Need Advise for Bard

[andrewskithekiller]

OK i started a bard. I am interested in some do's and dont's that people have discovered on thier builds.
I am going to make it a war chanter. Started with 13 str and 20 chr. I am also interested in certain equipment that i should be looking for. Thanks to all and looking forward to playing for you all.
If you would what spells do you carry per lvl.

Andrewski 15 barb- 1 fighter,MrRich 16 fighter,Chese 16 barb,Dontcall 16 ranger, Andrewskii 16 barb, Shist 16 fighter,farfrum 6 paly, fourleaf 7 Bard, Ifit 2 rogue
Officer of Band of Skull
Member of Knights of the Unholy

[Strakeln]

Repeaters are really fun and effective on a bard.

[Amabel]

Splash one level of barbarian.

Sprint boost and fascinate = win.

[Aussieee]

OK i started a bard. I am interested in some do's and dont's that people have discovered on thier builds.
I am going to make it a war chanter. Started with 13 str and 20 chr. I am also interested in certain equipment that i should be looking for. Thanks to all and looking forward to playing for you all.
If you would what spells do you carry per lvl.

Andrewski 15 barb- 1 fighter,MrRich 16 fighter,Chese 16 barb,Dontcall 16 ranger, Andrewskii 16 barb, Shist 16 fighter,farfrum 6 paly, fourleaf 7 Bard, Ifit 2 rogue
Officer of Band of Skull
Member of Knights of the Unholy

Few questions,if you want a warchanter why so low of a str and so high of a char?
What are you trying to go for dps,intim,healing or cc?

[Aussieee]

Splash one level of barbarian.

Sprint boost and fascinate = win.

Thats why I love Rockstarr,well I love all bards but stil

[andrewskithekiller]

I plan on using the bard for a cleric support role. I dont plan to dps at all unless needed. I did eat a +2 chr,wis,str, and int tome.Still haven't taken the feat warchanter yet but need to decide my path soon. As for splashing i like to keep my toons pure.

[Rabbi_Hordo]

I plan on using the bard for a cleric support role. I dont plan to dps at all unless needed. I did eat a +2 chr,wis,str, and int tome.Still haven't taken the feat warchanter yet but need to decide my path soon. As for splashing i like to keep my toons pure.

If that is the case then what feats are you taking? Hordiva is a pure-healing/buffing bard with empower healing spell and extend for buffs, but she's a spellsinger for the reduced SP cost to other casters/clerics during the shizzle instead of adding DR to the melees. She does have full to hit and damage songs though to keep them happy too.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Advice for a bard?
To rhyme advice with head lice and not shoe size...

[Demoyn]

OK i started a bard. I am interested in some do's and dont's that people have discovered on thier builds.

DOs-
Be a warchanter

DONTs-
Have 13 strength and 20 charisma on your warchanter.

Right now you're making two very different characters, and you need to pick one before you continue. If you're playing a cleric support role then make a spellsinger. If you're going warchanter then your party role will be melee DPS.

Check the bard forums on page three or four if you really want a melee warchanter. There's a great one posted there (you'll know it when you see it).

[seldarin]

Hmmmm, thats an awful lot of +2 tomes to have eaten before having any clear direction on where you want to go. If you want to be CC/Cleric Helper, then warchanter isnt your game, if you want to be warchanter then you arent going to be that effective a healer, gotta decide on a path and stick to that. As others have said, 13 str makes things a bit low for effective meleeing.

Spell Selections that i have gone with are:

Lvl1, CLW, FF, Focusing Chant, Masters Touch, Remove Fear
Lvl2, Blur, Glitterdust, Hypnotic Pattern, Rage
Lvl3, CSW, Displacement, Good Hope, Haste
Lvl4, CCW, DD, FOM, Ottos Sphere of Dancing
Lvl5, MCLW, Greater Heroism, Mass Suggestion, Mind Fog
Lvl6, Greater Shout, Ottos Irresistible Dance.

Spell selection is open to adjustment, most spells i dont use and are just fillers cos nothing else is around, however a few staple spells are: Focussing chant (helps with skills), FF, Blur, Rage, Displacement, Haste, Good Hope, DD, FOM, Disco Ball, GH, Mass Suggestion (makes ritual a breeze and soloing desert), these are spells i would carry all the time above anything else.

Cheers

[Emili]

You are behind about 1.5-3 mod points behind other warchanters in to-hit and damages... The character is more suited to go down the spellsinger route.

The typical Warchanter usually starts with no less then 16 str... they lean toward DPS, and output a moderate amount of it even when hard pressed max str... as the other dps characters arround them (Rogues, Ranger's, Barb's, etc... ) also benefit from the songs thus producing higher dps then the actual warchanter does.

Some warchanters who splash a few levels a little too deeply actually end up with songs tappered back so far that they are equal or less in dps buffing then some of the spellsingers and other bards... am sure will catch up as pass them as the level caps go up. The reasons behind splash are for a little more str, a feat and more importantly martial weapons.

You best figure out early what you wish to accomplish out of this build... I do kind of see what it was you were trying to accomplish - the rusty gears turned in my mind also - you were thinking about making this build versitile in function to the point where you may follow any path... which you can to some point. However in the long run should you persue the warchanter route you may come up a tad short in results vs expectations.

Whatever route you take... just be sure to max UMD, Perform and haggle... then toss in other skills as you wish.

My Rosewood I be wagering is most likely the gimpiest Bard on the server - rolled in early february 2006 - Still searching for a 1963 Fender Stratocaster to replace that out of tune lute after all these years. She at one time was one of the few bards around on Riedra... She's still a 28 point built elf - I've rerolled Emili (I consider my main) numerous times last being at 1750 32 points - but never Rose. She used to a lot and still does on occasion turn heads, people who grouped with me would send me (tell): I want to build a bard. With the advent of Drow and then 32 points I thought about rerolling her and many times, yet sentimental reasons for myself and for guildies and friends - saying do not reroll Rose have curtailed me from it. Still with all her faults I find her probably the most fun out of all my characters to play... reason being is while she may be a gimp, she surprisingly adapts, it is a flip of a coin with every party as to what role she is going to seek... Just a spellsinger now, yet she's buffed, CC'd, healed and yes even melee'd quite a bit her way through ddo.
My Point? Well Bards nature is to adjust and fit in... besides we all love a little music while we play.

[Varr]

I have some advice for you and everyone else....... Stop....... No really stop rolling a toon and eating three +2 tomes then come and ask for build advice. Crazy rabbits!!!!

[Emili]

I have some advice for you and everyone else....... Stop....... No really stop rolling a toon and eating three +2 tomes then come and ask for build advice. Crazy rabbits!!!!

OH, LOL, he only used three so far... besides, thinking back I cannot recall how many +2's people thrown away on early rerolls in the past. Remember when those things would drop out of von 3-4? There will be other tomes and bigger tomes... tastier and juicier I hope my mouth is quite dry.

[NXPlasmid]

I have some advice for you and everyone else....... Stop....... No really stop rolling a toon and eating three +2 tomes then come and ask for build advice. Crazy rabbits!!!!

I concur, uneat those tomes immediately... Don't listen to Varr help can be asked for at any time for any build.

I currenty have 2 bards one halfling 28pt lvl16 spellsinger, healing support and CC and have a lvl7 human spellsinger who I used a +2 Cha tome on and went with a higher St and lower dx. It seems like Warchanters are all the rage these days and so I am thinking about respec'ing him to warchanter. I think I am fortunate that I can go either way with him as his St is high enough for resonable melee and chr is very high for CC. What I really want is a high fascinate and more importantly, a good ability to fascinate, a game skill which IMHO is highly under used. I guess at the end of the day Warchanter=raids, spell singer=quests.

[Zenako]

Don't splash for just Martial Weapon Proficiency, bards have a 1st level spell (1 min/level) that allows you to be proficient with Martial Weapons. Better solution if that is the motivation.

What was not asked was how is your CON? Warchanters who plan on mixing it up and fighting should have some HP to back things up. Now I suspect you took a 13 STR to allow you to take Power Attack, and the Warchanter Enhancement. That being said, enhancements are not locked in stone, and in many cases being pure and spellsinger might well be more effective during the mid levels. At end game, one reason many warchanters are sought is their undispellable melee song buffs which are slightly better than other bards could hit, assuming the warchanter has not splashed too many other levels that lower his song level access and enhancements access.

[Emili]

I concur, uneat those tomes immediately... Don't listen to Varr help can be asked for at any time for any build.

I currenty have 2 bards one halfling 28pt lvl16 spellsinger, healing support and CC and have a lvl7 human spellsinger who I used a +2 Cha tome on and went with a higher St and lower dx. It seems like Warchanters are all the rage these days and so I am thinking about respec'ing him to warchanter. I think I am fortunate that I can go either way with him as his St is high enough for resonable melee and chr is very high for CC. What I really want is a high fascinate and more importantly, a good ability to fascinate, a game skill which IMHO is highly under used. I guess at the end of the day Warchanter=raids, spell singer=quests.

I'm not quite sure, I do not think there is that much discrimination, seems my spellsinger sports more fashion in loot from VoD, Hound and Shroud then any other one of my characters.

[HeavenlyCloud]

Thats why I love Blah's bard.

Ohhh i can feel the love. <3.

[babygirl]

Ohhh i can feel the love. <3.

It's better to feel other things

[Thrudh]

Just curious...

Why can't a warchanter be a backup healer/caster? What's wrong with going for max buffs only? Now, I admit spell-singer might be a better choice since the bonus to UMD and Spell DCs and extra 100 SP are very useful... but if one wants to be a buffer/healer with decent CC, then a maxed out CHA warchanter could work...

[Emili]

It's better to feel other things

Now that I can concur with.