Ba/AA/M

[helbrax]

I was thinking of doing a Bard/Arcane Archer/Monk build. I've looked through the forums and found a few examples, and am settling on a 9AA/1M/50BA build.
However, I'm not sure what equipment(bow and ammunition wise) I should use. I know some of the quivers require a certain level of AA, but I don't know which ones. Also, I would need to be able to find any of these easily, since I'll be starting from scratch. Any suggestions without giving away any secrets?

[bhao]

most quivers require 1 level aa and a certain number of character levels. never seen one that required more than that.

[helbrax]

Ok good. I'll have to tweak this anyway. Realized I'd be missing out on SC by not having Improved Evasion(doh!). Might be able to work around it.

[mishimayukio]

Go 35 or 36 bard levels. Your party will love you for it.

[gruntgruntson]

bhao said:

most quivers require 1 level aa and a certain number of character levels. never seen one that required more than that.

And later on, there are special Bows with unlimited ammo. These also require 1 (one) AA level.

[helbrax]

gruntgruntson said:

bhao said:

most quivers require 1 level aa and a certain number of character levels. never seen one that required more than that.

And later on, there are special Bows with unlimited ammo. These also require 1 (one) AA level.

Yeah. For some reason I was thinking the bows and quivers required high levels of AA, not just one. Don't know WHY I thought that, but I did regardless.

mishimayukio said:

Go 35 or 36 bard levels. Your party will love you for it.

I'll be level 50 including LL levels, or do you mean pre-LL? If I do that, I might as well just go 39 BA/1 M.

[bort]

39bard/1monk means no special AA bows. Ouch.
36 bard/3 aa/1 monk would be good.
or, 36 bard/3 monk/1 aa (for monk speed)

edit: on second thought if you took 4 AA preepic you'd get an extra attack per round.

[helbrax]

bort said:

39bard/1monk means no special AA bows. Ouch.
36 bard/3 aa/1 monk would be good.
or, 36 bard/3 monk/1 aa (for monk speed)

edit: on second thought if you took 4 AA preepic you'd get an extra attack per round.

Bleh forgot about not being able to use bows if I neglect AA. So 35Ba/4AA/1M sounds good.

[helbrax]

Here's what I've got so far. Sadly I have access to only to secret races(Mino and Thri-Kreen), so I'm having to use a normal race instead.

Bard(35), Arcane Archer(4), Monk(1), Elf - Wild Elf

STR: 8
DEX: 20 (35)
CON: 12
WIS: 8
INT: 10
CHA: 14 (16)

Elf - Wild Elf: (Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Keen Sense, Low-light Vision, Skill Affinity: Listen, Skill Affinity: Search, Skill Affinity: Spot, Sleeplessness, Point Blank Shot)
01: Bard(1): Luck of Heros
02: Bard(2)
03: Bard(3): Weapon Focus: longbow
04: Bard(4): CHA+1, (CHA=15)
05: Bard(5)
06: Bard(6): Lingering Song
07: Bard(7)
08: Bard(8): CHA+1, (CHA=16)
09: Arcane Archer(1): Toughness
10: Arcane Archer(2)
11: Arcane Archer(3)
12: Arcane Archer(4): DEX+1, Improved Critical: longbow, (DEX=21)
13: Bard(9)
14: Bard(10)
15: Bard(11): Extra Music
16: Bard(12): DEX+1, (DEX=22)
17: Bard(13)
18: Bard(14): Curse Song
19: Bard(15)
20: Bard(16): DEX+1, (DEX=23)
21: Bard(17): Armor Skin
22: Bard(18)
23: Bard(19)
24: Bard(20): DEX+1, Epic Prowess, (DEX=24)
25: Bard(21)
26: Bard(22)
27: Bard(23): Lasting Inspiration, Great Dexterity I, (DEX=25)
28: Bard(24): DEX+1, (DEX=26)
29: Bard(25)
30: Bard(26): Epic Weapon Focus: Longbow, Great Dexterity II, (DEX=27)
31: Bard(27)
32: Bard(28): DEX+1, (DEX=28)
33: Bard(29): Weapon Finesse, Great Dexterity III, (DEX=29)
34: Bard(30)
35: Bard(31)
36: Bard(32): DEX+1, Great Dexterity IV, Great Dexterity V, (DEX=32)
37: Bard(33)
38: Bard(34)
39: Bard(35): Great Dexterity VI, Great Dexterity VII, (DEX=34)
40: Monk(1): DEX+1, {Cleave, Evasion, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist}, (DEX=35),

Hitpoints: 330
Skillpoints: 172
Saving Throws (Fortitude/Will/Reflex): 21/21/37
Saving Throw bonuses: Mind Effects: +2
BAB: 26
AB (max, naked): 39 (melee), 44 (ranged)
AC (naked/mundane armor/shield only): 32/35

Discipline 43(42), Perform 42(45), Tumble 43(55), UMD 42(45)

Should be able to do some decent buffing, and still hit things with a bow. In LL I figure I'll focus on some saving throw feats(do bardsong saving throw bonuses count towards the +20 cap?) and take more great dex. There is a build similar to this already, but it has less AA and more Monk levels.
Should I drop a few great dexes for some Enchantment feats for GWM?

[thedomicron]

i would suggest dropping finesse and prowess, and taking great fortitude and iron will, allowing you to take the legendary saves feats for those two categories in LL. my bard/aa struggled w/ saves, and i think you'll find having a higher save allows you to curse more safely.

i would also suggest epic skill focus perform, though i'm pretty sure its not necessary. it will give you a little breathing room gearwise when trying to hit max perform

[iamaqt]

A word of caution with Perform. I have my perform maxed and wear gear with +40.... did not take ESF:perform. Deep in the hells, the penalty is so bad that my perform is actually lower than my bard level to get the maximum song/curse. So, I find myself having to sing to myself first - seperately- to boot my perform, THEN go sing for the rest of the group so they get the max bonus from my song.
Taking ESF:perform might have helped me.... I haven't crunched the numbers to know for sure.

[thedomicron]

with the recent changes to bardsong, you shouldn't have to run off, simply double sing iirc.

[helbrax]

thedomicron said:

i would suggest dropping finesse and prowess, and taking great fortitude and iron will, allowing you to take the legendary saves feats for those two categories in LL. my bard/aa struggled w/ saves, and i think you'll find having a higher save allows you to curse more safely.

i would also suggest epic skill focus perform, though i'm pretty sure its not necessary. it will give you a little breathing room gearwise when trying to hit max perform

Couldn't I just pick up those Feats in LL levels? I get 7 feats in LL if I recall. I can take ESF: Perform, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Legendary Luck, Legendary Will, Legendayr Fotitude and have a feat left over?

[thedomicron]

you probably want to max great dex. with base wisdom you'll want to boost ac all you can, and dex gives bonus to ab so you won't miss prowess. as for finesse, that's all about play style, if you like switching to melee, then by all means go for it.

as it stands, i noticed your feats list up to great dex VII, so i'd suggest taking the last three, esf: perform, and then legendary luck, legendary will, and legendary fort.

NOTE: i've not done the calculations, and i don't know where you're aiming to play the char mostly. if you want to journey into the hells, i'd definately say take the saves feats. if you're planning on non-hells LL areas, i might suggest keeping prowess and finesse and just taking the epic versions of the feats.

as a general rule of thumb, for non-hells chars, i shoot for 58 to all saves and for hells runners, i go for 60 minimum. that's personal preference, however, and with smart play and a little knowledge of the area, you might find you need less.