Latest update: 5 September 2013
Note: This is primarily a PvE Healer build for less geared toons. It is a Gentle Sway hybrid precisely because it is for the less-geared. Logic suggests that going pure light, and taking 3/3 Healing Melody will scale better in end-game gear, with enough Crit Heal %. However, I suspect (if anyone knows for sure, please do comment) that the point at which Crit Heal % starts to consistently return more than 4/4 Gentle Sway is at a total of about 20-25%. That's a lot of Crit Heal % gear when it comes to bards, and is definitely not going to come cheap.
This build will allow you to solo heal every gear instance *at level* with a reasonable party. 10-13k HP at 70+ is NOT reasonable. I'm not saying you won't sometimes be able to carry these people, but especially once you hit FP, if your whole party is like that, things can be... interesting.
Gear is also very important for this and *any* Light bard healer build. You NEED NEED NEED Healing Effect - HE. Light bards get amazing returns from HE because of so many bonuses to Healing %, but if you do not gear for HE, then you are simply a crap DPS who can't heal. Unlike priests, the healing power of light is not INHERENT in light, but is in the gear, then hugely hugely magnified by the Light tree itself.
I'm not even joking here. I've seen a L78 Light with wings, NOT PvP eva build, heal for LESS with baptism than a L70 glacial with Angelic Harmony, no Sympathy. (My glacial.) So pleeeease. If you choose to be a light bard, YOU NEED TO GEAR FOR IT.I would also recommend AFKing (get to 10, Dragon-Order leech / AFK train) to 57, because before then, Lights are crap healers and crap DPS. ._. Srsly.
This is what my planned build looks like. I am building primarily for PvE, and of course, I'm not an expert. =) This is just what I've found works for me.
This Dyos build uses 19 rune talents total, that's the maximum number of runes you can socket. The maximum number of *yellows* you can socket is 9, but that's only important in that you need at least 7 yellows with 35 wisdom in total between them to gain the 35 Wisdom bonus from the Dyos Trew. At 35 Wisdom, and you do Max Heals per Second rotation, you should be able to bubble your whole party every rotation (with luck) rather than every other rotation (innate, guaranteed with just 1 wisdom rune). Bubbles appear after you get 6 stacks of the buff from Sonata of Life, and you cannot build up stacks while the 10s bubblebuff (not to be confused with the bubble itself) is active. The 70 bonus is great - but it'll take a lot of money - and this guide is for the lower geared.
The talent tree I've shown here is base, without runes. I will indicate how many points should be filled in by runes. Obviously, the +s from runes will come at a slower pace depending on time and money. Note that you CANNOT get a +1 from runes in a talent that has pre-req talents, without first having the requisite points in the prereq talent.
Rune List, courtesy of Aely from Illyfue, FW forums.
That being said, here we go. =)
http://www.aesica.net/fw/?race=1&profession=1&level=80&talent=144010004||50003334333023020011222302
Why choose this stuff? Here we go...
Light Tree [47 Points]
TIER 1:
Advanced Harmony of Light 5/5
This Light build is NOT DPS. In fact, it's so not DPS that it is utterly pathetic. You'll make a Divine Priest look like DPS, and I'm not even joking. So why 5/5? Because unless you intend to have a DPS alt account run around kill everything for you (as opposed to just Dragon Orders), this will help things be a tiny little bit less painful.
Blessings of Light 0/5
This is a crap talent because it doesn't scale. 200HP per E chord, whoop de whoop. HE doesn't affect it. E-chords from Melody of Healing do, but... ._. It's stupid. Consider that by Level 50 you should have 10k HP, and 15k HP at 70... 200HP. Erm. Yeah.
TIER 2:
Shine 0/2
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
Tuneless Light 0/3
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
Divine Music of Light 3/3
This is situational, but I find it's important when I do use it. Obviously it has a PvP usage, but I'll just explain the PvE usage here. When AoEing things down, someone commonly gathers the mobs, and then the AoEr(s) AoE them down. What this talent does is buys you time, and helps the AoE kill things faster. Usage goes something like this: 1) Gatherer gathers mobs, 2) You follow, when mobs are gathered, cast Divine Comedy, this gives you breathing room to... 3) Set up Baptism powered by Solo of Light before the mobs wake up, 4) AoEers toast the debuffed mobs and everything dies. Of course, this is the ideal scenario but... ;)
You heal and protect via your Hymns. Longer is better, gives you more breathing room.
TIER 3:
Stare 3/3
In higher level dungeons, interrupts are common. It's a filler talent, but a useful one.
Solo of Light 4/4
You'll end up AoE tanking a LOT if you PUG. Seriously. A lot. ._. This helps.
Halo 3/3 [4/3 with runes]
Some higher level dungeons will require players to spread out. Especially if you are the only healer, and you need to be a little further from the tank - this will help immensely.
TIER 4:
Divine Shower 3/3
Defence is great in PvE, not so much in PvP - this is a PvE healing and defensive build.
Light of Life 3/3
Dispel every icky thing EXCEPT those that only wind can dispel (or can't be dispelled at all). And since you'll be spamming Sonata of Life - assuming Max Heals Per Second... Take it.
Melody of Light 0/4
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
TIER 5:
Angelic Chorus 2/2 [3/2 after Runes]
Key talent - take it. You'll be spamming Sonata of Life every CD at higher levels, because of the mana reduction you gain by doing that, and the buffs from Dyos. This build is a main-healer. Baptism ticks every 4 seconds, you fill the seconds between those seconds with Sonata of Life, and it means that you have heals going out every 2 seconds. You have no single-target heals (other than on yourself), so you HAVE to keep heals high and constant. Additionally max HP/S after 70 will spend LESS mana than any other rotation. It'll spend so little mana, in fact, that you'll be able to easily counter it by drinking L50 mana pots on CD. More on this rotation in the questions section below.
Advanced Solo of Light 3/3
Max this. It won't just protect you - you're also going to be using Solo of Light at every opportunity to make sure your heals ALWAYS have at least a 20% increase in healing via Soothing Beat.
Melody of Healing 0/3 [3/3 After Runes]
Defensive skill, but unlike Blessings of Light, this scales with everything you have. Not worth spending points on, but runes make it nice.
TIER 6:
Notes of Light 2/2
Defensive skill, situational. Best used after you've used Divine Comedy, and set up Baptism and Majesty in an AoE damage situation. This will help you live if your AoErs are fail.
Halo Resist 0/4
PvP defensive talent, Light Attack isn't a huge factor in other situations.
TIER 7:
Improved Chord of Light 0/3
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
Hymn: Song of Life 1/2
This is a filler talent. I rarely use it - and when I do, I use it to counter specific things, such as boss HP debuffs on the tank. You CAN work it into a max HP/S rotation this way: Baptism, Majesty, Courage, Song of Life, Baptism, Majesty, Courage, Baptism, Majesty, Courage, Song of Life. But you cannot spam it... because of the CD on note of rest. Generally in PvE, except in boss debuff situations, I don't bother using it.
Song of Saints: 1/2
Evasion buff is meaningless unless your entire party is eva, speed buff is too short. You're left with the extra healing done - which is a 'may as well' since you took the Song of Life as a filler anyway.
TIER 8:
Bath of Light 2/2
Baptism is your main healer. Nuff said.
Chant of Revival 2/2
1/2 at first, only max this AFTER you've gotten Gentle Sway to 4/4. If your party is reasonable and you're healing properly, you shouldn't need to cast this very often. If your party is unreasonable (or a few members are), you can cast this, and even if they don't immediately die on being rezzed due to being at 15% HP, half the time at least, their HP are so low the next AoE will kill them outright, from max health to 0 anyway. ;) Max it in the end, because mistakes DO happen in smart parties, and in those instances, it helps.
Softening Melody 2/2
Helps your healy things heal better, AND (I believe) doubles the amount of healing done to you, personally, when you have surge up. (I don't always.)
TIER 9:
Life Awaken 3/3
This skill is the reason you AFK to 57. At 55, you get Baptism, but it just doesn't have enough sheer power, and you don't have enough Es to be able to keep up max heals per second. Once you get this, you will. =)
Lightblade Switch 0/3
This is not an Evasion build. Evasion is useless if you don't dedicate yourself to it totally. You need at least 350 eva unbuffed at 80 in order for Evasion to even BEGIN to work. This means, if you have 345, you may as well have 100.
TIER 10:
Advanced Chant of Revival 2/2
All the things said in Chant of Revival apply, including waiting until you 4/4 Gentle Sway.
Glory 0/3
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
***NO FURTHER POINTS IN LIGHT***
Wind Tree [14 points]
TIER 1:
Zephyr 1/5
To open up the C-chord CD in Wind Melody Knowledge
Infuriate 4/5 [5/5 After Runes]
You will never match Inspire, and do NOT cast Courage when there is a decent Wind Bard in the party with you. But if you're the only bard, this talent shines.
TIER 2:
Wind Melody Knowledge 4/4
This makes your C-chords faster and therefore more versatile, which I prefer. However, it's also viable to 0/4 this, and put the points into 3/3 Acoustic Stretch and 1/2 Art of Music instead.
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing. Art of Music 1/2
Adds on top of Halo, for same reasons given as for HaloAcoustic Stretch 0/3 [3/3 After Runes]
IMO Light Bard courage is pretty unimportant, and you can drop if if forced to, so why put talents into it? That being said, if you disagree, feel free to put points into it. Just remember that the aim is to get 10 points in the first 2 tiers, so you can get Gentle Sway.
TIER 3:
Wind Shadow 0/3
This is a PvP and DPS talent. This build is PvE and healing.
This really isn't why you're in the wind tree for this build.
Gentle Sway 4/4
YAY! 20% more Healing from Baptism, 20% more Defence from Majesty, on top of the stuff you already get as mainly Light. Oh and 20% more from your laughable Courage. XD
Dyos Rune Talents (17 points, not including advanced rune slots)
Light Talent Runes
3 - Melody of Healing
1 - Angelic Chorus
1 - Halo
Wind Talent Runes
3 - Acoustic Stretch
2 - Ferocity of wind
1 - Infuriate
3 - Windblade Shield
Water Talent Runes
3 - Inspired Appearance
Bot Setup
This setup is for HEALING. It'll let you botheal ToK, ASNM, ASHM, and anything below. It'll let you botheal any WB. It is useless at killing. However, you can still use it to get (mostly) full rewards in GT2 if you slot Melody Mastery (0sec) in the first slot.
My gem priority in an IDEAL situation, my gem priority would be...
Bloodstones, Solareflare, Crit Dodge%, Crit Reduction %
Gear IDs
Life (formerly Renewing) or Rousing Stout all the way, with HE or HP IDs.
Max Heals per Second Rotation *Doesn't require Light Sonata, but you can use that once you get it. DOES require at least L57.
Baptism > Majesty
Baptism: D > E > Solo of Light > Sonata of Life (boosts both Sonata and Baptism via Soothing Beat)
Majesty: D > Solo of Light > Sonata of Life > D
I used to include Courage in this rotation for the additional boost to healing Light gets from putting up a movement. After testing, I've found that not casting Courage greatly increases Sonata of Life spam, and the healing from that outweighs the healing bonus from having a movement up. However, depending on how much HE you have, YMMV.
Baptism > Majesty > Courage > Song of Life
Baptism: D > E > Solo of Light > Sonata of Life (boosts both Sonata and Baptism via Soothing Beat)
Majesty: D > Solo of Light > Sonata of Life > D
Courage: [Your Sonata of Life is now reset by Majesty...] Sonata of Life > C > C
Song of Life: Light Sonata > Chord of Light > Solo of Light > Sonata of Life > Note of RestYou cannot spam this every rotation, it's every alternate rotation at best. The reason is the CD on Note of Rest - it's too long.If you have a good wind bard in your party...
DO NOT cast Courage, replace it with Fantasy. If you cast Courage with a good wind in the party, you're basically negating their attack power bonus, which is huge, and overwriting it with your own, which is puny, every other tick. And if they're good, they're probably annoyed at it, even if they don't mention it. ;)
Where I'm Currently At
Non-crit baptism ticks for 6.5k-7k. HP over 30k.
Is 850ish base HE really enough at 70-74?
It is, if you play smart, and always go max Heals per Second. Of course, more is better and sexier, but what I've done is balance HE with HP, so I'm fairly survivable.
Does Light mastery increase my healing?
No.
I have no idea. From observation, I doubt that it's additive, but if you know more / for sure, please share.
Is the AS set any good for Light?
No, it can't surpass building up Renewing Stout and Rousing Stout.
ZOMG! How much did you spend on this one?!
Nothing. Zero. Zilch.
Hay, if you don't CS for gems and don't sell mercs for moneh, how did you get those HP pre-75 (I was 18k pre 75)?
Part of the reason my HP are so decent is - arena neck. 50-59 bracket, ?66? HE, ?360?HP with a 150HP+ ID. Arena jewelry - especially necklaces - is something you should aim for. It's REALLY easy to get, and even a noob can game the system. No, really.
Game the system? Lil 'ole meeeee?
Yup. You see, you have to do at least 10 arena matches per week to qualify for points, and in order to buy gear, you need at least 1000 ranking (the absolute beginner's ranking if you don't lose), in order to buy the low end green items like the necklace mentioned above. Which is far and away better than ANY necklace you'll find in the AH, short of an epic one that costs a couple of D.
So - just play ONLY 3v3 or ONLY 6v6. That way, it doesn't matter if you lose (though of course, winning gets you more arena points per week.) Even if you lose, you'll still get points based on your 1000 rating from the arena you didn't touch. You can then use your points to buy gear that has a minimum 1000 req for that arena. So all you need to do, really, is go over and over till you have the rep level you want. It took me two weeks to get to L3 rep, which got me the 50-59 slot green necklace. L4 if you want 60, L5, etc. It's worth it. Of course, once you start winning, you switch over to the one you haven't won in yet, to rake in more points. I'm just putting it out there that even if you ALWAYS LOSE NONSTOP... you can still benefit.
It's too hard to get all that gear and all those gems. :(
DO NOT RUN GEAR INSTANCES FOR GEAR.
All chars over 60 now get 2 gem boxes a day from GL, so if you have massive altitis like me, this may help you. I have 3 over 60 atm, and may have 5 in a few more weeks. We'll see.
And if you think this is expensive, just go play a vampire, a priest, or a warrior. XD Perspective. It halps.
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