EQDiva

I think it is outdated. But if you don't have plat to buy SS right away, or you just like to quest stuff, I'd say you could spend equal time getting the Bravado's stuff and it's slightly better imo.

Yep I agree Kittenpurr, get that Bravado stuff... its better.. for just the same amount of time.. and you can probably buy some of the stuff in the bazaar. wished i had done that myself instead of the lambent.. after I did lambent. I swore off quests.... *smirk* well at least for a while. so damn time consuming....

Here's a list of the cheapest things I can think of that will be useful to buy as a bard. hands == elf hide gloves, about 50p feet == dwarven workboots, about 100p head == shissar scale headband, 100-200p face == plat star ruby veil, 200-300p neck == golden opal necklace, 100p shoulders == crested spaulders, 100p chest == Charred Guardian BP, 100p arms == Barbed Armplates, 20p bracer1 == hero bracers, 150p bracer2 == serpentine bracer, 30p ear1 == orc fang earring, 15p ear2 == orc fang earring, 15p finger1 == jagged band, 15p finger2 == jagged band, 15p range == dragoon dirk, 15p waist == troll hide belt, 100-200p ammo == uhh, fish guts For weapons I'm sure the things I can think of are outdated, I had the "wolverine" look with Icetooth's claws in primary, and stormfeather talons secondary. But that was pre-luclin with things like centi ss. As for stats I still strongly believe dexterity is the single most important stat for bards. Full song duration, procs, dual weild, dodge, singing-through-getting-hit, etc. Charisma doesn't come into play until later, same goes for intelligence. Strength is good at early levels but once you get to higher levels songs and buffs will take you to the cap easily. I also think agility is very good to have at lower levels because you need to run away a lot and you're not running as fast nor do you have as good a drum as later on. some thoughts, Astuce Subterfuge

Ok here comes a rant. I HATE LEMBENT. its been a bard cruch for ohh since eq started people need to ditch that junk you can get so much better for cheaper now just toddle into the bazaar

My opinion: Lambent is outdated, in the sense that there is better for the same or less effort available, at least by the time you can quest it without significant higher level help. For a kite soloing bard or one with a traditional group with stong Main Tanks with good taunt, having lambent on a mid 20's to mid 30's bard should not hinder him, spend your money on instruments and weapons. Iffin you think you gotta solo tank (excluding fear kiting), get the uber ac, or better yet, reroll. Charisma DOES matter, but its not the be-all end-all. Having said that, I would have to have a really compelling reason to put negative charisma items on a bard (at least after getting the first lull, and certainly after Solon's and Pixie). I'd recommend a base charisma of 100 and an additional point for every level as a target up to 140 ish. I carry charisma gear for kiting and crowd control and when i switch it in, it DOES make a difference (a little jewelry is all it takes). For that matter, Singing Steel is probably not worth the price except for those pieces that have really good effects. Certainly twinking your level 20 something with singining steel is a hugh misuse of funds, unless you are tanking him (the enduring breath gauntlets excepted). The stat bonuses on the greaves and breastplace are nice, but the price of these certainly reflects that. Aside from the other recommendations, Sebelite is good when you can afford it as well. (Or, if you play on Firiona Vie, the occaisional steals on Moktor are great bargains).

It's been said before but, there are better items for the same money/effort. I've leveled two bards well into their 50's and I've never worn any Lambent. In fact, the last bard I made wore basically fine steel plate with some inexpensive jewelry well into his 40's. As long as your drum is good, Walrus Skin is excellent and can be had for as little as 300pp, then you're good to go.

Lambent may be outdated, but the experience you as a player get while questing for it is invaluable. I made every piece of my lambent myself. INCLUDING both bracers. Never even bought a lambent stone. There are certain quest pices (glove piece from Mistmoore and helm piece from Oasis spring to mind right away) that you simply can't get without some heavy-duty help at the level you'd want to get them at. You learn how to work well with others. You learn how to convince people to come help you out. And you learn how to run through Nektulos and Lavastorm without dying. These are very useful skills. Well, at least they were three years ago, when I did the lambent quests. Gack, I'm old.

My recomendation, and what I wore when I dusted off my nekked level 20 bard a few months ago is a set of Validus Custodus plate. Decent AC, Str and Hps on every piece. At level 20 I had almost 200 str for only the cost of the validus, and believe me, it is cheap. Toss in jagged bands and orc fang earrings or course, str, ac and hps are a tanks friend. I would prefer Validus to lambent anyday, besides, it looks cool :) (and I know if you are level 13 and not twinked yet, you don't have the 350pp or more to blow on a full set of dyes) Heck, I am still trying to find some shoulder armor to replace my validus and I am level 51. (and something to replace my crusty arms... 8 str and 12 stam is pretty nice) Or rather i shoudl say I am trying to afford things to replace them, lol :)

There is no decent droppable shoulder item, look in the 61-65 section for the posts about draconic pauldrons. At 51, you are just about high enough to solo all 4 mobs that you need to kill, and can definately do it with a little help.

Ahh, thanks :) Read the thread through, and remembered one of my officers has been bugging me and my wife(cleric) to go back to UP and try that battlemaster again for his shoulder armor. (we tried when he was 52 and my wife and I were 43, with a 51 druid and a 43 shamie, and we died, lol.) The UP shoulders seem easier (no faction) and have more resists even though they are down by 2 str and 2 stam. i guess I'll take him up on his request to go kill gorangas :)

I personally think you should raid for lambent at lvl 20 and forget about this buying nonesense. At lvl 20 money is very bad and lambent is a offer to be awaited and is better than wearing banded so go for it,once you hit lvl 40 solo giants in rathe mountain and you can get enough money to buy the gear that some of these people have mentioned because it isnt cheap

solkar,at your lvl you should start farming and doing raids to get hate gear. I am lvl 56 and got 2 pieces of hate gear:boots and arms and flag raid piece:chunk of decaying cloth,you can do the same and get better than what you can afford gear,so go for it!!!

Hmm, sounds neat. what kind of stats does the hate gear have? I have been saving and getting things like the Helm of Raldukan, chrystal chitin boots, and next is a cloak of greater pernicity (actually doing the quest, not buying it outright). Going for the goranga battlemaster arms this weekend with my guild too :)

the arms are 16 ac 9 int and 10 resistance versus poison the boots are:16 ac str 5 sta 9 sv cold 10 Chunk of decaying cloth from grummus is:ac 12 sta 10 wis 7 int 7 hp 65 mana 45 sv disease 20 sv poison 10

I had to jump in here a give a little fyi to puretone. Lambent was added well after the game started. For a longtime if you were in your mid to late 20s and you werent partially blue then you were a gimp. The quests were the only way to go cause the economy was so off that you were either rolling in pp or you didnt have two coppers to rub together. Is the armor outdated. I guess but I would always suggest to any new bard. Do a couple of the quests. It really is the first true quest/accomplishment you can have as a bard.