Bard topped out at LV14??

[dale]

My characters are all about level 14/15 and most are still progressing nicely.

But my Bard seems to be maxed out. Her music ability has been stuck at 100 for a long time. The last two levels, there was not much exciting to choose from in skill enhancement. She makes decent use of the snare drum (slow), of the (insane) instrument and of the bagpipes (multi-damage) -- but the rest of her instruments are not important to the team.

Any suggestions? Should I switch her to a Rogue? I don't have any other character who can pick-pocket. She is also my best communicator, which gets me great prices at He'li's place (buy and sell the same).

My mage might also be approaching top out in a few more levels. Should I consider training him to become a bishop?

(I also have a Lord -- fairly disappointing character. My Ranger is quite nice as are my SAM and VAL.).

[Merulus]

Keep her as a bard until you reach level 18, then switch her to whatever you like. Some of the high-end instruments you find later have a level requirement as well as a music skill requirement. At 18, she’ll be able to play all of them. The same goes for the mage. You won’t have access to all of his spells until 18, so wait for that.

As for your lord… How have you been training him/her? Atlus7 recently posted a spotlight on the lord at the Vault boards. Might be worth checking out. Keep in mind, however, that the lord character (much like the ninja and gadgeteer) tends to peak very late in the game. My current lord was quite weak for most of her career, but at this point she can easily out-fight my valkyrie.

[Pyrates]

Hi Dale!

As Merulus said, you seem to be lacking the right instruments. Most of them are non-random, so you WILL find them, and there are quite some awesome. I have a level 14 bard, and I also thought about changing. I will definitely wait till level 18, but then... I'm unsure. Her PP skill is high enough, I don't need to boost it by changing to a rogue. Also, she's in the back, and she will stay there, so there's no point in making her a melee fighter. Ranger, maybe? I trained throwing and sling, but think bow would become better by itself... On the other hand, I don't have much senses...

Oh well, tough decision, fortunately I still have some levels. If you have some experience with this or some thoughts that might be useful, I'd be grateful to hear about it.


Never forget your towel, cheers
Philipp

[ 02-16-2002: Message edited by: Pyrates ]

[dale]

quote:

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Originally posted by Merulus:
Keep her as a bard until you reach level 18, then switch her to whatever you like. Some of the high-end instruments you find later have a level requirement as well as a music skill requirement. At 18, she’ll be able to play all of them. The same goes for the mage. You won’t have access to all of his spells until 18, so wait for that.

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OK -- thanks for that tip.

If I switch my mage to a bishop at level 18, does he still cast mage spells as if he were a level 18 mage? What about spells from the other schools, e.g. psionic?

quote:

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As for your lord… How have you been training him/her? Atlus7 recently posted a spotlight on the lord at the Vault boards. Might be worth checking out. Keep in mind, however, that the lord character (much like the ninja and gadgeteer) tends to peak very late in the game. My current lord was quite weak for most of her career, but at this point she can easily out-fight my valkyrie.

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Thanks for the reference. I looked at that forum when I first started and saw his spotlights on many of the professions. I've almost always had a palidin, and lord seemed the closest to that -- although I don't see that he can turn-undead like a priest can (nor can a VAL). So far, that has not been a problem. In the last game I played (but don't recommend) turn-undead was essential. The place was swarming with all sorts of ghosts, zombies and whatever.

From reading that spotlight, it seems that my lord is low on senses (only 35). His INT is also only 35, but I've pumped his DEX up to 85. I do use him to heal (level 1 at a time) after a battle so his divinity is not bad (59 divinity, 63 in divine magic school). His other magic stats are fairly poor, although I am working on air in the hope of eventually getting portal for him. My VAL is ready for portal when she makes level 15 (next).

[Merulus]

quote:

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If I switch my mage to a bishop at level 18, does he still cast mage spells as if he were a level 18 mage? What about spells from the other schools, e.g. psionic?

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Yep. He’ll still be able to cast like a 18 mage. His other schools of magic would start out low, but you’d get access to the higher end spells as you continue to improve them. Actually, looking over my previous post, I feel I should clarify…

The bard’s high-end instruments have a hard (bard)level requirement. For example, to play a certain horn you’d need to have 18 levels as a bard. The mage’s spells, however, do not have the same hard requirement… I believe that you only need 18 levels as a “pure” caster in order to open up the highest level spells (anyone care to confirm this?). So, you could actually switch to a bishop now and still get those high-end spells, though it might take a bit longer. All of the psionic spells should be available as soon as you have the psionic skill level required to cast them.

[DraconisRex]

Bard. Level 18. Then do what you want. You just want to be able to use the best instraments.

Having a problem with your Lord? Level 14. Got to be in/around Martens Bluff and the Swamp a lot.

First, it's a long, hard class to develop. For fun, try dual wielding a Stilletto and another Stilletto. He'll pretty much rival any INSTA-KILL class. Or Bloodlust and a Stilletto. Mondo attacks AND INSTA-KILL via the Stilletto.

And don't forget to pump the strength, dexterity and speed. They will improve your initive, damage, to-hit and armor class. I like to get my speed to 100 fast. Of course, I only select FAST-to-MODERATELY FAST races. My parties all end up with 100 speed and I won't take a slow RPC.

However, I've found that with the Lord, it's all in the weapons. And the Stilletto is a great off-hander, even if you want to use something else as a primary. Heck, all my dual-weild characters use Stillettos in their off hands, if allowed. And all my Rogue class characters use the Poignard at early levels so they can transition to Stillettos later.

You can get them from Crock. Sometimes Higardi Brigand's will drop them, too.

Just my thoughts. Do what you will.

[Snowblind]

i have a 17th lvl lizard lord and he rocks!!! boost his str,dex,spd up asap then you can get sense later but they are well they ARE the strongest class in the game [img]smile.gif[/img] my opinion......

Killing is my business and business is good...

[elbarono]

I switched my bard to a ranger once she hit level 18 and it worked out very well -- she had been using the bow all game anyway, now she just got ranged criticals, plus she could wear this kickass heaume that Ferro sells with +5 stamina regen and a bunch of other +'s.