Best Bard Armor?

[Valezra]

I am TRing my WF Fighter back into a Half-Orc Bard and would like to know what you guys think is the best Bard armor to get. Include anything, Epics, Raid loot, w/e. TYIA for the advice!

FYI he is going to be STR based and using Falchions. So think more hybrid or melee gear than caster gear.

PS - I am only aksing in Ghallanda fourm because I feel we are the smertest servar. ;)

Val

[Darkrok]

I'd say Dragontouched armor with Destruction on it for the Sovereign would be really handy. Maybe +5 resist on the eldritch, a nice guard on the tempest, and destruction on the Sovereign would be nice. U7 is going to make DT'd easier to craft so you *should* be able to get a set close to that.

[Samadhi]

All 3 of my bards use DT; but then I was never as bothered by those quests as most folks; so in general more of my toons use DT than most other folks.

[Valezra]

I planned on making a decent DT armor. Just finished SoS last night in preparation of TRing but thought that maybe there was an Epic Light Armor better suited for Bards. I'll do some searching, but thanks for the info so far.

Val

[Chette]

My bard has a few nice dragontouched robes and I honestly haven't seen anything better. Epic Marlith Chain is probably the only other thing I'd consider wearing, if you want to free up your trinket slot for LotD or something, or an arrowhead so you can drop the improved critical feat.

[dkyle]

Epic Marlith Chain is probably the only other thing I'd consider wearing, if you want to free up your trinket slot for LotD or something

Unfortunately, Marilith Chain is medium armor, which means spell failure chance. I guess a Bard could theoretically use it, but it would be a major PITA. For any Rogue splash builds, it would block evasion.


or an arrowhead so you can drop the improved critical feat.

Do you mean the Shimmering Arrowhead? That gives a Seeker bonus to crit damage, same as Marilith Chain. It doesn't replace the improved critical feat, which doubles crit range.

[Valezra]

Unfortunately, Marilith Chain is medium armor, which means spell failure chance. I guess a Bard could theoretically use it, but it would be a major PITA. For any Rogue splash builds, it would block evasion.



Do you mean the Shimmering Arrowhead? That gives a Seeker bonus to crit damage, same as Marilith Chain. It doesn't replace the improved critical feat, which doubles crit range.

Marilith is definitely doable. I could put -15% ASF on it and I already have 7FG so that would be ok. I already wear Marilith on my Cleric and am looking for something a little different.

Val

[Chette]

Unfortunately, Marilith Chain is medium armor, which means spell failure chance. I guess a Bard could theoretically use it, but it would be a major PITA. For any Rogue splash builds, it would block evasion.

Well, he indicated he was going for melee not casting. I know my bard does all of her casting before the battle (i.e. GH, rage, etc) and then goes into madstone, so spell failure doesn't mean a lick.


Do you mean the Shimmering Arrowhead? That gives a Seeker bonus to crit damage, same as Marilith Chain. It doesn't replace the improved critical feat, which doubles crit range.

Ah my bad, I though the arrowhead put keen on everything...isn't there a trinket that does that? I'm not really planning on replacing my bloodstone, so I haven't really looked into it. Sorry for the error.

[sirgog]

Option 1: DT armor with Destruction rune
Option 2: Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers
Option 3: Epic Red Dragonscale Robe

1 and 2 help you hit in melee (the +4 on EVFL doesn't stack with Inspire Greatness, but that's only +2 to-hit, so it does give you an extra +2 overall). 3 adds melee DPS - a lot of it, and has two nice guards.

[Valezra]

Option 1: DT armor with Destruction rune
Option 2: Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers
Option 3: Epic Red Dragonscale Robe

1 and 2 help you hit in melee (the +4 on EVFL doesn't stack with Inspire Greatness, but that's only +2 to-hit, so it does give you an extra +2 overall). 3 adds melee DPS - a lot of it, and has two nice guards.

Good info. I'm going to make some DT armor for him, but most likely go the Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers route. I think I have most of the stuff to make it epic already and the two augments slots will eventually put it over and beyond any DT set I could make for myself.

Val

[Kintro]

Option 2: Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers




That's what I wear on my Bard. Aswell as the +2 to-hit the Sneak Attack (+3 hit, +5 damage) is handy if you don't have that on another item as are the two slots and constant fire resist.

[Raiderone]

Lower level I use Elemantal Mithral Breastplate armor on my lvl 15 Bard.

Slightly lower AC but 20% resist Cold and Fire.

20th Level: Epic Demon Scale Armor.

P.S. Val you spelled Smartest and Server wrong!

[NeutronStar]

Mithril Breastplate of Command with some sort of elemental prefix.

[travelnjones]

I have been using a mithral brestplate until my recent swap out to warchanter 2. Now i am using Twilight Mithral Plate. I am going to start running the titan to look for the 7 fingered soon. I don't really need them now but I would like the option of running spellsinger.

In theory you could do the epic tourney armor with the 15% armor insert and the 7 fingers and have 0% arcane spell failure for any class.

[Twerpp]

Warchanter- DT, Marilith Chain, Red Dragonsomething

CC- Raiment of Fervent, Blue Scalesomething, DT

[Isssssa]

Epic Marilith Chain or Epic Red

[Xenus_Paradox]

Marilith Chain for Warchanters.
Dragontouched Vestments for Spellsingers.
And if you rolled a Virtuoso, I recommend a Lesser Heart of Wood.

[Irinis]

I went for Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers but get arcane spell failure on scrolls despite the handy tip that bards "don't get spell failure in light armor" according to all sources. So I'm a bit concerned that Warchanters may still get arcane spell failure on scrolls in medium armor. It's difficult to reconstruct the tank when you fail 3x in a row.

That said...

Warchanter: Epic Marilith Chain
Spellsinger/Virtuoso with some melee: Epic Vulkoorim
Spellsinger without any melee: DT Robe or Vestments

[SteeK]

After a couple of spell failures I did some searching for an answer on this. I found that whilst you own spells have no chance of failure, anything used from a scroll is not inscribed by yourself and as such incurs a spell failure chance, which would be equal to that of the armour worn.

I'd say your concern is entirely valid!

[sirgog]

I went for Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers but get arcane spell failure on scrolls despite the handy tip that bards "don't get spell failure in light armor" according to all sources. So I'm a bit concerned that Warchanters may still get arcane spell failure on scrolls in medium armor. It's difficult to reconstruct the tank when you fail 3x in a row.

That said...

Warchanter: Epic Marilith Chain
Spellsinger/Virtuoso with some melee: Epic Vulkoorim
Spellsinger without any melee: DT Robe or Vestments

Yeah, if you'll be spamming Reconstruct in a raid or something, take the epic leathers off.

[Micron]

I was quite excited about Epic Marilith Chain on my Warchanter at first but on second thought I'm not sure it's that hot. Seeker +10 is great of course but it's also the only thing it has going for it. DR 5/Lawful or Good - more or less useless, Ironskin Chant is better. Shatter +10 - never heard of anyone who uses Sunder, not sure many bards have high enough Str to actually land it in endgame content. Evil Guard - useless.

The only reason I personally decided to go for it in the end (besides the looks :p) was the fact I'm crafting a Min II +45hp helm so I'll put Toughness on the blue slot once it's epic. For those who use Minos, I don't think it's worth it just for the Seeker. A Bloodstone + DT combo is better imo.

[Micron]

I went for Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers but get arcane spell failure on scrolls despite the handy tip that bards "don't get spell failure in light armor" according to all sources. So I'm a bit concerned that Warchanters may still get arcane spell failure on scrolls in medium armor. It's difficult to reconstruct the tank when you fail 3x in a row.

Something's wrong with this. I just tested arcane scrolls on a Spellsinger wearing light armour (both epic and non-epic) and on a Warchanter II wearing medium armour. The Spellsinger had to roll an ASF check and the Warchanter II didn't. Seems it's the same trait, either one or the other isn't working properly. If somebody else can test this and confirm, I'll bug report it.

[Tuney]

Warchanter's 2nd tier PrE has a hidden SUPER boost. ALL I must repeat this part ALL Medium and Light armor they have equiped have a zero ASF, I think the reason they had to do it this way was to make it so they didn't have arcane spell fail if the use Medium armor.

[testing1234]

you can try to pick up the hound destruction armour a destruction armour for those to lazy to make the DragonTouched with +5res +2spell pene or guard and destruction. as hound goes fast to do its low amount of effort to do but can take long time real time to get good option if you have many toons to outfit/play while the DT armour is high playtime and low real time
hound BP not the best but good option if the bard isnt your main

[harold2560]

Epic marilith chain would be awesome for a warchanter. However i look at my bard (healy warchanter) as a character that really rounds out a party and everything he does is focused on helping the party succeed. I already have great damage songs to make everyone else do more dps, i can heal, i can haste...why not put destruction on dragontouched and effectively give the party another +4 to hit as well. No matter how much dps my bard might do by having epic marilith chain, i know the battleclerics, and other toons who dont have great to-hits in my group will do much more dps than i will if they can hit on 4 more attacks out of 20. So i think dragontouched is probably the best and most versatile option for at least my bard to use, as you can really consolidate alot of needs into that one peice....gfl or fort....except stat, stat or healing amp....destruction!

Bards are so versatile that it really depends on how you want to play your bard, and what content you mainly do. If your not doing alot of epic or elite stuff then destruction on your armor may not be a big deal for the party. Personally if im on my twf favored soul id be really happy if somone else in the party has destruction on their armor so i can keep my epic marilith chain on and do more dps.

[dkyle]

I went for Epic Vulkoorim Fighting Leathers but get arcane spell failure on scrolls despite the handy tip that bards "don't get spell failure in light armor" according to all sources. So I'm a bit concerned that Warchanters may still get arcane spell failure on scrolls in medium armor. It's difficult to reconstruct the tank when you fail 3x in a row.

Bards ignore ASF on Bard spells only. Reconstruct is not a Bard spell, so it is subject to ASF.

It's clear in 3.5 SRD, but unfortunately DDO's documentation is, as always, lacking.


Warchanter's 2nd tier PrE has a hidden SUPER boost. ALL I must repeat this part ALL Medium and Light armor they have equiped have a zero ASF, I think the reason they had to do it this way was to make it so they didn't have arcane spell fail if the use Medium armor.

Did not know this. Good to know.

[Irinis]

Something's wrong with this. I just tested arcane scrolls on a Spellsinger wearing light armour (both epic and non-epic) and on a Warchanter II wearing medium armour. The Spellsinger had to roll an ASF check and the Warchanter II didn't. Seems it's the same trait, either one or the other isn't working properly. If somebody else can test this and confirm, I'll bug report it.

Can you confirm using recon scrolls or fireshield? If you use a scroll from the Bard spells it will not have ASF, but if you use an arcane scroll we don't get, it will?

We will need to bug report but more info beforehand is the plan.

[Micron]

Can you confirm using recon scrolls or fireshield? If you use a scroll from the Bard spells it will not have ASF, but if you use an arcane scroll we don't get, it will?

We will need to bug report but more info beforehand is the plan.

I used Fire Shield scrolls for the testing. Couldn't use Reconstruct, there was no WF target at hand. ;)

I'll post screenshots soon.

EDIT:

Spellsinger II wearing light armour: Reconstruct - ASF check. Fire Shield - ASF check. Teleport (last highlighted roll) - no ASF check even though Wiz/Sor spell.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_WJCBgDbxurk/TTcjRHk_ehI/AAAAAAAADIg/1KyhZYiud30/s1280/ASF-spellsingerII-light.jpg

Warchanter II wearing medium armour: Reconstruct - no ASF check. Fire Shield - no ASF check.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_WJCBgDbxurk/TTcjYtIqR5I/AAAAAAAADIo/2qhYkmrFo1o/s1280/ASF-warchanterII-medium.jpg

[Tuney]

There should not be any Arcane spell fail for a Warchanter who has the 2nd tier (Unless using a shield.)

They have arcane spell fail lowered to zero. You can check this if you looked at your armor...

[Qezuzu]

Bard Spells are "simple" so they're not subject to ASF in light armor. Other arcane spells are "more complex" so they're harder to cast when you're restrained by armor.

I don't know about teleport. My Rogue, in EVFL, is not subject to the 15% ASF when using Teleport scrolls. It is definetely an arcane spell, not divine. She does have to make a ASF check when using Fireshield scrolls, but not GH scrolls (I haven't used one in awhile since I got the Draconic Necklace so I'm not 100% on that). I think it may have to do with the spell components (somatic, verbal, material, etc).

After a google search, we find:-


Somatic components are measured and precise hand motions that can be interfered with by wearing armor. This can cause Arcane Spell Failure, resulting in a ruined spell. Note that characters make the same arm gestures for all spells in DDO, so you can't tell which spells require this component by watching your character's animations.

So, it seems only spells that have a somatic component are subject to ASF. Teleport only has a Verbal component. Irresistable Dance only has a Verbal component as well. The wiki says you are unable to cast spells with a Verbal component if you are unable to speak (and there's no effect which does this). Fireshield has a somatic component, as do most of the arcane spells. But there's a good number that aren't affected by ASF, even if only Sorc/Wiz can cast them (theoretically. Wail of the Banshee only has a Verbal component, but perhaps no one noticed because there's [practically] no sorc/wizes that wear armor at the level for Wail).

WC and their 0 ASF, even for scrolls, might be because WC are strong and can ignore their armor's weight (or something), or because the devs did a shortcut and just lowered the ASF of armor when worn by a WC to 0.

[Micron]

WC and their 0 ASF, even for scrolls, might be because WC are strong and can ignore their armor's weight (or something), or because the devs did a shortcut and just lowered the ASF of armor when worn by a WC to 0.

That's the point, really. I'll wager that the 0% medium armour ASF on Warchanter II wasn't supposed to be anything else than an extension of the classic 0% light armour ASF that every bard has. So a word from a dev would be appreciated on whether it was an intention to remove all ASF from warchanters - incl. scrolls - or whether they just did that because they couldn't be bothered implementing it properly. ;)

[Irinis]

...an extension of the classic 0% light armour ASF that every bard has.

Yeah except that we don't.

Can anyone recall the splash screen "Bards don't get spell failure in light armor" tip number off the top of your head?

It'll help for the bug report, either that screen is spreading misinformation and Warchanter II is bugged, or ALL Bards are supposed to be getting 0% ASF in Light and Warchanters are fine in Medium as well.

[Fishcatch22]

I'm surprised no ones realized that this thread is necro...

[dkyle]

Yeah except that we don't.

Can anyone recall the splash screen "Bards don't get spell failure in light armor" tip number off the top of your head?

It'll help for the bug report, either that screen is spreading misinformation and Warchanter II is bugged, or ALL Bards are supposed to be getting 0% ASF in Light and Warchanters are fine in Medium as well.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Loading_screen_tips

It's #67. The loading screen tip is an oversimplification of the rules. Many are. For example, another tip says there's no limit to the amount of coins one can carry, when in fact, the max is ~4 mil plat.

[Irinis]

It would be nice to get dev clarification on this since if it's NOT a bug that means Bards should not wear anything heavier than robes/outfits unless they're Warchanter II.