The Classic Rocker [20 Bard Warchanter]

[valorik]

heyhey, while I would have agreed with you guys in game in mod 8 when my bard and cleric were heaing the same amount per cast, It's just much more efficient to have bigger heals and have to cast them less often. When I first picked up empower heal I barely even noticed it, my heals went from 120 to 170, but after running with it for a month and dropping it, it's the #1 feat I miss, more than extend, more than highten. Then again if you're a fan of spam healing for safety then to each his own...

[Anthios888]

I'm a screeching toothless hypocrite for making fun of Rocka's other bard without extend. I don't even feel it's necessary!!

Huh.

[valorik]

Huh.

Your bard needs extend now, even chans is getting on the don't be like arannel train.

and I still have a tooth.

[Samadhi]

heyhey, while I would have agreed with you guys in game in mod 8 when my bard and cleric were heaing the same amount per cast, It's just much more efficient to have bigger heals and have to cast them less often. When I first picked up empower heal I barely even noticed it, my heals went from 120 to 170, but after running with it for a month and dropping it, it's the #1 feat I miss, more than extend, more than highten. Then again if you're a fan of spam healing for safety then to each his own...

I may very well try running around with both if I can figure out a way to work it in. Or better yet, start running with two on my old school FvS and try it out there without a feat change. Any particular reason you took empower heal instead of empower?

[Anthios888]

I may very well try running around with both if I can figure out a way to work it in. Or better yet, start running with two on my old school FvS and try it out there without a feat change. Any particular reason you took empower heal instead of empower?

I don't think he was greater shouting a lot, and other than that, there's not a lot of use for empower. My bards tend to be mostly focused on getting the most heals/best cc/whatever for the limited spell points they have.

[mws2970]

I am using your Classic Rocker build and wanted to say thanks for posting the build. She can kick some ***, heal and buff too! It's been a fun toon to play!

[Aliadra]

One thing.

ENHANCEMENTS:
Bard Inspired Attack III
Bard Inspired Bravery II
Bard Inspired Damage III
Bard Lingering Song IV
Warchanter I
Human Adaptability Constitution I
Human Adaptability Strength II
Human Improved Recovery III
Racial Toughness III
Bard Energy of the Music I
Bard Charisma I
Bard Wand Mastery IV
Bard Song Magic IV

That's 82 of your current 80 enhancement points, and you're not listing the capstone, so that's a total of 84 APs.
Simplest fix, till you get the right +3 tomes, is to drop the third tier of Improved Human Recovery 3, and Energy of Music 1, grab Human Versatility 2 for extra to hit when you need it or extra umd in a pinch, and the capstone.

Alternatively, instead of Versatility, grab 2 of the healing crit enhances.

[valorik]

One thing.



That's 82 of your current 80 enhancement points, and you're not listing the capstone, so that's a total of 84 APs.
Simplest fix, till you get the right +3 tomes, is to drop the third tier of Improved Human Recovery 3, and Energy of Music 1, grab Human Versatility 2 for extra to hit when you need it or extra umd in a pinch, and the capstone.

Alternatively, instead of Versatility, grab 2 of the healing crit enhances.

personally looking over her enhancements I think she should drop the 4th tiers of scroll mastery and lingering song, as well as the 3rd tier of human recovery and max out her healing a bit more. Human versatility is decent if you find yourself dead a lot and need to rez up and toss a heal scroll but the damage boost is weak (the attack boost is semi-decent though).

[Bones400]

I really like this build. What would be the best way to adapt it to a 28 point build (if it's still viable)? I was thinking either drop STR to 16 and raise DEX to 10, or STR 17, CON 15, CHA 14

[Anthios888]

I really like this build. What would be the best way to adapt it to a 28 point build (if it's still viable)? I was thinking either drop STR to 16 and raise DEX to 10, or STR 17, CON 15, CHA 14

I'm pretty melee-minded, so I would drop CHA to 10 and leave STR high. Charisma will affect your spell points, but you won't really use a lot of DC based spells on this character beyond low levels.

You probably wouldn't notice the loss of moving STR to 17 and CHA to 13.

Dex isn't really necessary (you'll learn to deal with your reflex saves -- fortunately bards are blessed with decent natural reflex).

You might also consider raising INT to 10 if you want to learn how to use stealth and/or have a high haggle. Again, 8 is sufficient here, but a more balanced approach might help if you are just learning the game.

[Anthios888]

One thing.



That's 82 of your current 80 enhancement points, and you're not listing the capstone, so that's a total of 84 APs.
Simplest fix, till you get the right +3 tomes, is to drop the third tier of Improved Human Recovery 3, and Energy of Music 1, grab Human Versatility 2 for extra to hit when you need it or extra umd in a pinch, and the capstone.

Alternatively, instead of Versatility, grab 2 of the healing crit enhances.

I dropped Wand Mastery IV and kept Human Recovery 3. Picked up capstone and dropped the 2 APs to be at 80. Thanks for the catch.

Human recovery is awesome and I'd rather have it at third tier to help mitigate incoming damage. Wand mastery is also great, but has diminishing returns. Since this is a mostly tank-oriented bard, I will still have sufficient heal scrolling when needed, and I can stay alive easier throughout games.

[starflight]

Does any particular alignment favor this build?

[Anthios888]

Does any particular alignment favor this build?

I'm kind of a chaotic neutral kind of gal, but true neutral is also fine.

Good aligned is nice for newbs because pure good weapons are powerful, but as a bard, it won't be long until you can bypass the UMD 20 check on them.

Neutral alignment also makes it easier to use items like Litany of the Dead and Marilith Chain without suffering negative level penalty (-1 saves, -5 hp, -5 mana).

True neutral lets you use items with stability and greater stability... not something I ever use, but some folks like that.

[Ethias]

edit: nevermind, read through it all.

New Maser's Touch has me a little hesitant to go pure, primarily because I fear that you'll be spending half your SP pool to get your weapons ready for combat =(

[12floz]

Thanks alot for this build. I am having an awesome time leveling Flaunt. He kind of reminds me of playing my bard on EQ1, minus the twisting. This old crusty veteran gamer is having fun again and I kind of always knew it would be a bard.

12floz

[NoidRoid]

Hey I really like this build and I'm going to TR my wizard into an 18/1(fighter)/1(barb) version of it: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=255785


I'll be losing the capstone and some songs/sp for barb speed/rage/PA and fighter haste/feat. Along with weapon proficiencies which will be nice with the new masters touch. Wiz past life and 34 point build will help a lot with this deviation. I looked at a lot of 16/2/2, 17/2/1, and 16/3/1 possibilities but I didn't feel like they were staying true to this build.

My main decision now is dwarf or human? I like the healing amp that human provides but I don't really need the extra feat with a fighter level. Dwarf gives me axe AP's and some other racial goodies. I've never played a bard or a THF though I do have a lot of gear being passed down from my wizard. Part of me wants to just go dwarf because I've never played one of them either and I may as well kill 3 birds with one stone. I so want to waddle around with my lute fascinating monsters with a sprint boost, invisibility, and a high hide/move silently.

I'm interested in your thoughts on my racial decision and any other questions I posed in that thread. Also, what would you do with an extra feat on this build if I do choose human?

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

Hmm, not bad for a spellsinger, hagglebot, fighter wannabe!

No, seriously, if it weren't for the lag of Master's Touch, this would be an almost perfect warchanter build. In the right hands, as you say, it still will be able to DPS well and heal well. That's a nice combo and I'll be recommending this build as a very good alternative to my warchanter.

Master's Touch is just not ready for prime time. It's fast on my brand new Intel I7 980X system, but was slower then sh!t on my older system. Even still, the lag is still visible and unacceptable in the heat of battle.

Also, the personal DPS of a pure warchanter is just underwhelming to me. As you say, staying pure will make you a better buffer and healer. I just prefer the extra bang and variety of mixing classes for warchanter.

Still, I applaud you for staying pure. I don't think there's a better way to stay pure and play a warchanter that I've yet seen that will excel in update 5.

[Dark-Star]

Master's Touch is being fixed next week.

[szaijan]

Nice build! Very similar to how I'd been trying to spec my pure Bard.

For myself, I recently decided to enhancement swap my Human Warchanter 18 back to Spell Singer. To hit 40 UMD, I still need 30 CHA, the +2 from SS, and the +3 from SF:UMD to get there. No raid gear, no greensteel, and no twink items or cash alters a lot of these build decisions dramatically. Even with CC out of the picture (our Sorcerer will always be better at it than I am), SS still wins.

My play group (5 people don't make a guild) lacks a Cleric right now, so I'm main healer when we try to 5 man raids. Hitting 40 UMD for no-fail Heal scrolls is an absolute must. So, despite the huge drop in DPS due to lacking the THF feats, Improved Critical: Slashing, and Warchanter, Spell Singer is better for my group right now. In a group where I had the freedom to be an off-healer and/or once I acquire some raid gear, a semi-DPS focussed W/C will become the better path.

As mentioned earlier, thank you Turbine for finally adding Reincarnation.

[valorik]

Hmm, not bad for a spellsinger, hagglebot, fighter wannabe!

No, seriously, if it weren't for the lag of Master's Touch, this would be an almost perfect warchanter build. In the right hands, as you say, it still will be able to DPS well and heal well. That's a nice combo and I'll be recommending this build as a very good alternative to my warchanter.

Master's Touch is just not ready for prime time. It's fast on my brand new Intel I7 980X system, but was slower then sh!t on my older system. Even still, the lag is still visible and unacceptable in the heat of battle.

Also, the personal DPS of a pure warchanter is just underwhelming to me. As you say, staying pure will make you a better buffer and healer. I just prefer the extra bang and variety of mixing classes for warchanter.

Still, I applaud you for staying pure. I don't think there's a better way to stay pure and play a warchanter that I've yet seen that will excel in update 5.

A pure warchanter is the same dps as a barbo splash unless your'e raged (which you get one of, for like 1 minute a rest), the dps gained from fighter isn't minor, but you lose a lot across your party for the -1 attack and damage. If you want a heavy dps raid build than this is really much better than most splash builds.