Dallad

I have done a lot of reading on troubs lately and there are a lot of different opinions about a lot of different aspects of the game. I am not new to the MMORPG world but im just starting up eq2 so i am new here. I played a pally in EQ1 and a lock in WoW. As of now my intentions are to mostly group and solo when i cant find one. I dont want to have a pure raid build, untill im ready to raid later on and by that time i will be able to figure this stuff out on my own.

I realize that I'm not a dps class and I am not going to try to maximize my DPS at all costs but i think for leveling a little balance is needed. I want to help the group out the best I can with bonuses there but also be able to DPS a little to be able to solo.

As far as AA's are concerned what do you think the best line for leveling is?

Also what attributes are most important? What does what for us? I have read that Agi provides 75% of our power and int 25% of it but I have no idea if that is correct or old or just false. Int seems to help with procs which seem to be important for us for a reason I am unaware of.

Thanks for any help you can give or even if this info is somewhere else you can just point me there, i just havent been able to find it anywhere. I know a lot of this will come in time but I just like to know what to look for and how to go about things as i progress.


~Dallad

Poofe

bard line - stamina line and agililty line (pre lvl 50)

Paikis

1. My personal opinion is that WIS/AGI is the best soloing line. WIS for the casting haste and more importantly the 7.5% crits. AGI for bump and the extra damage from the poison crits. Also, I feel that the extra DPS from dual-wielding for out-weighs the extra survivability given by the STA line.

2. Last time i heard, 75% of our power was from AGI and 25% was from INT. STR increases our melee and ranged attack bonuses (including combat arts which deal mental damage, check your knowledge bookf or info on which are CAs and which are spells)) STA increases our hitpoints, and Ive recently heard rumblings about it possibly increasing our regen as well (don't take this as fact, it's only a rumor as far as I know) AGI increases our power and avoidance. WIS does almost nothing for us. It DOES increase resists, but the number is so small it may as well be worth nothing. INT increases the damage of almost all procs and spells (I've heard of some that use STR).

Let me just warn you now though, when you get into your 50s, you'll hit 'the wall' and your soloing ability will take a nose-dive. Your damage in general will take a nose-dive. You will still be able to solo things, don't believe for a minute that you cant, but it will take you longer than any other class. You will be able to kill yellow-con named mobs, but it will take you (literally) hours to do it. At first raiding will seem like fun and it's still fun when you get a nice shiny new piece of gear, but after a while it becomes very draining to see your name NEVER on the parse. To listen to everyone else congratulating themselves on their high DPS, when you know that you put them there. It becomes very annoying to do absolutely everything you can to DPS and still only make 1k, while you watch the DPS of those around you keep getting better, to the point where the healers are keeping everyone alive and STILL doing more damage than you are.

There are times (mostly in castle mistmore) where the groups would have wiped if i wasnt there, and I love those times. But in general, be prepared to be treated as a buff-bot.

Fair warning to all those new troubadors.

Dallad

Thanks for the info it helps out a lot. I've played some different roles so not being the DPS doesnt bother me. The pally in eq was fun, i would save the group from time to time but didnt have nearly the versatility of a bard. The lock was fun in wow too, being able to solo anything and being the highest DPS in a lot of raids. Im looking forward to something different.

Ya, i saw a lot of people talking about the sta tree and it doesnt seem all that great to level to me(although i am a noob so i wasnt sure). I will probably do something along the lines of wis with int/str. Im thinking it will give me the most versatility between soloing and grouping.

~Dallad

Solitude Zero

Well, I'm just the odd one out here as a strong advocate of the Wis line.

Typically its seen as a raid line but you get casting haste, increased crit chances, increase to your movement speed buff, and a nice little ranged skill (useful mainly post 56 when you are rooted and dazed from PotM). Wis is always nice to add that little extra to your resists.

Str or Sta are my second choices...and those will just play into personal preferences.

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Magician Special Education//Conjy Pimp of Kithicor

Poofe

but think about it all, wis line SUCKS until you get to spell haste unless you're on a pvp server.

The extra stun/knockback from shield bash is nice, plus you start accumulating good double attack and survivability.

Truly, the beginnings of each AA line aren't all that for soloing, but I feel that stamina is the obvious choice for soloing.

Uyaem

Big deal, you will have enough AA points by the time you hit 20 already
And the line gets even better from there on, DKTM boosts our DPS quite a bit.

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Paikis

AGI, then WIS.

WIS is by far the best line we get for grouping, but if you're soloing, its not even nearly as good as AGI for DPS. STA is nice for PvP, but otherwise I wouldn't bother. Get better DPS from AGI.

EDIT: Bump also gives you a reason to use our stealth attack, and also gives you a bit of cash too. Last night in Caslte Mistmore, I made over 27g in about 3 hours, from bump alone. Usually got about 15-20 silver every time i used it. Sometimes less, sometimes nothing. But it's free moneys.

Taylen

Misha with with Str and Wis,

I totally agree with Paikis...you get to lv 50 and ya boned...no one wants you..Tanks tend to have the last say with who they want..and theyw ould so want a dirge over a cheerleader...

It's hard soloing...but as soon as you hit SOS level really, you'll do well...as soon as your able to raid ppl will want you so badly..if your Troubby shortages is what ours is like on Splitpaw...you will be a god

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Taylen - Lv 83 Necromancer // Misha - Lv 80 Troubador // Lalandra - LV 80 Illusie // Azariaa - Lv 80 Shadowknight

Paikis

A very bored god who does most of his job just by showing up. A very frustrated god, who no matter what he does, can't get over 2k DPS on a single mob (I've yet to break 1500, but my gear isn't the best). A god who adds more DPS to a raid than any other class (possible brig/dispatch exception) yet will NEVER see even the first letter of his name on a parse.

The best improvement to the troubador class in general would be to add mobs (heroic/solo/raid) which use spells more than once every 5 minutes. That way RoR would get some more use, we'd MAYBE get a spot in the MT group on a couple of encounters... let's face it, if you have a mob which casts spells every 2-3 seconds instead of auto-attacking, RoR is gonna be better than anything a dirge is gonna bring.