Lamentation of the Bard

3lric of M3lnibon3_ns3 · Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:20 am

Recent changes to the NS bard armor have altered it from having no max dex bonus to a max dex bonus of 6. I know that the armors have been changed to promote strenght builds, however this change seems contrary to the very nature of bards whos have 2 prime attributes....charisma and dexerity. Limiting the max dex bonus to 6 (the same amount you can get from item ability boosts) is a bit extreme and negates one of the epic bards strongest features, taking great dex as an epic bonus feat.

While I understand that epic bards that choose the dex build are not required to use NS Harmony armor, it makes it more difficult to get the 100+ perform required for the best bard song (the main focus of the epic bard build). Currently, the only other option is Nerfed Poxx EDH which offers half the perform that NS Harmony Armor has.

Options that I would like to be considered.......

1.) adding 10 perform to the Maharishi robe. I think this fix puts bards on the same level as other dex builds. (easy fix #1)
2.) Increasing the perform of other items ie. epic gaunts of the minstral (easy fix #2)
3.) Increasing or removing the max dex bonus of the NS Harmony Armor. (obvious fix, not necesarily the best)
4.) Making a bard specific Epic item/quest. (the hard fix)
5.) Offering both a robe and medium armor version of the NS Harmony armor (the former to be called NS Classic Coca Cola Harmony armor)
6.) Remove the PM/bard restriction......Lets face it NS has changed alot since the restriction was first in place and crit immunity while nice wont save you from the hard hitting sensei, yin/yang masters, XiFu, muntant penguins, Gilon, NS Deathlord, or Exhaulted.(Some testing may be required to verify this, *raises hand and says "Oooo...oooo...Mr. Caaater Pick ME!"*)

In closing I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support that this topic will receive. *hides all the nerf wands and flamethrowers*

DM ex Machina_ns3 · Post by **DM ex Machina_ns3** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:14 am

I have no idea why an epic bard robe would have a dex limit, since the vast majority of bards are dexers, with a minority of str-based ones (which would wear heavy armor, not medium). Actually, I've never seen the point of medium armor at all on NS.

Wyld Stallyns_ns3 · Post by **Wyld Stallyns_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:28 am

only thing I thnk of is medium armor is for barbs who can't wear heavy? but who plays only 1 class nowadays. The other classes will determine if its light or heavy armor using.

DM PHANTASM_ns3 · Post by **DM PHANTASM_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:48 am

I have no idea why it was changed either BUT i dont have harmony robes on my bard and i get to the magic number of 100 perform i wil have to look at what gear i have on. Off the top of my head 2 gnoll tooth (20) epic minstral gloves (30) skill points (43) after that my brain quiets wqorking on what i have for gear but that is 93 lol! and not in our life times will we see the Bard PM restriction removed (IMHO so horshack put your hand down :roll:

).

Dr_Fangorn_ns3 · Post by **Dr_Fangorn_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:49 pm

Actually, the base type of NS Armor for each class was not changed. The Bard NS Armor was NOT changed to a light or medium armor, whatever it is, it was changed to reflect the increased base AC for the type of armor it was. There is another NS armor available that does not have an Dex AC restriction on it which is not as class specific.

Pros and I are talking about adding in a few NS Armor equivalent armors that will really appeal to particular classes, especially if they are pure. More on that in a bit.

DM ex Machina_ns3 · Post by **DM ex Machina_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:27 pm

It was changed. My bards have a 0-dex limit cloth Harmony armor. It's in the creator now as a 6-dex limit light armor. No idea -when- it was changed.

Dr_Fangorn_ns3 · Post by **Dr_Fangorn_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:29 pm

Hmm. Very strange. I must be going senile.

Again, I'll see what we can do to appease the wounded souls of our bard population.

DM PHANTASM_ns3 · Post by **DM PHANTASM_ns3** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:04 pm

are we suppose to make a comment on the senile part ..... NS inflected dementia maybe.... :lol:

Dr_Fangorn_ns3 · Post by **Dr_Fangorn_ns3** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:50 pm

Just rechecked the mod about the Harmony Armor NS...it has always been a Light Armor since 3.5 began, and thus always had the maximum AC bonus from dex.

Sounds like folks would like it changed, so I'll change it to a robe.

DM ex Machina_ns3 · Post by **DM ex Machina_ns3** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:23 am

pfffft I -own- three 0-dex Harmonies, and I've seen a bunch floating around.

DM Xero_ns3 · Post by **DM Xero_ns3** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:26 pm

DM ex Machina wrote:pfffft I -own- three 0-dex Harmonies, and I've seen a bunch floating around.

Yep, same here.

Dr_Fangorn_ns3 · Post by **Dr_Fangorn_ns3** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:07 pm

Wierd. What can I say? The armor is in the Light Armors portion of the toolset.

Nevertheless. A robe version of the Harmony Armor was sent for testing.

Yeti_ns3 · Post by **Yeti_ns3** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:27 pm

is skald the only lvl 1 bard "only" armor?

cryodog2_ns3 · Post by **cryodog2_ns3** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:10 am

fang is right, it originally came out as a light armor and that is why i never got it, it was then changed to a robe with no max dex and sometime in the recent past was changed back but i have no idea who or when.

Dr_Fangorn_ns3 · Post by **Dr_Fangorn_ns3** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:57 am

Yeti, there is another level 1 Bard robe named the Songweaver Robe. There's a Crazy Bard somewhere out there in Aetheria in one of my renovated areas, some old timers will remember where he was in vanilla NS 3, and I made sure that he stayed close to that original spot.

Its a nice robe, too. Probably better than the Armor of the Skald.