Thx for info Loki - i'm on Chesapeake - I'm also doing a bard build - what items should i get made for myself? valorite plate im assuming. what stats should i have on the armor? and what should be my str/dex/int?
The most important thing you will want on armor is resists. You will want to maximize your resists against the damage type the creatures you are fighting. You can find the information on the creatures here:
Hunter's Guide. For example, when fighing an earth elemental you will want to have high physical resist, as they ony do physical damage. However, if you are fighting an Air Elemental, they do a mix of physical, cold and energy damage, so you will need to boost them all. Eventually, you will use armor suits that have maximum resists across the board.
Once you get good resists, you can start adding other magical properties to your armor. Good properties for a warrior I have found are (in not particular order): Mana Regen, Stamina Increase, Hit Point Increase, Lower Mana Cost.
The Stats you will need for a beginning warrior is high STR and DEX. Lock your INT around 30, so you have mana to use when you need. You can always adjust this later. Your weapon swing speed is based off increments of 30 stamina (the derived stat of DEX) and the weapon's base speed. Each increment of 30 stamina (30, 60, 90, 120, 150) will decrease the delay between swings by 0.25 seconds, if your stamina is eaqual to or greater than the given increment. You can find information on the various weapons and a calculator on swing delay here:
Weapons. STR influences the damage you do and your hitpoints, which are both always good for a warrior. The general rule for weapon skills and swing delay is Fencing < Swordsmanship < Macing (ie Fencing is fastest). There is alot of overlap, and the fastest weapons are usually the lowest damaging ones too.
That should help you get started.
Stayin Alive,
BG