Bard build Questions

[Axebattler]

Alright this will be first attemtp at playing a bard in DDO.

Most of my characters so far have been fighters / barbarians / paladins.

Now playing a bard will be huge change for me since I want to be a CC type of bard with enough melee abilities to hold my own.

I have no idea which would be the best build for me in this case. I read over a couple of different builds. I just wanted some expert opinions form people who play bards.

My question would be since I have the 32 point unlocked which race would you recommend ?

What should my Starting stats considering I don't have any +1 tomes or uber gear (+6 stat items) to pass off to my bard. So I would much rather focus on what I can get rather than build on what I might get.

[Frodo_Lives]

Even with 32 point builds I prefer Drow for bards. Human is a good second choice as you want to be able to melee a little and Drow tend to be light on the Con. Bards don't get a lot of hp as it is which makes Con even more important.

I'd go easy on Int and Wis no more than 10. Str no higher than 14, Cha at 16 or 18, Dex min 14 and the rest in Con.

It's easier to get to an 18 with a drow and you get to have a 16 in Dex fairly cheaply. Weapon finesse always is a good choice for a drow/dex build due to their bonuses with rapiers and shortswords.

I personally like Mental Toughness, Extend, and Heighten as "must have" for my bard builds the others tend to be a little more optional. I like Improved Mental Toughness, Weapon Finesse, Skill Focus UMD (I usually swap out for heighten), or Toughness.

A bard is one of those classes that can be a ton of fun to play, but really really easy to screw up if you don't build right. It does sound like you have a good idea of what you want your bard to be able to do so at least you are a step ahead of where I was when I built my first bard.

[Axebattler]

I followed your advice and went with the following

Drow

Str 14
Dex 16
Con 12
int 10
wis 8
cha 18


I took mental toughness as my first feat and hypnotism as my 1st spell. I probably should have taken charm I am a bit concerned that my con might too low.

[Amabel]

Your CON will be fine. No specialist bard is going to be able to soak massive amounts of damage. You just need enough HP to try and avoid being one-shotted. Otherwise you'll be relying on blur, displacement and staying mobile in combat.

As long as your not charging in, sound bursting to draw agro and trying to slug it out toe-to-toe you'll do fine.

Also, hypno is a great choice for your first spell.

[Frodo_Lives]

I hope you have fun, I know I really like playing my bard. Spells, enhancments, feats can be swapped out and changed over the life of a character so if you find something that you don't like you can change it.

The only set in stone things about any character are starting stats and (for now) skills. I like the way you placed your stats it makes for a good balanced build which is probably best for your first bard. Skills to keep maxed are Haggle, UMD, Concentration, and Perform. The rest are optional. I like Jump and Balance but to each his own.

Good luck and have fun.

[MrCow]

The only set in stone things about any character are starting stats and (for now) skills.

It has already been explained that there is no system in place that would allow for a proper skill respec because the DDO database does not store your base INT per level or what level you took what class.

[skraus1]

If you want to melee 16 str is fairly common. I am not impressed with dex on melee bards as AC is going to suck unless you really focus all of your gear on it, and even then it's not going to be terribly good at 14. Dex seems to be something primarily useful while you level up. Str, Con and Cha seem most important for melee bards.

[~Jules921]

I followed your advice and went with the following

Drow

Str 14
Dex 16
Con 12
int 10
wis 8
cha 18


I took mental toughness as my first feat and hypnotism as my 1st spell. I probably should have taken charm I am a bit concerned that my con might too low.

Interesting, your starting stats are the same as mine for my warchantress - she will eventually 12/2 bard/fighter. The thread where her build info is below:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=122462

As to the comments about low ac - she's wearing padded armour - less spell failure and frequently drinking pots of mage armor, barkskin, & shield of faith, being as she's too young to use blur and displacement just yet.

Jules