A little help with Gear for my Brd

[doridorimonkey]

I just hit 30 last night, and was wondering what I should should focus on for my gear. Mostly, what should be in my Earing/ Ring slots.

Here is my current gear:

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/profile.xml?15861

Thanks for any help. m(_ _)m

[Vilurum]

Pity that Allakhazam doesn't let you list of all the instruments you have, but if you have a Mary's Horn and an Astral Ring I somehow suspect you've already spent the money on at least the (other) important HQ instruments (Piccolo +1, Cornette +1, upcoming Traversiere +1 and Horn +1).

No complaints, really. I think hume RSE gives +1 CHR on both the legs (which have a nice MP boost too) and the body, so you may want to consider that for 31 and 33. I wore RSE practically all the way to AF.

Somewhere in the 30's, I forget the exact level, you can get new MP earrings, which are MP+4 (wow, big difference, I know). Level 40 you can get an Enhancing Earring with HP+5 and MP+5. Level 36 you can get Pearl Rings (also CHR+2, but cheaper than Hope Rings so you get some money back) or Loyalty Rings (CHR+3 and pretty pricy).

Astral Ring is the best you can do for MP on a ring until Serket/Vivian Ring. Vivian's rare-ex so you'll kinda have to join an HNM LS to get that (and priority will probably go to pure mages too), but Serket is buyable at around level 50 for somewhere around (or a few hundred K over) a million gil. Price will vary by server of course.

At level 50 you may also wanna check out the Minstrel's Ring, the BRD JSE ring that kicks in with yellow HP or worse, and less than 100% TP. Not suitable for all enemies, and you'll need to communicate the ring's requirements to your healers so they don't heal you out of yellow HP, and WHM Auto-Regen is a pain. So the usefulness is limited. *But*, when it is working, it's like having Fast Cast with a WHM sub. :D

Really, though, I can't see much that'll need upgrading in the near future aside from CHR rings and MP earrings. Just keep up to date on your instruments, it looks like you're set for a while. And be prepared to blow some money in the 50's, that's when stuff like Jester's Cape +1 and Melody Earring (and +1 if you like) become usable.