Build Help ~ Pure Warchanter

[fervidsea]

Been looking around the forums and I am quite confused. I started a sorcerer and rogue, the sorcerer is nice, but the rogue is just meh for me.

I'm looking for a Pure Bard (warchanter), for Buffs, Melee, and spells in that order I suppose. Human or Drow, if that works out the best, TWF would be nice.

I found the following threads and wanted to get some ideas from others if possible.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=177657

The first is nice but seems to focus on an alt character having alot of stuff to throw at it.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...Warchanter+TWF

The second seems ok, to me with no experience, but wanted to make sure Im going in the right direction if I choose drow. What about human?

Thanks for the help.

[Valindria]

I can talk a little on the build in your second link since it is the one I posted. I am almost level 11 with my Drow Bard. I think I followed it pretty close to that plan up to this point. Some of the enhancements are different. The spells at the levels I took them might be different. I know for sure I went Cure + haste, then Good Hope, and Displacement last in that order.

Race:
I chose drow because I didn't have 32 point builds unlocked. I felt starting off purchasing the drow (or getting the favor goes pretty fast if you don't want to purchase) would give me a good toon I would want to play after I have the 32 point options. I know the debate between 28/32. For me Drow was the choice.

If you want to do Human there are some advantages. An extra feat is always nice. You don't have to worry about the -2 to Con that drow start with. You can get +1 to con and str though enhancements (really +1 to any stat).

I wanted a pure drow warchanter that was more balanced then a melee powerhouse. There a plenty of 2wf khopesh/dwarven war axe Bard/Fighter builds out there. Personally the idea of a pure bard appeals to me more.

Stats:

Strength             16                    18 (later level ups)
Dexterity            16                    18 (Drow Dex1, +1 tome)
Constitution         12                    14 (1st 2 level ups)
Intelligence         10                    10
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             16                    20 (Bard Cha III +1 tome)

- I was able to get a +1 Dex tome (17 base is required for the top TWF feat) from the AH. I also took Drow Dex I. This gives me 18 Dex. I have a +2 Dex ring to bump it to 20. I decided I was not going to get drow dex II and spend my points in other spots. 20 Dex gives me the max dex bonus for my armor.
- My 1st two skill point level ups (level 4 and 8) were spent on Constitution. A more melee focused would spend all level ups in STR. Personally I was ok with losing a little strength to gain some base constitution. The toughness feat is also a good choice but I could not fit it in with what I wanted to do.
- I ended up spending the 6 points to get Bard Charisma III. I bought a +1 tome from the auction house to give me a standing CHA of 20. With the capstone I'll end up with a base CHA of 22.
- I bought a +2 CON tome and plan to get a +2 STR tome when I hit 1750 favor. Ending with a base of 20,18,1610,8,22.

Leveling so far:
- The thing I have enjoyed with this bard is each level I am able to see some improvement. I started off using a rapier and shield. I was able to get a +1 mithreal light and upgrade all the way to +3 before switching to 2 weapons. At 6 I took power attack and warchanter gain damage. At 9 I took 2wf to gain even more. I use a rapier and short sword combination.
- Power weapon swaps have been really helpful. I started with a power III mod (adds 30 sp). I have worked my way up to +80 spell points. The way I weapons swap is I will start the mission with the power weapon in. Cast my buffs and then switch to my main weapons. It's nice to have 80 sp to burn casting blur on your entire party.
- Versatility is pretty good on this bard. If you have a main healer and the mission is not too tough you can use your spell points on buffs 1st and then even some CC if you feel like it. I would use Ottos on battles with 1 or 2 tough enemies. I picked up the 2nd Ottos at level 11 but for the most part have not used it effectively. I got a dagger with 3 charges of +50% healing for 3 minutes (level 3 spells or lower). That really helped when I need to hlp heal. Now that my cure spell is level 4, I haven't found a good replacement. For the most part I play the buff and melee role. I use Tumble and Diplomacy as defensive tools.
- The biggest pain for me is Rapiers are really really expensive in the AH. Seems that Short swords are a little better. The Sharn syndicate short sword is great at low levels. In fact I am still using it in my offhand.
- I think my plan for level 12 is to get improved critical before I take the next 2wf feat. This will bump the Itwf to 15 and gtwf to 18.
- My haggle is good. I cast Eagle's Splendor, Good hope, and focus chant before selling things. I also have command armor (i use all the time for diplomacy bonuses) and a + haggle item which I will swap in before selling stuff.

I probably spent way to look explaining my choices, but there you go. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[kadens]

as a complete noob also, i must say when i designed my warchanter bard i wasnt entirely convinced i was going to end with a warchanter so hedging my bets, i went with a build pretty much identical to Valindria's.. and its working out great, awesome buffs that are the bread and butter of a bard and some decent support dps with emergency healz. As a bard, once your buffs are out, your not expected to do anything else, so you can play around with your support role. If you wanna min/max and know without fail your bard will only ever be a warchanter, drop cha for more str but for a more even build, i think Valindria's is pretty darn close to perfect (atleast for me).

[Thorzian]

with your priorities where they are.. buffs,melee, spells. You've chosen the easiest warchanter to build. the charisma can be relatively low, the dex nonexistent (2hf falchion or greataxe). buffing and hasting dont take much sp. pump the strength and con for hp and power. add some int for skills and enough charisma to cast lvl 6 spells and you're off. use 2 handed weapons to see the full effects of power attack and avoid those nasty dual wielding dex prereqs. dont get me wrong, dual wielders are nice, but i havent been able to find the bard that pulled it off without splashing tempest.

the weakness of this build is a lack of sp until higher levels (pop 10, wiz 6 and eventually a gs spell point item) other than that, swing away.. with buffs aplenty.