Posting this on every piece of Bravado's armor because i was searching for this myself. If you do not know what this looks like, it looks purple like etheral mist armor (cleric plane of hate armor), but darker. Looks decent, but i have lambent BP/Legs/Bracer showing along w/ SS arms/gloves/Boots... so bravado's helm sorta throws it off, but it looks ok.
Iaeolan Ashwood Bard of the 47th Song Member of Elven Royal Guard Vallon Zek Server
Really not an easy question to ask. As a bard, at different times in my career I have been desperate for every single point of AC or every single point of DEX or every single point of CHA -- if what you need is AC or DEX, keep the lambent. If you really, really need CHA, get these. Frankly, I don't understand the twilight sea quests. Recommended level of 45 and the armor is actually INFERIOR to Lambent which you can quest before 35? While I agree that Vah Shir bards need armor quests that take place in Luclin, why give them inferior armor that is harder to get? For my own part, the stats on lambent AND on this are kind of low. AC is more important right now so I have Gauntlets of the Black. Go figure.
Until Luclin came out the only races that could be bards were half elves, wood elves, and humans, and they're all localized to Norrath. Naturally most of the bard quests originate from here. With Luclin now, as a whole new world, a Vah Shir bard can now spend his entire life up there without having to set foot on Norrath. This means that Va Shir had to be given quest armors of their own. They could, of course, travel down to Norrath and do lambent or Velious quest armors if they wish, but this gives them an opportunity to stay up there on the moon as long as possible and gather together some unique Luclin loot.
My only problem with these gauntlets is the level required to complete the quest. If those wolves were blue to level 52, then they could be anywhere from level 51 down to level 40 (by my reckoning). That makes these gloves actually harder to get then Lambent, by far, though not as hard as Velious armors. The AC doesn't reflect this, but the stat bonuses do. The problem being, with a pair of gloves as difficult as these to get, the AC should probably have matched the risk. Risk:Reward, or so they say.
Depends. The higher AC and DEX of the Lambent are handy. On the other hand the STR is nice, too, especially if you're a wood elf. And the CHA bonus is good, too. If you do any sort of charm-kiting solo or play crowd control a lot then you'll want your CHA to be nice and high. AC is king, sure, but often times bards are not meleeing, instead doing party support. So, I would say that with the tradeoffs and bonuses, these are comparable to Lambent gauntlets. Just depends on what you want.