multiclass bard ideas

[wrinyn]

Hey all, i've put threads up for ideas and i'm doing it again....I really don't want detailed explanations but just raw ideas....

Who has different multiclass pc's with bard as the primary class.

I was thinking of a bard 14/rogue 2 for the evasion

Anything else that seems to work....right now i have a 7th level bard warchanter...

[Draxis]

brd/rog works if you're going for a trap monkey with a little extra DPS.
But typically if traps are your aim you want to take rog as your first level and keep your search and disable skills inline with your current character level.

Really it all depends on how you want to play.

ftr mixes well with brd, because it's a feat starved class.
sor mixes well with brd because of the CHA synergy, and it helps if you go for spellsinger.
pal mixes well too because of the CHA synergy and the automatic self-buffs pals get.

Also, if you're going for a multiclass brd, you can pretty much forget about trying to get the best songs. Save your enhancements for something else, because there will always be a bard with a better song than you. Especially in raids.

For this reason, lots of people advocate never ever multiclassing a bard, because you seriously gimp their best attribute.

[Randolf_Drake]

pal mixes well too because of the CHA synergy and the automatic self-buffs pals get.

Pals cant be Bards, or you would see em everywhere.

[Randolf_Drake]

Bard 8 Ranger 6 Rogue 2
Bard 14 Rogue 2
Bard 12 (Fighter/Barb/Ranger) 2 Rogue 2


Cleric 9 Bard 7

[Draxis]

Pals cant be Bards, or you would see em everywhere.

Ah, you're right. Forgot about the alignment restrictions.

[Schmackdown]

Also, if you're going for a multiclass brd, you can pretty much forget about trying to get the best songs. Save your enhancements for something else, because there will always be a bard with a better song than you. Especially in raids.

A level 8 Warchanter has the same potential max damage mod as a level 16 Spellsinger. Song enhancements have a great ROI, especially on the damage side.

[maddmatt70]

A level 8 Warchanter has the same potential max damage mod as a level 16 Spellsinger. Song enhancements have a great ROI, especially on the damage side.

I agree with your statement about raw numbers; however, that is definitely a glass is half full statement. The songs last about half as long for an 8th level bard, an 8th level bard has about half the number of songs, the buff spells last half as long, etc. An 8th level bard/X build will definitly feel the multiclass such that I wouldn't recommend any mulitclass this stringent because there isn't enough advantages out there to warrant it. Look to mod 9's cap raise to 20 and fighter prestige enhancements and other changes for quality possibility of a 8ish bard/X multiclass.

[Thrudh]

Also, if you're going for a multiclass brd, you can pretty much forget about trying to get the best songs. Save your enhancements for something else, because there will always be a bard with a better song than you. Especially in raids.

No group will ever wait around for a bard with "a better song than you"... If this was true, no spell-singer would ever get invited to a raid...

For this reason, lots of people advocate never ever multiclassing a bard, because you seriously gimp their best attribute.

It's true that you probably don't want to deeply multi-class a bard.... but Bards currently max out their damage bonus from songs at level 14... although they also gain a very useful AC song at level 15 (+4 stackable AC).

So a 15/1 bard/xxxx will be just as good at bard songs as a pure bard (He/she will be missing 6th level spells, but there's nothing earth-shattering there).

A 14/2 bard/xxxx will be missing the AC song, but will hardly be gimped, and their damage song will still be maxed...

13/3 bard/xxxx will be only 1 short on max damage song... still not gimped... depends on what the other 3 levels bring....

To answer the OP, bard/rogue works well, bard/fighter, bard/barbarian... You have to carefully plan out most MC builds... but especially MC bards...

I myself have a 13/3 bard/rogue who is a very good support character... Full rogue skills, near-max bard abilities... Now... is he the best bard out there for a raid? Nope... but he's always been accepted to every raid looking for a bard...

He's really better for 6-person quests... combining two classes very well... Unfortunately raiding is all that exists at end-game right now... but still he does just fine in raids as well..

Just be careful multi-classing a bard.... plan it out carefully.

[MrCow]

No group will ever wait around for a bard with "a better song than you"... If this was true, no spell-singer would ever get invited to a raid...

I can vouch for this one after playing a 9 ranger/7 bard for quite a while. The moment I join AND mention what my song does (+3 to-hit, +5 damage, 10 songs which is enough for most raids, except probably Visions if I'm am doing Inspire Courage and Ironskin Chant) that bard icon often falls off the LFM message or list of class icons that they are looking for. In a standard quest I have enough songs to toss out continuous Inspire Courage with a couple Ironskin Chants or Fascinations.

The songs last about half as long for an 8th level bard

Depends on the song. An 8th level bard with Lingering Song 2 is capable of the base 4 minute songs lasting 74.4% of the duration of a bard who has Lingering Song 4. The 8th level bard with Lingering Song 2 can get the specialty songs to last 53.2% of the duration of a 16th level bard with Lingering Song 2.

[Whetstone]

Blasphamy.

This is the bard forum.

There can never be too many bards in a party.

That it all.

[Bronko]

Hey all, i've put threads up for ideas and i'm doing it again....I really don't want detailed explanations but just raw ideas....

Who has different multiclass pc's with bard as the primary class.

I was thinking of a bard 14/rogue 2 for the evasion

Anything else that seems to work....right now i have a 7th level bard warchanter...

I have a 16th level Spellsinger Bard with 2 levels of Rogue myself. I had planned the build out for a long time before creating it and thought it was going to be so cool. It has it's pluses but it has it's downfalls too.

My build can pick any lock, find any trap, buffs the whole group while singing some tasty songs, and her Evasion keeps her alive in a lot of situations that kill other squishy Bards.

But on the flipside I'm missing out on the 6th level spells, have a smaller SP base, and I get really tired of hearing the jokes about 'can I get the AC song please?'

So 'gimp' yourself if you think those drawbacks are acceptable but be forewarned that people can be mean to anything with less 15 levels of Bard in the current end-game.

[rejectedone]

keep in mind that a 14/2 bard/rogue will be short one BAB from a 16 bard and won't be able to get GTWF until the level cap is increased. I guess at 18 it won't matter anymore though it might again at 20.

[Solmage]

Instead of 2 rogue/bard X, consider 2 monk/bard X - 2 extra feats for a feat starved class + evasion. If you didn't dump dex completely, it can come in handy.

[Noctus]

Instead of 2 rogue/bard X, consider 2 monk/bard X - 2 extra feats for a feat starved class + evasion.

Bard: any non-lawful.
Monk: any lawful.

--> No Monk-Bard- Hybrids possible.

[purdyaw]

The perfect party

I call this cologne: Bard.

14Bard/2Rogue - Spellsinger, primary dungeoneerer, secondary healer, tertiary crowd control
16Bard - Spellsinger, primary Healer, secondary crowd control.
16Bard - Spellsinger, Virtuoso, primary buffer, primary crowd control, tertiary damage dealer, tertiary healer.
14Bard/2Fighter - Warchanter, primary tank, secondary damage dealer, secondary buffer (primary courage), quatrinary healer.
10Bard/6Ranger - Tempest, Warchanter, primary damage dealer, secondary tank, tertiary buffer (secondary courage), quatrinary healer
16Bard - Full Wand Effectivity and Heightening, Warchanter, secondary everything, primary "kill it because the melee can't touch it" guy.

[wrinyn]

The perfect party

I call this cologne: Bard.

14Bard/2Rogue - Spellsinger, primary dungeoneerer, secondary healer, tertiary crowd control
16Bard - Spellsinger, primary Healer, secondary crowd control.
16Bard - Spellsinger, Virtuoso, primary buffer, primary crowd control, tertiary damage dealer, tertiary healer.
14Bard/2Fighter - Warchanter, primary tank, secondary damage dealer, secondary buffer (primary courage), quatrinary healer.
10Bard/6Ranger - Tempest, Warchanter, primary damage dealer, secondary tank, tertiary buffer (secondary courage), quatrinary healer
16Bard - Full Wand Effectivity and Heightening, Warchanter, secondary everything, primary "kill it because the melee can't touch it" guy.

Heh, seeing how my main is a drow necromancer can you at least throw him in for comfort. I've seen the power of the bard in a group this weekend. We were 4 man'ng a quest on elite a level above our own. Once my pc joined the quest went very smoothly. i was able to buff appropriately and heal when necessary....My little 7th bard warchanter really helped both in melee and with CC (love glitter). I was also responsible for keeping people up (not topping off). The group I was with used tactics and it was a great dungeon crawl...I've been digging my bard so much that he might become my second favorite (nothing replaces my wiz though..ha,ha)...

Thanks again for all of the ideas. I might just keep this one as a straight bard because my ability to make the wrong decisions when multiclassing is legendary...ha,ha....

[wrinyn]

I use inspire courage that is max'd out for my level (7). At level 9, I will have inspire greatness. Do the buffs stack? Can I use it on myself? Also, with my warchanter song, I will have to use this sparingly I guess....hmmmm...Thoughts please?

[Noctus]

Inspire Greatness and Inspire Courage stack. Both also apply to the bard singing.

How often you activate your DR-Song dependson the quest, usually there should be enogh songs to keep the party buffed up all through the dungeon, with all 3 songs.

[SciFiCowboy]

I'm more a purest when it comes to classes but have been playing with my Warchanter

As of now she's Bard 14/Barbarian 2. Warchanter allows for an extra rage (which you can't cast spells obviously) but comes in handy if you're out of spell points anyway and are going strictly DPS/buff (bardsong) She has more CC than party buffs (haste, GH, Songs) but does a fair amount of Damage and the ability to Facinate helps)

Limitations of course for this build and doing DPS is Light/Medium Armor and the ASF with medium armor or Sword and Board. It's mostly a trade off for what you want.

End build I'm going to try for her will be Bard 16 / Barbarian 2 / Rogue 2 (or Bard 14/Rogue 4) need to look at some of the benefits again-no book in front of me)

My thought with the Rogue part is not so much evasion as the occasional sneak attack bonus when she goes in right after the primary tank, more hit and run, but can sustain herself if need be.

[hannika]

10bard/6ranger is my favorite bard so far of my 4. tempest warchanter, dwarf. most fun ever.