Jazzhorse (40Bard)

Jazzhorse
Make sure you check out the Bard Guide on the Wiki, it has lots of good tips for playing a character like this.

This is a support caster bard that will survive with ease throughout the Hells, Aboleths and Elysium. It trades the full Cha style bard for a bit of Str and Dex, to gain more defense at the cost of 5 rounds of UUU and DC on a couple of little used spells. I am not currently using this exact build (str/dex distributed slightly differently with higher Cha) but am intending to reincarnate into it at the end of my reincarnation period.



Race: "Shard" (secret Beyond UltraRare) (Use Gnome)
- FC: Bard
- DEX +4, CON +4, CHA +4, free feat: Lasting Inspiration, free feat: Extra Music, free feat: Lingering Song, increased base movement rate - very fast

Ability Scores:

Armor Class:
BUR (+12): 122 (+4 Girding) (+2 Echoes) = 10 (base) + 17 (Shield) + 17 (Def) + 20 (Dodge) + 12 (tumble) + 16 (Armour) + 17 (Nat) + 10 (Dex) +2 (AS) + 1 (Gnome)
2xDemi (+12): 129 (+2 Girding) (+2 Echoes) = 10 (base) +20 (Shield) + 17 (Def) + 20 (Dodge) + 12 (tumble) + 16 (Armour) + 17 (Nat) + 12 (Dex) + 2 (AS) + 1 (Gnome)

Saves (Saves Arti): Fort: 60 (63), Reflex: 57 (60), Will: 59 (62)
HP: 840
Skills: Concentration (63), Discipline (63), Perform (63), Heal (63), UMD (20), Lore (20), Listen (63), Pick Pocket (63), Parry (63), Tumble (60). Remainders into Lore or Craft Armor.
Tome: Read Necromancy Tome.



Build Outline
1. Bard: Artist
2. Bard:
3. Bard: Curse Song
4. Bard: +1 Cha
5. Bard:
6. Bard: Spell Penetration
7. Bard:
8. Bard: +1 Cha
9. Bard: Greater Spell Penetration
10. Bard:
11. Bard:
12. Bard: +1 CHA, Extend Spell
13. Bard:
14. Bard:
15. Bard: SF: Enchant
16. Bard: +1 CHA
17. Bard:
18. Bard: SF: trans
19. Bard:
20. Bard: +1 CHA

Epic Levels
21. Bard: GSF: Illusion
22. Bard:
23. Bard: GSF: Enchanment
24. Bard: +1 CHA, Great Fortitude
25. Bard:
26. Bard: Great Charisma I
27. Bard: Armour Skin
28. Bard: +1 CHA
29. Bard: Great Charisma II
30. Bard: Epic Spell Penetration
31. Bard:
32. Bard: +1 CHA, Great Charisma III
33. Bard: Epic Will
34. Bard:
35. Bard: Great Charisma IV
36. Bard: +1 CHA, Great Cha V
37. Bard:
38. Bard: Great Cha VI
39. Bard: GSF trans
40. Bard: +1 CHA,

Legendary Levels
41. Bard:
42. Bard: +1 CHA, ESF: (Illusion)
43. Bard:
44. Bard: +1 CHA
45. Bard: ESF (trans)
46. Bard: +1 CHA
47. Bard:
48. Bard: +1 CHA, ESF: (Enchantment)
49. Bard:
50. Bard: +1 CHA
51. Bard: LSF (Illusion)
52. Bard: +1 CHA
53. Bard:
54. Bard: +1 CHA, LL Artist
55. Bard:
56. Bard: +1 CHA,
57. Bard: Legendary Spell Penetration. Max tumble.
58. Bard: +1 CHA
59. Bard:
60. Bard: +1 CHA, Legendary Fortitude



Discussion:
This build focuses on being of aid to the party through its various spells and abilities that a Melee Bard skips. I considered trying to fit Rapier Wit in, but I just don't think its worth it. I believe through proper use of Caster Spells and abilities it is possible to increase damage output and run speed beyond what you would add using a rapier at 80-something AB anyway.

With 52 Charisma you receive plenty of huge radius epics and 4 possums. At 2x demi these epics become colossal radius (or at 1x demi with a +14 item). You have plenty of UUU uses meaning you rarely need to be conservative about its use and hence will often come out of runs with spare rests left on your ring of the planar traveler. You also have Dirge of the Deathless and Hear Me Roar epics which are excellent support epics. With Legendary Spell Penetration you can still make use of offensive spells despite the lower caster level. The main support functions of a build like this come to Song, Bestow, Curse, UUU, HMR, DoD, Possums, Remove Curse Amplify, Taunt, Pickpocket, Wail, Grease and Know Vuln. Plus scroll duties such as Gust, Mord, BBoD and Restore.

Defensively this build is quite sound. It isn't strictly necessary to try and max out AC to the numbers listed, nor worry that they aren't above 130. Even with 90 AC, Ethereal Visage on its own makes this quite a survivable build so long as you are careful with where you stand and how you play. In BURs with the Uro Bard armor and Girding you can achieve 122 (+4 Gird) AC, which helps avoid a lot of attacks. Unfortunately during level 40-59 there isn't much in the way of AC caster shields so you will have to make do with ethereal visage alone. In order to use one of the BUR shields at level 60 (Benediction, Arcadian Fire) you will have to get the Uroboros Bard Armor so you can use Displacement instead of Ethereal Visage. If you can get Echoes of Creation you get +2 AC plus lots of other goodies. Note that although it helps, using a shield and Uro armor isn't necessary, if you are careful you can survive very well using Jamamros/Bulwark with a torch in your off hand.

Trading some Cha points for Str and Dex, this character ends up being able to make a fair few checks in the Hells. 26Str/30Dex will make you close to immune to a lot of lesser monster checks throughout the Hells such as Advespa KD and Gelugon Dom. Superiors, Elites, Pit Fiends and Malebranches still pose a threat, but you have a some chance of making these checks. It isn't a Uni-Tank, but there is certainly a huge difference between this type of build and one that maxes Cha to 62. Dropping Cha further for better uni-tankability is tempting, but personally I am very attached to UUU uses for long runs like Elysium and Nessus.

Saves at level 60 are okay for a bard, although I used the Saves Arti to help them out a bit. 63,60,62 will see you making most checks in the Hells. Saves is also one of the easier Arti's to get (it's nice not having to mortgage your house to get a str arti).

All skills are fairly self explanatory. Listen is to help with landing Amplify. It annoys me that I have to take Int at levels 4 and 8 to fit them all in, but I can't really do much else. Another thing to note, you can't max out Discipline on this build (63 + 50 + 8 = 121) so for Nessus you'll need to either take Torches or a Sparten with you. I tried to fit ESF Disc in but there is nothing I want to drop, especially since once Demi you can just use the Asmo Shield.


Song Allocation:
What constitutes an 'optimal' song really varies between different players, but this is the one I use that I think works well. Its got max save drop on curse song, and is otherwise fairly well rounded and covers most things that need to be covered. It has -18 to skills on curse so it does remove Cornie immunity to mortal strike and called shot.