YATMGT: How Am I Doin Gear-wise?

Yet another "tweak my gear" thread! Yay!



(plus Light/Earth Staff and Grip, Mary's Horn/Elegy Horn/Nursemaid's Harp if I need the AOE sleep range boost)

CHR +46
Enmity -7
Singing skill +5


==============

I picked up Bard mostly on a lark, but now that I"m about to ding 75 on, I figure'd it'd be good to take a good look at the gear. THis is what I'm using to debuff (lullaby, elegy, requiem, etc.). For Buffing situations, I realize that skill increases the potency of the buff, and also that skill is mostly expensive and hard to obtain. Not much you could tell me there I don't already know I think...

What I notice:

Yup. I'm still using a Bird's Necklace! I haven't seen too many other neckpieces that have more Charisma than it, and with level sync being so prominent, the lower level requirement is nice. But I'm sticking with CHR there (over buying a Wind Torque for debuffing) because I've gone on the understanding that you get CHR up to 120-130 for debuffs then tack on skill on top of it. (see more below)

I was debating buying the Sha'ir Crackows, but they're pricey! For only a little more I can buy the Dusk Ledelsens which get use on more jobs, and can be used to speed up my non-skill buff songs (ballad, mazurka, reraise, etc.). I need to get Dance shoes as an upgrade too, but they're either not in stock when I check, or it's after I just spend a ton of gil on something else. =P

I wanna get a Musical Earring at some point, but I don't wanna buy every single friggin' ABC this time like I did on a Brutal. Maybe if someone on Asura wants to low-man sea for ABCs or there's a group out there I can pick up a steady amount of coinage from...

What worries me:

It was immediately called into question in the thread I saw this in, but I saw someone was using:

Macc = 1.0
Wind skill = 0.9
Chr = 0.3

as the comparisons. I thought CHarisma was the Big Cheese when it came to landing debuffs. Am I wrong in this assumption? Should I use my Nereid Rings for debuffing as well as buffing?

If lullaby isn't sticking for some reason, would the +1 on Mary's Horn help it land, or should I use the Royal Spearman's lv.60 upgrade (the horn thingy with the CHarisma+4)? Err..that sentence made more sense, but which one would help accuracy more?

Lastly...I see lots of Bards use that CHR+6 Accuracy+something belt. Is there something there I should know about? My Corsette has equal Charisma and is much cheaper (it was when I bought it at least), and I'd have a swift belt if I was gonna melee...


Last question: According to Wiki, the Opo-Opo crown increases the effect of the Pamamas. On the Pamama page, it lists the effects of the Pamamas with an Opo-Opo crown equipped. I'm sure it's been asked and answered...you can't wear the crown, eat the pamamas, then change headgear to keep the +14CHR effect, can ya?

Since nobody replied yet, I'll just list some points:
1)you can get 120 chr without neck, you'll definately want a wind torque so get one. theyre cheap now.

2)dance shoes, sha'ir it's mostly the same. you want to try join a nyzle isle 20 shout for goliard feet.

3) personally I use nereid, because I'm lazy. I've never reall noticed the difference and I don't often resist on most things.

4)I imagine you're talking about EXP.. spearmans might be better, it's not often things sleep for the full 30 seconds anyway in exp and the +1 onl affects duration.

5)I don't think it makes much difference. Some people go crazy over white box, gleemans was actually cheaper for me.

6) No, dont do that. you'll end up with -7 chr lol.

A really good neck piece for chr is the Star Necklace it's good for a MP set too.

I find my Macc far superior when I use Nereids over chr+4 rings, and I'd assume the same for chr+5.

Gleemans belt is the chr+6 belt, but if you have a corsette +1 it's pointless to get. If you want to solo use a Virtuoso belt.

Mary's horn doesn't help lullaby land, but simply adds more time to the sleep.

And you have to have the opo opo equipped if you want the +7 chr (remember the panamas give +7 chr when the crown is equipped, but it has -7chr on it as it stands.) So eat panamas and macro in the crown for debuffs is your best bet.

This is the gear I use to debuff with on BRD:



That sits me at 70+52 (122) CHR, and 241+242 (483)Skill.

With the new Earrings/Waist pieces out that BRD can use (Marching Belt and Incubus Earring/+1), you could probably swap out a little more CHR for straight up MAcc

Things I can think of that you might want to look into....

HQ staves, for one will trump any other upgrade you can get right now.

Piper's Torque or Wind Torque (if you can afford it) otherwise Bird Whistle is about the best you can get.

Musical/Wind(singing) earrings would be the best for debuffs.

Neried x2 would be better for debuffs, or if you can get your hands on magic accuracy rings (Balrahn's, Omega, etc).

Feet are tough, most of the nice things are rare/ex.

My current set:



I really want marching belt. ; -;

Demon helm is going to trump the Opo-opo for buff and debuff. Even the NQ. Swap that grip out for Earth/Light grips, mACC is better than CHR, and it gives 20MP, to boot. People are going to keep repeating wind torque, so I'll throw it in there too. The difference with that thing is immense. In the rings, I perfer the +3 wind ones myself. Good for march caps, and good for debuffs.

Dual wield staves!

Yeah, I already have the grips but you can't put 3 grips on the one slot there. XD

Marching Belt is brand new I see...drops from a VNM. Everyone's in a VNM craze and it's sort-of a pop NM. I can't complain about that one bit. ^^ Drop rate/mob difficulty not withstanding...

I just found the Star Spinel in my mog safe and was gonna go look up what the heck I bought that for. Helps on Charisma, MP, and getting to the latent if I ever get the Minstrel's Ring, huh? There's a magic accuracy ring bought with the 'points' from Einherjar that I'm working on getting (Omega's I think?), so that isn't too far off...

Wind Torque's 'cheaper' now but still pretty pricey (if its six digits I call it expensive =P), but...yeah, that's not a ridiculous amount of money. If I needed the gil, it sounds like I'd be OK selling the ANgel Rings and full-timing the Nereid though. If I sell both thats about 1/2 the gil for a Wind Torque, and if I can stop dying and burning through RR Hairpins I might be able to farm up the rest sometime soon.

It's good to know I wasn't -too- far off base so far though. ^^

Not bad, I use this for most my songs that I need to land on a monster; Lullaby, Elegy, etc.



I could use a Jester's +1; I think this set gets me +110~ CHR.

You get In her jar if you win or loose the run, they aren't just from Omega. Minstrels' ring is infinitely useful. I would wait to work on your -hp set until you have at least 3 a.abjs though. Balhrans ring from ToAU is just amazing for debuffing. 1 refresh while in assaults is an extra awesome bonus.

Good game Trefold.

This will be my Debuffing set one day I hope.. I didn't add any Marduk's because I don't Salvage and don't plan on owning any anytime soon. x.x
Oh, and I'm still not sure if Light Grip effects the accuracy of Lullaby.. If it doesn't then I would probably have Bugard Leather Strap +1 instead.

Balrahn's ring, Oracle's pigaches, Wind Earring since it has more magic accuracy iirc (I could be on crack). Also Cradle Horn, and Astute cape if you can get.

I was still undecided on ToAu rings, I thought M.Acc+2 CHR+4 might beat the Wind Skill +5 on the Pigaches. I know about Cradle Horn but I also know of the horrible drop rate x.x lol And I have Jester's Cape +1 because I was trying to hit 120CHR. That set puts me exactly at 120 CHR on an Elvaan BRD/WHM. Haven't updated it or anything with the new things coming out x.x Oh, and I chose Singing Earring because it helps both the Wind and String debuffing I think.. So just in case I needed to use a Nursemaid's harp for Horde instead of Mary's/Cradle.

Yes, light grip effects lullaby. AFv2 legs are the same +chr and not ugly like mahatma. CHR ring is a waste of a slot. Nereid or Balrahns.

Yeah, after finding out you can't change the ring you obtain from ToAu Balrahn's is looking the best. And like someone else said up there, I figured CHR 120+ and then add on Skill. Oh, and I had that because at first I didn't think I was going to choose Balrahn's. ><

120+ for HNM onry. Magic Accuracy > Skill (wind and singing are equal) > CHR everywhere else.

Get Balrahn's, especially if you do salvage/have real mages.

Pretty sure Oracles>

Try for Cradle Horn, it wasn't that bad of a drop when I did it several times for myself/boyfriend.

Astute>Jester's, but Jester's is perfectly fine.

I have a string earring for Harp!Horde Lullaby, but I guess if you want to conserve space it's not a huge difference.

Only real use I see for Cradle Horn is to Sleep >> Log Out.

I do that enough. :x

My Brd Debuff:

Needs a Shadow Coat
HQ Incubus Earring would be good
Also, Piper's Torque beats Wind Torque here, but meh.


My Brd Buff:

Needs new Marching belt

Okies, and not sure when I'll be starting ZNM's but I need Oracle's anyway for my Buffing set. x.x Not sure when my shell will be starting Sea things either, I just unlocked it about two weeks ago so I've been using Jester's for debuffing.

Yeah, Oracles are nice, or those weird new shoes (or was it a cape, or was it both? x_x) from last update that I never looked into (for buffs at least)

The Capes are kinda bitchy to get, but if you get one use it. Jester's isn't gimp by any means, just not the best.

Dunno what you're talking about.. Haven't heard/seen anything about new BRD shoes. Just hoping to start killing things in Sea soon, I'll most likely be the one to get the first cape that drops since I'm almost the only BRD in the ls. x.x

I think I'm just HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE.

http://www.ffxiah.com/item.php?id=11534

is probably what I was thinking of.

Edit: Not a retard.

http://www.ffxiah.com/item.php?id=11409

Ooh okies lol I'll have to go find out how to get those. x.x

They might be bitchy, but if they're not I'd get them. ^-^ Ix'drg (thing for astute cape) can take up to 8 about hours to spawn(maybe more if you're unlucky?), and that's not afk time @____@;;

Bear in mind that what you can wear if you choose to go full bard merits puts you in an entirely different league...

Debuff: (Basically march tier build, but with Valk Coat flavor)


March: (533 Tier Build)


Everything Else /WHM: (base 499 skill, 89CHR, still manage to debuff anything normal and even a few resistant things)


For you? I'd suggest replacing as much CHR gear with skill gear and Macc as possible. Easy goals include oracle's pigaches and nereid/omega rings. I'd say use Choral Cannions for debuffs, as well.