Bard cloak question - opinions wanted

[Troxx]

Overall gear for my level is moderately poor - limited planar gear. Have best weapons available that can be bought and dragonborn sash. Otherwise it's the basic ac/hp JC rings and hp/mana ears - mix of lambent with 2 pieces of imbrued and hero bracer/SS bracer.

In not having much planar gear, my dexterity isn't great. It's over 100, but I'd prefer it to be a bit higher to minimize missed notes. My options for cloak (currently naked) are Hooded Black Cloak vs Cloak of Shadows.

5str 45hp vs the dex on the Shadows cloak? If I had higher unbuffed dex (ie a fat bank roll to buy cultural with) it would be no contest HBC.

Which would you choose?

[quido]

How important is dex to you?

Shouldn't be as important as HP.

[Troxx]

How important is dex to you?

Shouldn't be as important as HP.

That's my dilemma :P

I suppose I could just go for the hp cloak and look for dex options elsewhere ... since there's not a ton of slots to buy that have raw hp on them at my budget level.

[worch]

I'd recommend seahorse scale cloak for the resists. It also has some dex.

[ezri]

I made a list of Bard Gearing options - to start with I got all the DEX/CHA jewelry options and started to replace these with other items as I got some big DEX/CHA items in other slots - highly recommend treeweave; as STR is important to melee dps output and carrying capacity - All the items have an EffectiveWeight (WT-STR) column because when I got geared out with full banded by my guild I had no weight capacity left - so I wanted items to increase STR or decrease WT (or both) per slot. I think at the moment I'm sitting at 90/120.
I got a pair of AC5/HP55 rings, but I keep those in a bag for those instances that I'm Tanking most of the time I'm running around with a pair of DEX5/CHA7 rings.

On live (2000-2002), I was told go for stats STR/DEX/CHA/MR until they were at 200 unbuffed, and then start swapping out for AC/HP so that's been my strategy here.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Magelo_Blue:Inyahin_Elbereth

[Donruss]

Dex is like the anti-fizzle Stat for bards. Cloak of Shadows has a lot of it...

I see the delema but I would go COS. Not that many items with so much dex. However, hp's are obtainable relatively easy in other slots.

[webrunner5]

Dex is like the anti-fizzle Stat for bards. Cloak of Shadows has a lot of it...

I see the delema but I would go COS. Not that many items with so much dex. However, hp's are obtainable relatively easy in other slots.

Great advise, I agree also. Bards are not suppose to get hit. :p Not really going to Tank anything over level 15 anyhow. Just go with 55hp rings and a few other HP slots and go with the CoS. :cool:

[Samoht]

Bards are not suppose to get hit.

AoEs hit everybody. That's why HP/Resists are king.

[Tenlaar]

Great advise, I agree also. Bards are not suppose to get hit. :p Not really going to Tank anything over level 15 anyhow. Just go with 55hp rings and a few other HP slots and go with the CoS. :cool:

Do not listen to this person. He is WRONG. I tank in sebilis and the hole on my bard. It's awesome. You can do it too.

Don't be this guy.

[Troxx]

Do not listen to this person. He is WRONG. I tank in sebilis and the hole on my bard. It's awesome. You can do it too.

Don't be this guy.

Yeah I know ...

So HBC or dex cloak??

[Tenlaar]

HBC.

Do not gear for dex.

#1- HP/STA
#2- Resists
#3- There is no number 3. HP or resists.

[williestargell]

Dex is of importantance for bards.

If you're running thru a dungeon and miss a note and come visible, or if you're pulling over water and miss a note and your lev drops, or your resist song drops and you're charmed while pulling a dragon, or etc, etc. There are plenty of situations where a missed note will cause you, your group, the main tank etc to lose a critical buff with bad consequences.

I agree that HP/Stam and resists are of primary importance, but you must balance a reasonable amount of dex in there too

[nyclin]

If you're running thru a dungeon and miss a note and come visible, or if you're pulling over water and miss a note and your lev drops, or your resist song drops and you're charmed while pulling a dragon, or etc, etc. There are plenty of situations where a missed note will cause you, your group, the main tank etc to lose a critical buff with bad consequences.

I agree that HP/Stam and resists are of primary importance, but you must balance a reasonable amount of dex in there too

DEX has a minimal (if any) effect on missed notes, and even then it's only on the initial cast. Songs are not going to randomly drop.. it can only occur on the initial cast.

The only real benefit from DEX is raising the proc rates on your weapons. If you gear for DEX because of missed notes, you're doing it wrong.

[falkun]

Cloak of Piety or Cloak of Flames for resists, Heiro or Hooded Black Cloak for HPs.

[Joshk80k]

Do not listen to this person. He is WRONG. I tank in sebilis and the hole on my bard. It's awesome. You can do it too.

Don't be this guy.

Seconded, I recently tanked The Hole for an enc friend who needed to do some stuff for his epic :).

[zanderklocke]

Cloak of Piety or Cloak of Flames for resists, Heiro or Hooded Black Cloak for HPs.

Unless I get grey suede boots, I'll never swap my cloak of piety or cloak of flames for a hiero cloak.

Honestly, I'd rather have cha as a grouping bard than hp or resists. Hp and resists are great for raids, but unless you're a neckbeard, how often are you getting hit by dragon AEs? I guess when you're pulling or occasionally tanking. The one time that bit of extra hp matters is when you get ice cometed by a caster.

Overall, I think cha, hp, resists, and dex can all be useful in some capacity. Don't worry about min maxing too much. Choosing between the two cloaks you listed will make minimal difference overall to your bard. Go with your gut and who cares if someone thinks you should have gone the other way. Some many people on this server have tunnel vision about gear.