Pure halfling bard

[Bobthesponge]

hey all.

so i wanted to play a bard and a halfling. i used the advice on the forums to start him off with the following stats:

STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 8
CHA: 14

the idea is that he will be a warchanter. buffer and occasional healer but swinging in the middle of things

i have not seen a pure halfling build on this site and was looking for some advice on how to proceed. all of the warchanter builds are either multi class or human/dwarf/warforged.

(if there is one, please post a link and we can go from there...)

i am at level 3 (well, i have the XP but haven't leveled) and can start choosing feats (and enhancements - i haven't spent any points yet).

can anyone help me out? the only feat so far i have picked up is 2WF and my spells are CLW and Hypno. i also have a couple of +1 tomes (dex and wis) i can eat (nom nom nom) when i am sure i have the right build but any other special items will have to be acquired as i level.

many thanks,

Bobthesponge Squarethepants

[Demoyn]

The reason you haven't seen any is because halfling pure-bard warchanters make horrible characters. They only get six feats to start with, and two of them are tied up in prerequisites (albeit a moderate feat and a good feat).

On top of that, halflings reduce damage (the warchanter's main outlet for use after buffs) in order to get more armor (which will never matter to a pure bard as they can't effectively break 50 AC) and saves (which are nice, but without evasion aren't that great).

It's really hard to make a good character with only four feats. You'll have to post a lot more than just race, class, and stats for us to see your plan and comment on it.

[wiglin]

I have a pure halfling twf str based warchanter. You should be flanking as a bard anyway, so halfling guile adds some nice dps, add the vod goggles and get +16 to damage.

[Freeman]

If you are trying to make a pure halfling TWF Warchanter Bard, you may not have enough feats for everything you want to do. You only get six feats, and you would need five for WF, PA, TWF, ITWF, and GTWF. That leaves only one feat to pick from either Toughness or Imp. Crit. Without Toughness, you'll take a big hit in your HP. Without Imp. Crit, you'll take a big hit in your damage output. Your Dex isn't currently high enough to go for the full TWF line, so you may want to consider sticking to THF instead.(The THF feats aren't as necessary, particularly for a bard) Even on my pure Human with the extra feat, I didn't go with TWF because of the severe feat investment required.

As for the racial choice, I love Halflings personally, and the -1 damage isn't really an issue for me. The Halfling enhancements can more than make up for that loss in damage as well. I currently have three Halflings, including a barbarian. Nothings more terrifying then a Halfling roar of blood-rage :eek:

[lOprahl]

Pure Warchanters of any race are unrealized with the current mod. With the 6 starting strength, you must devote more ability points then any other race. The trade off doesnt seem to be worth the benefits...

Re-Read Demoyn's comments...very well put

[wiglin]

hey all.

so i wanted to play a bard and a halfling. i used the advice on the forums to start him off with the following stats:

STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 8
CHA: 14

the idea is that he will be a warchanter. buffer and occasional healer but swinging in the middle of things

i have not seen a pure halfling build on this site and was looking for some advice on how to proceed. all of the warchanter builds are either multi class or human/dwarf/warforged.

(if there is one, please post a link and we can go from there...)

i am at level 3 (well, i have the XP but haven't leveled) and can start choosing feats (and enhancements - i haven't spent any points yet).

can anyone help me out? the only feat so far i have picked up is 2WF and my spells are CLW and Hypno. i also have a couple of +1 tomes (dex and wis) i can eat (nom nom nom) when i am sure i have the right build but any other special items will have to be acquired as i level.

many thanks,

Bobthesponge Squarethepants

Put all stats increases into strength

Use a quarterstaff until you have a high enough to-hit to offset twf.

Feats:
Toughness
PA
WF: Pearcing
TWF
ITWF

Remember as a halfling you are only +1 str damage behind other races. Your racial +1 to hit makes up for the lower strength.

15 +4Level +6Item +1Tome +2Rage = 28 Str

2 levels of halfling guile would equate to an extra 8 strength on another race.

If the level 20 capstone that comes out a few mods from now for warchanters isn't that great you could always take 2 levels of rogue at 19 and 20 for evasion and with the halfling saves bonus, make it worth to have.

[bobbryan2]

Halflings only lose 1 damage and 0 to hit for their penalty, and don't suffer lower base damages in this game.

It's a fine concept. Keep in mind that mod 9 will be out soon, (maybe before you can cap) and you can grab Improved critical and toughness at the same time.

[Bobthesponge]

wow. thanks everyone for all the feedback. i knew going in that there were some plusses and minusses to being a halfling. as a bard i was never going to be a main tank but a flanker like my rgr/rge. this is a speculative build at the moment and that is why i haven't listed any feats - i was hoping to get suggestions. let me run this through a char generator with Toughness, PA, WF: Piercing, TWF and ITWF and i will post what i get. i might mix Extend in there as well. aside from STR i don't know how i will use my enhancements so i will post those as well.

and i can guarantee i won't cap out before the new mod so i will have some flexibilty there. i have a rgr/rge who is trying to finish his shroud rapier, a paladin sitting on lvl 12 i need to cap, a lvl 8 WF tempest rgr i need to cap, my other capped toons need to raid with my guildies and i need to spend enough time outside to get a girlfriend. there a lot of stuff going on here.

this is just me playing a new race and class to see how much fun i can have. :-D

[Bobthesponge]

Use a quarterstaff until you have a high enough to-hit to offset twf.


i think i will be use this idea too. i have beed dual wielding the scicle of sypherus but haven't started on anything tough yet (just soloed n/h/e all the island quests and soloed normal durk's got a secret and butcher's path)

[Freeman]

i think i will be use this idea too. i have beed dual wielding the scicle of sypherus but haven't started on anything tough yet (just soloed n/h/e all the island quests and soloed normal durk's got a secret and butcher's path)

Optionally, if you have the Master's Touch spell, then you could use any martial weapon, such as greatswords and greataxes. It can be easily switched in if you don't have it, and I recommend picking it up at some point.

[Bobthesponge]

ok. i'm up to level 5. i will start posting stats tonight and you all can grade me on my first midterm exam.

-Bobthesponge Squarethepants

[A_Sheep]

Did you take a look at this build:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=157236

With a +2 dex tome, you could imitate it pretty well.

[Bobthesponge]

yes, i did. i'm looking at it closely and will probably pull some ideas from it. thanks for the link!

[Bobthesponge]

so here he is at level 5. i'm happy so far but still a bit early to tell:

STR: 16 + 2 enchantment = 18
DEX: 15 + 1 feat = 16
CON: 14 + 2 enchantment = 16
INT: 10 + 2 enchantment = 12
WIS: 8 + 1 tome = 9
CHA: 14 + 1 tome + 1 feat = 16

Feats:
Toughness
TWF

Enhancements:
Bard Extra Song 1
Bard Inspire Bravery 1
Halfling Dex 1
Halfling cunning 1
Bard perform 1
Bard Cha 1

** 8 points still available to spend **

Spells:
Level 1: Charm Person, CLW, Focusing Chant, Hypno
Level 2: Blur, CMW, Glitterdust

HP:
30 base
15 con
27 feat
-----
72

SP:
150 base
42 ability
-----
192


Saves:
Fort: 1 base + 3 con + 1 feat + 2 enchant = 7
Reflex: 4 base + 3 dex + 1 feat + 5 enchant = 13
Will: 4 base -1 wis + 1 feat + 3 enchant = 7

items of note: trapblast goggles, +3 mithral chain

still early and i have a pile of +1 tomes i can still use but a servicable bard so far. any thoughts?

[A_Sheep]

looks good. Make sure to get a +2 dex tome ASAP so you can fit ITWF in there.