Question - Bard Weapons (1 Viewer)

[Jetanroth]

I am curious what people are using for BRD weapons?

Is there any preference over 1HP vs 1HS vs 1HB?

 

[hytiek]

I use hook dagger and axe on my bards

 

[Sic]

Hooked Dagger / Mace (dmg --- 24 delay offhand)
Hooked Dagger / Axe (dmg)
Hooked Dagger / Sword (lifetap/survivability)

Rapier for stun

I've done a lot of testing - it mostly seems to be a wash outside of procs, i was using hooked and sword early on for survivability, but going to swap to mace in offhand and see how i like that

 

[burdsjm]

I use Hooked Dagger / Sword (lifetap/survivability) on my bards.

 

[Algar]

For random/leveling grouping i go for heal mace and stun piercer, will admit i have not tested the difference (and could largely give a rat's ass about optimizing BRD dps in that setting). Granted, it likely doesn't matter much at all anyhow.

 

[Yama]

If I’m with a beast lord I use mace otherwise axe. Hooked dagger main hand always

 

[Darkwynd3]

I use hooked dagger mainhand and rapier offhand because I ALWAYS forget to mem stuns for Kar. Yes....I really selected weapons based on a single event because i can't remember to swap spells...I'm that guy <facepalm>.

 

[durango773]

Honestly, bard's are like clerics to me.. they get whatever nobody else needs. Though on the free trade servers, thats not a huge thing, just juggle around if I want to change it.

 

[Grpsmashin]

I have always run Hooked Dagger in (Main), Lifetap sword in (Offhand)

I have tried the mace in (Offhand) and saw a alight decrease in DPS. This was only from 8 hours of testing however.

 

[Myysterio]

in my testing, there's a significant difference at higher levels on the amount of dps generated by offhand if the delay is higher than the mainhand. I only use same delay weapons main/offhand, the rest is just preference cause procs are inconsistent and a minor footnote overall.

my bards use sword/axe or dagger/hook dagger. depends on if you want to shred yourself on a damage shield or not.

Oh yeah, your level/era depends a lot on what you are talking about. We talking lvl 125? 90? TLP? some EMU shenanigans?

 

[darbes]

If your going for optimal dps go for the direct damage proc, avoid the heal, stun or lifetap procs.

 

[Many_Whelps]

I have always run Hooked Dagger in (Main), Lifetap sword in (Offhand)

I have tried the mace in (Offhand) and saw a alight decrease in DPS. This was only from 8 hours of testing however.

Did you have a beastlord for that 8 hour test? The mace-in-offhand meta is dependent on receiving the HHE effects from beastlord ADPS.

 

[Ordell]

Why is everyone so high on the Hooked Dagger?

 

[Grpsmashin]

Did you have a beastlord for that 8 hour test? The mace-in-offhand meta is dependent on receiving the HHE effects from beastlord ADPS.

No i did not

 

[Jetanroth]

Thank you for the replies! Clearly hooked dagger in the main is the top choice! lol

And it seems lifetap offhand is a solid choice for most cases.

 

[postleaf]

some EMU shenanigans?

Here's one. It may have limited usefulness

 

[B_I_G__D_A_D_D_Y]

I use a pair of piercers due to their 19 delay. I've tried to parse the DPS difference and couldn't do it. So just went with the quickest weapons to try and maximize song procs.

 

[InvisigothMT]

Having mained a Bard for years I generally look at procs ahead of anything else. I've not parsed much in the past couple of years but useful procs what I go for

 

[Silverback]

Why is everyone so high on the Hooked Dagger?

Lowest delay = more proc chances. Hooked Dagger vs Rapier on delay, edge goes to Hooked Dagger due to damage proc vs Stun for most. In the live game DPS is king.

I do Hooked Dagger main (lowest delay/DD proc) Mace offhand (highest ratio/DD proc) on my Bard. Axe offhand is fine too but it has a slightly lower ratio and a Magic proc which tends to slightly underperform Fire procs. Plus the BL ADPS mentioned earlier. Yeah we're min/maxing a bit here.

 

[Jetanroth]

Having mained a Bard for years I generally look at procs ahead of anything else. I've not parsed much in the past couple of years but useful procs what I go for

That is good advice. For the record, I love your avatar too.

 

[InvisigothMT]

That is good advice. For the record, I love your avatar too.

That's Roscoe, he's a solid black standard Dachshund who weighs 26 pounds and has that wiener dog attitude and is jacked enough to back it up!

 

[Tuco]

My bard is pretty much cursed with permanently wielding https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=128539

 

[Tuco]

Lowest delay = more proc chances. Hooked Dagger vs Rapier on delay, edge goes to Hooked Dagger due to damage proc vs Stun for most. In the live game DPS is king.

I do Hooked Dagger main (lowest delay/DD proc) Mace offhand (highest ratio/DD proc) on my Bard. Axe offhand is fine too but it has a slightly lower ratio and a Magic proc which tends to slightly underperform Fire procs. Plus the BL ADPS mentioned earlier. Yeah we're min/maxing a bit here.

I might be mistaken but aren't proc chances normalized by swing rate?

https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/procs-per-minute-ppm-101-someone-take-me-to-school.250927/

 

[Jetanroth]

That's Roscoe, he's a solid black standard Dachshund who weighs 26 pounds and has that wiener dog attitude and is jacked enough to back it up!

I love Dachshunds!

 

[durango773]

Unless your level locked at 100, and never group with ANY other debuffers, the effect on that is useless:

 

[Tuco]

Unless your level locked at 100, and never group with ANY other debuffers, the effect on that is useless:
View attachment 65002

Hmm... It's been a while since I looked into it and I could be wrong, but back in 2017 when I looked into it, the conclusion was that the restrictions only applied to slot 1.

https://forums.everquest.com/index.php?threads/impact-of-malo-on-higher-level-mobs.245029/

 

[durango773]

I listed that for ease, if you look up the stacking of that, all modern debuffs are better (including 5-10% dmg increase)

 

[Tuco]

I listed that for ease, if you look up the stacking of that, all modern debuffs are better (including 5-10% dmg increase)

Yeah, i still use malo on my shaman and mage, the bards proc is just there to fill in gaps with a resist debuff. My thinking is that a single avoided resist in a fight on a casted spell like a mage's spear or dot is higher than the entire delta of my bards melee damage and procs on their offhand ( where i use the old weapon)

If it doesn't debuff resists against high level spells the bard can finally get an upgrade! But I'm pretty sure it does help resists.

 

[RobRenfro]

Sword for Lifetaps and Mace for damage

 

[Redmonkey]

Yeah, i still use malo on my shaman and mage, the bards proc is just there to fill in gaps with a resist debuff. My thinking is that a single avoided resist in a fight on a casted spell like a mage's spear or dot is higher than the entire delta of my bards melee damage and procs on their offhand ( where i use the old weapon)

If it doesn't debuff resists against high level spells the bard can finally get an upgrade! But I'm pretty sure it does help resists.

Is that you or is that Raymond Cruz?

 

[Darkwynd3]

Is that you or is that Raymond Cruz?

View attachment 65047

Can't forgive this guy for what he was gonna do to Jake Hoyt, Jesse Pinkman, and Walter White!

 

[Tuco]

Is that you or is that Raymond Cruz?

View attachment 65047