Hi.
I'm looking for suggestions for a bard build that does slightly more than sit back and sing, so need advice on race, stats, feats, skills, weapons, feats, spell selection etc.
However I'm not into powergaming, (so please no sorcerers are better than bards - yes they are but I find them incredibly boring to play), min-maxing (will not reduce INT for this build below 8) and it's doubtful that I'll play HoF (heck it's doubtful that I'll get beyond chapter 2 before I start a new party).
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Suggestions for bard build
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Raven_Song
- Posts: 550
- Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:02 am
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a bard i was working on...
drow male.
str 8
dex 16
con 8
int 20
wis 8
cha 20
the idea was that the bard would serve as party talker, alchemist, lore, backup spell caster, archer, and use songs in support - while having some stealth skill and maybe some pickpocket, and the 10 ranks of spellcraft.
w/ the primary goal of helping the party kill things, instead of killing things for the party.
the low con was really the only blind spot on the build, however the liberal use of mirror image mitigated that (and staying as far as possible from hand to hand combat)
long term i may of mixed in some wizard levels depending on how he was going once all songs were attained.
the nice thing about this build is that it allows the rest of your party to more or less forget about the talking skills & the lore skills.
drow adds some nice perks - free bow feat, magic resistance and faerie fire which also gets used quite a bit.
(alternately, one could choose human, and get just as many skill points w/ an 18 int, have a slightly higher con, a slightly less dex and cha, 2 extra feats and use x-bow instead)
feats - rapid shot, sf & gsf enchantment, lingering song all fairly important. rapid shot most of all.
spells - mix of buffs / protections and enchantments and cromatic orb. used cro orb, hold person and slow alot.
--
tactics wise:
stayed behind the front tanks, sang most of the time to begin combats, switched from bow and spells from there. used a lot of "x uses per day" magic items / music instruments. if the party was facing a creature resistant to piercing damage would go back into sing mode to support other party members.
--
other bard that worked well was more of a ftr type dwarf, would use ftr levels to pick up intimidate in class, feats, and weapons spec. lesser focus on secondary skills, still focused on talking and the lore skills.
drow male.
str 8
dex 16
con 8
int 20
wis 8
cha 20
the idea was that the bard would serve as party talker, alchemist, lore, backup spell caster, archer, and use songs in support - while having some stealth skill and maybe some pickpocket, and the 10 ranks of spellcraft.
w/ the primary goal of helping the party kill things, instead of killing things for the party.
the low con was really the only blind spot on the build, however the liberal use of mirror image mitigated that (and staying as far as possible from hand to hand combat)
long term i may of mixed in some wizard levels depending on how he was going once all songs were attained.
the nice thing about this build is that it allows the rest of your party to more or less forget about the talking skills & the lore skills.
drow adds some nice perks - free bow feat, magic resistance and faerie fire which also gets used quite a bit.
(alternately, one could choose human, and get just as many skill points w/ an 18 int, have a slightly higher con, a slightly less dex and cha, 2 extra feats and use x-bow instead)
feats - rapid shot, sf & gsf enchantment, lingering song all fairly important. rapid shot most of all.
spells - mix of buffs / protections and enchantments and cromatic orb. used cro orb, hold person and slow alot.
--
tactics wise:
stayed behind the front tanks, sang most of the time to begin combats, switched from bow and spells from there. used a lot of "x uses per day" magic items / music instruments. if the party was facing a creature resistant to piercing damage would go back into sing mode to support other party members.
--
other bard that worked well was more of a ftr type dwarf, would use ftr levels to pick up intimidate in class, feats, and weapons spec. lesser focus on secondary skills, still focused on talking and the lore skills.
"all around you is tinder for the gods"
It is really really hard to have a bard build that doesn't kick tail.
One of my favorites:
Str 14 Dex 16 Con 10 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 16
Human Fighter(4)/Bard(x)
Extra stat points can be added to anything at all. If you're going to HoF mode, I suggest charisma, otherwise dex is a good choice.
This bard is a front line fighter, and after lingering song, his feats should reflect that. Mine had expertise in axes in addition to AC bonus feats like dodge. His most commonly used spells were blur and mirror image and the most common song was Tymora's Melody.
To build, begin with bard (5), then fighter (4) then bard the rest of the way.
The character really surprised me. I intended to use the character as an archer, but after he could haste and MI, he had more kills than my fighter.
One of my favorites:
Str 14 Dex 16 Con 10 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 16
Human Fighter(4)/Bard(x)
Extra stat points can be added to anything at all. If you're going to HoF mode, I suggest charisma, otherwise dex is a good choice.
This bard is a front line fighter, and after lingering song, his feats should reflect that. Mine had expertise in axes in addition to AC bonus feats like dodge. His most commonly used spells were blur and mirror image and the most common song was Tymora's Melody.
To build, begin with bard (5), then fighter (4) then bard the rest of the way.
The character really surprised me. I intended to use the character as an archer, but after he could haste and MI, he had more kills than my fighter.
So far my Bard/Druid build has been succesful... She´s an half elf and started with stats Str 8 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 18 Cha 15 if I remember correctly.. I used dalekeeper to increase her stats because the point buy system does not support many MC builds. Anyway, using her as an archer, alchemist and loremaster with some scouting abilities has been succesful so far. I use bard spells to heal and buff, blur, mirror image etc. and druid spells as a support bombarding for sorc.
I use WeiDu´s mod for druid and weapons etc. So many useful offensive spells are added to druids spellbook Bard9/Druid21 is my goal.
without the mods Bard11/Druid19 is recommended.. these are for HOF.
Never tried a melee Bard, but many say that they are great, especially with few fighter levels.. But since you weren´t interested in powergaming or min-maxing.. use drow bard with dual wielding feats, wpn fínesse( if small blades), armored arcana, dash, dodge, lingering song etc.
Archer is alredy explained by others
Two of the most interesting bard builds are Bard/Monk and Bard/Paladin.. Never tried, but they sound like fun Those of course require mod for alignment restrictions removed.
I use WeiDu´s mod for druid and weapons etc. So many useful offensive spells are added to druids spellbook Bard9/Druid21 is my goal.
without the mods Bard11/Druid19 is recommended.. these are for HOF.
Never tried a melee Bard, but many say that they are great, especially with few fighter levels.. But since you weren´t interested in powergaming or min-maxing.. use drow bard with dual wielding feats, wpn fínesse( if small blades), armored arcana, dash, dodge, lingering song etc.
Archer is alredy explained by others
Two of the most interesting bard builds are Bard/Monk and Bard/Paladin.. Never tried, but they sound like fun
Those of course require mod for alignment restrictions removed."Too wild to live and too rare to die"
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Raven_Song
- Posts: 550
- Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:02 am
- Contact:
Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm considering the fighter/bard idea as ideally i'm looking for a charatcer who can look out for my sorcerer when my other characters are off chasing enemies.
EDIT
OK I did have a party line up but now I'm not so sure - rest assured though the bard will feature!
Again Thanks.
I'm considering the fighter/bard idea as ideally i'm looking for a charatcer who can look out for my sorcerer when my other characters are off chasing enemies.
EDIT
OK I did have a party line up but now I'm not so sure - rest assured though the bard will feature!
Again Thanks.
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Raven_Song
- Posts: 550
- Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:02 am
- Contact:
I can tell you how the fighter/bard worked for me...
With 5 levels of bard and 4 of fighter, this character became my main tank, even over my barbarian/fighter. The major down-side was that the bard is completely dependant on buffs from the very beginning, so people who don't like to spend as much time preparing for fights as actually fighting may get a little bit impatient.
With cats grace, bull's strength (and later a stronger str buff), mirror image, blur, blink for tough situations, improved invisibility, ghost armor, spirit armor and haste, there really isn't anything before HoF mode which will tough this character, and BS and Haste makes the bard a killing machine.
It's true that most of these buffs can also work for a warrior character, but MI, blur, blink and a bard song make a huge difference.
With 5 levels of bard and 4 of fighter, this character became my main tank, even over my barbarian/fighter. The major down-side was that the bard is completely dependant on buffs from the very beginning, so people who don't like to spend as much time preparing for fights as actually fighting may get a little bit impatient.
With cats grace, bull's strength (and later a stronger str buff), mirror image, blur, blink for tough situations, improved invisibility, ghost armor, spirit armor and haste, there really isn't anything before HoF mode which will tough this character, and BS and Haste makes the bard a killing machine.
It's true that most of these buffs can also work for a warrior character, but MI, blur, blink and a bard song make a huge difference.
IMO Bard is a very valuable character in party. Many roles can be filled with Bard; Archer, Healer, Summoner, Spellsword, Scout, Tank... And with ample supply of levels of some other class they become even more effective. Bard/Ftr, Bard/Barb, Bard/Pal* for tank, Bard/Rogue, Bard/Rngr, Bard/Monk* for scout, Bard/Druid for summoning, healing or whatever and it is one of the best MCs available. For Sorc and Wizard it adds some Roguish skills and extra spells, and well.. it is quite good for Cleric also(Mask and Oghma specially).
*-classes are for mod that removes alignment restrictions.
*-classes are for mod that removes alignment restrictions.
"Too wild to live and too rare to die"