Bard Template

Atm my bard is provo/music/magery/med/resist/hiding/wrestling, debating about dropping wrestling for eval int, just looking for some feed back.

The template I have right now is mage/med/eval/music/peace/provo and it works pretty well. I use peace both defensively and to help level out provo fights. Keeping provo fights level means you need to output less damage to kill the leftovers. Eval allows you to put that damage out much more quickly.

I am planning on added disco to this template once I get off my butt and do it I hope this will allow me to drop boss mobs faster and have better success barding them (once the initial disco goes off).

I don't think wrestling or resist are important for PvP. If you're letting a caster cast on you, or a fatty hit you, you're doing it wrong

Fullmetal:

I used that exact template for quite awhile (the version with eval int, instead of wrestling). I liked it quite a bit and you'll farm your fair share of loot with it. The Eval is quite useful for finishing off magic casters before they get into their GHeal spam. I'm currently experimenting with Lockpicking, so I dropped Eval for it, and I do miss it. (Shoulda dropped Resists, probably, but couldn't bear to do it since it was already raised, heh).

Using Peacekeeping in order to balance out damage sounds quite effective, but I haven't tried it.

Currently building

Magery/Med/Eval/Resist/Provoke/Peace/Music

I guess you COULD drop resist since you shouldn't be getting hit anyways...but I kind of like having it, especially since it's already at 100.

I would easily drop eval or peace for hiding. I feel hiding is too precious on a bard if you fail or while stuff beat on each other but i suppose also depends on hunting grounds. Pre-trammel, I would take hiding.

I love having hiding on my bard. My template is:

magery/med/music/provo/peace/discord/hiding

ID Wand, first GM Demoralizer:
Item ID, Archery, Anatomy, Tactics, Healing, Music, Discord. Rarely misses an arrow (with a magic bow)

I was going to do hiding but realized it's just as easy to cast invisibility....

Will this template work?

Music
peace
provoke
magery
taming
vet
animal lore

You're correct in that they are the same, but hiding is just so dang convenient. I've played bards with and without it. When you have it, you pretty much always hide after a successful provoke until you need to do something. Whereas, if you don't have hiding, you'll pretty much never cast invisibility in the same scenario. Burns through regs, mana, and has a cast time. Doesn't seem like much, but it can be the difference between you getting PK'd or not, or a new monster spawn aggroing on you.

The unlimited duration is nice if you need to AFK often while playing.

It'll definitely work. I think you'll ultimately find you end up rarely using either peace or provo, so one of those can likely become Meditation. You might also find you want Discordance in there. But all those skills are pretty easy to train. Give it a shot and tweak it as you like.

I would drop hiding for eval

This is the difference between "I want a fighting chance if I'm assaulted" and "I just want to get the hell out of here if the baddies show up".

I've never had Eval on my bard as I have no intention of ever embracing combat with him.

http://www.uorenaissance.com/?page=m_player&id=42013

I dropped Wrestling and Resist for Cartography and Lockpicking some time back. Nearly 7x....again....

I thought eval helped with spell dmg. Also I have wrestle so Im not disrupted and can fend off an attack (take less dmg) while provo'ing if too close.

I don't see much need for eval on a farmer. Most of the time you'll be provoking. If not, you've be using a summon/BS/EV.

Hiding can be very handy on a bard as a pk preventer. Provoke the critters then hide while waiting for them to die.

Magic does double damage vs mobs, without eval. Wrestle isn't going to help you much vs most things you'll be provoking and if you're getting hit, you should be running, not trying to cast.

I guess I shouldn't 'should' on you though, play how you will. Just saying both of those skills are effectively useless in a true PvM bard.

Is this true brother? I'm dropping eval for disco this weekend if it is.

True story. Magic does do double damage, with or without eval. It still does even more with eval. If you find yourself casting a lot of explosions/ebolts/whatever you'll notice a difference but otherwise not so much.

Yup and Discordance adds the %5 success chance to provo so it's definitely worth it. If you're dumping that much mana on mobs as a bard, you're just being impatient.

Well... This is true. I am incredibly impatient. It's all about maximizing profit.

When you guys say "magic" are you referring to magic resist? And what advantages would I get from havi g enticement on my bard? Thank you in advance.