CREATION:

When selecting a race for making a Skald, you should keep in mind what it is you are trying to do. I will follow with each race a reason to explain that kind of choice.

Troll: With a high strength and constitution, the troll would seem to be the best pick of the bunch. Since you have speed and muscle, you would most likely be chosen for delivery duty in RVR combat for wood or seige weapons. However, your low dexterity will make your Evade and Parry suffer even more than it already does. Your melee combat skill will be better than a skald of any other race though, plus, what isnt funny about a troll singing? I would suggest adding 10 to Dex, Charisma, and Constitution.

Norseman: A higher Strength and Con than average with only a slight loss of Dex makes the Norseman a good solid choice for a Skald. After adding 10 to Dex, Charisma, and Con, you have only a slightly less disadvantage in the long run.

Dwarf: The dwarfs' high Con makes it a naturally good choice for any warrior base. You should add 10 to Dex, Charisma, and Str, to bring yourself on an equal ground.

Kobold: With the Kobolds high Dexterity and Quickness, you are the best defensive Skald around. Your Strength and Constitution lack however, so I would suggest adding at least 10 points to each of those, and the last 10 to Charisma.

SKILLS:

As a Skald, you have very basic skills. You cover all three weapon types (Axe, Sword, Hammer), one minor defensive skill (Parry), and your forte, Battlesongs. You have the ability to use small shields, get Evade 1, and wear armor up to Chain.

For weapon use, I would suggest using whatever you feel comfortable with. There are many discussions on the Team Skald board about what weapon is best, but I have personally found you are not really punished nor blessed by choosing one over the other. The ability to use either a one handed or two handed version of that weapon type is helpful, yet means little in the long run.

Parry is thought of as a last line defense by Skalds. I tend to agree. I personally didnt build onto Parry until in my 40's, and even then, only very little. This isnt to say I wouldnt get any +Parry items or armor, but it isnt very viable for our lifespan in the long run.

Battlesongs is our mainstay in Midgard. Within the line, we have 2 instant damage spells, an instant cast mez, instant cast snare, group damage chant, group heal chant, group resist buffs, and our our most commonly known for ability, group speed chant. Currently, it has been suggested that there might be an increase to the Battlesongs line by adding another high level damage shout, increasing the range of the group damage chant, and possibly combining the resist chants into groups of 2, rather than 6 seperate chants.

POINTS SPENDING:

Skalds get 1.5 points per level. Not very much, but enough to keep our most useful skills going. I found that by keeping Battlesongs only 1 under your level, you can devote more points into a weapon skill, and make you a bit more effective in lower level combat. Once you hit 25-30, you actually find you have enough points to bring your Battlesongs to your level, while having a better than half weapon skill. This allows you in the larger fights to actually have some good melee skill, while being able to pour out damage with your shouts and helping the group with the damage chant.

After you reach 40, you will find extra points in your pocket. Now is the time you start investing some into Parry for a slight defense boost.

WHAT TO HUNT:

Anything and everything. You will have to be careful about things which may BAF, but with your Mez shout, you have a good strong chance to take on two creatures and win. You will typically start each fight the same way: Shout snare the target, pull out of aggro/BAF range, turn on your damage chant, and wait for it to get in range to use your damage shouts and start swinging. This works for both two-handed and weapon/shield fighting.

Now, your mez shout lasts a very short time (29 seconds at the longest). This means you need to bring down a target fast, get a little time to rest, and get ready to pound away with the other. If needed, after beating down the first enemy, run away to get some distance between you and the second one, so you can snare it and give you some extra time to move away or heal.

GROUP ROLE:

You basically have one role in any group: Combat support. Be it damage chanting, speed chanting, or just the assisting tank, a support role is your life. You can main tank, if really needed, but you will require a healer just for you in order to make this work right.

If the buffer in your group asks which buffs you would like, I would suggest asking for any Con buff, any armor buffs, an Acuity buff, and possibly the Dex/Qui buff. Being you are a fighter base, your Str and Con will raise naturally, and more strength for you doesnt make much difference in the scheme of things when it comes to buffing.

SPELL CRAFTING:

When it comes time to start buying armor and weapons made by players, and getting them imbued and spellcrafted, you really need to only concentrate on a few things; Charisma, Battlesongs, Weapon skill, Parry, Dex, Quick. All other things are welcome, if you have the room for it. Resists are good also, but since the resist system will be undergoing a review soon, I would hold off until they complete such a thing.

CRAFTING:

As a Skald, you have few crafting venues open to you. Armorcrafting and Weaponcrafting. Since a recent patch however, they have simplified the AC and WC components, and have made it a bit easier to do. And since both are always in big demand within DAOC in general, you have the possiblity of becoming a very rich Skald, if not a highly equipped one.

RVR:

A skalds main tool, Speed, becomes almost fundamental within RVR itself. And with a high shamans Endurance buff, you can come very close to a horse-like speed while running about the Frontiers.

I tend to find myself in the thick of battle more often than not, and prefer to be there. Given the short ranges of some of our shouts, it is best to be upfront and swinging rather than hanging back and brooding on the sidelines.

When you start accumulating Realm Points, and start looking at Realm Abilities, I would suggest getting things like Augmented Acuity, Dexterity, Mastery of Pain, Long Winded, Tireless, and Regenration. You will no doubt hear people talk about Ignore Pain and such, but with the fact we shouldnt taking on main tanks with our low skills in weapons, so Ignore Pain is relatively more chances to miss heavily defended targets. Use the points elsewhere to increase the damage you do outfront.

I hope the guide helps somewhat when planning a Skald in the future. With planned changes coming down the line for this class, I will try to keep updated and provide them in here to ensure it is the best possibly reference you can have.

Bays Endruhm
Midgard/Percival
Vinur af Sidri