Help with my probablly noobish character?

[Falethnir]

Well i don't really know where to put this thread, So I'll just slap it down here.
Anyways First off i would like to say i'm a complete noob to this game and anything DnD related, I only played pnp like once or twice, But i am having a blasty blast here with this game, I used to play it a bit a long time ago and i'm just now coming back and everything's totally different...great. SO. I guess what i'm wanting is a utility crit kind of build. Buffs, heals and the like, but i don't wanna be to squishy either, What i have planned out so far is a dwarf bard (I know thats a terrible combo) that uses a heavy pick and a light shield, I took the improved shield bash feat, improved sunder, and im planning on picking up all the shield mastery feats too. Gonna splash a fighter level or two in there to pick up kensei for picks and i'm going to go ahead and get the dwarven enhancements for picks as well. i'm deciding on either precision or power attack, But i just wanted to put this here before i got too far in levels so that any of you more experienced players could maybe tell me if this was a bad idea, or to give me any advice. Thanks in advance

Another few questions i have is

1: Do bards have arcane spell failure, Even on their divine spells like cure light wounds, ect.

2: Is there a way to remove or somewhat negate spell failure if im using a shield for instance, Because i notice that it says 10-20% spell failure for small or large shields and then like 40% for a tower shield.

3: Would a bard/favored soul combo be any good or is that a bad mix, Im not really sure if their alignments allow it, I know a paladin has to be lawful good, im not too sure about FvS's.

[cru121]

dwarf bard is ok
bard with shields => no
bards get arcane spell failure from shields. even on cure spells.
improved shield bash feat, improved sunder, all shield mastery feats => ouch!

more info on ASF: http://ddowiki.com/page/ASF
the link also has a section on how to reduce asf.
bucklers inherently don't have ASF.

bards can multiclass into fvs. though I don't see any dramatic synergies.

anyway, generally, shield bashing is useless in DDO. So don't go this way

edit: here's a build for new bard wannabes https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/424103-Str-based-THF-melee-bard-New-Player-Friendly

[supott]

1) no they don't for spells they can cast if you wear light armor. They still do however still for scrolls. You can remove the arcane spell failure for scrolls in the racial enhancements. (for some races at least)

2) Your best bet is to get a shield with an augment slot that lets you put gem that lessens its arcane spell failure, or find densewood (forgot the exact name) shields and bucklers that don't have arcane spell failure. Some named shields also don't have spell failure. Unlike light armor though, this penalty applies to spells and not just scrolls.

It would probably work out well with a Two-hander & Master's touch or even TWF too.. rather than a shield coz bards lack DPS


3) FVS have divine might enhancement like Cleric right? So that's Cha to attack and damage. There's a post about it and ppl have been saying it works out pretty well.. and i'm planning to try it myself.. Don't know if Cleric or FVS is better though..

[mezzorco]

1: Do bards have arcane spell failure, Even on their divine spells like cure light wounds, ect.

Yes, they have arcane spell failure, so using a shield on a bard isn't the best choice, unless you find a 0% ASF shield (rare but exists). As a bard, you don't suffer ASF while in light armor, but you do in heavier armors even if you're competent with them. If you go warchanter, a tier 5 enhancement allows you to wear medium armors without incurring ASF.

NOTE: if you wear a shield while in light armor, you still suffer shield ASF.


2: Is there a way to remove or somewhat negate spell failure if im using a shield for instance, Because i notice that it says 10-20% spell failure for small or large shields and then like 40% for a tower shield.

There is a way to negate or remove arcane spell failure from shields. Arcane Casting Dexterity is an item enhancement that reduces your total ASF, as well as Sapphire of Spell Agility.
As I said, there are shields with no spell failure, too, but they're rare.


3: Would a bard/favored soul combo be any good or is that a bad mix, Im not really sure if their alignments allow it, I know a paladin has to be lawful good, im not too sure about FvS's.

FvS don't have any alignment restriction. If you go that route, you won't excell neither in arcane nor in divine casting. However, I've seen builds that succeed in such splits, but they're planned and played by very experienced players.


If you want to know more about ASF, visit:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Arcane_spell_failure

In this wiki you will find a lot of informations about bards and Sword&Board, too.

Hope it helps :)

[Falethnir]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies, I dont know if this will really justify my reason for taking Improved Shield Bash, but i got it for the 20% chance to make an attach with your shield on every hit, It seemed pretty nice, Is it really not that good?


Also thank you, I didnt know it was the shield that was doing it, I understand that FvS's dont get spell failure for having shields, does that transfer over to bard spells? Like i said im really new and im just trying to understand the game so im going to have a lot of questions, thanks for the link by the way, Ill check it out.


As for the bards lack dps thing i figured i would be putting off decent enough dps due to the 20% chance to make a second strike from improved shield bash, and the x4 crit multiplier on picks + the damage enhancements for picks that im getting from kensei and the dwarven racial line. Is that not enough to compensate?

Thanks for the help guys, Keep it comin please!

[kuro_zero]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies, I dont know if this will really justify my reason for taking Improved Shield Bash, but i got it for the 20% chance to make an attach with your shield on every hit, It seemed pretty nice, Is it really not that good?

Yes, 20% chance to attack with your SHIELD. Compare the damage to your pick and the damage profile of a shield. Compare, say, to grabbing a two-hander with 1.5x STR mod to dmg and double bonus dmg from PA.



Also thank you, I didnt know it was the shield that was doing it, I understand that FvS's dont get spell failure for having shields, does that transfer over to bard spells? Like i said im really new and im just trying to understand the game so im going to have a lot of questions, thanks for the link by the way, Ill check it out.

FvS and clerics do not have spell failure with spells cast from their spell list. Splashing 1 FvS won't make the ASF from Bard spell list disappear, only the spells you get from the level of FvS won't suffer ASF.


As for the bards lack dps thing i figured i would be putting off decent enough dps due to the 20% chance to make a second strike from improved shield bash, and the x4 crit multiplier on picks + the damage enhancements for picks that im getting from kensei and the dwarven racial line. Is that not enough to compensate?

You mis-understand the feat. The feat grants you a chance (20%) to attack (bash) with the shield. The weapon you have equipped doesn't matter - its the shield's damage profile that will be used for this secondary attack (which is why every shield has a damage/crit profile like weapons).

[supott]

Ive never made a sword & board so i may be wrong about the shield's usefulness, but just how i would play it is that id say you could benefit more from DPS feats like:

-Two weapon fighting/Improved two weapon fighting/greater two weapon fighting.

3 feats but makes your offhand attacks 80%, and of course your offhand weapon will be stronger than any shield. improved Crit: Piercing too to maximize the heavy pick's 4x crit multiplier.

I'd go with Power attack over precision too. Cleave and Great Cleave are nice too and require Power attack. An epic feat: Overwhelming Critical is also nice and requires both Cleave/Great Cleave. But i would choose the Two weapon fighting over Cleave/Great Cleave if i could only pick one.

[Falethnir]

Bah, Forums was giving me a hard time not allowing me to post replies or anything, Anyways. Thanks for pointing out that the 20% attack chance was to attack with your shield, I thought you made a second attack with your actual weapon, Still, looking at the shield i was using it was 1d6 so its just as much base damage as picks, just doesn't have the x4 multiplier, But what should i change improved shield bash out for, Should i pick up improved sunder early? I already got power attack because my first level is going to be fighter. I noticed that picks have really weak base damage and that would help a bit i assume, Thank you all for the replies, And i'm if asking too many questions sorry about that, This game is pretty technical compared to alot of other MMO's i've played, Most definetly

[Falethnir]

So yeah i picked up improved sunder and its really nice actually, Since my strength is 16 they almost never save against it so its really useful, I kill bosses on elite difficulty with no problems, Except for shaman bosses because of hold person, Though that may not be much to brag about at low levels seeing as im only level 4 lmao

[unbongwah]

S&B is the lowest DPS of the three melee styles; the doublestrike (http://ddowiki.com/page/Doublestrike) bonuses from Shield Mastery help (as does Imp Shield Bash), but not enough to make it competitive with a good THF or TWF build. Also as a bard you can't get the doublestrike bonuses that a pure ftr (Kensei capstone) or pally (Zeal) can; plus you have to worry about ASF. The main reasons to go S&B are (A) you're making a tank and/or (B) you want to up your survivability by investing in PRR (http://ddowiki.com/page/PRR).

I've made S&B bard builds before, but because of ASF and the lower DPS, I wouldn't advise it if you're new to DDO. Something like the THF bard linked above is a better starting point, IMHO.