What is most important Stat for a Troubador ?

[ChinaC]

<div><font color="#ff6600">Greetings fellow musicians =)</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">Having never played a Troub previously, but about to, was hoping you could enlighten me on which stat is the most critical.</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">It appears Troubs have the ability to do damage through Melee, Range and Songs.</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">Am I correct that songs are treated in the same manner as spells, and the higher the intelligence the stronger they are and less likely resisted?  If not, what attribute provides this benefit to songs?</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">Any feedback would be appreciated.   Thank you kindly.</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">PS: I have read with interest on this board on how the Troubador used to be more effective in Duals.  I am beta testing the PvP Server and will get instant buffed to level 40.  A lot of the PvP there is in groups, and if your interested, I will be happy to report back the results and a few screenshots.</font></div><div><font color="#ff6600"></font> </div><div><font color="#ff6600">-CC</font></div>

[Derrick]

<div>Intel is most imporntant.. then Str.</div><div> </div><div>Intel increases the dmg on you Aria group buff(which is a 30% chance for any combat art to proc extra dmg...which the dmg is modified by your int) and also your 58 spell Percision of hte Maestro (which is 100% chance for group members to proc dmg has a 20 sec duration wiht 90 sec recast, dmg modified by intel) and your harest hiting combar arts are intel based... you have...3melee hits and 1 ranged attack thats effected by STR and 3 spells that are effected by INT..but, the 3 efftected by int will put out more dmg the the 4 str based CA's so id go highst int then try for STR...</div>

[ChinaC]

<div></div><p><font color="#ff6600">Awesome.  Thank you.</font></p><p><font color="#ff6600">Is there a particular race on the freeport side that appears more favored for the Troubador?</font></p><p><font color="#ff6600">-CC</font></p>

[Shadoerider]

I do not think STR is the second most important skill. Maybe if you are soloing or what not but AGI and INT control a troubs buffs and about 60% of their attacks.AGI = you power pool as well so you want your AGI to be quite high.INT = your over all spell damage as well as adding a bit to your power pool but not as much as AGI.STR = CA and melee damage that is more to what a dirge would need not a troub. Especially if you plan on grouping and buffing.<div></div>

[Thessik_Ironta]

<div></div><div></div><p>Why does a dirge need str more then a troub? do they not do very similar things through songs and melee?</p><p>Isnt there a patch coming that is making INT give just as much power for bards as agi now?</p><p>Is combat art different then spells and is that different then songs?</p><p>Is a troubadors proc damage song only procing on mages spells? or does it count for melees combat arts aswell? If so.. what is the difference between that one and the dirges melee proc, is it auto attack only? Duel wielding auto attacks hit fast so is the proc rate less then the troubs to balance it?</p><p>Int is damage and power, agi is dodge and power, wouldent int be better, then str as secondary for max dps?</p><p>How can i tell what is a song, what is a combat art, and what is a spell so i know what stat buffs it?</p><p>Message Edited by Thessik_Irontail on <span class="date_text">02-12-2006</span><span class="time_text">02:15 AM</span></p>

[Rampagious]

This brings me to my next points, who the [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] cares about agi?  It honestly does nothing.  Yeah, cool, I can get more power!!!  Awesome...not.  Lets be real, if you are having power management problems - mmm honestly I dont care how bad your gear is don't really know how you could be having power management issues.  Anyways, I would have to say I think of int a bit more important than str.  Only because we do have many spells that are nuke based, and do more damage than CAs, and also yes, it does give power pool.  After that I would have to say sta is 3rd most important.  I only say that because I still believe hit points > power for a troub, but I suppose thats only because I really dont have power management issues.<div></div>

[Thessik_Ironta]

<div></div>Ramp, any insight on the questions i asked above your post? =)

[Rampagious]

<p>Why does a dirge need str more then a troub?<font color="#3300cc">Dirge's really dont need more str than a troub, really no reason.</font></p><p><font color="#ffffff">Do they not do very similar things through songs and melee?</font><font color="#3333cc">Yes, they do.</font></p><p>Isnt there a patch coming that is making INT give just as much power for bards as agi now?<font color="#3333cc">The patch did come, and I am not sure if int give as much as agi (or if int give more than agi) but they made int effect our power pool which it was supposed to, but never did before.</font></p><p>Is combat art different then spells and is that different then songs?<font color="#3333cc">Combat arts are different than spells, they are based on strength, as spells are based on intelligence.  And songs are effect by nothing.  (They used to be effect by Ballads pre-expansion but was removed with it)</font></p><p>Is a troubadors proc damage song only procing on mages spells?<font color="#3333cc"></font><font color="#3333cc">A troubadors' proc works off of any hostile spell, not combat arts (besides Stream and Hail but I believe those were changed)</font></p><p>If so.. what is the difference between that one and the dirges melee proc, is it auto attack only? Duel wielding auto attacks hit fast so is the proc rate less then the troubs to balance it?<font color="#3333cc">The dirge one I know procs off of auto attack, but I am really not positive about combat arts.  And I believe the dirge's is like 12% as the troubador's is 30%.</font></p><p>Int is damage and power, agi is dodge and power, wouldent int be better, then str as secondary for max dps?<font color="#3333cc">Yes</font></p><p>How can i tell what is a song, what is a combat art, and what is a spell so i know what stat buffs it?<font color="#3333cc">Well combat arts are under the combat art tab - and spells and songs are under the spell tab <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></font></p><div></div>

[Thessik_Ironta]

<div></div><p>I play with a bruiser friend, im trying to finalize either troubador or bard. They both seem to have great melee buffs. I know the dirge has more then the troub, but has rez instead of charm and crowd control is a huge perk. Additionally in dungeons mez is greater then fear. Then there is health regen song which i believe a dirge does not get.</p><p>Which of the two bards do you believe would benefit this bruiser more in a duo? Does either bard have more dps then the other?</p><p>What perks would be in favour of the dirge, as I do not see rez or fear to be as good as charm or mez.</p>

[Rampagious]

I would say dirge is your better choice - as a dirge you can give him stoneskin, agility, a melee proc, increased melee skills, mana regen, parry buff, etc etc.  Also, bruisers have a like min 20 second recast on mend or like 2 minutes something, so health regen on a troub isnt that huge, and bruisers have like a 20 second mezz so <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[RJO]

I too have been racking my brain on this one <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> (sorry to all the random troubs on Permafrost who've gotten "hey I've got a question do you mind?" tells from me in the few days)The way I see it with int giving you boosts to your songs and strength giving you boosts to your combat arts agility would seem to be an afterthought...  Yeah its great to have power, but if you sub in a little agi and +power I think you could survive?So thats the way I'm sort of seeing it, INT and STR first, AGI and POWER on the side...Does this seem on target with most of you guys out there?  Am I missing something that AGI brings to the table?<div></div>

[pera]

<span><blockquote><hr>Rampagious wrote:<p>Isnt there a patch coming that is making INT give just as much power for bards as agi now?<font color="#3333cc">The patch did come, and I am not sure if int give as much as agi (or if int give more than agi) but they made int effect our power pool which it was supposed to, but never did before.</font></p><hr></blockquote>It looks like this was pushed back to lu20, from what i'm hearing from serveral other hybrid classes that they are seeign the same thing that the power pool did not increase after lu19, or at least not the way it was supposed to.atm agi = 1:4 power, int = 1:1.5 power.   after this finaly gets ingame it is supposed to be agi 1:4, int 1:4.</span><div></div>

[Trabbart]

<div>I believe Int and Agi are most important, than Sta and Wis and last Strength.</div><div> </div><div>In groups and Raids Int makes your groups do more Dmg, Agi gives you more power (important because of debuffs that suck your mana) Also agi makes you get hit less.</div><div>Solo Int gives you more dmg and AGi makes you get hit less.</div><div> </div><div>Sta and Wisdom are good for hitpoints and resists</div><div> </div><div>Str is NOT important. In groups you will be hitting your spells more than autoattacking. In raids you will be a distant attacker (mostly spells and bow). Solo you will be mezzing a lot and using your spells to do damage. (Int and agi (lesser degree Sta and Wis) are your best friends here)</div>

[Rampagious]

I don't really agree with you that agility is important, at all.  I believe someone calculated agility out to be 1 agility = .05 avoidance or something like that.  Also really, even if you just have a [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]ing mana stone and your mana song, I really dont see how you still have issues with power (unless you guild has awful dps and you are clearing trash in PP:R then I understand).  About your intelligence comment, int only makes your raid group do more dps by the fact that Aria of Exaltation works off of your int, and thats the only thing int effects in your group, and if you are really pushing for the extra 50 damage per proc or whatever it is and you are below cap, you can just throw a fury in there a second if you don't already have one and you are gtg. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  No matter what way you look at it, strength is still important, you say you will be spamming spells yes, but if you are looking for optimal dps you still do have other CAs and you will get around 2 auto attack swings in between spells.  I agree with you that sta is important too but on your wisdom comment?  Are you out of your [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]ing mind lol?  1 point of wisdom give you +3 to all resists, mmmm unless you are planning sacrificing a lot of stats for wis gear, or if you raid and have things like radiant torque, ancient combine handguards, Ceremonial Combine Coif where they still have pretty decent wisdom and good other stats for you, I don't see the point in even giving two [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]s about wisdom, you are going to need quite a few points of it to make it really do anything.<div></div>

[Zapdafi]

<div></div><p>i only see agi being important for soloing purposes as it's avoidance. and then if i solo ^^^ i go caster anyways and dont go toe to toe with it. I have power issues when grouped, that is, I always have too much.  The reset time is such that once I blow my load, the mobs are usually dying or dead by the time most of my spells have had a chance to recycle.</p><p>so my opinion is int then str, and then agi so you still look somewhat like a scout. for raids where we have an uber mob that will take along time to take down, i switch over to a few more str items for mindless swinging and hold back on the nukage so I can keep the debuffs up as long as possible. Sometimes tho you get called on Mez duty for adds so thats when I keep my int maxxed.</p><p>but then, things tend to change and next week I may see this differently. I keep experimenting and this is only my current setup.</p>

[Trabbart]

<div>Its fun to see how different troubs can be played. I do not consider Str to be most important cos while soloing (i try solo hard nameds at lev 60 now) i NEVER use auto attack, am mezzing all the time and need high Int for Maestro/Aria/Spells to be my Dps in the short bursts i can attack the named. Agi makes sure i have enough power and that bit more avoidance that keeps me alive while dealing with the adds in the nameds encounter, the debuffs and the continuous mezzing.</div><div> </div><div>In groups i know i am not Dps by myself so focus on debuffs, switching in and out of songs, mezzing. So again my powerpool(Agi) and Int for my spells and my procs are most important Only if needed as pure dps-er or within a mellee heavy group will i switch songs to our str/sta song for the extra ST and (if tank) HP and will also use the haste song.</div><div> </div><div>On raids, debuffing, mezzing adds, staying away from aoe's makes it that also here my powerpool and int (longer distant spells) are my biggest friends.</div><div> </div><div>Basically since LU13 i have learned to switch from melee to caster tricks.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>But it is interesting to see that some of you are playing the troub more melee heavy<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Good to see that we are versatile </div>

[ForgottenFoundling]

<div></div><p>Trab, your melee CAs use Str, not Int for damage.  This includes Courtly, Sandra's, Taffo's, Shriek, etc...</p><p>Agi is really only good if you have a raid setup that has a hard time killing mobs quickly.  Otherwise, I rarely run out of power and I keep all my debuffs on all the time.</p>

[Trabbart]

<div></div><p>Dear Mr Cheese, I know that all the CA's use str as dmg modifier. But in solo and raid i hardly use them anymore, except when taking on (solo) not so hard mobs where no mezzing is involved. As soon as the solo mobs become a diff challenge I have to use a shield and use all the debuffs, interrupts etc, snare the mob and do dmg from a distance  after which i mezz and repeat. None of my dmg CA's (xcept bow) are used then. Solo i still can run out of mana so AGi is important. On Raids the debuffs suck a lot of mana and if on mezz duty i can use all the power at my disposal.</p><p>Grouping i use all my arts to the fullest and depending on group make up i will go str myself with mellee songs, or more int/str and caster songs. But even in groups i feel that aria and maestro are my biggest friends dmg wise so Int is the more important one. Usually in groups/raids other peeps buffs get me high enough on Str/Agi and Int. So i focus my own setup on soloing.</p><p>One of the problems with our dps is that autoattack is delayed when you cast spells, debuffs or use CA's  so that that dmg is a minimal factor in my dps.</p><p>Having said all this about my stats preferences i <u>do</u> try to keep  Str and Sta up too. Wisdom has taken the biggest back seat</p><p>atm my troub has:</p><p>120 str</p><p>280 agi</p><p>140 sta</p><p>310 int</p><p>80 wis</p><p>I can max out Int if needed and get agi to 350.  Str and Sta can be upped to 200+ if need be (with Stat song master and different jewellery/bow/shield)</p><p>Still need to get my hand on the fabled stuff from CoAA :smileyvery-happy:</p><p> </p>

[pera]

I really would have to say though str may not seem to be as important as int, which in general its not but you cant forget about it.  Normaly when soloing there are several big gaps between when my spell abilites are up and I have to be auto attacking.  The damage from aa adds up quite a bit over the course of a long fight and makes mana useage a little easier.  In raids I always find that my int is almost alwasy capped(440) or close to it.  Str is normaly fairly easy to cap in most groups because pretty much every class buffs str to one degree or another.  But expecialy solo i would try to keep str and int fairly balanced, and its nice to have sta up too but not too important, agi really doesnt help us too much other than power pool.My normal sellf buffed stats arestr 304agi 342sta 189int 328wis 128<div></div>

[ForgottenFoundling]

<div></div><p>/shrug</p><p>Do what ya do, but if you aren't using your melee CAs in a raid (on joust) you aren't maximizing your dps.  The only time I don't joust is if I'm on mez duty or I have a debuff that will quickly need to be refreshed.  Also, PotM works best when you're in melee range of the mob so you can get the damage from cheapshot and you know that other skills will work should you not have time to cycle your debuffs for extra damage (think Eli's here).</p>

[Kaelos_]

my Troub has about 60+ pieces of gear in his bags  so I can mix around the armor for when I need a certain resist.  I usually have int gear on and  I get close to 440 int with self buffs.  I change my gear when i go over cap.  I don't worry about str during raids, because most of the time I range fight.<div></div>

[Cygnu]

<div></div><p>I'm with Forgotten in this. INT is the most important, followed by STR, followed by AGL. IMHO of course :smileyhappy:</p><p>Our DPS needs all the help it can get and I fail to see how people would not consider using their CA's when ever they can. I use all my CA'a and Spells I can. With all the in-combat power regen items I have (like prismatic and Efreeti boots) + Master II regen spell, I never really have a problem with power, and as I spend most of my time in a group I am very rarely getting hit anyway so AGL just doesnt seem that important to me.</p>

[Menjar]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Trabbart wrote: Str is NOT important. In groups you will be hitting your spells more than autoattacking. In raids you will be a distant attacker (mostly spells and bow). Solo you will be mezzing a lot and using your spells to do damage. (Int and agi (lesser degree Sta and Wis) are your best friends here)<hr></blockquote><p>Yes. Despite the fact that my most damaging attack (per the EQII daily stat charts) has been my opening melee attack from stealth (Luckblade, I think), currently 2X my highest-damaging magic attack, most of the damage I deal in solo combat comes from spells.</p><p>Aside from the opening attack and a few flanking moves I can use in conjunction with my stun, my combos involve using a continuous stream of magical attacks. (And when I run out of power and are forced to rely on simple melee engagement to finish the fight, I start really running into trouble...)</p><p>Right now, I focus on INT & AGI, then STA & STR. (Alas, WIS is shunned...) I did take the +2.5%HPs as one of my leveling bonuses, so that helps.</p><p>I'm only level 28. Maybe with the high-powered spells in the endgame, INT becomes even more of a priority.</p>

[Laralma]

<div>What I noticed last night was that each point of Agility was giving about .1 increase in avoidance, at my level (28 bard)</div>