Bard starting stat points

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Charisma is the best choice in my opinion. Lowering the chance of having a critical resist when you are trying to lull non trivial things when you are under duress is going to be more beneficial than dex/sta/str. Sure there are times where you can swap out for a bunch of cha gear and play cha song to max but more often than not, you are not afforded this time.

If you play your bard at a serious clip, missed notes and to a lesser extent the cast bar bug is annoying but you will recover from them so quickly, its not a noticeable part of your gameplay.

[Saisu]

Adding a *much* more casual voice. The only stat I’ve been frustrated with while leveling is Strength. Wood Elves start out with a measly 70 STR, which after some plate armor and some coin loot, you’ll quickly hit encumbrance which is a drag.

Yes Selo’s is still fast, yes you have spells that can raise STR, etc - but it sucks when even with weight reduction bags you’re always teetering on the edge of being slow.

Obviously if you have actual good gear (I do not, mostly self-looted stuff), or play in groups where someone can toss you a long lasting strength buff, it’s not so much a problem. But honestly it’s the only stat that I saw a concrete quality of life difference in.

[rajax]

Str for additional max carry weight would be my choice for a first ungeared character. It’s by far the biggest benefit you can give yourself with those starting points. Plate armor, weapons, instruments, bags and loot get Str for additional max carry weight would be my choice for a first ungeared character. It’s by far the biggest benefit you can give yourself with those starting points. Plate armor, weapons, instruments, bags and loot/coins get heavy fast.

For a character you are starting off with the benefit of weight reduction bags, stat gear, etc: like above have suggested my recommendation would be a mix of dex and cha. Higher you go most of your weapons become useful primarily for their proc effects and missed notes are a constant annoyance while leveling. Early charm breaks and lull resists are something to take into consideration, you will really start to notice the uncommon charm early breaks especially when you have to use the level 39 song at 20 mana a pulse and targets having higher magic resistance at levels 40+.

100 Hp at 60 4hp:1sta (trivial returns at low levels) does not justify sta as a starting point choice in my opinion. Ultimately though, for bards those 25 points do not have a great deal of impact on your experience.

[Ennewi]

If only starting points could be placed into resists, or ac/atk.

[Ghost of Starman]

Enough str to not be encumbered and Resists / HP/ AC are the only things that matter to a bard, you don't have a long duration charm so stacking CHA doesn't do much, If you need CHA it's easy to use CHA song and maybe toss on a piece of gear.

Throw all points into STA, it's the only thing that matters in the long run.

[Selene]

I just find it so unlikely that my bard's ability to solo or group at the higher levels will really be impacted in any noticeable way with the last 100 hp. How often would I be in a situation where I was down to the last 100 hp or less, when the mobs are hitting 100+ anyway? (I don't plan on swarm kiting at all, just charming for solo and CC for groups)

I feel like usually when we play any toon, adjustments are made real-time during combat in most cases so that we aren't in a situation where everything hangs by a thread, i.e. the last 100 hp.

Since i'll be in dungeons a lot or charming a lot, I thought charisma > stamina. I won't be raiding super seriously with this toon.

Seems like dex isn't worth dumping the 25 points though --- and the more i think about it, i don't think +25 dex is gonna have a huge impact on procs anyway

[Crawdad]

Originally Posted by Selene [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I just find it so unlikely that my bard's ability to solo or group at the higher levels will really be impacted in any noticeable way with the last 100 hp.

You'll notice barely surviving with ~100hp far more often than you will notice having slightly more Cha/Dex. Goodly race stats means you're going to have the hardest time maxing your Stam/HP; Cha/Dex are not a problem or really noticeable once you get >100 IMO. At the end of the day its that bard starting stats are already hedged towards Dex/Cha, Stam has Meh returns, but you don't need any other stats. I can tell you as a Woodelf bard at 60 that went all Dex/Cha, I wished I had gone Stam just to eke out surviving a few AoEs, or a little more wiggle room to CC and regen up.

Str seems weirdly pointless but I guess fresh on the box and planning to be super casual sure. Between cheap gear and Selos+All the songs that add Str, I don't know how its really a problem for people.

[Ripqozko]

Originally Posted by Selene [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I just find it so unlikely that my bard's ability to solo or group at the higher levels will really be impacted in any noticeable way with the last 100 hp. How often would I be in a situation where I was down to the last 100 hp or less, when the mobs are hitting 100+ anyway? (I don't plan on swarm kiting at all, just charming for solo and CC for groups)

I feel like usually when we play any toon, adjustments are made real-time during combat in most cases so that we aren't in a situation where everything hangs by a thread, i.e. the last 100 hp.

Since i'll be in dungeons a lot or charming a lot, I thought charisma > stamina. I won't be raiding super seriously with this toon.

Seems like dex isn't worth dumping the 25 points though --- and the more i think about it, i don't think +25 dex is gonna have a huge impact on procs anyway

People stare at walls 35 hours a week for 10hp, 100 ain't bad. Basically nothing else matters anyways, can't put in resi so

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by Selene [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I just find it so unlikely that my bard's ability to solo or group at the higher levels will really be impacted in any noticeable way with the last 100 hp. How often would I be in a situation where I was down to the last 100 hp or less, when the mobs are hitting 100+ anyway? (I don't plan on swarm kiting at all, just charming for solo and CC for groups)

I feel like usually when we play any toon, adjustments are made real-time during combat in most cases so that we aren't in a situation where everything hangs by a thread, i.e. the last 100 hp.

Since i'll be in dungeons a lot or charming a lot, I thought charisma > stamina. I won't be raiding super seriously with this toon.

Seems like dex isn't worth dumping the 25 points though --- and the more i think about it, i don't think +25 dex is gonna have a huge impact on procs anyway

it's all basically w/e. it seems like you really want to put the points in cha so just do that. then whenever lulls work and charm lasts as long as you feel it should you can feel vindicated lol.

i'm from a pvp server where the last 100hp often really did matter, and i had to sacrifice hp gear for resists even while leveling. cha and dex are both far from useless.

[Toxigen]

if first char / untwinked, STR just for carrying stuff