Skalds .. Help :/

knighthood

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Messages
1,812
I joined mid a few days back and through some thourough leveling i currently got my skald to 32. But now i seem to have run into a problem. He seems to be utterly useless at killing mobs. Now im gathering this is bcoz atm im

32 Songs
21 Sword
1 Parry

After 34 i plan on sticking sword up as main, i need 34 for the next DD. But it seems to me Skalds really seem to suck at pve. Now the thing is, unfourtunatly im used to being pampered as an overpowered minstrel. Mincers get the Ablative at 30 and ofc can use pets which i did a lot, but i thought what with the Dmg add and the Stats Skalds have over mincers <also including 2hand weps> that theyd be pretty easy to solo with. My gear is pretty decent, im capped out stats and resists with rogs and all armour is yellow/oj to me and my wep but sometimes even blues get me 60%. Is it going to be like this all the way to 50, or ack, even worse, with the rate things r going it seems i wont be able to take bloody greens soon lol. Can someone give me some advice or reasurance here that things will get better. One on one i can sometimes take out oj con. But get 2 blues on me and things bugger up. I cant even take out the first blue normally b4 mezz wears off on the add. :(

Help :p
 

Gotmagi

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Jan 31, 2004
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1,432
Pve was so easy when I lvled my skald, I just kept sword and songs at simular lvl, songs a bit higher tho. Imo u should respec hammer at 40, better for pve and then u can get malice =)
 

Vell

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Messages
397
No offense, but you have really gimped yourself by going too low in sword, and you will continue to struggle until you get weapon up close to your level. Your sword is your damage, the songs are just there to supplement it.

Given that you are an experienced player and you should be able to level quickly, I would possibly even consider deleting and starting over again, or just find a group that doesn't mind you being a gimp :p
 

knighthood

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Messages
1,812
yknow i think your right there. It comes from playing mincer a lot, u rely more on your DDs as a mincer cos of sucky melee, well ok, will spam my sword up from now on. The DDs can wait :)
 

Maff

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Feb 20, 2005
Messages
175
well like its been said at 40 get hammer dont cost as much end and it worked a lot better for me.
i was lucky to be part of a set group most the time but now and then did solo.
u shpould be ok on yellows but only prob with a skald is if u get more than 1 mob on ya if your mezz dont stick you will find it hard.
lack of def can be a prob but 1on1 you should be fine.
at 50 i can take oj's if buffed reds not much of a prob,
but best way get a group and know your roll as suport :clap:
 

Pyrus

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
102
i have tryed solo abit too... but from lvl 42 - 45...

my skal is a troll named monstertrolden. at lvl 42 my skills was: 42 battlesong and 31 hammer... i use moderna loot (crap armor) random dropped 98% hammer no jewel rings etc....

i kill yellow in catacombs instant dungeons... use both dds quick afther use instant mezz (if you hit moob then you cant mezz). then use frost hammer and demolish.... afther that i use dds and ruiner and crumble cain.

there is big defference in how mutch life you will have left if you start with

1. dd + dd + mezz + frost hammer + demolish + ruiner + crumble etc.

or you start:

2. ruiner + crumble + dd + dd etc

in some cases my life was 80 other cases it was 40 but nr.1 is the best and instant dds is very important whitout them ill could be dead alot of times... and dont attack if you are low power =) you really need those dds.

when this is says skald is pretty fun playing with...

i use hammer because its the best pve (Erami) and use smaller amount of end...

you should be able to solo fine with your gear... another thing.. are you going out of end. while in fight with 1 moob?


Pyrus
 

Zoia

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
Messages
1,327
It's been a while since i leveled my skald now, but i recently leveled a spear valkyrie, which had much the same problems with defence.
Try and get some items from Cata with parry and defence bonuses. After i got 10% defence and 7-9% parry, it helped a lot.

When i leveled i always kept BS at my level or close. Believe me, you will want that next speed as soon as you can. :)
 

Herjulf

Banned
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
673
Being a OLDtimer skald, my experience is:

Keep your weapon maxed at all times, BS secondary. Dont worry to much about spending points in parry.

PARRY % = (5% + 0,5% * parry)/#of attackers. (the easy non RA and dex caring formula, not 100% but close enuff to get the general idea.

The long more accurate, and by many the most reliable formula is:
(((Dex*2)-100)/40)+(parry/2)+(mastery of parry*3)+5 /#of attackers

1vs1

1 parry = aprox 5.5% chance to parry
10 parry = 10% chance
17 parry = 13,5% chance

The last 7 isnt much fuss, maximum 10parry imo.

Typical "modern" skald specs is:

46 weapon 46 battlesongs 10 parry (popular nowdays spec)
50 weapon 43 battlesongs 2 parry (my spec)
44 weapon 46 Battlesongs 17 parry (the old skald fotm spec)

What should a skald get in stats?

If grp skald dont bother with charisma.
Get
STR+cap (max)
CON+cap (try max)
DEX (semi decent amount no need to max)
QUI+cap (try max as much as possible)

In the template get +melee +style +melee speed.

And ABS+AF charges is always good if you are gonna solo.
End charges wont hurt when i battle.

Solo skald should bother with charisma imo, as 2xDD dmg add will be important, the more charisma u get the higher in the variation the damage will be. And u will get more power also. I might however have turned the damage thing a little wrong and it might be that your spells land easier if you get more charisma, and it it +battlesongs that raise the damage. i am to this day not shure. But dont sacrifice str, con or qui for it.

Why QUI some ppl ask, wont it lower damage.
Answer.. AttackSMACK...tick...tick...tick...tick...tick...MISS...tick...tick...tick...tick..tick..EVADE...tick...tick...tick...tick....
And lowering damage.. yes but NO.
base melee yes, style dmg is still there, a few hits and you have caught up.
Interupt and the ability to land positionals more easy is more important. And qui has just as much to do with evade as dex, so every "spare" point you put in dex will be a bonus.

Not good vs any classes rogues and casters in particular.

a 5.5 weapon

formula:

Speed = wpn spd * (1-(qui-60)/500)*(1- haste)

So if you are a 50 Norseman with 0 in QUI at start (50 qui), and got QUI capped. you should have 50+101=151QUI +capped buffs(156,25) = 307.25

That would mean, that using a 5.5speed 2-H weapon u get, 2,78 weapon speed. red haste buff and u get down to 2.2 weapon speed.

It is your base dmg that will become lower, your style damage should be static, thus dmg/hit will be slightly less, but overtime you will not regret it, you will quickly win back the damage.

+ and -

+
alot easier to interupt
a evade/miss etc wont affect you as much as it would with alot slower speeds. 5.5sec and 1 evade = 11secs of no damage, 2.2speed and 1 evade = 4.4secs.
Might make it easier to get in the positionals.
Will together with dex help you evade more.

-
slightly lower base dmg
 

Herjulf

Banned
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
673
realised i didnt count on toa bonus in melee spd (10%) in the above example.
make the effective melee speed with the 5.5 spd wpn 1,94sec.
 

Zoia

Can't get enough of FH
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Jan 13, 2004
Messages
1,327
Herjulf said:
Solo skald should bother with charisma imo, as 2xDD dmg add will be important, the more charisma u get the higher in the variation the damage will be. And u will get more power also. I might however have turned the damage thing a little wrong and it might be that your spells land easier if you get more charisma, and it it +battlesongs that raise the damage. i am to this day not shure.
When i once tried aug acuity 3(22 more char) my DDs did about 10 more damage each on a target with 26% body, so 1 char adds about 0.5 damage.
It also adds to your powerpool, but those 20 char only gave me 1-2 more DDs before i went oom.
BS adds a little damage as well, but it costs so much imbue points and adds so little, it's not worth getting.
Resists are only based on spell level vs level of target.

So if you are a 50 Norseman with 0 in QUI at start (50 qui), and got QUI capped. you should have 50+101=151QUI +capped buffs(156,25) = 307.25
I'd love to have over 300 quick. ;)
Iirc, capped buffs adds 93.
50 base, 80 from items(what most skald temps have with +5 quick cap from Scalars), 93 from red buffs = 223 quick.

It is your base dmg that will become lower, your style damage should be static, thus dmg/hit will be slightly less, but overtime you will not regret it, you will quickly win back the damage.


-
slightly lower base dmg
Base damage, or unstyled damage, is unaffected by haste/quick and will remain the same.
Style bonus adds a constant DPS and when you swing faster, you're styled bonus per hit will be lower.
To use some made up numbers:
Let's say you hit for 300 base damage + 100 style bonus every 5 sec for a total of 400 each hit.
If you then get lots of quick/haste so you swing at 2.5, you will still do 300 base damage, but only get half the style bonus(50), cause you're swinging twice as fast.
You'll do 350 damage every 2.5 sec though, which of course is better than 400 every 5 sec. ;)
 

Herjulf

Banned
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Messages
673
Zoia said:
Iirc, capped buffs adds 93.

You are correct, i had a brain freeze.

Zoia said:
Base damage, or unstyled damage, is unaffected by haste/quick and will remain the same.

I have always had the impression that base dmg aka unstyled damage is what is determined by the DPS. Style damage adds to each hit.
but reading through wyrds research, it seems im again wrong.

Guess its the shame box again tonight, down the basement.
 

knighthood

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Messages
1,812
Hehe tbh 90% of this i allready knew as i been here for 4 yrs. It was just a culture shock coming from being a mincer at first, too much abusing my pet and ablative. Im 40 now and can handle oj fine unless its some catacombs named, they tend to be over the top. Also i agree, as a mincer i allways capped Char +toa caps on top, this was mainly as mincers melee sucks. Its not too bad at 43 wep , but your not gonna hit like a troll skald. I respecced Hammer now and yes liking it a lot better. In RvR ive allways found the DD's are the winner on my mincer, though with a Skald ive now got a heavy dmg output, although slower too. Problem is though what with resists nowadays your DDs dont hit for shit sometimes. Ive hit casters for 250-300 b4 and more with wild power, but with high resists its like 170 dmg, which is pretty gimp tbh. Thats why im going 50 songs <for last DD and heal song> and 43hammer. Parrys a waste, trolls dex and quick r so low anyway the rate pf parry would be total bollox, im not even going to bother with dex and quick in my template either. Unless ofc they happen to be on an item i need anyway.

Thx a lot for the info though. I did read through it. Well see how it goes, Currently gonan be doing Cats tasks and quests anyway as there is no grps in daoc anymore for me to be a support roll in :p
 

Tubbs

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
May 2, 2004
Messages
115
I'd suggest you get your arse back to Albion.

Even warlocks and clustering won't save the mids now :D
 

skaldy

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
16
Skald specc

hi, I think u have to get weapon at max and second battlesongs and nothing in parry meanwhile ulvl up at 50.

u main dmg is u weapon i use hammer, provoke use a bit of end and whit tireless practicaly never lose u end in battlle.

u DDs are a support but better dont entrust in they too much .p

and a good speec that i use is 48 hammer, 44 batlesongs and 10 parry, is a nice dmg whit hammer good DDs and solid Mezz :clap: and a good parry at rr5 and more.

thats all :p
 

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