PDK bard (build request)

[skorpeon]

Hey builders

I usually take my build from the forum as I really have trouble fitting everything together. My main is close to completionist and well looking for a bard life (Only druid to go after). Now I am unsure but I think I will try a PDK shortsword wielding bard (swash). Now I am working things out to a certain degree but is there an up to date build on the forums.

I have a few shortswords lying around (including celestia) so can use that. I have some bucklers also but not even sure if this is the way to go still, last played a bard years ago.

I am open to other ideas, just thinking getting a pdk past life might work out as I don't have many iconic past lives so far.

anyhow let me know if you can help, greatly appreciated

[unbongwah]

Big advantage to PDK using short swords (vs other bard / race combos) is the DC bonus from CKT, so Swashbuckler / Warchanter hybrid is pretty appealing for higher DCs on Frozen Fury + Spinning Ice.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/446859-The-Icebreaker-A-Freezing-Warchanter-Bard <- the recent-ish builds are near the end of the thread ofc

I've also got bard 18 / rog 2 and bard 16 / rog 2 / FvS 2 (Divine Presence) builds floating around. Although if this is just for an ITR I'd skip the LR +1 and stick with bard 15 / ftr 3 / rog 2.

[skorpeon]

Big advantage to PDK using short swords (vs other bard / race combos) is the DC bonus from CKT, so Swashbuckler / Warchanter hybrid is pretty appealing for higher DCs on Frozen Fury + Spinning Ice.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/446859-The-Icebreaker-A-Freezing-Warchanter-Bard <- the recent-ish builds are near the end of the thread ofc

I've also got bard 18 / rog 2 and bard 16 / rog 2 / FvS 2 (Divine Presence) builds floating around. Although if this is just for an ITR I'd skip the LR +1 and stick with bard 15 / ftr 3 / rog 2.

Thanks Unbongwah (yet again!)

I will look through your suggestions and get back to you if I have more questions.

cheers
Tym

[skorpeon]

stick with bard 15 / ftr 3 / rog 2.
so looked at this, as I have harper agent it would probably be good to put it in? what would you change here? I guess I would have 36 pts so increase int will help also.

edit: I think I should have looked a page or so back as i saw a 36 pt version.

just pasted this from your other post unbongwah

EDIT: didn't see a recent version of this, so I just threw it together.
Code:
PDK Freezechanter (no Harper)
15/3/2 Bard/Fighter/Rogue
True Neutral Purple Dragon Knight

Level Order

1. Fighter 6. Bard 11. Fighter 16. Bard
2. Rogue 7. Bard 12. Fighter 17. Bard
3. Bard 8. Bard 13. Bard 18. Bard
4. Bard 9. Bard 14. Bard 19. Bard
5. Bard 10. Bard 15. Rogue 20. Bard


Stats
32pt Level Up
---- --------
Strength 8 4: CHA
Dexterity 14 8: CHA
Constitution 14 12: CHA
Intelligence 12 16: CHA
Wisdom 8 20: CHA
Charisma 18 24: CHA
28: CHA

Skills
F R B B B B B B B B F F B B R B B B B B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
------------------------------------------------------------
Perform 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 23
Disable 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 23
Search 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 23
UMD 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 23
Open Lo 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 13
Balance 2 4 1 7
Jump 4 4
Heal 2 2
Swim 2 2
Tumble 1 1
------------------------------------------------------------
16 10 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 4 4 8 8 10 8 8 8 8 8

Feats

1 : Single Weapon Fighting
1 PDK : Shield Mastery
1 Fighter: Precision
3 : Extend Spell
6 : Quicken Spell
9 : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
11 Fighter: Improved Critical: Piercing
12 : Improved Shield Mastery
15 : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18 : Empower Healing Spell
21 Epic : Inspire Excellence
24 Epic : Overwhelming Critical
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting OR Lasting Inspiration
29 Destiny: Dire Charge OR Deific Warding
30 Epic :
30 Legend : Scion of: Arborea OR Plane of Earth


Spells

Bard

1 Focusing Chant, <Any>, <Any>, <Any>
2 Blur, Rage, <Any>, <Any>
3 Displacement, Haste, <Any>, <Any>
4 Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement, Cure Critical Wounds, <Any>
5 Shadow Walk, Mass Cure Light Wounds, <Any>
6
7
Enhancements (80 AP)

Warchanter (41 AP)

? Skaldic: Constitution, Weapon Training, Song of Heroism, Fighting Spirit
1 Enchant Weapon, Rough and Ready II
2 Arcane Shield Chant III, Iced Edges III, Sprint Boost I
3 Ironskin Chant III, Frozen Fury III
4 Reckless Chant III, Northwind III
5 Expeditious Chant III, Chant of Power III, Howl of the North, Spinning Ice III
6
7 Swashbuckler (14 AP)
8
? Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge
1 Blow By Blow: Melee III, Tavern Shanties I
2 Deflect Arrows, Fast Movement
3 Elegant Footwork, Skirmisher
4
5 Stalwart Defender (13 AP)
6
? Toughness, Stalwart Defense
1 Item Defense I, Durable Defense III
2 Resilient Defense III, Instinctive Defense I
3 Tenacious Defense III
4
5 Kensei (7 AP)
6
? Kensei Focus: Light Blades, Spiritual Bond
1 Extra Action Boost I, Haste Boost III
2
3 Purple Dragon Knight (5 AP)
4
? Damage Boost
1 Cormyrean Knight Training, Improved Recovery
2
3
Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

1 Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
2 Constitution
3 Critical Damage II, Constitution
4 Volcano's Edge, Constitution
5 Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
6 Master's Blitz
7
8 Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
9
1 Grim Precision (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
2 Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)
3 Legendary Shield Mastery (Tier 2 Sentinel)
4 Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)

With only INT 12, skill pts are tight, so I focused on Perform, UMD, Disable, and Search, with leftover pts into Open Lock. Hope you're good at memorizing trap locations!

There's some good Crystal Cove gear for a PDK Swash/chanter, namely Smallblade (note the 18-20/x2 crit profile), Swashbuckler buckler, and Duelist's Leathers. It's worth farming the ML:16 versions for a first-lifer, IMO, particularly the buckler. Other good lt armors in that lvl range: Black dragonhide, Parasitic Breastplate, Assassin Initiate.

I like the idea of rogue skills I hate missing trap xp!

[Revolted]

For the past 3 years I've been playing mostly any sort of Swashbuckler/Kensai hybrid. I did 3 past lives as pdk, strength based. Why? Mainly personal choice of pure dps over whatever a warchanter does :P

So here's my idea:

1- If you want to play warchanter, the 15/3/2 build is cool, maximize your charisma and invest on t5 Warchanter, as stated by Skorpeon.

2- If you want a kensai/Swashbuckler go 12/6/2 (same classes), maximize your strength, invest on t5 kensai for a way higher dps output. Go t4 Stalwart for both +6 at strength and constitution, invest on t3 swashbuckler, forget about warchanter line. This works better with a rapier than a shortsword, as the bonus to crit from kensai won't stack with the ones from swashbuckler.

In terms of feats, I would switch precision+quicken+extended for PA+Cleave+GCleave. Why? Most of the time in the game your fighting groups of mobs, so starting a fight with cleave+gcleave gives you a huge edge (trust me, I tried it both ways and without that I was bored out of my mind xD). If you go kensai/sb you want to have Dire Charge. Basicly at lvl 29+ you charge, cleave+gcleave and have a group of death mobs.

Now limitation of the kensai/sb: it only works well until r6, over that the dps output will be too low. My defensive stats unbuffed were around Dodge:29%, PRR:130, MRR:50 (was wearing an outfit :P), 1400hp, fort and reflex aroud 85, will only in the 60's. Offensive unbuffed: 68 str, lots of attack speed and doublestrike :) Mind you, it's not as impressive as a monk nowadays, but in melee nothing is.

[unbongwah]

FYI, I just took a stab at updating the Icebreaker (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/446859-The-Icebreaker-A-Freezing-Warchanter-Bard?p=6055168&viewfull=1#post6055168). Obviously you'll have to tweak things based on what tomes and how many (if any) extra racial APs you have. The only stat pre-req is DEX 13 for Precision; so if you don't have at least a +5 DEX tome, you'll have to shift pts into DEX. Likewise you'll have to adjust skill pts if you don't have +6 INT.

[skorpeon]

FYI, I just took a stab at updating the Icebreaker (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/446859-The-Icebreaker-A-Freezing-Warchanter-Bard?p=6055168&viewfull=1#post6055168). Obviously you'll have to tweak things based on what tomes and how many (if any) extra racial APs you have. The only stat pre-req is DEX 13 for Precision; so if you don't have at least a +5 DEX tome, you'll have to shift pts into DEX. Likewise you'll have to adjust skill pts if you don't have +6 INT.

Awesome stuff, thanks for the update. I decided to do a quick epic reincarnation while I sort it out (having another divine PL helps a little). It also lets me gather some gear that might help. Things have changed a lot in game in the last coupleof years and well it's hard for me to keep up. I raid rarely so most raid equipment is just too hard to get (EU based).

I have tomes but no racial points as yet, wanted to get completionist first.

thanks again for the effort its greatly appreciated.

[sexypaladin]

In terms of feats, I would switch precision+quicken+extended for PA+Cleave+GCleave. Why? Most of the time in the game your fighting groups of mobs, so starting a fight with cleave+gcleave gives you a huge edge (trust me, I tried it both ways and without that I was bored out of my mind xD). If you go kensai/sb you want to have Dire Charge. Basicly at lvl 29+ you charge, cleave+gcleave and have a group of death mobs.


I definitely agree with this part here. I've played two variants of a Swashie now (One more Warchanter focused, the other more Swashbuckler), and being more 'single target' focused gets boring VERY quick. The damage is good and you tend to survive alot due to high dodge etc, but it takes a while to get around to killing everything.

I would agree that Cleave/Great Cleave is the way to go, and alot more enjoyable to play.

On a separate note both my builds did utilise CKT for CHA to hit/damage.
I'm still a little unsure if this was a good idea or not.
I'm currently in the process of rolling my third Bard life without utilising it, and I think it might be better to NOT use this enhancement (still need more testing).

[Whitering]

I definitely agree with this part here. I've played two variants of a Swashie now (One more Warchanter focused, the other more Swashbuckler), and being more 'single target' focused gets boring VERY quick. The damage is good and you tend to survive alot due to high dodge etc, but it takes a while to get around to killing everything.

I would agree that Cleave/Great Cleave is the way to go, and alot more enjoyable to play.

On a separate note both my builds did utilise CKT for CHA to hit/damage.
I'm still a little unsure if this was a good idea or not.
I'm currently in the process of rolling my third Bard life without utilising it, and I think it might be better to NOT use this enhancement (still need more testing).

I love CHA to hit and damage from PDK, one of my favourite ugly races. I will agree that Cleave and Great Cleave are necessary to speed up your process.

[IlmerSilverhilt]

My endgame build will be a PDK, mainly spellsinger. I will have around 100 cha in reaper so will try the For Cormyr! buff for bosses :) +45 to dmg!

[LightBear]

I definitely agree with this part here. I've played two variants of a Swashie now (One more Warchanter focused, the other more Swashbuckler), and being more 'single target' focused gets boring VERY quick. The damage is good and you tend to survive alot due to high dodge etc, but it takes a while to get around to killing everything.

I would agree that Cleave/Great Cleave is the way to go, and alot more enjoyable to play.

On a separate note both my builds did utilise CKT for CHA to hit/damage.
I'm still a little unsure if this was a good idea or not.
I'm currently in the process of rolling my third Bard life without utilising it, and I think it might be better to NOT use this enhancement (still need more testing).


Last I tried a PDK Swash all I had to do is drop two points into the racial tree for cha to hit and damage.
There are some very nice Shortsword options in the game, and together with the rest of Crystal Cove buckler and light armor you are set.

Depending on the amount of fighter levels you might be able to go both the whirling attack and the cleaves route.