Help with AAs for leveling and sword and board?

[Shadrir]

<p>I am lvl 24 and doing the solo quests in TS and NeK to gain lvls while I go lfg.  Question:  Which AAs help best for leveling? and It seems everyone is dual wield but the shield bash AA looks nice.  Which to choose?</p><p>I have my first 6 AAs in Eof lines for brias and aria.  I think I'm starting the KoS lines now and was looking at the shield line or the int line.  DKTM looks like the best AA of all but I have to go through a bunch of AAs that do little from the looks of them.  To me, the int line and stam line would help me solo better.  Or should I stick with EoF lines and put points in buffing my nukes?  My goal is to to be able to solo efficiently first and have group AAs second since I'm not finding many groups and its seems like some of these won't be needed until I get higher level.</p><p>Shadrir </p>

[aelder~]

<p>I would, first off, say: ignore most of our posted threads arguing about AA choices and belittling folks that don't do the DKtM and Blade Dance lines.  Whether you are in the majority (I am) there or minority, the basis of these arguments is raid effectiveness of level 70 toons.  With the ease and cheapness of respec'ing now, you can always change to these lines if and when you reach end game.</p><p>Until that point, have fun and try them yourself.  If you don't respec everyday I think its now largely free (I have only used free ones myself, so /shrug).  I think you would probably enjoy shield bash and bump both and they would help you to solo--more than DKtM which is a group friendly way to go.  Also with soloing in mind, I would probably focus initially on the bard lines rather than the troubador lines.  The troubador lines are helpful on the margin for the most part -- they make you marginally better at what you do; whereas the bard lines have some unique abilities you would not otherwise have.</p><p>Happy trails,</p>

[SpiralDown]

Totally agree with aelder.  If you can get a good one handed dagger and a good round sheild, agi/sta is the way to go for soloing.  Wis is better for groups, but won't make as much of a difference when you're alone... all though if you can't afford a horse, the run speed boost is nice.  The str and int lines will be largely useless to you. The end ability in the agi line seems dumb, and kinda is, but it can be of use.  It'll put you into stealth with no cast time and since bump has a longer reuse than our stealth attack, you'll be able to use the stealth attack more often.  That is the only use for the end ability other than the rare times when a group may want to sneak past a mob or two, still it could easily not be worth it.  It will be an even rarer occasion that you'll use the end ability in sta, so skip it. Anyway, I'd suggest 4-4-8-8 in both sta and agi.  The bash is great, but if you're using a board go all the way with the sta line.  As for EoF, the only AAs you should probably get before filling out the bards ones is the boost to power regen and aria's.  The increase spell procs will help dps... unless of course you don't use aria often, but I can't imagine not using the power regen <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Jait]

<p>Yeah, completely correct.  Endgame AA's are for endgame. </p><p>There's plenty of other great AA's which these guys have covered well.  Bump, Poison, Shield-line.  All great.</p>

[Pogopuschel]

I actually hated the poison DoT in the AGI line for soloing. Sometimes you had a mob you just couldn't take without mezzing it and taking a break... and the poison DoT had the ugly habit of procing just before I mez'ed my target. Needed to be quick to cancel it before the next tick... But other than that, AGI/STA seems the most viable for solo play (or even groups).

[SpiralDown]

Uyaem@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>I actually hated the poison DoT in the AGI line for soloing. Sometimes you had a mob you just couldn't take without mezzing it and taking a break... and the poison DoT had the ugly habit of procing just before I mez'ed my target. Needed to be quick to cancel it before the next tick... But other than that, AGI/STA seems the most viable for solo play (or even groups). </blockquote>No disagreement, but the OP is level 24, so won't have that problem for a while.  Until you're soloing style incorperates mezz, the poison is all good.

[mirage06]

I'd take sta and wis lines for soloing. 7.5% crits outweigh the poison I'm sure. Parry from agi line is nice though so go figure.

[Mildavyn]

<p>7.5% crits doesnt even come close to the poison when soloing. Grouped its a different story. Allegro is alot better than most give it credit for as well, but someone else can explain it. Here's my take on the Bard AA lines for Troubs.</p><p>Soloing pre-50: STA+AGI</p><p>Soloing post-50: STA+STR (I like the extra attack and the boost to Raxxyls, INT works well too)</p><p>Grouping: AGI+WIS (Bump FTW!)</p><p>Raiding pre-EoF: AGI+WIS</p><p>Raiding EoF: STR+WIS</p>

[Rufio]

I have been trying to solo and I am not very effective at it, I have 20 points down the int line because I thought it would help my songs dmg etc. You guys are all saying sta/agi or str/wis etc, why not int line?

[Blakeavon]

<p>i have never noticed it before (about poisons breaking mezz) and the amount this procs and crits for is worth ever penny.i completely love the AGI except that useless group invis. i have also gone the full wis line which i love.</p><p>just recently i have got the new version of ghoulbane and using a rare round shield with the barb adornment on it... im seriously killing things way faster than i was with my Dark Linger (with poison adornment) and Velium kris with +piercing on it.  im rather surprised. iwould love to spend more points in the shield line but i am so happy with my two lines already ... so i ahve spent just enough to get 2 in shield slam</p>

[SpiralDown]

Rufio@Everfrost wrote: <blockquote>I have been trying to solo and I am not very effective at it, I have 20 points down the int line because I thought it would help my songs dmg etc. You guys are all saying sta/agi or str/wis etc, why not int line?</blockquote> Int will help spell dmg, but the rest of the line wont help in that regard.  Increasing casting skills will help with resists, but I rarely see that problem while soloing.  The added haste is good too, but you need far too many points and get far too little back.  As for the last thing in the line, I don't know exactly what it does so won't bad mouth it or anything.  With only 50 pts you get more bang for your buck with the other lines.

[mirage06]

Paikis@Venekor wrote: <blockquote><p>7.5% crits doesnt even come close to the poison when soloing. </p></blockquote>Are you sure about that? You do know that the poison damage scales with levels and does really low damage on lower levels? I can agree to it being arguable which is better but as to it being a lot better, I dunno. 7.5% crits goes to everything, hence my understanding it would be better <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Slow]

lol

[Jehannum]

<p>Bearing in mind that by the time AA was an option I was already capable of mezzing, here's my thoughts.</p><p>Bard lines: </p><p>Str - Extra attack, good.  AE avoidance, near worthless. Minor dps boost.  Most abilities beyond Turnstrike are near-worthless solo.</p><p>Agi - Extra attack, good.  Dealing damage while entering stealth, even better.  Poison, also good pre-50.  VA looks pretty worthless solo too.</p><p>Sta - First 5 points are critical.  The rest, not so much.  Having an extra stun attack can be enormous, either to limit incoming damage or enable positional attacks.  Investing for double attacks is recommended, but not strictly necessary.</p><p>Wis - Harbinger's Sonnet is the target in this line for soloing.  DKTM is nice, don't get me wrong - 7.5% crits to everything is nice.  But having a substantial <b>in-combat</b> movement buff enables kiting of a lot of otherwise-inaccessible mobs.  We have a number of songs, including the snare, which can be cast on the run.</p><p>Int - Rhythm Blade is useful as a combination hit-enhancer and debuff, but typically against anything you're soloing in melee combat you'll get more benefit out of enhancing the Skald line instead.  Ironically, the end-line ability is the only one particularly worthwhile as a soloist, if you enjoy chaining HOs.</p><p>1, 4/1 Str, 4/1 Agi, 4/1 Sta, 4/4/8 Wis, 4/1 Int is what I'd recommend to get a feel for what the different abilities might be able to do together and separately, and see how each works into your playstyle - and all will help soloing.  The remainder of the points can be put into the sta (for double-attack while using a shield) or agi (for poison) lines depending on your preference; the 8 points in Sonnet will ensure that in many cases you can outrun whatever wants you dead, and kite it in some situations.</p><p>Troubadour lines:</p><p>Here, I'm only going to comment on the abilities I see as being most worthwhile for soloing.</p><p>Enhance Cheap Shot - increasing the duration of cheap shot can help greatly with lining up positionals and reducing incoming damage. </p><p>Enhance Nuke/Group Nuke - later enhancing Precision/Perfection will also be important, but for now the nuke AAs are nice for reduced timers and increased damage.</p><p>Enhance charm - Normally I'd just use mez, myself, but since below 50 you don't have mez, charm is a pretty decent second-best.</p><p>That's pretty much it for the trouby stuff; the majority benefits groups moreso than soloists.</p>

[Xarche]

<p>Odd tangental question here, but does the STA line take priority when duo'ing?  I am grouping with a Fury at the moment, and we can literally tear through quests and content.  It is admittedly odd to be "tank" in chainmail, but with great healing, interrupts, stifles, and the like, we seem to do very well.  However, I researched a lot here, and went straight down the WIS line, figuring DKTM was the supposed "must have" ability.</p><p>After reading through here, it seems STA maybe the better choice for the forseeable future.  So with that in mind, and realizing I will more then likely always be grouping with this Fury, or grouping with people in general (solo isn't my thing per se), a few questions for you Troub masters out there</p><p>1. STA or AGI first for a Duo'ing troub?</p><p>2. What is the point of Rythm Blade?  Almost every single one of the AA posts I read suggest 4-1 in INT.  Yet when I look at the ability, I scratch my head in confusion.</p><p>3. Is it better to focus on the Bard based AA's first, then proceed down the Troub specific ones? (i.e. what gives more bang for the buck)</p><p>Thanks in advance!</p>

[Jehannum]

<cite>Xarche wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Odd tangental question here, but does the STA line take priority when duo'ing?  I am grouping with a Fury at the moment, and we can literally tear through quests and content.  It is admittedly odd to be "tank" in chainmail, but with great healing, interrupts, stifles, and the like, we seem to do very well.  However, I researched a lot here, and went straight down the WIS line, figuring DKTM was the supposed "must have" ability.</p><p>After reading through here, it seems STA maybe the better choice for the forseeable future.  So with that in mind, and realizing I will more then likely always be grouping with this Fury, or grouping with people in general (solo isn't my thing per se), a few questions for you Troub masters out there</p><p>1. STA or AGI first for a Duo'ing troub?</p><p>2. What is the point of Rythm Blade?  Almost every single one of the AA posts I read suggest 4-1 in INT.  Yet when I look at the ability, I scratch my head in confusion.</p><p>3. Is it better to focus on the Bard based AA's first, then proceed down the Troub specific ones? (i.e. what gives more bang for the buck)</p><p>Thanks in advance!</p></blockquote><p>1. Depends on your style and level.  If you're mostly holding the aggro, a shield can reduce the incoming damage just through blocks, let alone anything else.  You also get the roundshield thwap to stun for a couple seconds (and honestly whether it's you or the druid taking damage, if you're standing at melee range most of the fight this may be more valuable than agi).  With a healer around though, stuns are less critical for damage reduction, and with a second player positionals are slightly easier without.</p><p>2. It's one of only two +combatskills buffs a troubadour receives, the other one being the Swindler's Luck HO.  Since it also debuffs the mob's attack skills, it generally results in a decrease to incoming damage as well.  And since the 4 points added to int are, if not crucial, at least somewhat helpful, it's 5 points well spent.  Increasing the RB buff/debuff past the first point is less valuable, and since the subsequent int abilities are fairly weak, most of us stop at 5.</p><p>3. I'd blend them, to an extent.  I'd recommend the HO refresher on the bard side first, then cheap shot enhance on troub, then either int/sta/agi to 4/1, and so on.</p>

[TheLopper]

<p>I'm starting up a Brig to duo with my brother, and, hard as I tried to get him to pick Dirge, he chose to be a Troubador.  What would be an optimal AA spec for him pre-50?  We'll be duo'in 90% of the time, and I'll be the one tanking.</p><p>We're also on a PvP server, so if you have any insight on PvP Troub specs, that would be much appreciated!</p>

[Griffinhart]

<p>I'm pretty new to the whole Troub thing.  But I recently got mine up to 80 and have been playing around with the Dual Wield vs Sword and Board thing.</p><p>I didn't try the roundshield until I hit Kunark.  A friend suggested an AA loadout, I tried it and then modified it a bit and found it suited me.  The extra stun helped a lot IMHO.  Especially since I soloed most of my way to 80.</p><p>Lately, I've been wondering about the DPS of the line.  I figured I could just swap the shield for a second weapon when I was grouping or raiding.  While trying to fill in some AA points I found myself in SoS working on the Claymore questline killing grey mobs.  While I was waiting for a respawn I decided to parse myself with auto attack only.  I did several fights using sword and board, then several more doing dual wield.  I couldn't see any difference in DPS.  Every fight seemed to end within 10 or 20 DPS of each other.</p><p>My troub is mostly outfitted in Melodic armor, though I do have the gloves from RE2 and some very nice legs from hate now.  I don't have my epic yet (still a few kills away) and I use anaphalaxis as a weapon with the roundshiled from the Jinisk faction in KJ.  In some recent raids I've attended I've more than held my own on DPS vs other bards.  I've even out DPSd another dual wielding troub with his fabled epic significantly so I don't think the single weapon is holding me back at all.</p><p>To me, it looks like the pretty big gain in double attack by using the round shield line makes up for the lack of a second weapon.  In the end, I think it's a matter of taste.  I don't think either single or dual wielding will give any advantage in DPS.  Soloers may find the shield and extra stun a benefit though.</p>