I'd look at investing in some of the mystic koada'dal stuff if you can find it cheap (this may be difficult due to them now requiring blue diamonds to make). I consider most of it better than planar...sans maybe BP for overall stats and boots/greaves for resists/random circumstances. Otherwise, everything better is raid or planar obtained. Planar and mystic koada'dal each have really great pieces but most of the best armor for bards is actually obtained from Ragefire. Ragefire armor is sort of like suped up mystic koada'dal armor. Singing Steel is only best in slot for the breastplate; the greaves are pretty good too but probably not the best or worth the cost. The Singing Steel breastplate and greaves are not very affordable pieces of gear though.
Based on your specific questions, here are some of my recommendations:
Waist: Thick Banded Belt is a good choice until you get the plane of sky belt or upgrade to a RBG, RBB, or BCG in the high end down the road.
Arms: I'd go with Mystic Koada if you can find them cheap. These are better than planar. Only better arms in the game are from Ragefire.
Ears: Fishbone Earring is good for breathing under water, but it's not that great of an earring aside from that. I like the black sapphire electrum earring or opalline earring for the other earring aside from the Earring of Essence. If Velious does launch soon, blue diamond earrings are great too.
Legs: Mystic Koada'dal or planar. High end you probably want to alternate between Ragefire and planar legs based on the situation.
Feet: Mystic Koada'dal or planar.
Neck: Gypsy medallion is a good cha necklace you can wear on a bard. Otherwise, Necklace of Superiority or the Sky Quest necklace are what bards wear, and those are not easy to get.
Back: Cloak of Shadows or Hooded Black Cloak for mid range. High end, you'll want to strive for probably Cloak of Flames or Hiero Cloak. Cloak of Flames is pretty much the best haste+hp item a bard can get in game right now unless you are in a Class C guild that does VP.
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