Build Proposal: Jack(lyn) of all (most) trades - a pure charisma bard

[Anthios888]

Still keeping this updated if any are still doing this build. I always liked this build a lot, and recent developments in dps gear have basically doubled the DPS, making it much much more fun to play. I am considering re-making it with several past life wizard feats and possibly going with half-elf rogue dilettante or wizard past life instead of extend spell.

This thread is quite a history. I can't think of a build that has changed so much over time!

[skepticalsoul]

I noticed you included +7 strength in your endgame stats however you have no strength 7 item in your gear. Am I missing something? Btw, thanks for posting this. It's really nice to see that someone of your prestige has already created the exact build I had created myself. Only difference is that mine is Spellsinger.

[Anthios888]

I noticed you included +7 strength in your endgame stats however you have no strength 7 item in your gear. Am I missing something? Btw, thanks for posting this. It's really nice to see that someone of your prestige has already created the exact build I had created myself. Only difference is that mine is Spellsinger.

Hey, thanks for the catch. I think I still had +7 on my mind because I was using Epic Belt of the Mroranon for a long time. Still no luck on Ravager :x

Gear is really flexible, though, because there are places you can get these bonuses like Epic Brawling Gloves, Helm of the Red Dragon, Mroranon, etc. You don't need the Bracers of the Claw (unless you have them) until the Gem is fixed. Or, you could just use the claw set instead of Abishai. Nice to have so many options for endgame.

If you're a spellsinger, you won't be able to use the Marilith Chain, but you can see if you can get a seeker 6 pirate hat from the event if it comes back up as your source of seeker. My suggestion: slot perform 15 on it, especially if you are a spellsinger. The perform helps your chance of giving mana every time you sing a song. It's convenient not to have to swap that on and off.

[skepticalsoul]

Hey, thanks for the catch. I think I still had +7 on my mind because I was using Epic Belt of the Mroranon for a long time. Still no luck on Ravager :x

Gear is really flexible, though, because there are places you can get these bonuses like Epic Brawling Gloves, Helm of the Red Dragon, Mroranon, etc. You don't need the Bracers of the Claw (unless you have them) until the Gem is fixed. Or, you could just use the claw set instead of Abishai. Nice to have so many options for endgame.

If you're a spellsinger, you won't be able to use the Marilith Chain, but you can see if you can get a seeker 6 pirate hat from the event if it comes back up as your source of seeker. My suggestion: slot perform 15 on it, especially if you are a spellsinger. The perform helps your chance of giving mana every time you sing a song. It's convenient not to have to swap that on and off.

Why is it that spellsingers can't use Epic Marilith Chain and Warchanters can? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but this is my first time leveling a bard. Also I was curious about your gear layout. I know that you included many options in your above post but you didn't include abishai set which could bump your strength to 33 and you can still fit in claw set, in my opinion the helm of frost would be in my opinion better than the ring of silver concord as a cha 7 item which you could slot with another dps ring perhaps? Either way my ideal gear layout looks more like this, any critque would be welcome

Armor: DT until I get epic red dragon slotted with cha6 and any exceptional that would fix an odd stat.
Boots: Green Steel SP
Cloak: Epic Envenomed / toughness (This is awesome for a bard)
Gloves: claw (I think most people don't understand how awesome this item is even WITHOUT the gloves, isn't it the only nonring that you can have +2 exceptional con on? And heavy fort! I somehow find myself always including this in my gear layout. Especially since it's easy so get)
Bracers: charged gauntlets / wizardry VI (I chose charged gauntlets mostly because I didn't want the threat, but it could easily be switched for claw gloves. I personally like the slot on these versus the claw gloves too.)
Helmet: Helm of frost / gfl
Weapon: Epic sos (Time to get another! I know some people who don't even have one after 100 runs, somehow I got my last in 19 )
Neck: Green steel HP (was thinking about getting the superior potency neck but that's what we have clickies for)
Goggles: Tharnes
Belt: Ravager
Ring 1: Ravager
Ring 2: Warchanter for cha6 until I get epic armor
Trinket: w/e probably gem when they fix it. (highly skeptical that they ever will)

[Anthios888]

Why is it that spellsingers can't use Epic Marilith Chain and Warchanters can? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but this is my first time leveling a bard. Also I was curious about your gear layout. I know that you included many options in your above post but you didn't include abishai set which could bump your strength to 33 and you can still fit in claw set, in my opinion the helm of frost would be in my opinion better than the ring of silver concord as a cha 7 item which you could slot with another dps ring perhaps? Either way my ideal gear layout looks more like this, any critque would be welcome

Armor: DT until I get epic red dragon slotted with cha6 and any exceptional that would fix an odd stat.
Boots: Green Steel SP
Cloak: Epic Envenomed / toughness (This is awesome for a bard)
Gloves: claw (I think most people don't understand how awesome this item is even WITHOUT the gloves, isn't it the only nonring that you can have +2 exceptional con on? And heavy fort! I somehow find myself always including this in my gear layout. Especially since it's easy so get)
Bracers: charged gauntlets / wizardry VI (I chose charged gauntlets mostly because I didn't want the threat, but it could easily be switched for claw gloves. I personally like the slot on these versus the claw gloves too.)
Helmet: Helm of frost / gfl
Weapon: Epic sos (Time to get another! I know some people who don't even have one after 100 runs, somehow I got my last in 19 )
Neck: Green steel HP (was thinking about getting the superior potency neck but that's what we have clickies for)
Goggles: Tharnes
Belt: Ravager
Ring 1: Ravager
Ring 2: Warchanter for cha6 until I get epic armor
Trinket: w/e probably gem when they fix it. (highly skeptical that they ever will)

• 1. Marilith Chain is a medium armor. Warchanter II gives medium armor proficiency. Spellsingers get a heavy penalty to arcane spell failure (haste, cure spells) in Marilith. I actually used to use an epic Marilith slotted with arcane spell failure rune on one of my bards. This reduces the ASF to 4%, but considering the cost and annoyance, I probably wouldn't do this on a bard where I am really slinging spells a lot in crucial situations.
• 2. I do have my ideal gear for this toon including an abishai set. I just had not fixed the STR since the previous build breakdown, which was before Chronoscope came out. It's fixed now. Check out the OP.
• 3. The reason I was kind of vague in my last post is that I know we all come to this with different expectations for gear. A lot of people find it very intimidating to see posts that say, "you MUST have claw set and marilith chain to be effective!!1" The great thing about DDO is that there are many ways to skin the cat. I suggested some transitional gear. The more damage you can fit in, of course, the better.
• 4. Ring of the Silver Concord v. Helm of Frost. I chose this because it is easily swappable with a ToD set. I like to use the Torc a lot on my healing/casting build, because I get more mana and spell pen 6. When I'm balls-to-the-wall-DPS, it's easy enough to flip on Shintao Set and lose only 1 DC. Both the Boots of Corrosion and Envenomed Cloak give more than the hat, and more than anything I could get on a ring. You cannot craft greensteel on a ring to consolidate slots, and there are almost no DPS rings other than ToD sets and perhaps ring of Venom. I consider the 7 cha ring to be swappable when I want DPS, so it would allow me to put on a ToD set. The helm does not have this luxury.
• 5. Crafting on necklace in order to fit in Helm of Frost is kinda backward, because the Shintao set gives as much or more hit/damage for fewer slots than the 3x abishai set. You could theoretically fit in both the claw set and the abishai set, but you might losing your greensteel items completely.
• 6. Claw set vs. abishai set. Say you absolutely have to pick. This is a tough choice. My preference would normally be claw, but in this case, I thought Abishai fit things in better and gave a little bit of a to-hit boost. But, if you have the luxury to choose and you are picking between abishai and no shintao set vs. claw and shintao set, go with shintao and claw set.
• 7. Fitting in seeker somewhere is a really good idea, although gear gets really tight at this point. Helm is one of the only open slots for a spellsinger. With a high-crit weapon like a sword of shadow, adding seeker +4 (over ravager belt) gives 60% as much DPS as the claw set! Over 20 swings, 4 seeker gives 46 damage, or 2.3 damage per swing.
• 8. Trinket - First choice is Litany of the Dead for the +1 cha and con (after all, your DCs are why you have levels in cha). Or a bold trinket, when they fix it (currently, the 2 seeker does not stack). And if you have none of these, Bloodstone is still tried and true!

[BOgre]

I had the thought to set up a support toon on a new server, in advance of bringing our guild there. That way I could escort our members' new toons, buy/sell gear/loot, and so on. This bard seems to be exactly what I had in mind. I'll be starting one up today

[Taolie64]

Just wanted to add my thanks for a really fun-to-play build! I'm up to level 5 with her, and she's been a blast to play! Buffs galore, great damage with THF, and a nice selection of wands, just in case.

I'm using a slightly different spell configuration than you had listed. I took Master's Touch as soon as possible, which gives me unlimited weapon choices. The Ratkiller from Smuggler's Rest works great on skellies!

I rolled this build because I wanted to play a support character, but weirdly enough, she's turning out to be my best solo toon! Pretty much unstoppable!

Thanks for a great build!

[Newbiexicus]

With only 14 starting STR and no level-ups to STR, would I be able to hit things end game? And how would the damage compare to starting with 18 STR with level-ups to STR (your Classic Rocker build)?

I was wondering, because I wanted to make a CHA based bard. And it seems Warchanter is still the way to go, so this might be the build for me. I just wanted to make sure I can still do good damage later on even if I focused on CHA.

Also, for the feat selection, would it be okay to replace Heighten Spell with Empower Healing spell?

Thank you.

[Anthios888]

With only 14 starting STR and no level-ups to STR, would I be able to hit things end game? And how would the damage compare to starting with 18 STR with level-ups to STR (your Classic Rocker build)?

I was wondering, because I wanted to make a CHA based bard. And it seems Warchanter is still the way to go, so this might be the build for me. I just wanted to make sure I can still do good damage later on even if I focused on CHA.

Also, for the feat selection, would it be okay to replace Heighten Spell with Empower Healing spell?

Thank you.

Most things you can hit just fine. The difference is at most 5 to-hit. That can really be a lot, but gear also can make up the difference. If you are using a breastplate of destruction (or a dragontouched slotted with destruct), you'll not only hit just as well but help party members do it too. Any time you're truly having difficulty hitting, this build isn't SOL like others, because you can dance the monster or use other crowd control, or heal. I never found it really prohibitive even in epics.

I really prefer heighten over most of the other metamagics, because it gives you some decent DC boosts on nearly all of your spells. After all, if you're doing your levels in CHA, might as well take every advantage you can. I only have maximize on all of my healers and don't really regret not having empower healing. Personal preference.

[Newbiexicus]

Most things you can hit just fine. The difference is at most 5 to-hit. That can really be a lot, but gear also can make up the difference. If you are using a breastplate of destruction (or a dragontouched slotted with destruct), you'll not only hit just as well but help party members do it too. Any time you're truly having difficulty hitting, this build isn't SOL like others, because you can dance the monster or use other crowd control, or heal. I never found it really prohibitive even in epics.

I really prefer heighten over most of the other metamagics, because it gives you some decent DC boosts on nearly all of your spells. After all, if you're doing your levels in CHA, might as well take every advantage you can. I only have maximize on all of my healers and don't really regret not having empower healing. Personal preference.

Hopefully being a pure Warchanter (songs) and choosing reward items well will help the +hit. But thanks for assuring me

As to having good DC, how far behind is this build's DC from that of an equally geared and same-feats Spellsinger?

[Anthios888]

Hopefully being a pure Warchanter (songs) and choosing reward items well will help the +hit. But thanks for assuring me

As to having good DC, how far behind is this build's DC from that of an equally geared and same-feats Spellsinger?

1 DC behind spellsinger.

[Purkilius]

Just wanted to say thanx

This is a really fun and effective build, been running quests with an Artificer and this is just to easy.

Kind regards,

Purkilius

[MyHumps]

I'd love to see an update on this build, maybe not a complete overhaul but perhaps some gear suggestions.

[Anthios888]

I'd love to see an update on this build, maybe not a complete overhaul but perhaps some gear suggestions.

Hi MyHumps

I actually keep this one pretty well updated. There are different ways to go with gear and the main change I would make would be to include the epic ring of the stalker, now that you can get seeker on your ring and also pick up a few much-needed slots.

Here's an example of a guildie with a similar feat list, but who has spellsinger. He could heal or crowd control anything. His MyDDO does not have equipped ravager set, abishai set (helm cloak boots), or epic sword of shadow, but you can kind of get the idea: 46 CHA, 32 STR.

Here's one that is more healing and DPS gear. It's not this same build, but the gear would work as long as you used a +7 cha item and always wore +2 enchantment focus when casting. That second ring could also be Stalker.

If you'd like any more suggestions, just ask!

[Zachski]

I am impressed by this.

I think I'll even roll one up I always wanted a casting bard, but hated the concept of having to pike parties with my music just to get to a level where my CC can be useful... but apparently, the stats work out well!