That's true, but only for a monk. They suffer penalties to AC and skills
when they weigh too much. It does not apply to any other class, as long as
they aren't fatigued or encumbered. At that point, stats drop, which does
affect your dodge chances.
And, of course, STR helps your damage dealing, and hit potential, as well as
load bearing. Very heavily weighted stat for any melee class.
STA is not worth boosting. The hitpoint increase you can obtain by maxing
your stam out as a bard is horrible, around 1 hp per level. That's only 50
extra at 50th level, or about a quarter hit from the mobs you fight then.
Not worth it. The problem with getting fatigued in combat is easily worked
around. Use lighter weapons. Any weapon with a weight of 5.0 or less will
do the trick. Use things like barbed whips or well balanced scimitars, you
will stam out rapidly. Using items like Jambiyas, Demon Claws, Rapiers,
etc, you end the same fight with over half stamina.
Agi helps avoid hits, obviously, and adds to the damage reduction side of
your AC as well as being a factor in your dodge chances, and helps Safe Fall
as well.
Dex helps you hit more often. For non bards, it also helps parry, block,
and riposte skills some. For 'real' casters, it can increase resumed
casting chances, combined with Channeling. It has NO effect on 'twisting'.
None. Nada. Zilch. ANY bash will stop your song, period, there is no way
around it. Normal hits do not. Missed notes are entirely due to your skill
in the instrument the song is based on, and singing. With 135 item boosted
Dex, I miss notes as often as I do with my base 95. But I hit a lot more
often, so it's a good stat.
Best I can figure, after 40 odd levels of barding, is that Charisma is a
very very mild stat for anything other than shopping. Even wearing a
grotesque mask (-9 CHA) and skunk sprayed, dropping my CHA down to 52, my
resist rate is still insignificant. Boosting it up to 140 via a Shaman's
44th level Charisma spell likewise had little effect. It may have more
impact in the future as Geoffry tunes the class a bit more, and gets some
more coding time to do things the way they had planned, but don't hold your
breath.
Of all the stats to drop points into, I lean on STR the most. Max it out,
and spend the rest on Dex and Agi, depending on race. Intelligence, Wisdom,
and Stamina are a waste of points.
-- Original Message -----
From: Kimes, Dean W. <
Dean_Kimes@...>
To: <
eqbards@onelist.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 3:38 PM
Subject: Re: [eqbards] New Bard...
>From: "Kimes, Dean W." <Dean_Kimes@...>
>
>The main reason I don't advocate increasing Str is based on some Monk
>research that seems to confirm that increased weight regardless of str
>adversely affects the dodge skill to a great degree. therefore wearing the
>best lightest armor may help you totally avoid a blow that would otherwise
>hit you for reduced damage in heavier armor.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Robertson [mailto:johnr@...]
>Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 1:41 PM
>To: eqbards@onelist.com
>Subject: Re: [eqbards] New Bard...
>
>
>From: "John Robertson" <johnr@...>
>
>
>
>"Kimes, Dean W." wrote:
>
>> From: "Kimes, Dean W." <Dean_Kimes@...>
>>
>> Well here are my thoughts...
>>
>> Put 10 in Dex, 5 in Int, and the rest in Agi
>
>This is an almost religious topic among bards, but in my opinion, put all
>the
>points you can into strength. Someday, if you are like most bards, you
will
>want to wear plate, and if you have 70 strength, forget about wearing even
>banded mail.
>
>Jyzan
>
>
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