Micro Medic (A build by request)

[sigtrent]

From Sigtrent's Build Request Thread (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=117232)

Build Name: Micro Medic
Author: Sigfried Trent
Requester: Quartzite
Last Updated:06/24/10

Key Words [Healing, Halfling, Dragonmark, Bard, Spellsinger, 28pts]

Objectives
The request was for a 28pt dragonmark Halfling bard that could rival a cleric in healing while maintaining a bard’s inherent versatility.

Design
Dragonmarks really chew up feat slots and bard is not a feat rich class. This narrows the range of what I can do unless I multiclass a fair bit and that slows down level progression and chews away at the already shallow mana pool. Speaking of mana pools, it was something I wanted to expand. Spellsinger was obvious but the single sorcerer level helps quite a bit, especially at the lower levels where it’s adding 200 mana and helps set up spellsinger without using a feat. Getting jump and shield is just a nice bonus. You could do the same with favored soul, and be a bit more in keeping with the theme, but as it’s a 28pt build, I wanted to avoid any use of premium classes and the difference in benefit is small.
In the versatility department, I made sure to take enough strength to put masters touch to decent effect. Inspire courage and greater heroism is often enough to keep a bard’s combat skills in the helpful range and give them some solo-ability. Since charisma is close to maxed out, DC values for control spells are workable until the very high levels at which point you rely much more on fascinate’s monster DCs and immunity to spell resistance. I also threw in a summon and a tiny bit of damage casting to round things out.
I can’t resist Halfling companion on bard builds. It’s really a very powerful buff to throw on a lead tank or DPS character that makes Halfling bards unique and sought after.


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.34
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Level 20 Neutral Good Halfling Male
(1 Sorcerer \ 19 Bard)
Hit Points: 220
Spell Points: 1086
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 9
Reflex: 13
Will: 13

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 14 14
Dexterity 12 12
Constitution 14 14
Intelligence 8 8
Wisdom 8 8
Charisma 16 24

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 5 11
Bluff 3 7
Concentration 6 29
Diplomacy 3 7
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 3 28
Heal -1 1
Hide 1 3
Intimidate 3 7
Jump 5 14
Listen -1 1
Move Silently 1 3
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform 7 31
Repair -1 -1
Search -1 -1
Spot -1 -1
Swim 2 2
Tumble 2 2
Use Magic Device 7 32

Level 1 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+4)
Skill: Concentration (+4)
Skill: Jump (+3)
Skill: Perform (+4)
Skill: Tumble (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+4)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (1): Master's Touch
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Perform I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I


Level 2 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Hypnotism
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery I


Level 3 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Spell (1): Cure Light Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I


Level 4 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I


Level 5 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Grease
Spell (2): Invisibility
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion II
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery II


Level 6 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Healing
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song II
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II


Level 7 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (2): Rage
Spell (3): Haste
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II


Level 8 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Spell (1): Jump
Spell (1): Shield
Enhancement: Bard Concentration I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II


Level 9 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Perform (+2)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (3): Displacement
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage II
Enhancement: Bard Concentration II


Level 10 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I


Level 11 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Remove Curse
Spell (4): Freedom of Movement
Spell (4): Otto's Sphere of Dancing
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III
Enhancement: Bard Improved Spell Penetration I


Level 12 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (4): Dimension Door
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic III


Level 13 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic IV


Level 14 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (4): Hold Monster
Spell (5): Greater Heroism
Spell (5): Mass Cure Light Wounds
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use IV


Level 15 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Spell (5): Summon Monster V
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage III


Level 16 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Enhancement: Bard Charisma III


Level 17 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Detect Secret Doors
Spell (5): Mass Suggestion
Spell (6): Otto's Irresistable Dance
Spell (6): Mass Cure Moderate Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song III


Level 18 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (6): Greater Shout
Spell (2): Glitterdust
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II


Level 19 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Crushing Despair
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion III
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Incredible Song I


Level 20 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (4): Neutralize Poison
Spell (6): Mass Charm Monster
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion IV




Play
Micro medic is a great spot healer and makes an excellent companion for a tank. It’s a great duo character of to assign to a raid tank. It is not an especially strong group healer though, and may not be able to keep a group standing that is getting hammered hard and fast. If you include their free heals the micor medic should make a very reasonable cleric substitute in most situations.
In combat you should take a no-agro approach, trying to avoid any unwanted attention and generally going in after throwing down a disco ball or the like to minimize danger. Neither your HP nor AC is capable of withstanding all that much abuse at higher levels.

Variations
A 32pt version is possible and you can certainly play around a bit with the stats. Further multiclassing is also an option, especially at higher levels. You could beef up combat with fighter or grab another 100sp with favored soul.

[Quartzite]

Interesting and definitely close to what I had in mind.

What would you say to taking a level of Cleric instead of Sorc? It would allow a few small DVs, access to lower-level Cleric wands and spells without UMD at the expense of some SP. If that were the direction I probably would lower Str and Dex to raise Wis some more, maybe even consider 18 Cha. It's definitely a good template, I'm just interested in some potential tweaks.

How do you think Maximise/ Empower would go as an alternative to Empowered Healing? It is less SP efficient than Emp Healing for SP based heals- but for Dragonmarked Heals it gives a "Free" boost. With Extra Dragonmark IV, that's a lot of heals able to be used for free before even needing to touch the SP pool. Just my ideas...

[spifflove]

I love the build idea. In practice though I think stacks of heal and mass cure mod scrolls are the way to go.

A healing barb could rock the house. Very fascinating.

[Freeman]

Your leveling guide lists Extend as your level 12 feat, but the feat list has Mental Toughness instead, so you should clarify which is correct.(I can see either one being used) I would take the sorc level earlier, probably second level. That way, you get the benefit of the extra spell points as soon as possible. Also, you could use some offensive sorc spells for a level or two at that point.

[geezee]

Dont you get more mana if you take sorc at level 1?

[Taerdra]

The sorcerer level is a waste IMO. You gain only SPs, but lose 1 BAB, an extra spell slot, and the next level of Inspire Courage.

Go Bard 14 and take Spellsinger.

[sigtrent]

What would you say to taking a level of Cleric instead of Sorc? It would allow a few small DVs, access to lower-level Cleric wands and spells without UMD at the expense of some SP. If that were the direction I probably would lower Str and Dex to raise Wis some more, maybe even consider 18 Cha. It's definitely a good template, I'm just interested in some potential tweaks.

Ya, I played around with some of those options.. I actualy almost made this character for another request, but it just didn't quite "work" the way I wanted. The need to have a decent wisdom really killed any possibility of doing any kind of combat and I always hate doing that, especialy with a bard and you had mentioned being able to do bard things. Being able to focus less on healing and freed up the build a bit to make it more well rounded.

So the thing is, cleric doesn't add nearly the SP that sorcerer does. If you don't mind that it works fine, and if takign cleric, I'd take that early. Generaly speaking cleric doesn't have a lot of wand access that bard doesn't already have. Lesser restore is the most noteable but you can UMD that one fairly easily and there are potions for it as well.

I think't its certainly a viable way to go. Don't be tempted to try both though, that really didn't work out well when I tried it.



How do you think Maximise/ Empower would go as an alternative to Empowered Healing? It is less SP efficient than Emp Healing for SP based heals- but for Dragonmarked Heals it gives a "Free" boost. With Extra Dragonmark IV, that's a lot of heals able to be used for free before even needing to touch the SP pool. Just my ideas...

I was thinking that Empower Healing worked with the dragon marks. If not.. then I'd probably go with empower... I think. I havn't actualy played with the marks of healing so my knowledge is just based on what I have read about them. I have played a WF who uses empower for repair spells (and everything else). That works pretty well for self healing, and with the new Meta magic system incoming it may be pretty decent with high level spells but less so with low level ones. Fortunately you could freely re-spec it so long as you have a shard depending on if it works or not. I wish I knew for sure. If EH doesn't work.. I might start with it anyhow, and then swap it for empower or maximize once you get the greater dragon marks.

[sigtrent]

Your leveling guide lists Extend as your level 12 feat, but the feat list has Mental Toughness instead, so you should clarify which is correct.(I can see either one being used) I would take the sorc level earlier, probably second level. That way, you get the benefit of the extra spell points as soon as possible. Also, you could use some offensive sorc spells for a level or two at that point.

I always make some kind of error.. lol. I was indecisive as to which and made the switch to extend towards the end.

Taking Socr early is definately a viable option. I don't think offensive spells would be usefull though.. I've had level 1 sorcereres and I usualy end up using crossbows for damage until I get to level 2 or 3 as it does more damage than their spells do.

[sigtrent]

The sorcerer level is a waste IMO. You gain only SPs, but lose 1 BAB, an extra spell slot, and the next level of Inspire Courage.

Go Bard 14 and take Spellsinger.

I appreciate the advice but I though I'd explain...

You get more than 100 SP from sorcerer which isn't insignificant.

I already have Spellsinger in the build.

I couldn't think of a usefull spell for the third level 4 spell.

There is no Inspire Courage bump at level 14 so far as I can tell (but correct me if I am wrong). You will note I didn't take the inspire attack line.. I was short on AP and decided that GH would suffice, so I took the cheaper damage line to full.

[Freeman]

I always make some kind of error.. lol. I was indecisive as to which and made the switch to extend towards the end.

Taking Socr early is definately a viable option. I don't think offensive spells would be usefull though.. I've had level 1 sorcereres and I usualy end up using crossbows for damage until I get to level 2 or 3 as it does more damage than their spells do.

If you took Sorc at second level, then Niac's would still be a decent spell until level 3-4. At that point, it would start to lose it usefulness, and it could be easily switched out for something more utility-oriented.

As for your feat selection, I don't think I'd recommend Empower Healing. First, without any enhancements to reduce the cost, empowered cure spells will burn through your spellpoints far too quickly to make it useful for most situations. At laster levels, your best burst healing will most likely be from Heal scrolls, so the feat won't help with that. Instead, I'd recommend picking either the Spell Focus: Enchantment to help you CC, or perhaps Skill Focus: UMD, to reduce the failure rate of Heal scrolls when you need them. They are DC 40, so it would reduce your failure rate from 20% to 5% of the time when using them.

Oh, and Inspire Courage gains +1/+1 at level 14. But if you don't have the enhancements for the song either, then it obviously isn't that important for this build. Although I would try to work some of the attack enhancements in if you can. Those are the most beneficial.

For those who are saying it is a waste, the level of sorc can be very beneficial for a bard focusing on healing. The additional spellpoints are a significant bonus if you are healing with your own power instead of wands and scrolls. Yes, there are drawbacks, but you have to focus on the purpose of the character, not solely the gains and losses.

[Taerdra]

I appreciate the advice but I though I'd explain...

You get more than 100 SP from sorcerer which isn't insignificant.

I already have Spellsinger in the build.

I couldn't think of a usefull spell for the third level 4 spell.

There is no Inspire Courage bump at level 14 so far as I can tell (but correct me if I am wrong). You will note I didn't take the inspire attack line.. I was short on AP and decided that GH would suffice, so I took the cheaper damage line to full.

Sorry... I keep forgetting where you put enhancements in your layout. My apologies. Every time I read one, I have to go back and look for them... I'll learn. Eventually. :rolleyes:

I still think that including some of the attack and damage enhancements along with the additional 1 BAB and extra 5th level spell (Mind Fog would be my pick) are very worthwhile, more valuable to me than the extra SPs from Sorceror. The DMs more than make up for the lost spell points. Based on what I've read, that gives you ~ 800 free sps on its own.

Normally, I agree with you and Freeman here in terms of focusing on doing what you do really well. But a Bard with 1000 sps and 800 sps from DMs and burst healing from scrolls has more than enough healing. Going further by taking the 1 Sorcerer level, sacrifices the versatility of the bard that seemed to be one of your goals.

Anyway, my 2 coppers. It is a very thought-provoking build in that the Healing mark can be used to optimize a class's secondary ability very well or add a secondary capability to a class that cannot heal. I liked the cleric version someone else posted, but this use really opens my eyes to its potential (like say, a halfling ranger/monk w/ DMs, etc.).

[sigtrent]

Ahhh, yes I see in the compendium that there is a Courage bump at 14.. its different than in PnP and not in the DDO Wiki which I generaly find mroe accurate than the compendium :P

That does tip a bit more in favor of pure bard.. I'll consider changing the build here to reflect that.

BTW: The empower healing is mostly there to take advantage of the free dragon mark spells, the idea bening that they are effected by it without any real "cost". If that doesn't work for whatever reason then I probably would not take it or at least wait untill later levels to do so. Mana wise it should be efficient on most spells since the effect boost is proportional to the cost, at least according to the description. With the new system coming that will shift around a bit depending on the level of the spell. If I hear that it doesn't work I'll adjust the build a bit.

[A_Sheep]

If you take Sorc or Cleric, I'd take it at level 1 to get the "Magical Training" feat which is 80 SP for free I think.

[sigtrent]

If you take Sorc or Cleric, I'd take it at level 1 to get the "Magical Training" feat which is 80 SP for free I think.

You get that no matter which level you take it at. The deal is, you only get it once, even if more than one class is entitled to it, so if you are a Sorc/Wiz for instance you get Magical Training with whichever class you took at level 1, and not the one you took afterwards. I think this misconception stems from clerics who splash socerer. They have more SP "added" when they take sorcerer at first level, but what they don't realize is they are getting less from thier first cleric level because they already have magical training.

[Quartzite]

I actually like the splash of Sorc more than pure Bard. The build is meant to be an optimised healing Bard able to CC and buff, too (but not optimised for that). Melee is a last resort, I already have a Battlebard I use for buffing/ melee. Compare this build to a healbot Cleric. Heal Scrolls are great, but that is partially what the Greater Dragonmark is for you get 5 Heals per rest at no mana cost. You also get a whole heap of mana free of Cure Serious and Cure Light spells, too.

Wands will still be needed for restores and things. I did the maths on Cleric and you lose out on too many (about 70) SP by taking that over Sorc. I want to be able to group with people, when no Clerics are around and have them say by the end "I couldn't even notice we didn't have a Cleric". And I don't want to be spending millions of plat on healing wands just to heal well.

So endurance is important and efficiency is important, I'm not sure what caster level Heal scrolls are- but the Dragonmark is automatically caster level 14.

So basically I think the original template does very well for what it is intended to do. It's not the best, or most fun bard build in the world. It is specialised and narrow compared to a lot of bards, but that's the point. The DDO world needs more focused healers- groups are always looking for Clerics. I want to be able to fill that hole as completely as possible with this build.

I'll need to try Empowered Healing and see if it works on Dragonmarks like Maximise. I'll take Sorc at 2 to make the lower levels easier (go from 90 SP at level 1 to 310 at level 2). I'll also consider going 18 Cha and knocking down Str and Dex slightly. A 32 point build would basically gain melee compentency over this build. But overall even as 28 points it's very solid as a healer/ CC.

[hazur]

Greetings,

Why not try a level of cleric instead of sorcerer? You still gain some extra SP from magical training I believe (not nearly as much as from sorc) and you get easier use of divine scrolls I believe. Also, with MOD 5, the entire charisma modifier is going to be factored into DVs. So if you had say, 30 charisma, that would be +10 DVs. If you went as far as to spend a feat on the extra turns and the 1 point for the enhancement, you could end up sporting about 18 or so DVs. Granted they are DV1s, but that could give an average of around 300 SP to someone else in the party. That factored in with the cleric SP is more than the sorc will get you SP wise. Also the level 1 cleric spells seem a bit better for utility purposes. Let me know, I'd like to hear your thoughts as I am currently making a healing spec'd bard that is one level of cleric.

Regards,
Booser

[Quartzite]

Hmm... based on what you're saying about DVs it may well be worth it. Sorceror gives about 70 more SP than Cleric at level 2 (assuming I increase 12 Wis vs 18 Cha) and the gap would be even bigger with 18 Wis (+5 item, +1 tome) vs 30 Cha. But overall a level of Cleric does fit the feel of the build better. It just needs to be viable. With max UMD Scrolls and Wands won't be a probably past about level 7 (once I get the Golden Cartouche), but having greater wand usage until then is always a boon. I'll probably hold off until 1750 and Mod V to make this character and I'll quite possible do a 32-point build with a splash of Cleric for the DVs (I'd spend the enhancement but not the feat).

[FluffyDucky]

When deciding between splashing sorcerer or cleric for a healing bard is it worth considering access to repair spells? A healer that can handle both WF and fleshes would be a boost to many groups.

[Freeman]

When deciding between splashing sorcerer or cleric for a healing bard is it worth considering access to repair spells? A healer that can handle both WF and fleshes would be a boost to many groups.

With a bard's UMD, the repair wands wouldn't be much of an issue past level 7 or so. I always carry both Heal and Reconstruct scrolls on my bard, although most WF I run with are used to taking care of themselves. It does surprise them to get a full repair from someone else occasionally though.

[Quartzite]

When deciding between splashing sorcerer or cleric for a healing bard is it worth considering access to repair spells? A healer that can handle both WF and fleshes would be a boost to many groups.

What Freeman said. Also- my main is a WF, and I expect that most WF will spend 2 AP getting Healer's Friend I. Going from 50% healing done (hence 2x mana cost) to 65% healing done (hence 1.5x healing cost) is such a boost that any WF worth their salt takes it. 1.5x mana inefficiency isn't really that bad for a single group member that is immune to a lot of other forms of damage. I have no problems healing WF with Cure spells as long as they aren't a moron.

[hazur]

I have my new cleric-splashed bard to 9 now, 8 bard/1 cleric. He has around 820 SP on him now with spellsinger, 28 charisma and a pearl of power 6. I have had 13 DV1s on him since I took the cleric level (I took it at 6 I believe so I could take the +turn feat). I know the +turn feat is not super, but I just wanted to maximize the DVs. DV1s do 3d4+10 SP, for a min of 13 (almost never see the min) and a max of 22. I usually see a lot of 18-20s. But taking the real average of 17 (rounded down) and multiplying it by 13 we get around 220. Even going for a lower average of 15 a shot and you are getting around 200. At these lower levels it is colossal let me tell you. Hit someone with 200 SP, hit the shrine, hit them with another 200 SP, they can save that shrine for a while. With the number of shrines in some quests, this just gets silly. I realize at the cap this is not as super, but still, 200+ SP plus the bonus from the cleric level exceeds the sorc level in my opinion. Some casters and clerics especially can do a heck of a lot more with 200+ more SP than a bard can. This will shine a lot more after MOD 5 I think. I will have around 18 or 19 DVs after the change, which averages out to 300+ SP. Factor that in with the new metamagic and spellsong trance, that is quite a few empowered heals a cleric can throw (a lot more healing than you can do with the as the above poster said around 70 more SP you get from sorc?) Plus the novelty of a DVing bard is wonderful. It gets me into more groups and gets me a lot more love in general from groups. I also noticed another neat tidbit. You can use the remove fear spell from the cleric level and it will last 20 minutes with extend. Saves you from grabbing it as a bard spell. Also having Nightshield is fun, especially with the MM changes coming. But sorc gets shield at level 1 I think, so that's not much of a difference. Just my two cents, have any of you also tried this yet?

[Borror0]

Ahhh, yes I see in the compendium that there is a Courage bump at 14.. its different than in PnP and not in the DDO Wiki which I generaly find mroe accurate than the compendium :P

Fixed that! You know that the wiki is well.. a wiki, you can change the wrong information in there. If you mess up in the syntax or whatever, I'll repair. Simply correction th wrong information! :)

PS: I'm not directing this to you Sigtrent, but to everyone.

[maddong]

I think you are better off sacrificing the double charisma bonus for an extra feat (wizard level). Feats are critical when you are taking full dragonmarks and then the metamagics to maximize them. This is my typical strategy I've done on my other dragonmark builds.

[jrex417]

Given the tomes are available which for me they are (im very interested in your spec idea sigtrent) i figured to pick up inspired attack, I would give up charisma III and substitute a +2 Charisma tome in instead, giving one extra charisma but also replacing the charisma lost by the enhancement. I also moved sorcerer to level 2 so that healing in groups in the earlier levels would be much easier for people as someone above had stated. I had origionaly put favored soul in there instead of sorc, BUT i found jump and sheild more useful AND in style of a "Bard" (Being supportive and needed at times). All that being said id like feedback on what people think about this. Personnaly i think this build will work out quite nicely as a raid tank healer, and in lower levels a party healer with buffs included which are always well loved. Tell me what ya think about this Sig if you get the time.


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Leilanah The Songstress
Level 20 True Neutral Halfling Female
(1 Sorcerer \ 19 Bard)
Hit Points: 220
Spell Points: 1086
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 9
Reflex: 13
Will: 13

Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Base Stats Modified Stats
(28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20)
Strength 14 14 14
Dexterity 12 12 12
Constitution 14 14 14
Intelligence 8 8 8
Wisdom 8 8 8
Charisma 16 23 25

Tomes Used

+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 5 12
Bluff 3 7
Concentration 6 29
Diplomacy 3 7
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 3 29
Heal -1 1
Hide 1 5
Intimidate 3 7
Jump 5 14
Listen -1 1
Move Silently 1 3
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform 7 29
Repair -1 -1
Search -1 -1
Spot -1 -1
Swim 2 2
Tumble 2 2
Use Magic Device 7 32

Level 1 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+4)
Skill: Concentration (+4)
Skill: Jump (+3)
Skill: Perform (+4)
Skill: Tumble (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+4)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (1): Cure Light Wounds


Level 2 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Spell (1): Jump
Spell (1): Shield


Level 3 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (1): Hypnotism


Level 4 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Charm Person


Level 5 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds


Level 6 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (1): Expeditious Retreat
Spell (2): Heroism


Level 7 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 8 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+2)
Spell (2): Rage
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Spell (3): Haste


Level 9 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (3): Good Hope


Level 10 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 11 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Displacement
Spell (4): Otto's Sphere of Dancing
Spell (4): Neutralize Poison


Level 12 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Spell (4): Cure Critical Wounds


Level 13 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 14 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (4): Hold Monster
Spell (5): Greater Heroism
Spell (5): Mass Cure Light Wounds


Level 15 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Spell (5): Summon Monster V


Level 16 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 17 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Detect Secret Doors
Spell (5): Mass Suggestion
Spell (6): Mass Cure Moderate Wounds
Spell (6): Otto's Irresistable Dance


Level 18 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (2): Glitterdust
Spell (6): Greater Shout


Level 19 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Remove Curse


Level 20 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (6): Mass Charm Monster
Spell (4): Freedom of Movement
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack III
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage III
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song II
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song III
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use IV
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion I
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion II
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion III
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Concentration I
Enhancement: Bard Concentration II
Enhancement: Bard Perform I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Incredible Song I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic III
Enhancement: Bard Improved Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery I
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery II

[bartosy]

I would focus more on the buffing part then the enchantment landing spells part, so skip the spell pen from the action points and get another rank of the healing things bards have. Cause quite frankly without spell focus enhenc and the loss of the capstone at the expense of 1 sorc level youre not gonna have a verry high dc on your spells anyways, it's -4 already to a spell specced spellsinger. I can understand the need for it tho.. because noone likes to a buff dog that runs behind the tank 100% of the time while people screaming halfling buff plz halfling buff plz.. and trust me I've been there with a tred halfing bard=> bard..

the heroic companion is like crack to some people, especially to barbarians with big axes. It takes a special kind of person to play a halfing bard focused on healing and buffing the party, especially cause you lack a feat the human race get or the immunities the warforged get. Sure you got nice saves but theres no investment of ap in that theres only 10 points dumped into looking others look better instead of yourself..

Oh a question tho why empower healing spell and not maximise? Since you got some free healing spells might as well make the best out of it + i thought that for mass heals maximise was the better option. just wondering tho i could be wrong on that assumption.

[brinclhof]

another reason I think that taking the lvl of sorc is valuable.

This is supposed to be a healing build. Well it is a good healing build for flesh based characters. And with the lvl of sorc you get access to repair wands and scrolls. then you can be a competent healer for warforged too. Then you would be a competent healer for anyone in the party and would be very well rounded.

[jrex417]

I would focus more on the buffing part then the enchantment landing spells part, so skip the spell pen from the action points and get another rank of the healing things bards have. Cause quite frankly without spell focus enhenc and the loss of the capstone at the expense of 1 sorc level youre not gonna have a verry high dc on your spells anyways, it's -4 already to a spell specced spellsinger. I can understand the need for it tho.. because noone likes to a buff dog that runs behind the tank 100% of the time while people screaming halfling buff plz halfling buff plz.. and trust me I've been there with a tred halfing bard=> bard..

the heroic companion is like crack to some people, especially to barbarians with big axes. It takes a special kind of person to play a halfing bard focused on healing and buffing the party, especially cause you lack a feat the human race get or the immunities the warforged get. Sure you got nice saves but theres no investment of ap in that theres only 10 points dumped into looking others look better instead of yourself..

Oh a question tho why empower healing spell and not maximise? Since you got some free healing spells might as well make the best out of it + i thought that for mass heals maximise was the better option. just wondering tho i could be wrong on that assumption.

True and i took empower because maximize works with damaging spells and id be using it on my healing spells, as sig had stated empower should work with the dragonmark. worst comes to worst and it doesont work its good if your really need that bigger heal on someone. I may be confusing myself but as far as i know theres only a empower healing not Maximize healing.

[BoBoDaClown]

another reason I think that taking the lvl of sorc is valuable.

This is supposed to be a healing build. Well it is a good healing build for flesh based characters. And with the lvl of sorc you get access to repair wands and scrolls. then you can be a competent healer for warforged too. Then you would be a competent healer for anyone in the party and would be very well rounded.

You will have high enough UMD to cast reconstructs etc without splashing sorc.

[BoBoDaClown]

True and i took empower because maximize works with damaging spells and id be using it on my healing spells, as sig had stated empower should work with the dragonmark. worst comes to worst and it doesont work its good if your really need that bigger heal on someone. I may be confusing myself but as far as i know theres only a empower healing not Maximize healing.

Maximise increases the effect of your healing spells - it is better for a healer than Empower Healing.

However, I'm pretty sure maximise does not work with the 'greater' healing dragon mark.

[Darkrok]

Maximise increases the effect of your healing spells - it is better for a healer than Empower Healing.

However, I'm pretty sure maximise does not work with the 'greater' healing dragon mark.

I'm not sure I agree that Maximize is always better than Empower Healing for a bard healer but here's the facts with a strict focus on healing.

Maximize effects all 'Cure' and 'Mass Cure' spells (including the least and lesser healing dragonmark) but does not affect any 'Heal' or 'Mass Heal' spells (including the greater healing dragonmark). It costs 25 extra sp's and doubles the effect.

Empower Healing effects all 'Cure' and 'Mass Cure' spells (including the least and lesser healing dragonmark) AND all 'Heal' and 'Mass Heal' spells (including the greater healing dragonmark). It costs 10 extra sp's and adds 50% to the effect.

If you run the numbers based on the assumptions of 40% amp from enhancements and 75% amp from a pot/clicky (easy to do on a bard) and using the Guide - How boosts to healing stack (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=252161&highlight=healing+amp+stack) you come up with some interesting numbers. The average non-crit cure serious wounds with no meta's running would be 61. with a cost of 20sp's that's about 3hp's healed per spell point. The average with empower healing running is 91 and with the cost of 30sp's is still around 3hp's healed per spell point. Maximize pushes that to 122 but the cost leaps to 45sp's which drives the efficiency down to 2.79 hp's/sp.

I could go on with all the numbers in the spreadsheet but it boils down this way for Bards:
1) Maximize is never more efficient than empower healing or no meta's. Not until Mass Cure Moderate does Maximize pull even in efficiency with Empower Healing. This is because our level 6 spells only cost 25sp's which is the cost of Maximize.
2) Maximize works out to 33% more healing than Empower Healing.
3) For the Mass Cures only, Maximize + Empower Healing is more efficient than either meta alone or no meta's. It's simply the best that you can do both in power of the heals and in efficiency.
4) If you're using Quicken then the break-even point between the healing efficiency actually moves up to Cure Critical. This means if you always run with Quicken on and only want to have one of them running then Maximize is your choice for most of the heals you'd be using.
5) If you're using Quicken then running both Maximize and Empower will almost always be the right choice - only Cure Light and Cure Moderate deviate at that point.

Finally, with regards to the dragonmarks (assuming the healing amp is the same) you'd be getting
30 x 9, 91 x 7, and 483 x 5 with Empower Healing for a total of 3,097 healing on average. You'd be getting 40 x 9, 122 x 7, and 322 x 5 with Maximize for a total of 2,824 healing on average. Now you can argue about which heals are more useful...that's going to depend a lot on who you're healing and what you're healing them through. But the empower healing provides more total healing from the dragonmarks - just less from the smaller ones. Obviously if you can fit both feats in then the dragonmarks benefit greatly - 51 x 9, 152 x 7, and 483 x 5 for 3938 healing.

[jrex417]

Its all preferance really, cleric has its plus sides and so does sorc, so far im lvl 4 (3bard,1sorc) using my build and its going great i healed irestone inlet on elite ww elite so on alot of them somewhat challanging to heal things for a low level and it went fine, no sp issues no nothing. Had people saying woah did a bard just main heal us lol. But ya its doing very nicely so far. I know that the splash in sorc for me is nice for wf at lower levels when ppl are jsut working on getting healers friend (wf), i can use repair wands on them. Anywho so far so good.

[BoBoDaClown]

I'm not sure I agree that Maximize is always better than Empower Healing for a bard healer but here's the facts with a strict focus on healing.

Maximize effects all 'Cure' and 'Mass Cure' spells (including the least and lesser healing dragonmark) but does not affect any 'Heal' or 'Mass Heal' spells (including the greater healing dragonmark). It costs 25 extra sp's and doubles the effect.

Empower Healing effects all 'Cure' and 'Mass Cure' spells (including the least and lesser healing dragonmark) AND all 'Heal' and 'Mass Heal' spells (including the greater healing dragonmark). It costs 10 extra sp's and adds 50% to the effect.

If you run the numbers based on the assumptions of 40% amp from enhancements and 75% amp from a pot/clicky (easy to do on a bard) and using the Guide - How boosts to healing stack (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=252161&highlight=healing+amp+stack) you come up with some interesting numbers. The average non-crit cure serious wounds with no meta's running would be 61. with a cost of 20sp's that's about 3hp's healed per spell point. The average with empower healing running is 91 and with the cost of 30sp's is still around 3hp's healed per spell point. Maximize pushes that to 122 but the cost leaps to 45sp's which drives the efficiency down to 2.79 hp's/sp.

I could go on with all the numbers in the spreadsheet but it boils down this way for Bards:
1) Maximize is never more efficient than empower healing or no meta's. Not until Mass Cure Moderate does Maximize pull even in efficiency with Empower Healing. This is because our level 6 spells only cost 25sp's which is the cost of Maximize.
2) Maximize works out to 33% more healing than Empower Healing.
3) For the Mass Cures only, Maximize + Empower Healing is more efficient than either meta alone or no meta's. It's simply the best that you can do both in power of the heals and in efficiency.
4) If you're using Quicken then the break-even point between the healing efficiency actually moves up to Cure Critical. This means if you always run with Quicken on and only want to have one of them running then Maximize is your choice for most of the heals you'd be using.
5) If you're using Quicken then running both Maximize and Empower will almost always be the right choice - only Cure Light and Cure Moderate deviate at that point.

Finally, with regards to the dragonmarks (assuming the healing amp is the same) you'd be getting
30 x 9, 91 x 7, and 483 x 5 with Empower Healing for a total of 3,097 healing on average. You'd be getting 40 x 9, 122 x 7, and 322 x 5 with Maximize for a total of 2,824 healing on average. Now you can argue about which heals are more useful...that's going to depend a lot on who you're healing and what you're healing them through. But the empower healing provides more total healing from the dragonmarks - just less from the smaller ones. Obviously if you can fit both feats in then the dragonmarks benefit greatly - 51 x 9, 152 x 7, and 483 x 5 for 3938 healing.

Personally on a bard healer (as opposed to a bard who can 'assist' healing), I think you should be trying to punch as hard as possible, due to their lighter healing, and so maximise gives you that ooomph. Now, with DMs thrown into the equation, it probably isn't so clear, but I still think strong mass cures are more valuable than pumped up heals, but that probably depends on the nature of your questing.

[Darkrok]

Personally on a bard healer (as opposed to a bard who can 'assist' healing), I think you should be trying to punch as hard as possible, due to their lighter healing, and so maximise gives you that ooomph. Now, with DMs thrown into the equation, it probably isn't so clear, but I still think strong mass cures are more valuable than pumped up heals, but that probably depends on the nature of your questing.

I agree with you as to which is more useful for the most part...it's just that it's not cut and dry about which is more efficient.

As for the DM's, if I were going to build a toon to use those on a bard I'd go all-out for it. 3 DM feats, 3 casting feats (emp heal/quicken/max), and Toughness. We pump up our Heal and get an even bigger cast from each spell. Stacking all 3 metamagics is also the most efficient sp-wise for the Mass Cure's.

[BoBoDaClown]

Stacking all 3 metamagics is also the most efficient sp-wise for the Mass Cure's.

As long as there is no wasted healing :)

[richieelias27]

It's probably important to note that this build was designed waaaaaay back when 1 level of sorc granted double SP from items and allowed no-UMD usage of all scrolls. Since it no longer works this way, Sorcerer is pretty much a waste of a level (except for a small boost to SP by double-dipping in a casting stat). If you absolutely must multi with sorc/wiz, go with wizard and at least get yourself a free metamagic feat out of it.

edit: nevermind. I see the build currently up is actually an updated version... I still stand by sorc being a total waste of a level.

[geezee]

You sure give up a lot for that sorc splash. +1/+1 attack damage on your song, +1 spell pen, a 5th level spell slot, and the bard capstone, which gives +2 CHA, +20% song duration, and another +2 spell pen (for a total of +3 spell pen).

How many spell points does the spash give you after you take all that into account? It would have to be a lot of spell points to be worth it.

Using repair wands is not an issue as a CHA-based bard can UMD anything in the game.

[Ramadus]

I was wondering, with the upcoming U7 update.. Spellsinger II is going to be released.
Is there a way to work this into the build? Because the spells given from Spellsinger II would come in handy.

[BoBoDaClown]

I was wondering, with the upcoming U7 update.. Spellsinger II is going to be released.
Is there a way to work this into the build? Because the spells given from Spellsinger II would come in handy.

Seriously- a sorc level is a waste.

A build I am considering:

Halfling (36pt -adjust)
Con: 18
Cha: 18

1) DM
3) DM
6) Empower Healing
9) DM
12) Maximise
15) Quicken
18) Toughness or Heighten or Extend (preference)

-This guys brings +7/+7 songs plus spellsinger's sp regen song.
-Can take a healing spot on almost all content.
-Can cast mediocre CC (-4 compared to a specced SS on a Hold M or Ottos if no Heighten, -2 for decent CC if take Heighten).

*You could consider yourself primarily a healer, with a CC option.
*I justify the lack of toughness by taking high con (i.e. no toughness but 18 con = bards that start with 14 con and toughness). However, I might very well take toughness as the last slot - at least until I am happy with my hp. Certainly that last feat is something that could be experimented with.

I would say that this build is not suitable for new players.

[bccorrupt817]

I actually started a build a couple weeks ago from scratch mainly because I couldn't find anything similar to what I was looking for and you might consider some of my choices.

Tric(Cannith server)
10bard/1wiz Drow

I was looking for a heal-spec'd bard with some light melee ability, but with little regard for cc(doesn't interest me). Swapping one mental toughness, power attack, and slash crit for the dragonmarks should work fine for you.
So far feat-wise:
Toughness
Extend---already swapped out for Quicken
Empower healing
Mental toughness
Power attack

Slash Crit(lvl 12)
Maximize(lvl15)
Improved mental toughness or THF(undecided)(lvl18)

I made the decision to go wiz instead of sor for a couple reasons. The 3 lvl 1 spells mostly didn't interest me, plus I keep divine power clickies in my goggle slot, but I also have a set w/ 1 charge and +1 int to swap to if +1 int boat buff has run out and I want to cast shield spell, jump, etc. Wiz gave me the same +80sp as sor and also gave me an extra feat(you are pretty feat strapped w/ using 3 for dragonmarks so this might be a good choice for you, for me it gave 100+sp at cap from mental toughness I probably wouldn't have been able to fit in otherwise). Another thing you might consider just depending on how important crowd control is to you is that 2nd lvl of wiz will add the first enhancements of efficient maximize, quicken, empower, etc which considering I'm not concerned about cc on my build I'll be going 18bard/2wiz.

So far I've gotten nothing but rave reviews. He was the 2nd healer in a TS run at lvl 8 and handled the blur/haste + backup healing duties w/ sp to spare and solo healed VON 1-4 at lvl 9 with no trouble and considering my lean toward light melee your build should have awesome healing abilities. If you haven't started it already go for it.

Also, you'll love the abilities the first lvl of wiz or sor will give you in the low lvls before you can UMD items. At 3 lvls total web wands, 7 total lvls you'll have access to stoneskin wands, ice storm wands, good repair wands(you should see the look on the warforged face in VON when you're out of sp and tell him "no bother" and pull out a serious repair wand)---actually got me a rather large TIP and at lvl 10 you'll have access to knock lvl 10 wands FAR before you could UMD any of these things.

This toon actually was 6bard/2fighter/2rogue when I abandoned him about 4 months ago(I deleted him so I could keep the name and had no intentions of using him ever again). DPS was FAR inferior to the 10 paladin I have and was only going to get worse as only bard lvls were added. This new build...love it....love it....love it.

[maddmatt70]

Given the tomes are available which for me they are (im very interested in your spec idea sigtrent) i figured to pick up inspired attack, I would give up charisma III and substitute a +2 Charisma tome in instead, giving one extra charisma but also replacing the charisma lost by the enhancement. I also moved sorcerer to level 2 so that healing in groups in the earlier levels would be much easier for people as someone above had stated. I had origionaly put favored soul in there instead of sorc, BUT i found jump and sheild more useful AND in style of a "Bard" (Being supportive and needed at times). All that being said id like feedback on what people think about this. Personnaly i think this build will work out quite nicely as a raid tank healer, and in lower levels a party healer with buffs included which are always well loved. Tell me what ya think about this Sig if you get the time.


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Leilanah The Songstress
Level 20 True Neutral Halfling Female
(1 Sorcerer \ 19 Bard)
Hit Points: 220
Spell Points: 1086
BAB: 14\14\19\24
Fortitude: 9
Reflex: 13
Will: 13

Starting Ending Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Base Stats Modified Stats
(28 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20) (Level 20)
Strength 14 14 14
Dexterity 12 12 12
Constitution 14 14 14
Intelligence 8 8 8
Wisdom 8 8 8
Charisma 16 23 25

Tomes Used

+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 5 12
Bluff 3 7
Concentration 6 29
Diplomacy 3 7
Disable Device n/a n/a
Haggle 3 29
Heal -1 1
Hide 1 5
Intimidate 3 7
Jump 5 14
Listen -1 1
Move Silently 1 3
Open Lock n/a n/a
Perform 7 29
Repair -1 -1
Search -1 -1
Spot -1 -1
Swim 2 2
Tumble 2 2
Use Magic Device 7 32

Level 1 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+4)
Skill: Concentration (+4)
Skill: Jump (+3)
Skill: Perform (+4)
Skill: Tumble (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+4)
Feat: (Selected) Least Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (1): Cure Light Wounds


Level 2 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Spell (1): Jump
Spell (1): Shield


Level 3 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (1): Hypnotism


Level 4 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Charm Person


Level 5 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds


Level 6 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Lesser Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (1): Expeditious Retreat
Spell (2): Heroism


Level 7 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 8 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+2)
Spell (2): Rage
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Spell (3): Haste


Level 9 (Bard)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Dragonmark of Healing
Spell (3): Good Hope


Level 10 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 11 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Displacement
Spell (4): Otto's Sphere of Dancing
Spell (4): Neutralize Poison


Level 12 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Healing Spell
Spell (4): Cure Critical Wounds


Level 13 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 14 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (4): Hold Monster
Spell (5): Greater Heroism
Spell (5): Mass Cure Light Wounds


Level 15 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Spell (5): Summon Monster V


Level 16 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)


Level 17 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (1): Detect Secret Doors
Spell (5): Mass Suggestion
Spell (6): Mass Cure Moderate Wounds
Spell (6): Otto's Irresistable Dance


Level 18 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (2): Glitterdust
Spell (6): Greater Shout


Level 19 (Bard)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (3): Remove Curse


Level 20 (Bard)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Haggle (+2)
Skill: Perform (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Spell (6): Mass Charm Monster
Spell (4): Freedom of Movement
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack III
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage III
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song II
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song III
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use I
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use II
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use III
Enhancement: Extra Dragonmark Use IV
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion I
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion II
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion III
Enhancement: Halfling Hero's Companion IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Concentration I
Enhancement: Bard Concentration II
Enhancement: Bard Perform I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Incredible Song I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic III
Enhancement: Bard Improved Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery I
Enhancement: Bard Wand Mastery II




Facepalm, wow way to necro the 3 year old thread. Splashing a sorc is a bad idea.

[bccorrupt817]

God forbid a few people want something other than the bard/fighter/rogue build that represents 99% of non-pure bards made over the last 2 years. If you don't have anything productive to add, or specific changes that would help us out...please stay out of the thread.