Pure Bard DS

[nocturnix]

Just wondering if my DS is actually too low.

I use a runestaff. I know its not the max defense, shield/brawl would likely be superior. Normally i min/max but style can trump function in some cases, using a runestaff on my bard is this case. So i accept a (hopefully slightly) lower DS.

Because i'm using a runestaff I wonder if I am getting the max DS bonus with enough magical skills. My DS feels a little low.

This is in defensive, with 401, 406, 414, 430, 503, fortitude song and even spirit guard/small statue.

xx swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +54 vs DS: +351 with AvD: -3 + d100 roll: +48 = -252
A clean miss.

I am wearing 10x, hcp aug chain.

59 Trains. Feel like it should be over 400?

Skills:
xxx (at level 59), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 165 65
Physical Fitness...................| 159 59
Dodging............................| 96 22
Magic Item Use.....................| 126 33
Harness Power......................| 159 59
Elemental Mana Control.............| 86 19
Mental Mana Control................| 160 60
Mental Lore - Manipulation.........| 161 61
Perception.........................| 146 46
Climbing...........................| 140 40
Swimming...........................| 50 10


Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 34


Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 65

Like level creatures can hit me even in guarded/defensive. Luckily with my new armor (recently added the hcp) they just scratch me. Also, they only ever get a chance to attack if i'm too slow, or get distracted. otherwise i disable them almost immediately.

Still, i want to ensure my DS is max it could be with training.

[audioserf]

Are you in a society? Are your sigils/symbols/signs up?

[Zarston]

I did a quick tally of your magic skills (meaning I did it once so I could be slightly off), and it looks like you have 231 ranks. 231 ranks/59 levels = 3.91 ranks/level. If you mosey on over to the gswiki, you'll see that you get a weapon ranks conversion of between 26 and 35 (leaning towards 35). So your runestaff is providing you with as much defense as if you were .5x in THW, plus a little additional parry. You should definitely expect to be hit in guarded/defensive.

My advice will be to drop some of your magical training and go as close to 2x shield as you can spare. If the runestaff is really important to you rp-wise, you can always go shield/runestaff once you hit 75 ranks of manipulation. It's been done before successfully.

[nocturnix]

COL but I dont keep defensive signs up, i suppose i could. I guess i'm just used to playing pures (wiz/sorc/cleric etc). And all of them have like +100 DS in defensive/guarded compared to my bard without any COL defensive signs. Its a huge difference.

[MrMortimur]

you didnt mention using 1010 or 1019

[audioserf]

I'd say go ahead and run the COL signs, 35 DS and 20 bolt DS ain't nothing to sneeze at.

[Avaia]

You have far too few magic ranks/level to have a very effective Runestaff Defense. You will want at least 8. More is better.

[nocturnix]

You have far too few magic ranks/level to have a very effective Runestaff Defense. You will want at least 8. More is better.

8 per lvl?


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[nocturnix]

from what i can tell i have an avg of 6.4 magical skills per level. So maybe i can bump that up to 8 by training in ...well i guess cheapest would be perception, is that magic? or maybe MIU. HP would be the most useful i think.

[Roblar]

Not perception

Skills that contribute to runestaff defense: Arcane Symbols, Harness Power, Magic Item Use, Spell Aiming, Spell Research, Mana Controls, Lores.

In order to benefit defensively using a rune staff, it is best to have at least eight magical ranks per level. A magical rank can be in any magical skill in the Character Manager, and each skill, regardless of cost, is weighted equally. Eight magical ranks per level is equivalent to 1x training in two-handed weapons and provides defenses as if the user had 10 additional parry ranks. Each additional magical rank per level will increase the caster's effective weapon ranks. To be proficient with a runestaff, it is expected that a typical caster will have 10.5 to 11 magical ranks per level. Provided they are 3 ranks spell research and 1 rank harness power, 4 ranks is perfectly adequate. General all round magic proficiency will result in around 11 ranks, but they aren't needed to be adequate with a runestaff. CS heavy builds will normally have 6-8 ranks and work best with runestaves.

https://gswiki.play.net/Runestaff