Bard questions

[dynneroth]

OK, I'm back. I don't get on as much as I'd like, and my internet sucks. I'm looking into a new ISP, but options are limited. In the meantime, let's get to what this thread is really about. How to build a better Bard. There seems to be a shortage of bards to do hells runs, so I intend to build one and develop the skills necessary to be better than adequate at barding in LL. Starting from scratch with Shard subby, what are the necessary elements to creating a bard that is viable from beginning to end? Caster or Battle? From the research I've done, Gnome Shard 39 Bard/1 Paladin seems to be the way to go. Spell foci? Stop at Epic Spell Focus for more foci or go Legendary? Any and all help is welcome.

[simpetar]

1. Caster bard. If you want to deal damage (and solo), caster bard can do that better than battle bard as well (see 3.). Weapon foci cost you feats for only redundant damage.

2. 39/1 is great for Limbo and any other place where saves are important; also for building from scratch. 40 if you are not worried about saves, or if you are tired of getting a new sacrifice after each Ely / Rona. "Loot bard", (38 bard / 1 pally / 1 rogue, based on Undying) is very viable choice welcome in any party.

3. Epic transmutation, enchantment, illusion and necromancy are mandatory. Epic and PSK conjuration is very popular and many people will highly recommend them. If you wish to deal some tangible damage, you can pick epic evocation (cloud), PSK illusion (a.k.a. Army, quite popular), or PSK enchantment (Cacophony). Spell Penetration is highly recommended: when you are bored, you can cast actual offensive spells. As of March 23, bards can pick ESF during epic levels:

- Bards can now exchange the Extra Spell Known (Level 6) feat for Epic Spell Focus feats in epic levels by using the !charedit command. This swap is no longer available once you take your first legendary level.

Use this to your advantage when planning the build.

4. In the end you need 60+ modified charisma for maximum radius of epics. "The end" is your call, and it will dynamically change (lvl 60 immo, x1 demi, x2 demi, lvl 80, +12/14/16 gear); prepare to reinc at some point. However keep in mind that you will be somewhat expected to have maximum epic radius in end game runs.

5. Among the regular must-have skills, remember to make room for Persuade and Pick Pocket. They are great for support and make runs lot smoother.

[Paradoom]

This cannot be answered easily. Building a bard is complicated to say the least and the final result depends on what you like/can/want it to do. But one thing after the other.

As bard you are quite an important back-bone of a party. You are required/expected to provide certain epics namely:
Unbend, unbound, unbroken - transmutation epic, helps with KD checks, makes you KD immune
Hear me roar - enchantment epic, real silence immunity, which is highly wanted for nessus
Dirge of the deathless - necromancy epic, grants fear immunity and reduces incoming critical damage
Possums farce - illusion epic, grants party auto resurrections and is a huge life saver

With this 4 spell-schools are pretty much set in stone for any bard (even the tank kinds with less charisma). On top comes then the spell penetration feats, if you want to have any chance of making your spells hit the mobs if you go the caster route. Supporter and tank kinds often leave that out to get more feats for higher off-stats and defense and cost of charisma.

A fifth spell-school is often chosen by caster bards, but here it is a matter of taste. Many like to go with conjuration for the time-stop paragon epic, while I personally prefer evocation for better DC on my damage and inflict spells.

What you push to LL or even Paragon level depends on the kind of bard and focus. Me (I play only caster bards) pushes illusion and enchantment up to Paragon spell known level as well as Spell penetration. Evocation finishes at LL due to feat tightness. Supporters and tanks will rather go for less paragon foci and pick up more survival feats.

Stats are also not so easy to choose: Tank bards prefer pushing dexterity and strength and leave charisma rather low, while supporter and casters will always want to have 50 base charisma at least at top level to provide more auto reses and the biggest epic radius available.

And for races and sub-races:
Gnome is a save bet as supporter and caster, but a tank might be better of taking something else like half-elf with half-guardinal.
Shard is an option, but chaos gnome is just as good and in my eyes even better. Shard has, just like the new XR races, too many useless / unneeded feats and with that fails to be a real upgrade. The final stats are very similar and I say 79 SR > faster running speed.

Build:
As full caster bard 39 bard/1 paladin splash is a given. You simply are unable to pick up any necessary saves feats.

You also asked what makes a more than adequate barding in LL areas. The difference is: a normal bard can support a half way decent group, but if something critical happens, that is often the end of it. A good one carries a whole group through a nessus. If you want to know more about what I think on that, we can have a voice chat.

[woqued]

If you can't rely on your party to dish out damage, take more damage akin to what Paradoom said. It can be a huge help when forming a party with less than ideal circumstances (fairly often) while providing a fairly sturdy support toon with some offensive prowess.

If you can rely on your party to dish out destruction, I'd recommend something akin to the 4 "mandatory" epics (ench, illusion, transmutation, necromancy) + psf abjuration + psk conjuration on top for support as baseline.

PSF Abjuration for dispel + mage armor + 100% EI + absolutely gorgeous epic spell - PSK Conjuration for double healing spirit + lura phane will save 95% of any pickles your party will end up in, as well as allow you to disrupt random spawns ./ boss fights ./ escapes to your advantage. To round it up for a fully functional support bard, picking up PSF Ench for +15 gmw would be icing on cake; would still allow for some other stuff like PSK: Illusion potentially at 78. This route will be expensive however and cut down on your potential to cast offensive spells; and is quite experience reliant (may require very high level). From my experience works out beautifully in hells/abyss/abo/ely/limbo; nigh indestructible and greater dispel can be a better offensive tool than any damage bard can cast, and picking up LSF:Transmutation for better Mass Haste on top can be valuable. Something to note on this type of bard: very reliant on the rest of the party, and worse for carrying through the 41-55 content.

Something to note in overall build: be sure to grab Artist at lvl 1, and it is quite recommended to take up Legendary Artist as well; though not mandatory.

[Deleted]

PSK Trans #FreeTheParagon