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Astute Cape"
input /equip waist "Swift Belt"
input /equip legs "Chl. Cannions +1"
input /equip feet "Rostrum Pumps"
input /equip range "Traversiere +1"[/spoiler:3lt9r3wp]


What should I focus on for March, Etudes/Preludes? Anything I should adjust on? Currently, I have 1 Nereid Ring, no Wind/Singing Earring, and don't plan on really changing that. I can hit that third tier of madrigals if I get Oracle's Gloves & Chanter's Staff. Otherwise, do I need to invest in anything else? I have Terra's & Apollo's as well.

For Elegy/Lullaby/Requiem - 130 MND Gear
For Minuet/Madrigal, work as much skill, other spots put in CHR+ or Fast Cast? (in the case of Minuet with the cap being easily attainable, stack haste/fc)

Anything else I should do? I'm sure there's a lot - any help would be appreciated.

[Bakthi]

Since you already have a Wind Torque, I'd certainly use it over Star Necklace for debuffs. If more skill is available in a slot than CHR, the skill wins for sure. I only debuff in 109 CHR, although I do have +5 m.acc and 255 singing/250 wind.

I'm going to assume you meant Oracle's Pigaches + Chanter's Staff, and 130 CHR instead of MND. CHR doesn't do anything for buffs, so there's no reason to bother macroing any in for them; may as well use Loq if you don't have/need a second +skill earring (which you seem to be doing now).

I guess this character doesn't have a Yigit Gomlek?

[Rama]

Wanted some help with my gear sets - I'm actually brand new to BRD, although I'll be using a player with BRD75. Sorta know the very basics of the job, just wanted to see if I could get my sets looked at:

(Doing spoiler tags because I'm c/p'ing my Windower Macro sheets, and they're long)

130 CHR (For Elegy/Lullaby/Requiem)
[spoiler:1k1zoexe]input /echo *~* 130 CHR *~*
input /echo *.* 240 WIND | 233 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Bard's Roundlet"
input /equip neck "Star Necklace"
input /equip l.ear "Melody Earring +1"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Chl. Justaucorps +1"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Light Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Jester's Cape +1"
input /equip waist "Gleeman's Belt"
input /equip legs "Mahatma Slops"
input /equip feet "Dance Shoes +1"[/spoiler:1k1zoexe]

Minuet
[spoiler:1k1zoexe]input /echo *~* MERIT MINUET (70+22) *~*
input /echo *.* 240 WIND | 235 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Walahra Turban"
input /equip neck "Wind Torque"
input /equip l.ear "Loquac. Earring"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Yigit Gomlek"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Jester's Cape +1"
input /equip waist "Swift Belt"
input /equip legs "Byakko's Haidate"
input /equip feet "Rostrum Pumps"
input /equip range "Cornette +1"[/spoiler:1k1zoexe]


Madrigal (TierII 493 Skill)
[spoiler:1k1zoexe]input /echo *~* MERIT MADRIGAL (70+23) *~*
input /echo *.* 248 WIND | 245 SINGING *.*
input /equip head "Bard's Roundlet"
input /equip neck "Wind Torque"
input /equip l.ear "Loquac. Earring"
input /equip r.ear "Musical Earring"
input /equip body "Yigit Gomlek"
input /equip hands "Chl. Cuffs +1"
input /equip l.ring "Light Ring"
input /equip r.ring "Nereid Ring"
input /equip back "Astute Cape"
input /equip waist "Swift Belt"
input /equip legs "Chl. Cannions +1"
input /equip feet "Rostrum Pumps"
input /equip range "Traversiere +1"[/spoiler:1k1zoexe]


What should I focus on for March, Etudes/Preludes? Anything I should adjust on? Currently, I have 1 Nereid Ring, no Wind/Singing Earring, and don't plan on really changing that. I can hit that third tier of madrigals if I get Oracle's Gloves & Chanter's Staff. Otherwise, do I need to invest in anything else? I have Terra's & Apollo's as well.

For Elegy/Lullaby/Requiem - 130 MND Gear
For Minuet/Madrigal, work as much skill, other spots put in CHR+ or Fast Cast? (in the case of Minuet with the cap being easily attainable, stack haste/fc)

Anything else I should do? I'm sure there's a lot - any help would be appreciated.

In addition to the wind torque > star necklace, go with Chl. Cannions +1 on legs over Mahatma for debuffs. these two swaps are 11chr for 15 skill, totally worth it. I also like to idle/buff full time in my Astute cape for the 25MP, and even debuff in it unless it's something that I'm getting low-CHR related resists then I switch in my jester's+1. Other than that, most things look pretty well in line.

[Tyr]

Thanks for the help -- so skill > CHR in any spot, what's the use of CHR? I was under the impression that similar to other debuffs, the stat adjusts potency, and that skill helps getting it to land. Should I scrap that CHR130 set entirely? Or just put it for a rare occasion (and what would be that rare occasion ;p )

Thanks for the help -- going to make the switches on neck/pants. I do have a Yigit Gomlek.

[Keria]

CHR does not increase potency on BRD debuffs, merely helps with success of them landing. It's believed 110-120 CHR is optimal for most things.

[Bakthi]

Thanks for the help -- so skill > CHR in any spot, what's the use of CHR? I was under the impression that similar to other debuffs, the stat adjusts potency, and that skill helps getting it to land. Should I scrap that CHR130 set entirely? Or just put it for a rare occasion (and what would be that rare occasion ;p )

Use your max CHR set for when you're going BRD/BST (yes...I really do this).

Seriously, I look at each given slot and try to weigh the numbers. The example I usually give is that I use a CHR body instead of Minstrel's Coat, but I use Marduk pants instead of AF+1 (for debuffs). Jester's +1 vs Astute is a real toss-up; I use the Astute most of the time though. If I can get more skill than CHR, or an equal amount or close, I generally go for the skill...but then there are exceptions like Goliard Clogs, as my setup is a bit light on CHR in general and they have the m.acc too. Similarly, I'd never replace my Omega Ring with a second Nereid for debuffs. 110-120 CHR is a good number to aim for. It's also good to play around with stuff and see what works for you.

Thanks for the help -- going to make the switches on neck/pants. I do have a Yigit Gomlek.

Even on my lowly PS2, I have room to do this for buffs:

/equip Body "Yigit Gomlek"
/so "Death Polka" <me>
/wait 2
/equip Body "Marduk's Jubbah" (or whatever -enmity or refresh or smoking hot town gear body you want to idle in)

I don't think the 1 extra blink per buff has led to excessive death. You get the -songcast benefit of the Gomlek, and the -enmity or whatever at cast time (and while you finish playing).