some advice on building a decent bard

[Tokeri]

so ive played almost every class up to mid lvls atleast a few times but never a bard . but i decided to go do a drow bard or hafling iono about those yet

but im wondering is wisdom a dump stat for bards ? do they heal thru cha ? ive looked on a few build and all of them seem to dump wis and considering all other divines need wis for heals and spells etc tought id ask before i roll it up

[WilliamBraveheart]

a bards casting stat is CHA that being said if you don't take Force of personality your will save will suffer by dumping wisdom.

[Tokeri]

thank you for the quick reply yeah force of personality is a must =) drow bard it is

[BoBoDaClown]

thank you for the quick reply yeah force of personality is a must =) drow bard it is

No it's not.

My 20 Bard who dumped wisdom never suffers from it and doesn't have fop (fop is probably useful in the lower levels).

Consider human too, if you are going the spell casting route.

[Rav'n]

FoP might be good to have at lower/mid levels... when Mobs cast Hypno and Hold.... but you can swap it out later on.

[Steiner-Davion]

One thing to keep in Mind with Bards is that they are a Feat Starved class.

They can be respecable Melee Characters, or Crowd Controlers, or both. Depending on the build.

Always MAX CHA.

I'd recommend a High DEX to use Light weapons with Weapon Finese

High Con as well, and a decent Strength. Wis cen be a Dump Stat, Put what you can into INT.

I would go with Weapon Finese and Toughness as Must Have Feats, Two Weapon Fighting if you can fit it in, but it is not a hrad and fast requirement for all Bard Builds.

Skills:

MAX out PERFORM, your Bard songs are based on this SKILL
MAX OUT UMD,, it is a class skill and will be very handy

[BoBoDaClown]

I'd recommend a High DEX to use Light weapons with Weapon Finese



Sorry, I have to di agree with this - on a feat starved class I wouldn't want to spend a feat to split my attaking bonuses between two characteristics.

I think the only time I can see finesse being worthwhile is if you have high dex for AC, ranged, etc, anyway.

[Steiner-Davion]

Sorry, I have to di agree with this - on a feat starved class I wouldn't want to spend a feat to split my attaking bonuses between two characteristics.

I think the only time I can see finesse being worthwhile is if you have high dex for AC, ranged, etc, anyway.


While you make a decent point there, I think it is stil la great idea. Many of the Bard's best Weapons are Light weapons, and thus finesable.

Rapier
Short Sword
Repeaters
Kukris (with Master's Touch)

All this, NOT to mention, that you need a High DEX for all the Two Weapon Fighting Feats anyway to optimize your DPS, so STR is going to suffer some there anyway.