Air Sorc/Bard and Spell criticals

[Thoden]

Hey all,

I know that the conventional wisdom about Sorc/Bard synergy is that it's not that good, and that wizard is better (thinking of Tenser's Thrower in particular), but I need a Sorc PL and do NOT want to play a caster. I have plenty of thrower gear, however, and was wondering:

If Resonant Arms (up to 6d6 Sonic damage on a critical hit with a SB weapon) is affected by Sonic Spell Power, would Air Sorc enhancements increasing critical chance allow for Resonant Arms critical spell damage?

If not, I'd love someone to tell me how I can knock out a Sorc life in the least painful way possible (not an LR +20, LOL).

Thanks for your time.

[Rawrargh]

Pure sorc is still viable in heroics, the caster doom applies to epics only since casters have crappy scaling there.

Unless you completely hate the idea of playing a caster, I'm pretty sure the quickest way to get a sorc past life is by playing your sorc as a sorc.

[unbongwah]

If Resonant Arms (up to 6d6 Sonic damage on a critical hit with a SB weapon) is affected by Sonic Spell Power, would Air Sorc enhancements increasing critical chance allow for Resonant Arms critical spell damage?
AFAIK, Resonant Arms and Sword Dance aren't affected by spell crit bonuses, only by your Sonic Spellpower. I suspect Electrocution will proc from bard sonic spells, but I've never tested it to be sure.

If not, I'd love someone to tell me how I can knock out a Sorc life in the least painful way possible (not an LR +20, LOL).
Other than pure Fire Savant? :p Find your favorite 6/6/8 HTR template and use that. Maybe monk 6 / rgr 6 / sorc 8 shuriken build?

[Thoden]

AFAIK, Resonant Arms and Sword Dance aren't affected by spell crit bonuses, only by your Sonic Spellpower. I suspect Electrocution will proc from bard sonic spells, but I've never tested it to be sure.

Other than pure Fire Savant? :p Find your favorite 6/6/8 HTR template and use that. Maybe monk 6 / rgr 6 / sorc 8 shuriken build?

Thanks for the replies! I'm thinking about just giving up on Completionist for a while, since the new content is coming out. I'd like to be able to play it, so might just LR my current dwarf barb life into a Bardbarian instead.

[SocratesBastardSon]

I know that the conventional wisdom about Sorc/Bard synergy is that it's not that good, and that wizard is better (thinking of Tenser's Thrower in particular), but I need a Sorc PL and do NOT want to play a caster. I have plenty of thrower gear, however, and was wondering:

If Resonant Arms (up to 6d6 Sonic damage on a critical hit with a SB weapon) is affected by Sonic Spell Power, would Air Sorc enhancements increasing critical chance allow for Resonant Arms critical spell damage?

If not, I'd love someone to tell me how I can knock out a Sorc life in the least painful way possible (not an LR +20, LOL).

I did a version of what you're talking about, but I was working on a bard past life. I think the basic concept could be adapted to Sorc, however. It's been awhile, so I'm going to have to leave a lot of detail for you to work out yourself, but I'll give some of the highlights. More, I can't answer some of your questions, like if spell crit enhancements help (see below). I did not build a thrower, but did a melee fighter instead. So, for what it's worth I'll offer up something I enjoyed playing a lot. I called the build Sonectric Force. I never posted the build, but I played it all the way to 28. This is not a great build for EE content, but it did just fine, and often excelled, in EH.

Human Sorc9/Bard8/Ftr3 or Sorc10/Bard7/Ftr3

The idea was to do be able to handle himself in melee and be able to switch to spell casting for ranged. I spec'd for Sonic, Electric and Force, so EK and Air Savant are important here.

This is an enhancement- and feat-heavy build.

ENHANCEMENTS

Combat enhancements were handled through Swashbuckler, Eldritch Knight, and Vanguard.

EK is key with its extra cleave, shield, defense (Imp. Mage Armor, Imp Shield, Arcane Barrier in particular) and martial bonuses. I took it to t5 for the perma-Tenser's, which I like a lot. The key to Tenser's is you get a Fighter's BAB. Obviously you're going to go for Spellsword: Shock at core2, which is where Air Savant comes in, which adds to your Electric (and Sonic) spell power. I cannot tell you if Spell Critical helps because I did not test it (not enough action points).

Swashbuckler, obviously. Sword Dance, Elegant Footwork, Skirmisher, Resonant Arms, Smooth Flourishes, are all important.

I also took F3/Vanguard for extra feats and bonuses to shield fighting. The goal is core2 for Shield Combat's offhand attack boost.

FEATS

Single Weapon Fighting/ISW/GSW
Power Att/Cleave/GCleave: I chained Cleave/Cleave/Eldritch Strike - very effective.
Imp Crit-Piercing (I used rapiers and shortswords) and Improved Shield Bash
Maximize Spell and Enlarge
NOTE: If you have a Wizard PL, take Past Life: Arcane Initiate instead of Enlarge. I did and then took Enlarge at 21. Being able to machine gun magic missiles at mobs in large open spaces when they can't see you is way too much fun to pass up.

SKILL POINTS

Spellcraft, Perform, UMD, Jump, Heal

SPELLS

Not surprisingly Sonic Blast and Soundburst were my bread-and-butter spells, followed by force (MM and Force Missiles) and lightning spells. These are the only offensive spells I bothered with. The rest dedicate to self-buffing (Blur/Displacement/Stoneskin/Haste, etc.). It is irritating not having Extend, but you can't have everything.

EQUIPMENT

From House C I used Blasting Chime and Bracers of Wind, which takes care of Sonic and Electric spell power boosts. You'll want to get something that boosts force power (impact and impulse). For Armor I used Blue Dragonscale Armor and the Crystal Cove Swashbuckler buckler. I have a LitII shortsword which fits the build perfectly. I have the Lordsmarch/Cauldron of Sora Katra set (Teraza's Perfect Sight, Katra's Razor Wit, Maenya's Iron Fists).

So, this is more of an overview than a detailed template. Maybe if I get inspired I'll write up the build in a more organized manner. There are lots of ways to tweak the build or customize it to your tastes. Have fun!

[SocratesBastardSon]

Oops, forgot to mention Kensei Haste Boost.

I also added up the minimum APs I recommend for each PrE, based on what I wrote above:

Van: 6
EK: 31
SB: 17
Ken: 4

Put the rest into AS and whatever else you like.

[Thoden]

Sounds cool-- I forgot about vanguard, thank you.