is Heighen right for me?

[TheBlueFox]

Currently im a sword and board virtuoso, my "sword" is a spell penetration + weapon, my shield is a 0% arcane spell failure shield. I think its Mithril...unsure, but theres no failure for it.

I focus on CC and buffing, I give blur only to those who need it, so I have the SP to cast hold person/hypnotize/ottos dance and maybe a soundburst if I feel like picking it up.

Currently level 7, but im looking to the future, if I take this, ill take it at a higher level like...15? but anyway...
I hear Heighten isnt that great, that it adds too much sp for a very small bonus, or that it doesnt work for any of the spells that a bard will be CCing with

[hydra_ex]

Currently im a sword and board virtuoso, my "sword" is a spell penetration + weapon, my shield is a 0% arcane spell failure shield. I think its Mithril...unsure, but theres no failure for it.

I focus on CC and buffing, I give blur only to those who need it, so I have the SP to cast hold person/hypnotize/ottos dance and maybe a soundburst if I feel like picking it up.

Currently level 7, but im looking to the future, if I take this, ill take it at a higher level like...15? but anyway...
I hear Heighten isnt that great, that it adds too much sp for a very small bonus, or that it doesnt work for any of the spells that a bard will be CCing with

For a bard, your spell DCs are so low that they border on useless. If you were a fully caster specced bard, then yes, take it. If you just sing an kinda melee a bit, then I would not take it. All your good spells are lvl 4 or higher, and since the max bard spell lvl is 6, heighten will only add 1 or 2 DC, if anything. Your'e better off with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus enchantment.

But regardless, your spell DCs will be low compared to casters (3 lower, actually, at best), so it will be tough to compete, even with heighten.

[TheBlueFox]

Ive already got SF: enchantment, and Ill get GSF soon.

Does that mean a bard CANT CC endgame? I mean, I could always Enthrall, im sure Ill have alot of uses of that. That will leave me with Glitterdust and...do bards get solid fog?

[RTN]

I use CC quite successfully at endgame on my bard and I do use Heighten.

[TheBlueFox]

do you use heighten AND spell focus/Gspell focus?

[hydra_ex]

Ive already got SF: enchantment, and Ill get GSF soon.

Does that mean a bard CANT CC endgame? I mean, I could always Enthrall, im sure Ill have alot of uses of that. That will leave me with Glitterdust and...do bards get solid fog?

Enthrall is your most potent CC ability bar none. Bards do not get solid fog. If you go the whole casting specced route, then you're still useful, but 3 DC away from a caster. Just stick to mass CC spells, as they have a MUCH higher efficiency.

Bards do not get solid fog.

[TheBlueFox]

So mass CC, Thats
Enthrallment
Song of the dead
Glitterdust
Hypnotize
Hypno pattern(hurts peoples Eyes I hear, so I wont use it)
Ottos? I think we get that
...those are ALL will saves...anything else I should be using?

[Lymnus]

So mass CC, Thats
Enthrallment
Song of the dead
Glitterdust
Hypnotize
Hypno pattern(hurts peoples Eyes I hear, so I wont use it)
Ottos? I think we get that
...those are ALL will saves...anything else I should be using?
Soundburst is Fort. It's nice.

[TheBlueFox]

soundburst is a rather low level spell right? im gonna NEED heighten for that to stun. It is a nice aoe, but I dont want to damage, I want to control and let others damage. Also it will break any other enchantments on anything in an area. I hate when people spam it after a fascinate (before I got enthrall, then I dont care so much)

[RTN]

I don't have any of the spell focus feats. I use heighten and a high CHA. Heightened Soundburst works very well up until the Mod 9 content. It doesn't work nearly as well in that content as far as I've seen. Otto's Irresistible Dance works very well. I've used a combo of Mind Fog and Dancing Ball to great effect in all content (once you get them). Otherwise songs are pretty good, IF you can keep your party to focus their DPS on a mob at time and not wake up everything. Make sure to put points into Perform and swap in a Perform item when you're using song CC.