Ranged Bard, Bardcher

[Jeargroth]

My attempt after 2 days of combing the Forums, reading and asking stupid questions... please critique, and provide any improvements you can, but nicely please this is a first time Bard and I like the ranged flavor, might do a Classic Rocker later, but I have enough melee toons right now.

And yes I picked the enhancements at 20, so i could figure out what I could have without having to respec and respec as I made the toon up.


Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.11.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page (http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO)

Testbuild
Level 20 Chaotic Good Half-Elf Male
(2 Fighter \ 16 Bard \ 2 Artificer)
Hit Points: 188
Spell Points: 745
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 10
Reflex: 13
Will: 13

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(32 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 10 10
Dexterity 16 17
Constitution 14 14
Intelligence 10 10
Wisdom 10 10
Charisma 16 20

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 3 4
Bluff 3 5
Concentration 6 8
Diplomacy 3 9
Disable Device 2 3
Haggle 3 5
Heal 0 0
Hide 3 3
Intimidate 3 5
Jump 0 3
Listen 0 4
Move Silently 3 3
Open Lock 5 6
Perform n/a 14
Repair 0 0
Search 2 2
Spot 2 3
Swim 0 0
Tumble n/a n/a
Use Magic Device 7 9

Level 1 (Artificer)
Feat: (Half-Elf Dilettante) Half-Elf Dilettante: Rogue
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot


Level 2 (Bard)


Level 3 (Fighter)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Precise Shot


Level 4 (Artificer)


Level 5 (Bard)


Level 6 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Evocation


Level 7 (Bard)


Level 8 (Bard)


Level 9 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell


Level 10 (Bard)


Level 11 (Bard)


Level 12 (Fighter)
Feat: (Fighter Bonus) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Enchantment


Level 13 (Bard)


Level 14 (Bard)


Level 15 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration


Level 16 (Bard)


Level 17 (Bard)


Level 18 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment


Level 19 (Bard)


Level 20 (Bard)
Enhancement: Artificer Crossbow Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song II
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song III
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song IV
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 Music of Makers
Enhancement: Bard Music of the Dead
Enhancement: Bard Virtuoso I
Enhancement: Bard Virtuoso II
Enhancement: Improved Rogue Dilettante I
Enhancement: Improved Rogue Dilettante II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Charisma I
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Improved Perform I
Enhancement: Improved Perform II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I
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: Half-Elf Rogue Dexterity I
Enhancement: Half-Elf Improved Trap Sense I

[unbongwah]

Shouldn't this be called a "Bardificer," not a "Bardcher?" ;)

It's tough to get your DCs & Spell Pen high enough to be useful on a max-CHA pure bard Spellsinger - but on a MCed bard? Not worth it, IMHO. And a good Virt can get by with mediocre CHA; your Perform skill depends a lot more on skill ranks & equipment than base CHA. That frees up stat pts for more INT (help maintain trap skills), CON, DEX (so you can get Imp Prec Shot), or STR. [I know, you said no melee, but it's always good to have a fallback.]

For feats on an xbow build, you should aim (HA!) for Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot, Imp Prec Shot, Imp Crit Ranged, and Rapid Reload (free from arty, I know, just listing it for completeness' sake).

[Jeargroth]

Ok, so firstly do I drop H-elf Del and take human for extra feat? or keep for dps?

Secondly, does Rapid shot make that much of a diff with A repeater, I mean an noticeable diff? Leads to point 3...

Thirdly, w/ all the feats for X-bow work, that leave only 2, 3 (if drop Rapid) or (4 if drop dilly and take human) So which Meta's do you recommend? this is a Dps support class, self-sufficent for soloing and keeping off Healers radar. If virts get a **** load of songs drop Extend and reapply? Maximize for dps and healing? and or Focus for better hitting on DC's. Was thinking a lot of stuns with Sonic and then plink away. If possible. I loved doing that on my Arty now with a FvS hireling.

Lastly, Drop Chr, down by 2 points to 14 and pump int up to 14? Gets me 2 extra skills a lvl.

Like I said, I haven't played a Bard in game for years... Like since original EQ. so this is new territory.

[karl_k0ch]

The forum just ate my rather long post. Sorry for the brevity.

Caster bards work best if going pure. On a splashed build, one does not bother with spell DCs.

Extend is a great buff to conserve SP for Haste, Rage, Displacement et al. These are different from Song.

Heal Scrolls are a good measure of self-healing. No-fail Heal scrolls require a UMD of 39.
Metamagics are horribly SP-inefficient for most cure spells.

Insightful Damage is a nice way to boost your ranged (and melee) damage, even if your Int is only mediocre. These scrolls require 41 UMD for a no-fail UMD.

Skill Focus: UMD is a nice feat to enhance your Scroll-Casting abilities. Other measures to get to the magic score of 39 include GH, Focusing Chant, Persuation Item.

For your kind of build, I'd probably take
PBS, PS, IPS, IC: Ranged, RS, Toughness, Extend, SF: UMD.
On a HElf, this still leaves 2 feats for customization.
Consider also going 16 bard/4 Art. This will cost you 1 feat, Haste Boost, and 14 HP, but will grant you some nice passive benefits: +2 UMD for scrolls, +1 to-hit with crossbows, Wrack Construct 1, more SP, access to level 2 arty spells.

[Chette]

With 10 strength you're basically firing toothpicks at the enemies.
This is not a very good combination, you're trying to fit in too much here. Casting bards are already rather feat starved, so trying to fit in some ranged feats and damage is just going to make you bad at two things. Additionally, ranged bards are already a flavour build, with rather poor DPS, so trying to fit in casting feats...again...just makes you bad at two things.

Pick one and stick with it. You can make a decent ranged bard, but you have to accept the fact that your DPS will be sub-par. You'll still be a good bard, versatile, and with good damage in certain situations. Or you can make a casting bard, which will mostly be a buffer and healer, due to the lack of usefulness of enchant at current endgame.

[Jeargroth]

@ Chette- What does Str have to do with X-bow damage?

I read the post by Karl and dropped the DC ones but there is Maximize, Highten, Extend, Enhance etc. Tons of meta's that don't affect DC's. Then there is the ? of what is best to get stuns off. Lots of Sonic stun type spells to cast to put Mobs (trash) in dazed status to allow for Sneak from Dilly or other stuff.

[unbongwah]

Then there is the ? of what is best to get stuns off. Lots of Sonic stun type spells to cast to put Mobs (trash) in dazed status to allow for Sneak from Dilly or other stuff.
First off, the dazing (http://ddowiki.com/page/Daze) effect from sonic spells does not render mobs helpless the way, say, Hold Person does; which means you do not get free SAs or do extra dmg to them.

Second, you boost the DC of any spell the same way: thru Heighten, Spell Focus feats in the appropriate school (sonic spells are Evocation, IIRC, most CC spells are Enchantment), DC-boosting items, etc. And just as you will have issues with DCs of Enchantment spells on a MCed bard like this, you'll have similar issues with sonic DCs too. The silver lining, I suppose, is that your sonic spells will still do at least half-dmg even with low DCs (not a Reflex save, so Evasion doesn't help), whereas most Enchant spell effects tend to be all-or-nothing; you also don't have to worry about Spell Pen with them.

Personally I don't consider the sonic spells a good use of one's SPs unless you can get high enough DCs to get them to land reliably; and I'm not sure if that's possible on a heavily MCed bard like this. I'd rather save my SPs for buffs & heals.

[Jeargroth]

Thanks for the heads up... Ok, so my great idea for a build and run is now completely toast. I can't seem to find a decent ranged dps that fits my conception of a ranged bard. SS i guess is the way to go and just pure class it with nothing... just spells, not sure how I would play it will look around for a good guide. Its mostly to run to TR anyway then Reboot, and count toward completionist.