my lvl79 solo strategy and custom UI layout. hope this helps :)

[SkyBee]

Sorry for the hyperlinks, I would paste the pictures if I knew how; regular copy and past from paint didn't work. Just trying to help out by sharing my experiences. Take it or leave it.View my entire UI layout (using custom UI package, Profit UI from eq2interface.com)View solo hot bar layout  (has letters that will be referred to throughout the thread)

• "hot bar A", "hot bar B", "hot bar F" = where I try to keep all my combat arts, spells, and tinker item damage pets
• "hot bar D" = where I try to keep all my potions and totems for quick access and information about quantity so I don't have to search my character inventory for the items. cntrl + # = keyboard hot key quick access to cures.
• "hot bar E" = secondary hot bar containing miscellaneous items. alt + # = keyboard hot key quick access to important items.
• "hot bar C" = where I try to keep my macros and other items that I rarely activate.
• "hot bar G" = where I try to keep all of my buffs.
• "hot bar not shown" = shown in entire UI layout above the right chat window. where I try to keep all my fun items, mounts, and fun spells.

View group hot bar layoutView tinker item hot barView item equip hot barShift + a number  = Keyboard hot key to cycle primary hot bar. for example :

• shift+1 = changes the primary hot bar to show the hot bar with spin number 1.
• shift+2 = changes the primary hot bar to show the hot bar with spin number 2.
• and so on.

"hot bar A" in solo hot bar layout has a spin number of 1.tinker item hot bar has a spin number of 2.item equip hot bar has a spin number of 3.I think kiting mobs is a terrible soloing technique for non-named mobs. If ya can not kill non-named solo mobs, then the character has serious armor, weapon, and spell and combat art upgrade problems. I view the kiting technique as a very last resort. If the quest requires killing more than a couple difficult mobs that requires kiting, then stop wasting your time and get a small group built to hunt the monsters. I have been satisfied with my solo routine. I am able to solo tier8 mid-level yellow con ^ open zone named mobs (my character is not [Removed for Content] out). Solo routine consists of four patterns and three macros. I approach my soloing with pattern one, pattern two, pattern three, and do pattern four if mob is still alive. If mob is being difficult, then I cast Fear spell and very quickly, before Fear breaks from damage, restart the routine.

• Pattern #1
1. bow CA - double shot root
2. HO starter
3. Daro's debuff
4. Zander's Rebuff
5. Lanet's daze
6. (mob starts approaching you at reduced movement speed)
• Pattern #2
1. HO starter
2. Verlien's debuff
3. Shriek (safely move away from mob just a little while casting)
4. Banshee (by the time this is at the end of cast, the mob is close to melee)
• Pattern #3
1. Lend Shielding (AA spell) (if available) (if mob will be difficult)
2. Chimes of Blades (if available) (if mob will be difficult or whenever ya get an add, Fear the add instantly)
3. Rythm Blade (AA spell)
4. Claw (kerra tradition debuff) (if mob will be difficult)
5. HO starter
6. Tarven's debuff
7. "stun macro"
8. "bump macro"
9. Darksong combat art
• Pattern #4
1. HO starter
2. Evade
3. Round Bash
4. "stealth DoT macro"
5. You must have at least 3 points in Dirge Achievement "Enhance : Shroud" for this pattern to work.
6. You must have 8 points in Bard Achievement Round Bash for this pattern to work (stun must be 3 seconds).

• "stun macro"
• Stun (primary)
• Master Strike
• Side Blade
• The exact instant this macro is activated, situate to the mob's back or flank. EQ2 can be screwy with this by the mob pivoting to face you for half a second then mob pivots again facing the same direction when the stunned hit; don't let this confuse ya where the mob's back actually is located.
• If Master Strike is not castable, then Side Blade will cast.
• "bump" macro
• Bump (primary)
• Wailing Strike
• This macro can be pulled off successfully right after "stun macro" most of the time.
• You might have to wait a millisecond or two to make sure you are at the mob's flank or behind.
• "stealth DoT" macro
• Shroud
• Scream (stealth DoT combat art) (primary)
• You must be directly behind the mob for this macro to be successful. This can be tricking for some mobs since for example goblin mob's back is a little to the left.
• You might have to wait a millisecond or two to make sure you are at the mob's behind.

• Activate healing combat arts, healing potions, tinker item DoT pets, and/or tinker item lifestone heal whenever needed.
• And, of course, use a Round Shield when soloing.

Ya gotta be dynamic. Change routine according to the circumstances for the win. Activate cures when needed. Cure stifle, root, stun, fear when needed. Do all big group debuffs when needed on yellow cons. Kite a little only with the spells and combat arts you can use while moving plus this might allow you to get an auto-attack bow attack added in there. Ugh, this is all i have to share in regards to soloing; i'm tired of typing and I think I left nothing out. Give me a yell for any questions. Welp, with Duubard's recommendation, "bump" and "stealth DoT" is still used and the spells I use within the two macros may change a bit after playing around with the possible new changes. Read posts on page 2, near the top, to find out more in the meanwhile.

[SkyBee]

AA Solo ProfileBard Achievements  (70 AAs)

• Bladesinger's Streath (5)
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 8 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch ( 8 )
• Poison Concoction (4)
• Skald's Stamina ( 8 )
• Round Bash ( 8 )
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Lend Shielding
• Harbinger's Wisdom (4)
• Minstrel's Intelligence (4)
• Rythm Blade (6)

Dirge Achievements (59 AAs)

• Degredations (23)
• Degredate
• Siphon Blade (5)
• Wail of the Dead (5)
• Lanet's Scream (3)
• Fearful March (5)
• Dead Calm (5)
• Chimes of Blades (5)
• Shroud (4)
• Power Ballad (3)

Aiming to get Luck of the Dirge and maybe max out rest of Degradations with the remainder 11 AAs.I changed my AA solo profile a bit and is shown on page 2.

[SkyBee]

The screen resolution the UI utilizes is 1920x1200. I think the UI windows and hotbars will be moved a bit, or possibly alot, with a smaller screen resolution, but I think you should be able to fix the window locations manually.Best I recall, the UI is pure Profit UI with the eq2map add-on.I made a dummy e-mail account so send me a forum private message with an e-mail address if ya want me to e-mail the .ini to ya.Give me a yell for any questions.

[Moonbaby]

SkyBee wrote:

AA Solo ProfileBard Achievements  (70 AAs)

• Bladesinger's Streath (4)
• Turnstrike (1)
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 8 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch ( 8 )
• Poison Concoction (4) From a DPS standpoint (something Dirges really need imo), why put 8 AA in Wayfarer's watch instead of Poison Concoction. I find that my poisons really help me out when killing heroic mobs.
• Skald's Stamina ( 8 )
• Round Bash ( 8 ) 8 in Round Bash? Why not put that in Lend Shielding for more DA? I don't have my Bard Tree in front of me, but what are the benefits of putting more points in Round Bash besides a minuscule increase in damage?  Imo,  I think more DA would help more than the slight increase in Round Bash damage.
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Lend Shielding
• Harbinger's Wisdom (4) Did you just need some magic defense? I'm not a big fan of the WIS line, but, imo, if you're going to put points in the WIS line, you have to get DKtM to make it worth while. And why not just get Messenger's Letter like you got Turnstrike in the STR line? At least you get another CA to hit the mobs with.
• Minstrel's Intelligence (4)
• Rythm Blade (6)

For some reason I find this spec unusual... I have only played my Dirge for 42 levels, and I wonder the advantages of your AA choices. But from your description, you solo better than I do, and I think I solo quite well. Thanks for any answers you give, SkyBee!

[Yo-Gha]

Hi,Thanks for sharing this with us.Very interesting because its a little bit different to the playstyle of other dirges.Im just wondering where is Grim Strike on your hotbar and Dissonant Requiem.

[SkyBee]

Wailing Strike is the level 9 spell of Grim Strike.I used the tier1 names of spells and combat arts for a reference point to low level adventurers in the case the low level adventurers want to some how adopt my strategy.I only use Dissonant Requiem on V, VV, and VVV linked mobs.  Requiems casting time is crazy long and by the time this is finished casting I would have Feared the mob and restarted mob routine to maintain the mob disruption required so that mob is less likely to hit me.When I am too slow in my routine or something screws up such as crazy amount of fizzes and misses, then I lose 30%, 50%, health very quick. Disruption helps to prevent the mob from hitting you. When I get hit, i lose quite a bit of health. Pattern 3 and pattern 4 is all about disrupting. The monster might get one damage spell, a couple auto-attack, or (if mob is lucky) a stifle (cured by potion) while you do alot of damage to the mob.

[SkyBee]

Moonbaby@Antonia Bayle wrote:

SkyBee wrote:

• Poison Concoction (4) From a DPS standpoint (something Dirges really need imo), why put 8 AA in Wayfarer's watch instead of Poison Concoction. I find that my poisons really help me out when killing heroic mobs.
• Harbinger's Wisdom (4) Did you just need some magic defense? I'm not a big fan of the WIS line, but, imo, if you're going to put points in the WIS line, you have to get DKtM to make it worth while. And why not just get Messenger's Letter like you got Turnstrike in the STR line? At least you get another CA to hit the mobs with.

Glad you pointed this out. I am not 100% sold on my AA setup. I think Dirges need much help with avoidance as well. Ugh, every time a mob hits me and takes a good chunk of health proves this point. To Wayfarer's Watch, I have been told that increasing chance to parry also increases my chance to riposte. Dirges need better avoidances/mitigations, better DPS, or better disruption; from what I've read, more folk think DPS (according to parse programs). However, I think an improved balance of all of this is needed than simply DPS so this is how I approach my AA setup.I used this solo profile for many levels. Since, at lvl79, I have crazy magic mitigation already ranging from 3,300 to 7,100. I put the points into Harbinger's Wisdom because my cold (3,300) and divine (3,600) resistances are quite low compared to my other resistances. I am concerned that a mob would tear me apart when the mob casts a cold or divine damage spell. However, then I would build a small guild group to help me kill these particular mobs.I have been thinking about replacing the Harbinger's points into Poison Concoction for the 12% trigger increase.Turnstike is not just a damage dealing combat art. Turnstike also makes me immune to AoE damage for 10 seconds. Pattern 3 and pattern 4 requires approximately 8 seconds (including recovering time) when activating everything I have listed if the mob is being difficult. By the end of pattern 4, I restart my routine with Fear and out of the mob's range a bit while the mob is rooted to be out of most of the AoE's range, but, unfortunately, Turnstike has a 45 second recast so it is not available when i have to restart my routine to kill the mob.To obtain DKtM (requires 24 points), you are giving up alot of avoidance.

• I think Messenger's Letter is a glorified auto-attack when soloing; when soloing, I do not need to give myself more hate.
• Allegra at 8 points gives a 8% reduction in casting speed; this is only helpful with long cast spells like Banshee, Requiem, Turnstike, and Shroud. All other combat arts and spells have at most a .5 second casting speed resulting in a few millisecond casting speed increase from Allegra at 8 points.
• I think Harbinger's Sonnet is only useful when running away from mobs. I only kite while i'm casting spells and combat arts and when I am restarting my routine. If you spend much time kiting, then stop wasting your time and get a small guild group built to destroy the mobs. I do everything in my quest journal I can and leave the remainder for when I am able to get a small guild group built.
• Harbinger's Wisdom (8 points, 64 wisdom points) is the only noticeable solo improvement you will obtain from the Wisdom Line, except for Don't Kill The Messenger (DKtM).
• So, out of the 24 points to get DKtM, I think only 10 of the points give a noticeable improvement for my soloing.

I am talking about soloing not grouping here. I have a AA mirror to switch to my group AA profile. My group AA profile is dramatically different than my solo AA profile.Moonbaby@Antonia Bayle wrote:

SkyBee wrote:

• Skald's Stamina ( 8 )
• Round Bash ( 8 ) 8 in Round Bash? Why not put that in Lend Shielding for more DA? I don't have my Bard Tree in front of me, but what are the benefits of putting more points in Round Bash besides a minuscule increase in damage?  Imo,  I think more DA would help more than the slight increase in Round Bash damage.

Each point in Round Bash increases the stun duration as well.

• The success rate of the "stealth DoT macro" is determined by how fast you can cloak and keeping the mob stunned long enough so that the stealth DoT will activate.
• Might be ok to reduce Round Bash's stun duration by two AA points if "Enhance : Shroud " is maxed at 5 points.

Activating the stealth DoT (Scream) combat art can be extremely tricky while soloing. The Stun spell stun duration is way to short to cloak and activate stealth DoT. The only feasible methods to activate stealth DoT is by :

• stealth DoT first attack and the mob is not able to see thru your cloak. this can not be used on many solo named mobs.
• not for sure if stealth DoT can activate when the mob is rooted but, even with root, I think the mob is able to pivot and mob's auto-attack that will break the cloak.
• cast Fear on mob then cloak to activate the stealth DoT. This one might work if you can recast Fear by the end of Pattern 4.
• use Round Bash with the extended stun duration and increase Shroud casting speed (both improved with AA points) to give enough time to cloak and activate the stealth DoT
• As mentioned by Duubard on page 2, Bump then casting Scream is another feasible method.

[Whysprr_Wyrd]

Is it really worth those AA ppoints and all those machinations to use Scream as a solo tool?  The duration until the damage really makes a difference is pretty long and my battles don't generally go so long.  The only time I use Scream solo is as an opener in tight quarters where I can't use the bow/root pull. 

Whysp

[Moonbaby]

SkyBee wrote:

To obtain DKtM (requires 24 points), you are giving up alot of avoidance.

• I think Messenger's Letter is a glorified auto-attack when soloing; when soloing, I do not need to give myself more hate.
• Allegra at 8 points gives a 8% reduction in casting speed; this is only helpful with long cast spells like Banshee, Requiem, Turnstike, and Shroud. All other combat arts and spells have at most a .5 second casting speed resulting in a few millisecond casting speed increase from Allegra at 8 points.
• I think Harbinger's Sonnet is only useful when running away from mobs. I only kite while i'm casting spells and combat arts and when I am restarting my routine. If you spend much time kiting, then stop wasting your time and get a small guild group built to destroy the mobs. I do everything in my quest journal I can and leave the remainder for when I am able to get a small guild group built.
• Harbinger's Wisdom (8 points, 64 wisdom points) is the only noticeable solo improvement you will obtain from the Wisdom Line, except for Don't Kill The Messenger (DKtM).
• So, out of the 24 points to get DKtM, I think only 10 of the points give a noticeable improvement for my soloing. Totally agree here. As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of the WIS line because of exactly the things you stated. Only 10 points are worth it.

I am talking about soloing not grouping here. I have a AA mirror to switch to my group AA profile. My group AA profile is dramatically different than my solo AA profile.

Thanks for your answers SkyBee

[SkyBee]

Whysprr@Kithicor wrote:

Is it really worth those AA ppoints and all those machinations to use Scream as a solo tool?  The duration until the damage really makes a difference is pretty long and my battles don't generally go so long.  The only time I use Scream solo is as an opener in tight quarters where I can't use the bow/root pull. 

I tried to successfully land my "stealth DoT" macro without AA points in "Enhance : Shroud" and 4 points in Round Bash; I had more failures with the macro. With AA points in "Enhance : Shroud" and Round Bash, the "stealth DoT" macro has only failed me when I was too slow at activating the macro or when I am not at the monster's back. Other than the AA points and two item entries in the "stealth DoT" macro, there is not much involved. Try it out. Nothing is preventing ya.Scream as an opener works great if the mob will not break the Dirge's cloak. Other than the feasible solo methods to activate Scream I listed, I do not know of other ways to use Scream as a solo tool.Yeah, I only do Pattern #4, that implements Scream, if the mob is still alive which is normally when I battle yellow con solo mobs or when I get an add. I'm just a common joe t8 quester with adept1 grade combat arts and spells.Please share. I hope to be informed about more strategies that does not include excessive kiting.

[JerronBlacksilver]

I never use SoD/SoB as a solo tool, the mobs die too quickly to make it worthwhile...for that same reason I don't use Banshee solo.

[JerronBlacksilver]

SkyBee wrote:

To Wayfarer's Watch, I have been told that increasing chance to parry also increases my chance to riposte.

I just thought I'd point out that whoever told you this is mistaken. But if we had a Riposte AA, I'd be all over it for solo...riposte > all other avoidance.

[SkyBee]

Yeah, about parry increasing riposte, I am told this in-game as well. I just assumed what they said is true since I don't have a Riposte item in my Persona Skill tab to tell me about the Riposte ability. Thanks for the correction.Ugh, and scratch Turnstrike. I totally ignored the " except when direct " part of it. heh.For me, yellow con ^ solo mobs always require me to do Scream. Like I said, i'm just a common tier8 quest'n joe with adept1 combat arts and spells.

[SkyBee]

I sure will enjoy soloing when i get to that point where I can kill yellow ^ mobs without having to use my Scream and Banshee DoTs.

[JerronBlacksilver]

I guess I should be more specific about the parry & riposte thing. The statement that "increasing chance to parry also increases my chance to riposte" is not so much incorrect as misleading. Some items and adornments add a chance to flat out riposte any attack, this is uncontested avoidance, meaning there is no skill checked against the mob's skill level to determine whether you're hit or not. For example, if your tank is wearing Armguards of the Elite Yah-Lei Shock Troops, they add a 1% chance to riposte any frontal attack, whether it's against a level 1 mob or a level 100 mob.Adding parry skill raises your parry roll chance, which is checked against the mob's attack skill (and thus contested) and any successful parry has a chance of being a riposte. Raising your parry skill doesn't increase the chance of any successful parry being a riposte, but it does mean that you'll parry a bit more often, and  thus riposte more often (though, of course, the ratio of normal parries to ripostes wouldn't change.)And if you read all that and already knew it, then I fail at reading comprehension and I do sincerely apologize for wasting your time

[duuf]

SkyBee wrote:

AA Solo ProfileBard Achievements  (70 AAs)

• Bladesinger's Streath (5)
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 8 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch ( 8 )
• Poison Concoction (4)
• Skald's Stamina ( 8 )
• Round Bash ( 8 )
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Lend Shielding
• Harbinger's Wisdom (4)
• Minstrel's Intelligence (4)
• Rythm Blade (6)

Dirge Achievements (59 AAs)

• Degredations (23)
• Degredate
• Siphon Blade (5)
• Wail of the Dead (5)
• Lanet's Scream (3)
• Fearful March (5)
• Dead Calm (5)
• Chimes of Blades (5)
• Shroud (4)
• Power Ballad (3)

Aiming to get Luck of the Dirge and maybe max out rest of Degradations with the remainder 11 AAs.

As far as your Bard Achievements IMO here is a setup that gives you both more defense and offense:Bard Achievements  (70 AAs)

• Bladesinger's Streath (4)
• Turnstrike (4)
• Bladeturn ( 8 )
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 4 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch (4 )
• Poison Concoction ( 8 )
• Skald's Stamina (4 )
• Round Bash (4 )
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Fortissimo ( 8 )
• Lend Shielding (2)
• Minstrel's Intelligence (4)
• Rhythm Blade (1)

2 wherever --  put in bump if the scream macro needs it but with 1 second shroud and .5 second cast on scream more than 6 is probably a wasteAs far as dirge achievements get luck 59 points is more than enough for both Degredate and Luck.Reverse the order on the bump and scream macros,  Do bump to scream first and if it fails fire strikeThen  try a stealth to scream  on the next stunDuubard

[SkyBee]

Welp, my new AA setup when i get 140 AA points is ...Dirge Achievement (70 points)

• Maxed out Degradation enhancements (30)
• Degredate (1)
• Lanet's Scream (3)
• Fearful March (5)
• Siphon Blade (5)
• Howl of Death (5)
• Shroud (5)
• Power Ballad (5)
• Dead Calm (5)
• Chimes of Blades (5)
• Luck of the Dirge (1)

Bard Achievements (70 points)

• Bard's Luck (1)
• Bladesinger's Strength ( 8 )
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 4 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch ( 8 )
• Poison Concoction ( 8 )
• Skald's Stamina ( 8 )
• Round Bash (6)
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Lend Shielding (2)
• Minstrel's Intelligence ( 8 )
• Rythm Blade (5)

Turns out, with " Enhance : Shroud " maxed at 5 (to get Luck of the Dirge), I need just 6 points in Round Bash to reliably land the scream macro. This can be done with 5 points, but landing the scream macro is a bit tricky depending on if the macro is activated at the exact moment.Doh, that's right. I forgot, Scream can be easily activated after Bump. Add one to the list. hehe. This is a better idea actually. I chose Grim Strike (i.e., Wailing Strike) instead for it's disease debuff through the wisdom debuff and smaller recast, but you are exactly right to follow Grim Strike if Scream fails due to positioning or recast. Then, I could use Round Bash's 2.6 second stun to cast my healing combat arts (1.5 seconds total) and start on casting Fear (1.5 seconds). Thanks Duubard. Very nice, I hope it works. gonna play with it right now.Yeah, I would never put more than 4 points in Bump because I think the per point bonus of Bump, that is 77 extra damage and 10% extra chance to steal coin, is not worth it.What is the percent increase of Bladeturn at 8 points? If the percent increase is 20% (2.5 * 8 ), then Bladeturn at 8 points would provide me with 8 extra parry points since my "bard songs that increase avoidance skills" is Weapon Elusion (adept1, 40 parry points). The 4 extra points into Wayfarer's Watch (4.5 * 4) gives 18 extra parry points.What is the double-attack percent increase of Fortissimo at 8 points?   I was thinking about sacrificing Rhythm Blade's 4 points (i.e., sacrificing 7 points in each combat and spellcasting skills) or sacrificing Baldesinger's Strength's 4 points (i.e., sacrificing 16 strength points) or Minstrel's Intelligence's 4 points (i.e., sacrificing 28 intelligence points) to be able to place Fortissimo at 8 points. Since skills are only upgraded by 5 points per adventure level or by an item, I think the Rhythm Blade's skill buffs would increase my hit and manipulation success rate when fighting yellow con mobs so I probably would sacrifice the attributes instead of skills, but all this would not matter I think if Foritissimo's double attack is high enough to replace what I would lose.Yarrghh. lol, was hoping to submit this without an edit but i forgot that " /> does a dang smiley. supposed to be " 8 ) ". ugh

[JerronBlacksilver]

To answer your questions; I believe Bladeturn 8 improves your avoidance song by 20%, and I'm certain that Fortissimo 8 improves your group DA by 10%. Interesting fact about Fortissimo, it stacks. So 2 bards in a group with max Fortissimo= 20% DA group wide Fortissimo is definitely worth getting, you'll get a lot of mileage DPS-wise with 10% DA.If you're wondering, my AA spec is as follows:STA: 4-4-8-8-0WIS: 4-4-6-8-1INT: 4-4-5-8-0I use this setup in groups and raids...if I plan on soloing at all, and I remember to click my mirror, I drop the WIS line for AGI 4-4-8-8-0. Although to be honest, since I've gotten my Mythical I find my crit rates are pretty decent, so DKTM is getting swapped out less and less frequently. Especially considering you can deliver some hefty blows if you score crits while Intrepid Strikes is proc'ing.

[duuf]

Putting extra points in the first rank stats is fairly effective at lower levels. However at level 80 these points are more effective elsewhere.Stat points should come from gear.Here is my ideal solo spec:Bard Achievements (70 points)

• Bard's Luck (1)
• Wayfarer's Agility ( 4 )
• Bump (4)
• Wayfarer's Watch (5 )
• Poison Concoction ( 8 )
• Skald's Stamina ( 4 )
• Round Bash (4)
• Skald's Defense ( 8 )
• Fortissimo ( 8 )
• Harbinger's Wisdom (4 )
• Messenger's Letter (4 )
• Harbinger's Sonnet ( 8 )
• Allegro ( 6 )
• DKTM ( 2 ) 

Luck & Degredate for Dirge AADuubard

[SkyBee]

duuf wrote:

Puttingextra points in the first rank stats is fairly effective at lowerlevels. However at level 80 these points are more effective elsewhere.

Yeah, I've been wondering about that. In lvl80, seems like the Bard AA attribute increases would not matter as much as the tree's bottom tier upgrades due to the vast amount of STA/INT/WIS/AGI already accrued from items at lvl80. From what I've read in the past, if I am correctly recalling, the STA/INT/WIS/AGI sweet spot is roughly found when multiply 7 or 8 by character's adventure level. (Do not ask me where the 7 or 8 comes from because the fella that told me this in forum could only copy & paste a vague chart from another thread that he didn't care to give a concise explanation; since I am told by many that the "diminishing returns" concept exists with these attributes, I went with the fella for the heck of it.) According to this, my strength, agility, and intelligence are already at or near the sweet spot. The items I have equipped is just what i have obtained from t8 questing, a couple faction merchant itms, and a couple mastercrafted items.With tier8 bard solo scale of damage and some t8 neat items that can increase chances further, when ya land a DA and critical hit, much damage can be dealt. Hmmm, very interesting and something for me to experiment.Arrghh, I need more AA spec cards cause the price at the Achievement Counselor is already at 10plat. lol. grrr.