Favored Soul + Bard?

[Lauraliane]

I was pondering recently if any combination of Favored Soul + Bard would be viable. Thinking about it, it sounds cool, but I have the feeling it might not be that good.

Anyone already tried mixing those two with any success?

Thanks!

[Hordo]

I was pondering recently if any combination of Favored Soul + Bard would be viable. Thinking about it, it sounds cool, but I have the feeling it might not be that good.

Anyone already tried mixing those two with any success?

Thanks!

Somewhere in this forest of threads are my two builds mixing Bard and FvS...I'll look around for them.

As far as play-testing, both were TR'd and are in the process of other lives, but while levelling they were fun and fairly self-sufficient, and at endgame both versions were easily able to fulfill a party/raid's requirements for both Bard and FvS within certain restrictions due to level of one's class, etc.

[unbongwah]

Did you actually have a gameplan for this build concept; or is this one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" sorts of pitches? :)

[Lauraliane]

More like "seems like a good idea" ;)

No build plan yet, but the idea I think would be a Melee FVS with added buffing thanks to bard level.

Though that would mean less healing power which might not be such a good idea. My main worry being that those two classes truly shine when pure or almost.

[Hordo]

Did you actually have a gameplan for this build concept; or is this one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" sorts of pitches? :)

Yes, I sure did! The names of the builds were the Warchanter of Vengeance, and Warchanter of Divine Vengeance. The first is mostly bard, the second mostly FvS.

My goal at the time was to come up with a two-fer build as we had a dearth of support and healers in the guild at the time. All-in-all, they are a lot of fun to play, especially if you enjoy working within limitations to accomplish tasks that most think are out of reach.

They were a great experiment, but all told, I'd go for the Warchanter of Divine Vengeance again as it was easily the more powerful of the two, could solo heal nearly anything we schlepped it into and was still able to do the Fascinates which were en vogue at the time in eVoN6. The drawbacks for this one are the obviously lower bard song buffs, and for the other the drop-off in straight-up healing/dotting power.

Were I to reroll another one of these, I'd do so in a static party, perhaps, or for the WCDV for a solo-able character.

[Lauraliane]

Oh he was asking to you not me :D

Anyway, I am duoing all the time with my wife who is an pure artificer. And playing a FVS, that's during play that I felt the FVS could really gain from having a few of the bard buffs and tools but the balance to get the most out of the two classes feels tricky.

Edit: Looking at the bard progression thing, it feels like at least 8 level of Bard are needed for level 3 spells and the boost to inspire courage. 9 would grant inspire greatness. hmmm.

[unbongwah]

You might be able to do something creative along the lines of Arlathen's build (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=385736) - i.e., FvS 12 / bard 7 / ftr 1 using FvS instead of rgr - but you'd be seriously feat-starved and don't really shine until epic levels.

[RabidApathy]

I can see 12 FvS/8 Bard (AoV/WC) split being decent, but you carry the stigma of the FvS icon. 14 Bard/8 FvS (AoV/SS) is probably an inferior split, but with a bard icon, you will find an easier time gaining entry into pugs while still not being totally gimp.

[maddmatt70]

Hmm I do not quite understand the allure of this? A bard does not get the heal spell but can get a pretty high positive spell power. I am currently seeking a 245+ positive spell power with the option of swapping to 290ish on my bard rabiez - her cure critical should be 300+ on non healing amp character. He is a melee warchanter but has alot of spell augments to get more spell points..

It is true that level 16-20 bard does not really give a whole lot and level 7-15 gives some but not a ton of things. 6 bard does not give a ton in the way of buffs and 7 gives limited haste, etc. If you up your healing amp your self cure criticals could do alot if you went close to pure bard. Seems like a build that will end up with the worst of both worlds (FVS and Bard) i.e. lacking buffs and core FVS abilities.

Edit: this is actually more complex for bards then I put forth. The increase in hit points of classes in ddo, the funky positive spell power, and the increase on some dififculties of the damage that mobs deal has meant that I use more heal scrolls then I previously did.

[bward76]

I was pondering recently if any combination of Favored Soul + Bard would be viable. Thinking about it, it sounds cool, but I have the feeling it might not be that good.

Anyone already tried mixing those two with any success?

Thanks!

I did well with a bard that had 1 lvl of favored soul and a couple levels rogue. I was healer spec so having the level of fvS let me see the groups looking for healers so that I could persuade them to let me join. The real big benefit of the FvS is all the extra mana from your high charisma and magical training. I think about 300 extra mana that my bard needed. I did play this toon pre U14 so not sure if it would still make the best mix today. Probably a better way to mix in a level sorc on top of the FvS to double up on the chr bonus to mana.