Bard circle vs MnE with Mage access?

[bayli]

I see alot of people recommend getting the MnE to 430 and I understand that having 425 and 430 seem like it would be great, But if you do have constant access to a Mage for spells, is it still better then just going straight up the Bard circle plus additional secondary skills for what amounts to basically just those two spells? That's a long expensive road for just the two.

With the fixskill coming in May, I had originally planned to switch over to include the 400's up to 430 (since currently I went straight up the Bard circle) but I'm having second thoughts. I would be dropping back down to 1030 and losing Shout and Tonis (though I don't use it often anyhow yet with mana costs and have never used Shout to date) Plus a handful of other very useful ranks that I have in things like Air lore, CM, and Dodge.

I will probably be lvl 50 by the time the Fixskill is available. An OHE/Shield user. Master in GoS, Wearing 6x SCP Aug chain with the full 60 ranks and uphunt decently with my 1012 or 7xT5 falchion, +9TD4x shield and keeping 5-6 spellsongs running as well as 4 sigils while hunting. And I have nearly 100% availability to be fully spelled in Mage and Ranger circles. (This may not forever be the case though).

So... Do you think it is worth using the Fixskill to grab those 400's at lvl 50?
If it is worth it, why? Maybe I'm just not seeing the benefits clearly.

Thanks!

[Ltlprprincess]

Yes, it's still better. 425 can give you an extra +25 AS which is extremely helpful, as is the DS from 430. I didn't train in it until closer to cap and i was seriously gimped.

[Roiken]

Agreed, that it would be worth it, not saying i'd lose any CM over making it happen, but having 425 and 430 is WAY more important to me than having tonis being that you cant afford to run it anyways at level 50

Also, if doing so only drops you down to 1030? come on now, at level 50 having 60 total spells is a win as a bard... even more so since you are sword and board spending so many points there anyways.