Skald Guide - Work in Progress

Started 14 Aug 2020
by Catkain
in Midgard
Structure of this guide:

- Introduction
- Templating a skald
- Realm Ability specs
- Skill specs
- Races
- Solo Skald
- Smallman Skald
- 8-man Skald

Introduction
I have a great passion for skalding and am very excited to share this passion with you. The following are my personal preferences, opinions and choices. The truth for your skald lies in your heart, follow that beat to best utilize your skald's full potential!

To give you some baseline background information, a little bit about me and my skalds:

I currently spend most of my time soloing, but I have also ran some frequent smallmans and pug 8-mans. My experience as a regular 8-man skald is by far the least and it has been many years since i filled that role. I have always played a dwarf skald as my main ever since i started on Guinevere (RP) and as I moved on to Uthgard and now on Phoenix.

My current rank on my main is 11L2, but I also have 6 other skalds of different levels and ranks including another level 50 troll skald. I dont really do alts, but have a 50 animist, warden and healer as well. None of those interest me, but they do serve specific roles to support my skald.

My current skill spec is: 37 Hammers 29 Parry 46 Battlesongs
My current RA spec is: Speed of Sound 1, First Aid 2, Ignore Pain 3, Purge 5, Anger of The Gods 5, Mastery of Focus 2, Mastery of Parry 4, Augmented Strength 1, LongWind, Tireless

You can find me on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/catkain
or on Discord: Catkain#6104


Templating a skald
I have based my 1h-weaponless template around the following items:

Necklace: Beaded Resisting Stones (Quest Item)
Cloak: Otrygg's Darkened Cloak (15 000 feathers)
Chest: Tuscarian Discordant Hauberk (20 000 feathers)
2-h Hammer: Dragon-shadow Great Hammer (15 000 feathers)
1-h Hammer (usuaully): Frozen Bleackhearted Hammer (15 000 feathers)
ROGs: Around 75 utility

This template cost me roughly 30 platinum.

In my bags i always carry:

2xNoxious Fengundar Mantle (drops from somewhere, ask Pletos)
Heart of Legion (20 000 feathers)

Ring of Prey Skewering (drops from somewhere, found in housing 1p)
OR
Can craft same thing with 10/10 charges for less than 40gold. Alchemy: Stable Honing Arcanium Tincture. Tailoring: any MP armor piece (the lower lvl the better). Use it from inventory. (Edit credit Ordoch)

In terms of what to cap and what to not cap, I see no reason to leave anything out if you have endless platinum. However if you dont, here is my list of priority. Most prioritized on top and least on bottom:

Strength/Constitution/Dexterity
Parry/Weapon(s)
Melee resists
Magic resists
Quickness
Charisma
Battlesongs
Power

Realm Ability Specs
SOLO SPECIALIZED
RR1L0-2L9: Work towards the RR3 spec
RR3: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=20&view=ras&r227=2&r228=1&r242=2&r252=1
RR4: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=30&view=ras&r211=1&r215=3&r227=2&r228=1&r242=2&r252=2
RR5: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=40&view=ras&r211=1&r215=3&r227=2&r228=1&r231=2&r242=2&r252=2
RR6: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=50&view=ras&r215=3&r227=2&r228=2&r231=2&r242=3&r252=2
RR7: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=60&view=ras&r211=3&r215=3&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=3&r252=2
RR8: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=70&view=ras&r201=2&r211=4&r215=5&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=3&r252=2
RR9: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=80&view=ras&r201=2&r211=5&r215=5&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=4&r252=2
RR10: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=90&view=ras&r201=2&r211=5&r215=5&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=4&r252=2&r254=2
RR11: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=100&view=ras&r211=5&r215=5&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=4&r252=2&r254=4
RR12: https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Skald&level=50&realmRank=110&view=ras&r209=2&r211=5&r215=5&r227=2&r228=2&r231=3&r242=4&r252=2&r254=5
RR13: Omg wow! U tell me!?!

Skill Specs
Leveling up, I prefer to keep BS at one level below my current level and to keep putting the maximum amount of points into weapon. The weapon of choice is Hammer. I recommend 50BS to never be used in solo-specs as the lack of the final dd can be cheaply negated by the MoFocus RA and the parry/weapon skill lost makes you less competitive than your potential. For other skalds, 50BS is an option but not a good one. The resist songs do not stack with healer/shaman resists, the rest song does add some regen to the group and the last dd can be replaced with MoFocus as mentioned before.

To elaborate on my Hammer preference: The availability of back and side snares allow for effective peeling while the two parry stuns (one based directly off a parry and another one as the second style after a parry) provide a solid face-to-face melee capability.

The general guidance for skill specs is that parry is more and more useful the more you expect to be attacked directly. This translates to parry (and the associated stats) being a key skill for solo-skalds, but being a non-significant skill for BG skalds and a low-priority skill for 8-man and smallman skalds.

Adjust the skills as you prefer, but keep in mind your race and your realm rank to ensure efficient overall capabilities in-line with your playstyle. I presonally am currently experimenting with a "glasscannon" build for my troll skald and a more defensive build for my dwarf skald.

Races
Consider your desired playstyle when choosing a class (to avoid that expensive race respec later on).

Races listed from solo to BG appropriate:
kobold-dwarf-norse-troll

The two main considerations are offensive and defensive capabilities. Consider not only starting stats, but also the available bonus resists. I chose dwarf for my main due tp: offensive/defensive stat balance, good race resists, limited visibility in the battlefield to avoid being instantly identified and targeted.

For starting stats, i consider str and con as the two main stats. I also choose to add char, but I see strong arguments for other stats as well. My philosophy is that a troll should not try to chase well balanced stats, but rather embrace their strengths (strength). Same for a kobold, in my opinion they should embrace their defensive nature and not aim for dwarf’ish stats (if you want dwarf stats and sexual energy then just choose a dwarf already).

Solo Skald
This is obviously a big topic for me, but I have decided to break it down into a complete 1v1 strategy guide for each enemy class and leave it at that... for now.

Armsman - The full tanks are tough, but in my opinion Armsman is the tougher of the two. The obvious strategy is to kite, but trust me: I have kited my full powerbar empty and still lost to good Armsmen. They want to stand toe-to-toe with you and melee it out, dont let them. Avoid getting stuck in face-to-face combat at all costs. A combination of kiting and melee will work, but expect a long fight and do your best to pull him away from obstacles where he can use LOS (line of sight) to force you close to him (or HER!).

Cabalist - Most cabalists I encounter will either run or MOC (Mastery of Concentration). If they do moc, consider hiding behind an obstacle or running out of range. Once moc is over, they will most likely opt for "run". When facing a cabalist with no moc, you should have little problems keeping him busy and cc the pet. It is very rare that a caba will release and recast their pet (no idea why this is more common for enchanters, maybe it costs less mana or something) if it is cc'd, but I have had it done once and he killed me.

Cleric - Catching a non-smite cleric out in the wild is usually a race to finish it off before it can reach the nearest keep. Be sure to use snares and expect them to use their whole arsenal of insta-heals to get away from you. Smite clerics are VERY rare on Phoenix, but very fun to fight! Keep in mind that clerics need to out-last you and they have very low dps in melee. The smite is their only way to win and you should do anything you can to avoid them casting it too much. Expect a mezz to the face about halfway into the fight.

Friar - This has been one of the toughest classes for me to face, but on Phoenix they are not as strong as I remember (i.e. on Uthgard seemed a lot stronger). They generally want to just straight up melee you. I try to use what i call a half-kite. I stay in dd range and try to maintain it to interrupt but not get hit. The key to half-kiting is to spread out your spells over time so you give them only a short window to get casts off before your spells start comming back up. Ideally, you would do something like dd-wait-dd-wait-mezz(resisted/immune is ok)-snare(resisted/immune is preferred)-melee.

Infiltrator - Asassins choose when they want to fight you, it will always be with whatever they prefer of timers up. Whenever I am in asassin-infected areas i spam my dd's while running. Whenever I get popped, they get hit with two dd's. I also try to not only have my speed chant up, but either da or rest song. The hope being that either my first swing has some extra dps or their first damage gets migated by a tiny tiny bit by a rest song tick. Very min/max, I know but this is how asassins tend to operate. For me, Ns is more challenging than Inf.

Mercenary - Dirty Tricks must be kited. But dont think that is their only trick (more the case with a BM). A merc with no DT up can still be a huge challenge in straight melee so dont be afraid to kite a bit longer than just the DT duration.

Minstrel -

Necromancer - I generally dont fight necros. Simply because I have not found a good counter to them. I honestly believe they are the scissors to the hybrid paper and I am ok with that. I do however feel that a RR1 anything should generally not stand a chance against a RR11 anything else.

Paladin - A solo-specced Paladin can be a very scary thing. Luckily most of them are not and you should be able to just face them head on. Kiting could be required.

Reaver - They want to stun you and do their weird whip-thing from behind you. It really hurts so you dont want that. I generally try to get a d/q debuff off on them before that happens. Sometimes that works and others it does not, but getting fewer of the

Scout - The perma-snare makes this class my least favourite to face. Prepare to blow sos and purge for this one kill, but even then its not guaranteed. Without the snare style they could still be a challenge, but in my opinion this mechanic is currently broken.

Sorcerer - Rarely do i see a solo sorc, but if I do then I know to expect a moc. I tend to sos out when they moc and try to get out of los/range. I can then come back and usually get a kill.

Theurgist - I dont think i have ever had any issues with killing a solo theurgist as long as my RR is equal or higher.

Wizard - I dont think i have ever had any issues with killing a solo wizard as long as my RR is equal or higher.

Animist - Do not use your face to check if it's 1 shroom or a stack of them, its a stack. Its always a stack! Apart from that stack, killing animists should be pretty straight forward.

Bard - Chase em down and get them into melee. Be sure to snare strategically so it cannot get away. It can most likely never kill you. My main concern when fighting a Bard is someone seeing us fight and deciding to save the Bard or the Bard escaping.

Blademaster - Green sword equals kite. This is similar to how I would treat a hamster-form zerker. Dont let them interact with you for the duration. This is thankfully not too challenging to do as a skald. Keep in mind though that a BM has a significant melee capability even without tripple wield and you are in for a challenge if you opt to not kite at all.

Champion - Until recently this was the number two hardest class for me (second only to Necro). I have yest to test many champions "post-nerf", but my early interactions show no noticable change. I generally dodge champions close to my own realm rank as I consider it a complete waste of time. There is one exception, but he is my friend (who has beaten me 499 of our 500 fights). Kiting is essential with a champion, but I tend to run out of space/time/power before I get anywhere close to 0 on the champs hp-bar.

Druid - These rascals are delicious if you catch them solo. Basically any healing class will make you work for it and you should try to keep them standing still as much as possible. They will flee and heal up, but I honestly do not see a druid killing a skald 1v1 as something that will happen more than once every year.

Eldrich - This is the hib caster with no pet. I never remember what they can do and then they do something awful to me. I really dont run into many of these so I am actually thinkng to roll one to see what spells they actually have. Beyond their baseline stun and damage dealing stuff, I have no idea what they can do as they are usually dead shortly after I encounter them.

Enchanter - Most solo chanters use the snare pet. Given a healthy powerbar, they can recast this pet up to 4-5 times (!!!). This means that my cool strategy of killing the pet becomes a very lengthy exercise. I have had better luck trying to seperate pet and chanter to the point where I can land enough blows on the chanter before the pet can "snare me off of its master)

Hero - Heroes are super-tough and the EXTREME amount of hitpoints unfortunately means kite-or-die. Even when my full powerbar of skaldness, I

Mentalist - Chase them down and make sure they dont out-cc you. Delicious lurikeen meat 9 out of 10 times.

Nightshade - Asassins choose when they want to fight you, it will always be with whatever they prefer of timers up. Whenever I am in asassin-infected areas i spam my dd's while running. Whenever I get popped, they get hit with two dd's. I also try to not only have my speed chant up, but either da or rest song. The hope being that either my first swing has some extra dps or their first damage gets migated by a tiny tiny bit by a rest song tick. Very min/max, I know but this is how asassins tend to operate. For me, Ns is more challenging than Inf.

Ranger - If you think he is near, spam /face and your snare. This will help you get to him asap and make sure he is in combat and even if he comes out of it and manages to stealth he should still be snared. Delicious lurikeen meat 9 out of 10 times.

Valewaker - The strafing gloom-faces will usually try to sidestun you when in melee and cast on you when in range. A MOC'ed Valewalker can regen a ton of health and do a lot of damage so the best place to fight a vw would be near a big rock or a corner where you can break los once it mocs. In straight up melee, I usually do fine as long as the vw doesnt get help.

Warden - Pull out your one-hander and keep them engaged. Most experienced wardens will try to snare, kite and heal up: You obviously wont allow that!
Fri 14 Aug 2020 9:33 AM by Catkain

Skald Tactics (Solo)

********* Ultra-Pivot *********

Chasing and being chased is a big part of your skald-life. The scenario here is X enemies chasing you within clip range, but outside cast range. You want to aim for a steep ledge (think the top of the "bowl" in EV as a great example). Hit the ledge on an angle, meaning that if the ledge goes North/South, you want to hit it at a SW angle. This usually means that your enemies will also hit it at a SW angle. Once you come over the ledge, you are not visible for the enemies until they also come over the ledge. NOW you do a sharp turn East. You can run for a few seconds East and then turn N/NE again (back over the ledge and down the direction you came from. Make sure you dont head exactly back to the direction you came from (NE, but slightly South). It will take some active paning from your enemies to spot this and by the time they realize that you did not continue SW as expected, you will be long gone. If its a Solo chasing you, kill it using other advanced tactics and the true power of Midgard: Skalding.

********* Death Pivot *********

Similar to the Ultra-Pivot, your scenario here is being chased. But in this instance you are being chased by something you believe you can kill. Your goal here is to get the initative. Allow the chase to happen: You can do this by not changing direction at all once you spot the enemy, dropping sprint to give them a sense of sneakyness. Now slowly aim for a ledge. Once you pass the ledge, stop and /face your enemy (a macro is best here as they may not be in range yet). Now you kinda know their run speed and you know where they will come over the ledge so start counting down. When you know they will come over the ledge: Stick to them and get 1 hit in to either pop the bubble or get a head-start on dmg (as they most likely will not run with their weapon out if melee). DD DD Mezz. Now make sure sprint is on and get distance from your target if melee. Wait to see if they purge the mezz and come for you. If they do not then (or they hold their purge until you are close) keep in mind that every second they are inside mezz is another second for your dd's to come off timers. DD is what gives you the edge over a straight up melee so do not underestimate the value of every second of a DD timer. Can be combined with the tactic "Extreme Flames of Bragi".

********* (Duo) Bragi's Hamster Catapult *********

This is a lovely peice of duo action, but requires a hamster (Berserker). Your aim here is to "launch" the berserker at an enemy using Speed of Sound, Anger of The Gods and the Berserkers Berserk ability. When in a duo and on voice, inform the berserker of your plan: He choses the best target and you count down. 3.2.1 on 1: SoS. Wait til he reaches target. Anger of The Gods + Berserk.

As a skald you need to help him by managing the second part of the enemy duo. Try to avoid the berserker being CC or snared off their target. Once that target is down you should be able to finish of the second guy. If you cannot 2v1 the last guy then it must be a bug, your account was hacked or you are facing a good/much higher rank player. Be cautious versus certain classes that actually can thrive on fighting two melees.

********* Extreme Flames of Bragi *********

This is not purely a tactic, but more of a build. I LOVE to combine Anger of The Gods 3+ (16.0 DPS at level 3) with Damage Add Song (7.5 at 46 Battlesongs and 5,8 DPS at 35 Battlesongs) and Damage Add charge (11.3 DPS). This will give you a very good burst and for 30 seconds you have tripple damage add on your target totaling 16.5 DPS (from weapon) + 33.8 DPS (assuming red dmg add song and aotg3) = 60.3 DPS swings. Be sure that bubble is popped first and consider using this while target is mezzed and get in position to avoid defenses.

********* The Gradual Trifecta of Doom *********

TBA.

********* Extended Death Pivot *********

TBA.

Fri 14 Aug 2020 9:34 AM by Catkain
Post 3.
Mon 24 Aug 2020 1:18 PM by gotwqqd
Sabatasso79 wrote:
Mon 24 Aug 2020 9:28 AM
Best guide ever!
I agree that post 1 & 3 are spot on...but post 2 misses the mark
Mon 24 Aug 2020 4:31 PM by Kahswen
I followed this guide exactly, but it seems my Skalds guitar is broken and the drums are out of tune? Someone HELP!
Sat 29 Aug 2020 9:16 AM by Dariussdars
Why would you put a few extra points into parry instead of getting the level 39 snare style in hammer?
Sat 29 Aug 2020 10:35 AM by Siouxsie
Dariussdars wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 9:16 AM
Why would you put a few extra points into parry instead of getting the level 39 snare style in hammer?

The snare style (Conquer) has no bonus to hit and misses approx 18%-19% of the time.
It's even worse if you use Dragonstorm (slowest hammer in the game)

@Catkain - What do you use as your anytime styles? Ruiner (0.41 GR)/Crumble(0.76 GR) seems decent enough, but I know
some skalds use just provoke (0.58 GR). Yes, Ruiner+Crumble averages out to 0.58 GR, same as provoke, but Provoke
has a defense penalty, and Ruiner/Crumble both have a to-hit bonus and 0 defense penalty.

I wonder what 50 hammer would look like. Lambast (9 sec bleed which does stack) + Mjolnir's fury (34% ASR)
looks impressive, but you sacrifice decent parry points and utility from battlesongs if you go that route.

Is Axe/Sword viable spec for Skalds? Axe has a nice anytime ASR (Pillager), but other than that just a lackluster stun (6 seconds) off block.
Sat 29 Aug 2020 11:35 AM by evert
I can see going <39 hammer if you are 100% solo but personally find conquer too useful against people who want to run (eg near towers). My skald is 44/46 and I won more than I lost against Catkain in pvp-zone

Edit: using provoke, I think any class that is hitting you in melee will also have enough defence to avoid a pretty big proportion of your hits and ruin the combo.

Is Aotg actually good? I had it on my skald on live in 2006 but didn’t find it that useful.
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:08 PM by Siouxsie
evert wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 11:35 AM
I can see going <39 hammer if you are 100% solo but personally find conquer too useful against people who want to run (eg near towers). My skald is 44/46 and I won more than I lost against Catkain in pvp-zone

Edit: using provoke, I think any class that is hitting you in melee will also have enough defence to avoid a pretty big proportion of your hits and ruin the combo.

Is Aotg actually good? I had it on my skald on live in 2006 but didn’t find it that useful.

Conquer is lvl 29 hammer style. I think you're confusing it with Lambast, which is a level 39 bleed style for 40 seconds (9 body damage)
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:14 PM by evert
Siouxsie wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:08 PM
evert wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 11:35 AM
I can see going <39 hammer if you are 100% solo but personally find conquer too useful against people who want to run (eg near towers). My skald is 44/46 and I won more than I lost against Catkain in pvp-zone

Edit: using provoke, I think any class that is hitting you in melee will also have enough defence to avoid a pretty big proportion of your hits and ruin the combo.

Is Aotg actually good? I had it on my skald on live in 2006 but didn’t find it that useful.

Conquer is lvl 29 hammer style. I think you're confusing it with Lambast, which is a level 39 bleed style for 40 seconds (9 body damage)

Ah yeah just going by what was above. No point in 39 then, go higher or lower.
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:33 PM by gromet12
Siouxsie wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 10:35 AM
Dariussdars wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 9:16 AM
Why would you put a few extra points into parry instead of getting the level 39 snare style in hammer?

The snare style (Conquer) has no bonus to hit and misses approx 18%-19% of the time.
It's even worse if you use Dragonstorm (slowest hammer in the game)

@Catkain - What do you use as your anytime styles? Ruiner (0.41 GR)/Crumble(0.76 GR) seems decent enough, but I know
some skalds use just provoke (0.58 GR). Yes, Ruiner+Crumble averages out to 0.58 GR, same as provoke, but Provoke
has a defense penalty, and Ruiner/Crumble both have a to-hit bonus and 0 defense penalty.

I wonder what 50 hammer would look like. Lambast (9 sec bleed which does stack) + Mjolnir's fury (34% ASR)
looks impressive, but you sacrifice decent parry points and utility from battlesongs if you go that route.

Is Axe/Sword viable spec for Skalds? Axe has a nice anytime ASR (Pillager), but other than that just a lackluster stun (6 seconds) off block.

Those penalties and bonuses only apply to the flat out miss or hit which is checked after defenses. Doing a 2-part anytime with little benefit will make it easier to miss your parry chain which is your melee DPS, I would rather have 2 provokes hit then get into the revenge chain than land the 2 part anytime.

50/43 is an option, but the best styles (39/50 are off parry which is sacrificed unless you give up speed5)

Axe is useable, it doesn’t have a stun for the skald, the parry chain is good though (slightly higher GR than revenge/answer but less asr). The issue with axe isn’t the styles per say, it’s the weapons and procs. Hammer has the dex/quick debuff 1hander and more 2handed options for procs. Since feather items have a higher chance to proc, the axe feather options just flat out suck.
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:13 PM by LedriTheThane
How vital is getting +11 battlesongs in a temp? Looking to make a Skald temp and my only issue with what I have available is missing +10 to it.
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:14 PM by evert
LedriTheThane wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:13 PM
How vital is getting +11 battlesongs in a temp? Looking to make a Skald temp and my only issue with what I have available is missing +10 to it.

I tested this the other week, around 1 dmg per dd per +bs. You decide what that’s worth.
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:28 PM by LedriTheThane
evert wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:14 PM
LedriTheThane wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:13 PM
How vital is getting +11 battlesongs in a temp? Looking to make a Skald temp and my only issue with what I have available is missing +10 to it.

I tested this the other week, around 1 dmg per dd per +bs. You decide what that’s worth.

Could be the difference maker. Time to grind more plat and feathers.
Thu 17 Sep 2020 10:46 PM by darkstar00
What race do you prefer for a skald? I know the 30-40 str advantage troll gets is hard to dismiss.
Fri 18 Sep 2020 1:18 AM by gotwqqd
darkstar00 wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 10:46 PM
What race do you prefer for a skald? I know the 30-40 str advantage troll gets is hard to dismiss.
norse
Wed 23 Sep 2020 10:02 AM by Catkain
darkstar00 wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 10:46 PM
What race do you prefer for a skald? I know the 30-40 str advantage troll gets is hard to dismiss.

I udated the guide to include my considerations for race
Wed 23 Sep 2020 2:11 PM by Kappu
LedriTheThane wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 8:13 PM
How vital is getting +11 battlesongs in a temp? Looking to make a Skald temp and my only issue with what I have available is missing +10 to it.

I think you'd want to know how much it helps resists rates rather than the minuscule damage increase.
Wed 23 Sep 2020 2:18 PM by Kappu
evert wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:14 PM
Siouxsie wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 12:08 PM
evert wrote:
Sat 29 Aug 2020 11:35 AM
I can see going <39 hammer if you are 100% solo but personally find conquer too useful against people who want to run (eg near towers). My skald is 44/46 and I won more than I lost against Catkain in pvp-zone

Edit: using provoke, I think any class that is hitting you in melee will also have enough defence to avoid a pretty big proportion of your hits and ruin the combo.

Is Aotg actually good? I had it on my skald on live in 2006 but didn’t find it that useful.

Conquer is lvl 29 hammer style. I think you're confusing it with Lambast, which is a level 39 bleed style for 40 seconds (9 body damage)

Ah yeah just going by what was above. No point in 39 then, go higher or lower.

39 Hammer is a firm point that gives you composite 50 spec. I don't think you'd want to go 29 Hammer and miss out on the 39 follow up also your miss rate will go up...
Wed 23 Sep 2020 8:11 PM by darkstar00
Catkain wrote:
Wed 23 Sep 2020 10:02 AM
darkstar00 wrote:
Thu 17 Sep 2020 10:46 PM
What race do you prefer for a skald? I know the 30-40 str advantage troll gets is hard to dismiss.

I udated the guide to include my considerations for race

Awesome thanks!
Mon 28 Sep 2020 4:37 AM by tehjudso
Great guide! I am currently using it to consider/build my skald temp. Keep up the good work - I will be checking back in frequently

How high do you prioritize + skills? Should I aim for full skill on BS or is there another +skill range I should aim for?
Mon 28 Sep 2020 7:41 AM by Catkain
tehjudso wrote:
Mon 28 Sep 2020 4:37 AM
Great guide! I am currently using it to consider/build my skald temp. Keep up the good work - I will be checking back in frequently

How high do you prioritize + skills? Should I aim for full skill on BS or is there another +skill range I should aim for?

I see no reason to exclude anything from a template, but I do appreciate that everyone has a different budget. I will update guide with a priority-list of stats, skills and resists to show what in my opinion are the highest/least priority items
Mon 28 Sep 2020 12:53 PM by Uthred
Sticky.
Sat 3 Oct 2020 7:53 PM by JaggedOne
This is awesome, Catkain ...thanks for doing it !!!

It will take me a good bit to digest it all. I bookmarked it so I can check back from time to time as you fill it out more.

I love it that you have so many Skalds.
I have my 50 Dorf and a 24 Norse for Thid, oops, Molvik.
They are both axe. I am thinking about making a new Troll Skald to try hammer, but I suspect that subconsciously it is just a dodge to keep from having to work on my Skald and Hunter temps....lol It prob depends on whether or not I can think of a suitable name for a new one. A decent and unique name is very important to me - my 50 is "Pickmeup" and the 24 is "MacLyft" (this is Mac from Discord, btw). I also have a 50 Mins named "MacTaxi", a 24 Mins named "ThidWheels", and a 24 Bard named "Flashdrive".

I just checked and the name "AfOnMe" is still not taken (I was gonna use it for an end-game Bard, but after playing one in Thid, I decided I hate Bards, not to mention that I hate having to mess with instruments), so looks like a new Troll Skald will born today.

Keep up the good work, Pops !!!
Fri 9 Oct 2020 10:44 AM by Trolldejardin
Hey guys

i'm actually skald solo with 44 hammer 46 BS

I want try Axe or sword but i see almost all skald play hammer (for the backside snare)

Axe and sword work ? if yes, why ?

i see an axe with proc add damage 11.3, i love play with AOTG and with that i can keep usable my heart of legion. It's good idea ?
Fri 9 Oct 2020 10:31 PM by Fk_
50 BS for last DD and all red resists. Best choice for solo imo...Dwarf master race with the superior base body resist. Nuff said~
Sun 11 Oct 2020 9:52 PM by gromet12
Trolldejardin wrote:
Fri 9 Oct 2020 10:44 AM
Hey guys

i'm actually skald solo with 44 hammer 46 BS

I want try Axe or sword but i see almost all skald play hammer (for the backside snare)

Axe and sword work ? if yes, why ?

i see an axe with proc add damage 11.3, i love play with AOTG and with that i can keep usable my heart of legion. It's good idea ?

They work just fine (axe or sword, more so axe than sword imo but it would work)

The issue to me is the weapon choices

39/44/29 was my spec for solo/duo (I played with 44/44/21 until rr5, its nice but I like extra 4% defense over little dmg and a style that I rarely used)

The best weapon in mid for a skald (or any melee imo) is the dex/quick debuff hammer. Combine that with revenge ASR 21% reduction targets are swinging much slower. Getting the debuff proc and an ASR off is a game-changer in a fight. With axe you could use a dex/quick charge then the side style 34% ASR which is better, the feather weapons for axe just never appealed to me due to weapon effects. I stick to feather weapons for the higher proc rate vs rog/crafted
Mon 12 Oct 2020 8:38 AM by Boemondo
Hi all, thank you very much for this very useful topic!

I'm a new skald, Norseman 50 BS, 18 Parry, 39 Sword (ye i know hammer is better but i like to see him wielding a sword
I'm also RR 4L0 and i was planning to be at 10L0: SOS 1, Purge 2, Ignore Pain 3, Anger of the Gods 1, Avoidance 5, Determination 6, Mastery of Pain 5, Wild Power 5, Aug. Strength 4, Aug. Acuity 4

I play mostly with friends, so BG or 8 man/small, but since in this server Midgard is very often without an actual BG I was thinking to use a more versatile build for solo roaming.

I've found very interesting the idea of the author to go 46/29/37 and at this regard i have some questions:

1) I've seen that to compensate the 46 BS you got Mastery of Focus, is that necessary? I used to think that the bonus from RR would be enough. So is it useful to go past 50?
2) 37 in MA is compensated by +11 from gear and +RR, is it usefull any point above 50?
3) Damage wise, i see you prefer to have a huge AoG more than Aus. Str. or MoPain. Based on your experience is better to have a big dmg every 10 mins. than a sustained passive boost?
4) Magical damage wise, you got no boost at all, do you think DDs are not so important for skald?
5) Defence wise, you got no Avoidance of magic while a big boost in Parry with Mastery of Parrying, so skald is more vulnerable to phisical dmg than magical one?

Sorry if my question are a bit noobish, and thank you in advance
Mon 12 Oct 2020 11:06 AM by gromet12
Boemondo wrote:
Mon 12 Oct 2020 8:38 AM
Hi all, thank you very much for this very useful topic!

I'm a new skald, Norseman 50 BS, 18 Parry, 39 Sword (ye i know hammer is better but i like to see him wielding a sword
I'm also RR 4L0 and i was planning to be at 10L0: SOS 1, Purge 2, Ignore Pain 3, Anger of the Gods 1, Avoidance 5, Determination 6, Mastery of Pain 5, Wild Power 5, Aug. Strength 4, Aug. Acuity 4

I play mostly with friends, so BG or 8 man/small, but since in this server Midgard is very often without an actual BG I was thinking to use a more versatile build for solo roaming.

I've found very interesting the idea of the author to go 46/29/37 and at this regard i have some questions:

1) I've seen that to compensate the 46 BS you got Mastery of Focus, is that necessary? I used to think that the bonus from RR would be enough. So is it useful to go past 50?
2) 37 in MA is compensated by +11 from gear and +RR, is it usefull any point above 50?
3) Damage wise, i see you prefer to have a huge AoG more than Aus. Str. or MoPain. Based on your experience is better to have a big dmg every 10 mins. than a sustained passive boost?
4) Magical damage wise, you got no boost at all, do you think DDs are not so important for skald?
5) Defence wise, you got no Avoidance of magic while a big boost in Parry with Mastery of Parrying, so skald is more vulnerable to phisical dmg than magical one?

Sorry if my question are a bit noobish, and thank you in advance

I'm not the main but played plenty to know most of this

1) MOF effects SPELL LVL not spec level. The spell is casted as X, using MOF will help raise it up to resist as if the spell is lvl 50. Adding BS does little to DD dmg
2) Very little if you are playing 1h/shield and in a group, your play style is to interrupt and snare. Your melee dmg isn't really that important as its being able to snare. (same applies to the DD's hitting, you could forgo MOF in this setup to focus more on group RA's)
3) When they changed Mopain a few months ago, it was pointless to take and more reliable to get more Str for a constant increase if you had the RA's, I personally did quick. These are subjective opinions which makes the classes different, but getting more quickness would make you swing faster. If you can get the 250 quick cap then this doesn't apply, if you cannot hit quick cap Quick>Str imo
4) DD's are every 15secs and though nice, are not a part of your main dmg. Most skalds focus on melee vs DD dmg (cap acuity in your temp but other than that meh)
5) Solo most targets are melee, spec again how you play. If you hang out by the keeps more, then I would go for more resist. Dont forget you have resist chants that you should be running anyways. Most just macro them so you cast them all at once.
Wed 14 Oct 2020 9:35 PM by Catkain
Some very solid questions and some very solid answers by Grom. Thank you both for discussing one of the two topics I truly love to discuss (The other one is CyberArk Privileged Account Security).

My inputs:
1) I've seen that to compensate the 46 BS you got Mastery of Focus, is that necessary? I used to think that the bonus from RR would be enough. So is it useful to go past 50?
My main focus is actually to reduce mezz resistance (The highest spell is only level 42). For non 50-song builds, you also increase both dd's as they are 43 and 44)

2) 37 in MA is compensated by +11 from gear and +RR, is it usefull any point above 50?
I would not argue that any + damage is not useful, but there is a low ROI when going high in the current state of Phoenix. I really wish there were some true options in terms of weapon-lines AND feather items Let's see what the survey results tell us

3) Damage wise, i see you prefer to have a huge AoG more than Aus. Str. or MoPain. Based on your experience is better to have a big dmg every 10 mins. than a sustained passive boost?
My playstyle is mainly solo. I often go long time without any viable encounters. Also i depend on several other actives so the timers tend to not be fully in sync. This means Ill usually have some tools up and sometimes have them all.

4) Magical damage wise, you got no boost at all, do you think DDs are not so important for skald?
DD damage is not very important, but the interrupt from DD's is absolute key. Additionally keep in mind that you are not always better off casting both DD's at the same time, but cast one and wait one second before casting the second could give a longer interrupt window.

5) Defence wise, you got no Avoidance of magic while a big boost in Parry with Mastery of Parrying, so skald is more vulnerable to phisical dmg than magical one?
I generally have little challenges related to dmg output vs casters and have downplayed this defence. Also note that as a Hammer user, parry = Stuns. And Stuns win fights
Thu 15 Oct 2020 1:04 PM by Chronek
Catkain wrote:
Wed 14 Oct 2020 9:35 PM
Some very solid questions and some very solid answers by Grom. Thank you both for discussing one of the two topics I truly love to discuss (The other one is CyberArk Privileged Account Security).


Im just jumping in because as someone who works in InfoSec, trying to pitch privileged account security/management is a battle I fight everyday.
Thu 15 Oct 2020 5:15 PM by Nogrod
Catkain wrote:
Wed 14 Oct 2020 9:35 PM
My inputs:
1) I've seen that to compensate the 46 BS you got Mastery of Focus, is that necessary? I used to think that the bonus from RR would be enough. So is it useful to go past 50?
My main focus is actually to reduce mezz resistance (The highest spell is only level 42). For non 50-song builds, you also increase both dd's as they are 43 and 44)


Juste a precision on that point :

Minimun resist rate will always be 10% on this server.
Without MoF the resist rate of the mez is 13.8% and the DD is 14.0%.

So it a choice to invest some point in MoF to gain a 4% less resist rate.
Thu 15 Oct 2020 6:21 PM by imweasel
Excellent guide btw!

I'm new to the skald and will be trying this low RR spec and would like some advice/critique/input/opinion.

46 BS, 40Hammer and 25 Parry. Zero points left.

Any issues with this spec?
Thu 15 Oct 2020 8:00 PM by Kazimir
You need Parry only for solo running, better more than less ... if you want the stun - 46 BS, 37 Hammer, 29 Parry ... Hammer has Advantages vs Leather ... and Styles? take a look at the Charplaner - Stun, Snare and what else?

Using Axe has Advantages vs Alb Chain and Scale and brings nice Styles - running 46 BS, 40 Axe, 25 Parry.

Good Luck and much Fun
Fri 16 Oct 2020 7:57 PM by Hailie
Great guy, great guide, great going, good gosh!

Congratulations on winning Skald!
Now for more sunlight....

PS ring of prey skewering you have from me also I think :-)

-Pletos
Fri 16 Oct 2020 11:47 PM by inoeth
i feel like this is kind of overhauled
new meta= side style hammer chain no matter what
Fri 16 Oct 2020 11:50 PM by skipari
inoeth wrote:
Fri 16 Oct 2020 11:47 PM
i feel like this is kind of overhauled
new meta= side style hammer chain no matter what

yeah, no, new styles got cancelled
Sat 17 Oct 2020 5:17 AM by Catkain
Had those changes gone in, I would most likely have gone 48 hammer, yes. At least based on my initial review of the available spec-lines.

I am neither pro nor con the changes as they in my opinion were to large to really judge before implementation. I hope they continue to do changes to Phoenix and the judgement of the staff on what changes to put in and not is what has kept me here for so long
Sat 17 Oct 2020 8:29 AM by Nauglamir
Dear Mr. Catkain,
countless Norsebabes assured me that Skalds are just untalented, uncivilized brutes that can't figure out how to play a proper instrument, constantly making up crude "songs" that nobody really enjoys, mainly on the topic of how good life will be when it's finally over. I thought you are entitled to know.

Yours respectfully,
Nauglamir Skaldbane

PS: stay out of Pennine, it's not safe there
Mon 19 Oct 2020 2:53 PM by Catkain
Dear Nauglamir,

I have had it up to HERE with you and your skald-slaying.

With kind regards,


Catkain
Wed 21 Oct 2020 8:44 PM by tommccartney
Are the links in the initial post for RA specs no longer working ?
Wed 21 Oct 2020 11:56 PM by Catkain
I will redo them if they are broken :/ Note that if they did break, I mostly blame albs.
Thu 22 Oct 2020 6:36 AM by tommccartney
Catkain wrote:
Wed 21 Oct 2020 11:56 PM
I will redo them if they are broken :/ Note that if they did break, I mostly blame albs.

Hmm Hibs probably had something to do with it also !

Although it could be because the planner was updated to live and reverted again
Thu 22 Oct 2020 11:49 AM by Broadus
Reverted planner no longer has Tireless and LW, so the old links are no longer working. Thank you Catkain for posting the guide!
Thu 22 Oct 2020 1:13 PM by tommccartney
Broadus wrote:
Thu 22 Oct 2020 11:49 AM
Reverted planner no longer has Tireless and LW, so the old links are no longer working. Thank you Catkain for posting the guide!

Aha ! That’s why, thank you

And yes thank you Catkain
Tue 3 Nov 2020 1:15 PM by Catkain
Links updated <3
Thu 17 Dec 2020 11:19 AM by Zul
... and what about the starting stats?
Fri 18 Dec 2020 9:21 PM by Vkejai
Does Battlesongs in temp make much difference ?
Sat 19 Dec 2020 7:18 AM by evert
Vkejai wrote:
Fri 18 Dec 2020 9:21 PM
Does Battlesongs in temp make much difference ?

About 1 dmg per dd per point of +bs.
Sat 19 Dec 2020 7:51 AM by Catkain
Zul wrote:
Thu 17 Dec 2020 11:19 AM
... and what about the starting stats?

Added a paragraph about starting stats under race section
Sat 19 Dec 2020 7:54 AM by Catkain
Vkejai wrote:
Fri 18 Dec 2020 9:21 PM
Does Battlesongs in temp make much difference ?

In the context of a template, nothing makes a big difference but the sum of a full cap template will make you a #godofthearena and a #majesticskaldlord. Battle songs are the essence of our skaldiness and it cannot be ignored, but templates come down to money and if you are looking to save money then I would rather leave out power than +bs.
Mon 25 Jan 2021 5:44 AM by Ordoch
#1. "Ring of Prey Skewering (drops from somewhere, found in housing 1p)"

--Can craft same thing with 10/10 charges for less than 40gold. Alchemy: Stable Honing Arcanium Tincture. Tailoring: any MP armor piece (the lower lvl the better). Use it from inventory.



#2. If using crafted small shield consider using a DD charge on it for a 3rd "shout" dd interrupt. (More useful as 8v8/zerg) Ablative/heal may be more beneficial for solo/smallie.
Stable Withering Arcanium Tincture onto crafted gear (small shield good candidate or boots/gloves) yields a str/con debuff with value 56 (body), lasts 1min. IMPORTANT: RANGE= 300, item must be equipped!!
Tue 26 Jan 2021 10:55 PM by Catkain
Thank you for inputs!

Added protip about DA craftable item to guide. The dd one, I dont like so I didnt add it
Thu 28 Jan 2021 3:28 PM by Feiht
The best skald information all in one place. Well done!
Fri 19 Feb 2021 6:10 PM by Ushysen
Good try Catkain. You need more experience of soloing, a more Mdps aproche maybe . Your minstrel gameplay work on 10% of fight? .. i kill u sometime with r3/ r5 toons... with your rank you can do really really better !
Sun 21 Feb 2021 8:52 PM by Catkain
Luckily this is not a Catkain-gameplay review thread as I am sure that would not bring out the most constructive of feedbacks. Only 6 other people on this server have died more than me so I assure you that your experience was in no way special for either of us.

You refer to my minstrel-game as a weakness and I agree: minstrels are never easy wins if the minstrel is good. If you killed me on your rr2 minstrel then there is a good chance you are good!

I have died to many low rr toons, but in that case my biggest lesson is this: Don’t save ra’s for “next fight”, focus on the target in front of you as the RNG gods can always surprise you and put you face down/ass up.

Thanks for your feedback though bro, please do not hesitate to provide more specific feedback/input here, in game or on discord. I am in no way perfect or the best at this stuff, I am just the first guy who thought of writing some of it down <3
Tue 23 Feb 2021 8:53 PM by Phenelophe
thanks for this post with so much passion. Helps me a lot and i found out that the Ring of prey skewering is a drop of a NPC in Malmohus called Arnulv (15900, 32400 + 57900, 57300) is. Maybe it drops. But dont know the Droprate. Thanks again for your post <3
Wed 17 Mar 2021 10:43 PM by Kaiawin
Ordoch wrote:
Mon 25 Jan 2021 5:44 AM
#1. "Ring of Prey Skewering (drops from somewhere, found in housing 1p)"

--Can craft same thing with 10/10 charges for less than 40gold. Alchemy: Stable Honing Arcanium Tincture. Tailoring: any MP armor piece (the lower lvl the better). Use it from inventory.



#2. If using crafted small shield consider using a DD charge on it for a 3rd "shout" dd interrupt. (More useful as 8v8/zerg) Ablative/heal may be more beneficial for solo/smallie.
Stable Withering Arcanium Tincture onto crafted gear (small shield good candidate or boots/gloves) yields a str/con debuff with value 56 (body), lasts 1min. IMPORTANT: RANGE= 300, item must be equipped!!

Does this crafted DA stack with skalds‘ one?
Thu 18 Mar 2021 5:48 PM by Catkain
Yes it stacks with DA-chant and Anger of the gods
Mon 22 Mar 2021 5:17 PM by Tomthabom10
Hi there! New (wannabe) skald here. I made one in the event and really like the play style... but I am broke. I have a shaman for farming if need be, but about how much does a standard average temp go for a Norse skald? Not looking for top tier temp (yet), just something that I can get by with while I RR up and save up money.

I tend to lean more towards solo/small man play as well if that makes a difference!

Also, I know TG vest, SI neck, and D/Q debuffing 1H hammer are musts, anything else that’s reasonable?

Thanks!
Thu 27 May 2021 7:27 PM by sh0ck
Thanks for the guide!

It there a more offensive RA selection recommendable?
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