Roq Star, a pure 2wf battlebard for mod 9 and beyond

[The_Mud_Man]

Well, I was trying to think of a way to do a horc roq with khopesh, but couldn't decide if losing the capstone would be worth the extra feats, haste boost, weapon profs, and ....know I'm forgetting something.

Not considering the healing amp humans bring.

I'm not above using picks and rapiers...just a bit of a dps nut. I know good dps is capable still. I'll prolly just wind up playing around with it and go from there.

[Anthios888]

Well, I was trying to think of a way to do a horc roq with khopesh, but couldn't decide if losing the capstone would be worth the extra feats, haste boost, weapon profs, and ....know I'm forgetting something.

Not considering the healing amp humans bring.

I'm not above using picks and rapiers...just a bit of a dps nut. I know good dps is capable still. I'll prolly just wind up playing around with it and go from there.

If it helps any, last I calced with my gear human khopesh was still higher than h-orc rapier/pick.

[The_Mud_Man]

THF horc wins out on a THF human. Correct?

Hmm, still being drawn to the horc classic style build. I shouldn't have any issues getting an eSoS. Anyway, there's a reason for multiple character slots and the opportunity to buy more.

[NovaNZ]

Hail Anthios888.

Nice build. I like 'Surround sound on the Killing ground'(c) too. Have a Genghis khan and also modified Beefcake.

Issue - any takes on how one could graft your build here into a dwarf?
Genuinely interested to hear the pros/cons. (ps - would probably use Daxe with enhancements unless V. convincing case for khopesh provided)

Tx in advance

[Anthios888]

Hail Anthios888.

Nice build. I like 'Surround sound on the Killing ground'(c) too. Have a Genghis khan and also modified Beefcake.

Issue - any takes on how one could graft your build here into a dwarf?
Genuinely interested to hear the pros/cons. (ps - would probably use Daxe with enhancements unless V. convincing case for khopesh provided)

Tx in advance

Just be a dwarf and don't take khopesh. Use dwarven axes instead.

The only downside is the lack of healing amplification, slightly lower dps, and the action points for taking dwarven axe attack/damage.

The upside is better saves and hp and beefy arms.

Go for it!

[grodon9999]

A dorf pure 20 bard is not proficient in dorf-axe.

[Aashrym]

A dorf pure 20 bard is not proficient in dorf-axe.

Dwarven war axe training enhancement for dwarf war chanter II's.

[grodon9999]

Dwarven war axe training enhancement for dwarf war chanter II's.

Nice, didn't know that. But does that actually grant the Exotic Weapon proficiency? Can't tell from the planner

[Anthios888]

Nice, didn't know that. But does that actually grant the Exotic Weapon proficiency? Can't tell from the planner

Yep. Enhancement: Dwarven Waraxe Training.

[NovaNZ]

Tx Anthios888

The pros/cons pretty much as I expected.

Nice that a segment of bardic build knowledge also came to the forefront - we're all better off for that!

See u round in the forums.

[Anthios888]

Updated with a possible path for Fatesinger (with melee twists). I'll use Legendary Dreadnought when grouped with another fatesinger, but I'm still committed to the party buffs.

I was also glad to be able to pick up Quicken with the level increase. This update was good to this build because it was starting to get slightly frustrating before not being able to throw an uninterruptable heal in an emergency. Spell power changes have meant that megamagic feats, while useful for serious healing, are not as critical to healing. The healing capability on a melee bard like this jumped dramatically. I like quicken for the heals and for fast Otto's Irresistible Dance.

Remember that Inspire Excellence will not stack with the +1 exceptionals slotted on epic armor and ToD rings.

I was starting to miss my self-buffed melee 9 bard / 8 fighter / 3 rogue mutt, but some of these game changes make the pure battlebard more attractive because of its party uberizing speedrun worthy buffs and self-sufficiency. Reign and Valor are great and bards needed the DPS help. While other classes have gotten spell passes and uber PrEs, bards were left in the dust. I'm looking forward to the enhancement changes and crossing my fingers that bards get more special.

The main issue: Too many songs to sing, and frustrating cooldowns. Nothing to do with this build, of course, but bards in general.

[DRBuyaka]

Is there a little mistake in your build? If you wanna take two weapon fighting at 1 lvl you ll need 15 start dex, so you can pick it.

[Anthios888]

Is there a little mistake in your build? If you wanna take two weapon fighting at 1 lvl you ll need 15 start dex, so you can pick it.

Fixed! I mostly 2-handed until level 12 or so.

[Yendor_the_pokermage]

hello Anthios,

i really like the this build and would love to give it a go on my main melee Kyokoi.

Problem is except for 1 epic Chaosblade i dont have khopeshes but alot of Scimi's from previous lives (MinII, LitII, RadII, and both Kroznik's and the one from LoD chain epic)

also he has 4Monk, 2Barb, 2Ftr, 1Rog, 1Pally PL's

what i was wondering is the viability of just goin elf dropping Prof:Khopesh for Extend.

the only thing that im really worried about is the AP's spending some points into bonuses for Scimi's thou would just be 8 points for +2DMG,+1to-hit dont think i really need to spend the xtra 4 points for 1 xtra to hit.

also he does have a +4Con tome with the rest all +3's, so the possibilty of dropping toughness for maximise may be viable considering i have 2 Barb lives.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated as id like to to knock off another life quick before mabar/

Tyvm

[Anthios888]

hello Anthios,

i really like the this build and would love to give it a go on my main melee Kyokoi.

Problem is except for 1 epic Chaosblade i dont have khopeshes but alot of Scimi's from previous lives (MinII, LitII, RadII, and both Kroznik's and the one from LoD chain epic)

also he has 4Monk, 2Barb, 2Ftr, 1Rog, 1Pally PL's

what i was wondering is the viability of just goin elf dropping Prof:Khopesh for Extend.

the only thing that im really worried about is the AP's spending some points into bonuses for Scimi's thou would just be 8 points for +2DMG,+1to-hit dont think i really need to spend the xtra 4 points for 1 xtra to hit.

also he does have a +4Con tome with the rest all +3's, so the possibilty of dropping toughness for maximise may be viable considering i have 2 Barb lives.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated as id like to to knock off another life quick before mabar/

Tyvm

If you go elf, you'd have one less feat, so you wouldn't get extend.

There's no reason this wouldn't work without khopeshes. I think if it were me in your shoes, I would be a h-elf with rogue dilletante for 3d6 sneak attack damage, use scimitars while working my way up, and then use Balizarde for an endgame weapon choice. Balizarde even has keen. No nasty con penalty that way, either, and you keep healing amplification.

But your way will work great, especially with your background TR experience.

Let me know how it goes!

[Anthios888]

also he does have a +4Con tome with the rest all +3's, so the possibilty of dropping toughness for maximise may be viable considering i have 2 Barb lives.

I just saw this part. One thing you might think about doing is dropping weapon focus: slashing for maximize. Maximize (which you want to take anyway), qualifies you for the Spellsinger PrE instead of Warchanter. You'd still be mostly a melee, but with fair burst healing abilities.

Last time I leveled this build, I was a spellsinger most of the way leveling up, and loved it because of the ability to heal the PuGs I joined and the extra UMD while growing up. I switched to warchanter because I'm a fanatic, but I'm not sure that's necessarily the way you have to go to be effective.

Spellsingers undoubtedly have a leg up over warchanters for many situations, both for leveling and endgame. For example, Inspire Recklessness (Level 12 warchanter feat) does not stack with doublestrike items like alchemicals or Epic Spare Hand, making the DPS contribution from Warchanter much shallower for many characters.

You lose medium armor, Ironskin Chant, 10 HP, +1 attack, +2 damage on your Inspire Courage.

I'm still hoping that warchanters get love in the coming months, but for now, it sounds like a spellsinger-scimitar version of Roq is the direction you're headed.

[Anthios888]

Updated for Update 16.

Considered dropping Khopesh. Balizarde has made rapiers a premier DPS weapon, but I'm pretty attached to Khopeshes. I decided against it, because (a) many monsters have damage reduction, (b) I do not like to build for one weapon, (c) alchemicals rule for earthgrab, and alchemical khopeshes > alchemical rapiers. But, if you're just starting out, skipping khopesh is something to consider.

Considered changing to Virtuoso or Spellsinger. Warchanter is stupidly weak, but I'm sticking with it and making the most out of it. In the end, a +12 damage song is pretty satisfying. Since inspire recklessness doesn't stack with doublestrike items, I recalibrated my equipment not to include doublestrike and re-made my offhand Alchemical Khopeshes with Earth (Disintegrate, Acid Blast, +2 CON) instead of Air (Lightning Strike, Doublestrike 6%, +2 DEX). While spellsinger would give everyone lots of mana, I'm holding out for Warchanter III. Also, most other bards in my guild are spellsingers, so I have a niche.

Considering picking up overwhelming critical. I agonized over what to do about Overwhelming Critical. I devised a number of splash builds and concluded that I was going to give the current build a try before doing anything drastic. Math showed me that overwhelming critical is better in 6-man quests, but pure bardsongs appear better in raids. After capping epic destinies and testing out the old build, I was pleasantly surprised. Roq performs much better in MOTU and Epic Elites than I expected, often competing with top DPS for kills. I am glad that I did not gimp my build for overwhelming critical. I am still weighing whether I could fit it in by dropping toughness, quicken, and khopesh proficiency. I may test it once I obtain the last pieces of gear to make it viable. I'll update with how it goes and whether it is worth it. I don't recommend that if you're just starting out.

Original Post. I fixed some inaccuracies in my original post, as requested. I hope I did not confuse anyone. Unfortunately, Fatesinger got nerfed a little in the time between Lamannia and where it's at now, so my stuff was the old descriptions.

See y'all in game. I'm playing this bard nonstop on Ghallanda (instead of studying...)

[Subxero]

I know I am going to catch some flak for necroing an old post but this build is awesome and I just wanted to thank you for finally getting me into bard. Been trying to make a decent one for years now and never found one I actually enjoyed as much as this build. Even though i recently did a lr +3 and added 2 lvls of fighter for cleave and great cleave to have fun in Legendary Dreadnought. But anyways Just wanted to say thank you for the very awesome post.