Bard and Priest templates

[Hayley]

Yes, we need more of these toons. A lot more. Every time there's a group forming we should have at least one high levelled priest on stand by to join it. However, we only seem to have 1 active priest-SzAINT. I'd say we should get people rolling them, asap.
And then there's bard's. Yet to see one in this guild, and they too are another good group support unit. They pale in comparison to a priest, who's heals prove him to be much more valuable, but bard chants are, and will always be, a large help in GvG. Therefore I'm posting a bard template too ^^. Note that Dwarf is probably the best choice for healer, and Irikei mage is probably the best for bard, But I've chose this out of personal preference.

Stolen from My Vindi boards(who stole it from a guy in DoA)

Human Rogue Bow-bard The support bard

Starting Runes
Eye’s of Eagle-
Raised in woods
Taught by Master Thief
Lightning Reflexes
Military training

You cand drop any of those and take LUCKY instead.

Runes
Bounty Hunter
Archer
BlackMask
Prospector
+35 dex rune
+ 5 con rune

Stats at 74
STR- 33
DEX- 155
CON- 100
INT- 90
SPI- 30

Skills
Bow- 140
Light Armor- 130
Bardsong- 115
Archery- 95


Trained Powers
Hide- 18
Sneak- 21
Ritardando- 40
Ballad of Beregund the Bold- 40
Ragnor’s Rede of rending- 40
Canticle of inspiration -40
Rhythm of Steel- 40
Canticle the Cunning- 40
Song of Spring- 40
Precision- 20
Ashton Kai’s Irresistible Dance- 1
Calming Melody- 1
Chant of Titans- 1
Dread dissonance -1
Molto ritardando -1
Restive Melody- 1
Gentle Melody- 1
Pallando’s Pernicious Puns- 1


Armor- you will want all 100% +8/40 items.

Jewelry- Jewelry is different. You can take dex/con, dex/resist, or dex/dex (if you can find them) but either way its up to the person playing the character and what items you can get on your guy.

Bow- I use a Peerless Saphire Bow of Markesmanship. I also have a Legendary Sidhe bow of the Mentalist... and the Proc on that bow is VERY VERY nice !


EDIT : VARIATIONS
1) Drop the Alacrity chant.... and GM Countersong.... or
2) Drop Alacrity chant and put 21 Countersong and GM Sneak.
3) If you are going higher Int, then drop Alacrity and GM Dread Dissonnance.


Personally, I have dropped Alacrity and Gmed Sneak.

And Priest...(Slightly adapted from Vindi)

So, this template is meant for 1 thing only, healing. Although I have trained the blessed alacrity to put on all our assasins in the event of a buffer not being around. Dont think about training stuns / theurgy as this will just take away from your heals. If you want to stun stuff, make a stun priest as to be effective stun priests have to work in precise stance, which gimps all your heals

Race: Elf
Base: Healer
Profession: Priest

Starting Runes
Wizards apprentice
Brilliant mind
Scion of dar khelegeur

Lvl 75 stats
Str: 30
Dex: 45
Con: 65
Int: 180
Spi: 100


Trains
Restoration: 146% - could be higher than this i think
Benediction: 69%
Hammer: 38%
Medium Armour: 100%
Block: 137%
Blessed mending: GM
Blessed alacrity: GM
Blessed purity: GM
Grasp of the all father: 1 - might want to put a few spares in this to help with recast timer
Prayer of mending: GM
Prayer of haste: GM
Divine recovery: GM
Scared healing: GM
Sacred rejuvenation: 8
Benediction of healing: GM
Benediction of rejuvenation: 1
Prayer of recovery: GM

So, I havent finished my build yet (only got 26 pts in prayer of recovery as only lvl 68) but here are the stats with priest and bard buffs (both are essential for this build)

In offensive stance (only one you will ever use)

Health: 2041
Def: doenst matter
Atr: doesnt matter
Blessed mending (single 2.5 sec cast): 232 - 626
Prayer of mending (grp heal): 339 - 917
Divine recovery (single HoT): 165 - 362 per tick
Prayer of recovery (group HoT only trained to 26pts so far): 185 - 379 pick tick

Gear
Complete set of resists MA + a passive of some kind of resist 95% shield. Jewelry - go all Lapis for the int+ the regen. I have some so far, lapis of genius ring, lapis of shaper ring, lapis amulet, lapis of fate gilded sceptre high preists healer cowl of genius. So with more int jewelery still to come I will increase the stats above


Play style

Rule #1 - Always have blessed purity buff on yourself. As a healpriest, mana regen is the name of the game for keeping you and the group alive

Rule #2 - Always be in offensive stance - it adds 50% to your heals

Rule #3 - Always keep the group hot running as you go into and continue combat

Personally, I don't like the idea of an elf priest. I've rolled a human one, so just adapt that accordingly depending on preference.

You can go Dwarf for survivability of the priest more than the group
You can go elf for the strength of the heals, but it comes down on Con
Or you can go human, and be somewhere in the middle

Just my 2 pence.

[adamwest]

hayley said:

You can go Dwarf for survivability of the priest more than the group
You can go elf for the strength of the heals, but it comes down on Con
Or you can go human, and be somewhere in the middle

Just my 2 pence.

I think dwarf is the best choice here because an elf priest is more likely to be targeted and go down fast. A dwarf priest will heal better than elf because they can stay alive longer to keep the heals up.

Yes, we need more of these toons. A lot more. Every time there's a group forming we should have at least one high levelled priest on stand by to join it. However, we only seem to have 1 active priest-SzAINT. I'd say we should get people rolling them, asap.
And then there's bard's. Yet to see one in this guild, and they too are another good group support unit. They pale in comparison to a priest, who's heals prove him to be much more valuable, but bard chants are, and will always be, a large help in GvG.

It might not be much fun to play a heal priest or even a support character. Everyone just wants damage and killshots, but if we want to get any better, we need more of these toons.

[Hayley]

Yeah, I gathered dwarf would be best. Just posted that template due to racial restrictions on my guild ^^(Wiz. charter)

[Gray Walker]

Race - Aelfborn

Aelfborn is a must for this template, you need it to take the blade master discipline. I suppose a human could be viable, but an aelfborn gets better base stats for what you want. Ireki is a sub-par choice in my opinion. While they get a higher dex and +10 to daggers, they have 10 less ability points and can't take the blade master discipline. Don't even think about making an elf. You would have to take both con runes at creation to even think about being viable. That added with the 15 creation cost equals gimped.


Creation Runes - Lightning Reflexes, Lucky, Military Training

Don't be tricked into taking Taught by Master Thief, you don't want to take the con hit it requires. Constitution is very undervalued by many rogues. I don't believe Precise is worth taking either. I'd rather put those 8 points into int.

At creation you will want to take 5 points out of str and spr. After taking the 3 creation runes, you will have 11 points leftover. I would just throw them into con.

Starting Stats

Str - 35
Dex - 65
Con - 51
Int - 50
Spr - 20

While leveling up, I would just take turns putting points into dex and con. After those are maxed, just put the points into int. Never put any points into str or spr. You will need to use a 10 and 20 con rune to step up to a 35 con rune. You will also need to apply a 35 dex rune.

Base Stats at level 75

Str - 35
Dex - 165 (35 dex applied)
Con - 130 (35 con applied)
Int - 69
Spr - 20


Discipline Runes - Black Mask, Huntsman, Blade Master, Rune Caster

Black Mask gives you Dagger Mastery, Passwall, and Backstab. Dagger Mastery will give you two atr debuff powers for your daggers. Passwall is always nice for getting into cities, or even escaping from fights. Backstab is ok, I dont find myself using it much. It does warrant 1 training point though.

Huntsman gives you track, which is a necessity. You will be much happier if you take Huntsman over Bounty Hunter. Huntsman grants the bow skill, which will allow you to use a siege bow for smashing, instead of having to use a seige hammer. Trust me, take Huntsman.

Some may ask, why take Blade Master if you don't plan on using a sword. The answer is Find Weakness. This ability reduces piercing, crushing, and slashing resistace on a target by 25 for 30 seconds. You do not have to have a long blade equipped to use this power. Find Weakness also stacks with your Rakish Jab, a -21 to piercing resistance, for a total of - 46 to piecing resistance. You will rip through armor wearers like they had cloth on with this power. It has a 5 minute recast and I find myself using it every 5 minutes.

Rune Caster gives you a heal. One train will heal between 80 and 100 hit points.

There really aren't many other disciplines to even choose from. You could take Commander, but you already have better speed, damage, and attack speed buffs from being a bard. All it would add is stun break and command seige weapon. Do not try to turn this into a proc template by taking undead hunter. You do not have the 20 points to waste on the holy proc. It's just not worth it.


Now, what to train as a bard.

Focus
Dagger - 125
Light Armor - 124
Bardsong - 97
Dagger Mastery - 60

Buffs
Chant of the Titans (dex/str) - 40
Canticle of Cunning (int) - 40

Chants
Ragnor's Rede of Rending (damage) - 40
Ballad of Beregund the Bold (run) - 40
Calming Melody (mana regen) - 1
The Rhythm of Steel (attack speed) - 40
Restive Melody (stam regen) - 5

Snares and Roots
Ritardando - 40
Molto Ritardando - 1
Ashton Kai's Irresistible Dance - 1

Other
Hide - 40
Sneak - 21
Pallando's Pernicious Puns - 1
Dread Dissonance - 1
Ancient Riddle - 1
Countersong - 1

Black Mask
Backstab - 1

Blade Master
Find Weakness - 20

Rune Caster
Nyth Rune - 1

You only need to take Dagger Mastery to 60 to get the second atr debuff, Torturer's Scalpel. The dex/str and int buff are very valuable to you as well as to your group. Ritardando is a very underrated spell. It makes many melees completely useless during fights. It is a 60% snare for 60 seconds and a 38% attack speed debuff for 30 seconds. The recycle time on it is 30 seconds. It is the reason you will pwn most melee in duels. Molto is the aoe group friendly version of the spell. Too bad bards have many useful spells to train, because this spell is worthy of more trains. The Dance is a 21 second root. Any melee with no snare break is useless when this is cast on them. The puns is for revealing stealthers. Just track to them stealthed, pop a +75% atr dagger skill and hit the puns. Ancient Riddle is an aoe mes. As a bard your chants will draw aggro from guards and mobs alike. This spell is a 21 second aoe stun for them. Since most people only put 1 train into their roots, 1 train in countersong is all that is needed to free yourself or friends.


Gear

Armor
Well you will want to find yourself a full suit of 8 defense armor. 8 / 40 is the best you can hope for. The only 100% la gloves you can wear are bard gloves. 10 dex 8 defense is ideal, but unlikely. 8 defense Windlords are must, but hard to obtain.

Daggers
You will want to get a pair of warlord's fanged daggers. As for the suffix, I would use of the butcher's, stam drain, or life drain. With all the flyers and melee's, I believe stam drain would be the best.

Jewlry
I would suggest a 15 dex 5 to all other stats necklace. 10 dex 10 con 30 stam regen or 10 dex 30 stam 30 stam regen rings will do for rings. Resistances are very valuable, but if you are getting hit often with your defense and atr debuffs, you are fighting the wrong fights.


Strategy

A bard is a very group friendly member, as well as a very strong solo character. Make sure you keep your chants up. They cost no mana or stam and are instant, so use them. Your roots and snares aren't just there for show, make sure you are always using them. Concentrate on rooting melee classes with no snare break, such as scouts, rangers, and other bards. Make sure to ritardando every 30 seconds on a melee. It will cripple their attack speed. Use Find Weakness when you are ready to focus on a leather wearer. You can down one in under 15 seconds with it and rakish jab. Your high defense is very important, it should be around 1500 self-buffed in defensive stance. You should always be in defensive stance by the way. If you are blinded or keep getting hit, run away. Between all of your snares, root, and gm hide, you always stand a good chance of getting away.



(stole this from one of the forums my angel frequents... sorry, i'm a plagiarist )

[adamwest]

GvG toon > solo pk toon for us atm. We need more support toons like the ones Hayley posted.

[baia]

I'm building a GvG support mage bard, currently R4 and will hopefully have him R5 shortly and ready for an invite. Making him largely to help our PvP groups deal with casters (SoS and Countersong/Mighty Countersong) along with some nuking, survivability, snares, etc. Not positive exactly what chants I'll be putting on him, thats certainly open to suggestion by the guild after I max out what I know he needs.

[oaflof]

I just started working on a priest like the above mentioned one.. just hit lvl 12.. might be awhile before it is up and ready.