The solo artist

[thegreatneil]

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Level 20 True Neutral Human Male
(2 Rogue \ 6 Ranger \ 12 Bard) 
Hit Points: 254
Spell Points: 631 
BAB: 16\16\21\26\26
Fortitude: 12
Reflex: 21
Will: 10

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             15                    22
Dexterity            16                    20
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         14                    16
Wisdom                8                    10
Charisma             10                    12

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               7                    19
Bluff                 3                     4
Concentration         2                     9
Diplomacy             0                     1
Disable Device        6                    26
Haggle                4                     5
Heal                 -1                     0
Hide                  7                    28
Intimidate            0                     1
Jump                  6                    21
Listen               -1                     0
Move Silently         7                    28
Open Lock             7                     9
Perform               n/a                  24
Repair                2                     3
Search                6                    26
Spot                  3                     8
Swim                  2                     6
Tumble                4                     6
Use Magic Device      4                    28

Level 1 (Rogue)
Feat: (Human Bonus) Power Attack
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 2 (Bard)


Level 3 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Feat: (Favored Enemy) Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider


Level 4 (Ranger)


Level 5 (Ranger)


Level 6 (Ranger)
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell


Level 7 (Ranger)


Level 8 (Ranger)


Level 9 (Rogue)
Feat: (Selected) Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Khopesh


Level 10 (Bard)


Level 11 (Bard)


Level 12 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Slashing Weapons


Level 13 (Bard)


Level 14 (Bard)


Level 15 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 16 (Bard)


Level 17 (Bard)


Level 18 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell


Level 19 (Bard)


Level 20 (Bard)
Enhancement: Rogue Haste Boost I
Enhancement: Ranger Sprint Boost I
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song II
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song III
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage III
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song II
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song III
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger II
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Strength I
Enhancement: Human Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Human Versatility III
Enhancement: Human Versatility IV
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Rogue Sneak Attack Training I
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I
Enhancement: Improved Concentration II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic III
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic IV
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music III
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity I
Enhancement: Ranger Dexterity II
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery II

Full ranks in:
-Hide
-Move silently
-UMD
-Preform
-Disable Device
-Search

Bard goodies:
-Bard songs (Inspire courage +4/+5*) and Inspire Greatness
-Bard spells:
1: Expeditious Retreat, Focus chant
2: Blur, Rage, Invisibility
3: Displacement, Haste, Good Hope
4: Dimension Door, Freedom of movement, Cure Critical Wounds
(Greater heroism can be scrolled)
*more if WC Pre

Ranger goodies:
-Sprint Boost
-Bow strength
-TWF
-Rapid shot
-Diehard (meh)
-ITWF
-Manyshot
2 Favored enemies
Spells: Ram's Might and Jump (and other spells sure, but i feel these are the most useful)

Rogue Goodies:
-Disable Device
-1d6 +3 Sneak attack
-Evasion
-Full Hide / Move Silently (for the sneaky sneaky)

Human Goodies:
-More skill points
-Human Adaptability Strength
-Human Versatility IV

*Notes:
-Bard/ranger levels can be swapped as long as ranger 6 is taken before lvl 18
-Any bard Pre can fit in this build, i just like SS! (trade quicken for WF for WC)
-No Tempest Pre, as i see very little use for it, as it cost 3 feats for 10% offhand (not an ac build)

[AltheaSteelrain]

Are you not missing the Slaying Arrows?

If no, then your feat choice is solid.

Though I recommend to drop quicken. Unless you are really up to it, you will be hard pressed healing in 6 man groups. It is doable but stressful especially when groupign with PUGS.

Twitch skills = Quicken Spell.

Learn to be mobile in combat. the -4 to hit while moving is hardly noticable when you are busy healing and buffing the group. You will get your -4 to hit back when things are stable and CC's are in place.

I personally like Elf because of the AA PrE, while Half Elf has nice bonues (I like the paladin dilettante better than rogue because it fits my style and your build) I play for flavor over min/max, plus half elves look ugly.

Now for the Bard PrE choice.

Had you read Valindria's Virtouso of the Khopesh? It has a nice twist on it where he invested in healing amplifications to boost the Sustaining Song HP regen. I think Virtouoso fits your theme overall since you are the "solo artist" hence you should probably squeeze in Crowd Control Skills to help you succeed in that role.

But personally I would also go WC II on this build but my playstyle demands SS II.

It basically comes into a question of whether or not you are willing to stomach the -2 or higher hit loss your group suffers from your lack of decent songs versus accomplishing the said goal of "solo artistry". My Barcher chose this sacrifice.

Still I can often feel at times missing WC II songs, that +1 more hit makes a difference on epics.

But if you are willing to grind for it, its manageable and only problematic against boss fights. Normally Full BAB characters don't miss on lower epic bosses.

You might have problems on higher epics though (VoN, Sands, Devil Assault). I haven't been there yet. Not until I TR ranger and fighter three times to get +9 ranged damage and +3 hit that is.

I recommend you hoarding up Recitation Wands and Buffing Divine Power Scrolls in the middle of combat during Epics against non-holdable mobs.

I think overall your build is better since it has many systems in place to keep you alive; usually I feel as if I have 6 con on epics whenever a caster mob pulls a spell on the group and I am caught off guard (lacking protection from Elements buff from scrolls). I like the way you maxed ranks in stealth and kept your healing amp and healing skills at max. I did this to min also but dropped Bard Song Magic IV to get more AP. 10% more healing is hardly noticeable when you are not healing full time anyway.

I treat my SP based heals like a LOH and spam heal scrolls instead.

Works better and more efficient. Save your SP for displace.

Clickies are your friend.

In my opinion these kinds of builds are really for flavor, but then again being flavor builds we have to double our efforts. I recommend you try to do more research that would benefit your style and try to integrate them into your clickie selections. For instance, I am a huge, huge fan of UMD, and probably one of the most valuable customers of the Twelve (resist pots) and Portable Hole scroll merchandise

I also do Auction farming as well getting the level VII or higher scrolls to UMD.

Yum Yum.

Overall nice build, almost the same as mine but more roguish. I hope you have fun, its a blast to play a "flavor" build sometimes.

[drewrayder]

i worked on a build similiar thats 3 years of work or so. i saw the heading and it caught my attention. people know me as soloartist on sarlona. my build calls for a 14 bard/2 ranger/4 rogue. i thought of gong this exact for the ranger abilities, but preferred more bard and rogue abilities instead. its interesting because the 6 ranger lvls vs 2 gives some really nice benefits. but in the end for me it didnt work. im glad someone made it work well. ill have to repost my build as theres been a few changes from my older build already posted. kudos brother!

[Humperdink]

I have run a similar class split and he was a very capable solo or low man group running character. I eventually did a 16bard/2fighter/2rogue as I felt that class split was better for Epics in my experience. But that's just me. I did have a lot of fun with the 12/6/2. Here's what I did before I did the LR on him:

Warforged 12bard/6ranger/2rogue

Strength 16 + 4 level up + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 Ram's Might + 2 Rage Spell = 30
Dexterity 14 + 1 level up + 2 tome + 2 class + 5 item = 24
Constitution 16 + 2 racial + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 Rage Spell = 28
Intelligence 12 + 2 tome = 14
Wisdom 6 + 2 tome + 6 item = 14
Charisma 12 + 2 class + 2 tome + 6 item = 22

Skill points into Concentration, Perform, Intimidate, UMD, Open Lock, Jump, Balance, and Move Silently.

Feats: Toughness, GTWF, Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Extend, Exotic Weapon: Khopesh, sometimes Force of Personality and sometimes oversized TWF (I haven't decided what I like better yet).

Weapons: Mostly Icy Burst Vorpal and Mineral II khopeshes (holy/acid burst/exceptional +2 con and holy/acid burst/acid blast), +5 Holy Longbow of Righteousness, +4 Icy Burst W/P Longbow

Equipment: Head (Minos Legens or +15 Intimidate), Neck (Torc of Raiyum, Cartouche, Shintao Cord), Trinket (Bloodstone, Head of Good Fortune), Cloak (Bard's Cloak), Belt (Knost's Belt), Ring (Draconic Ring- still farming for Encrusted), gloves (Spectral Gloves), Boots (Feather Falling boots of Springing or Madstone Boots), Ring (+5 resistance- still farming for Abbot Circle of Hatred), Docent (Quorforged or DoD), Bracers (Triple Earth 45HP, +6 Con skills, Earthgrab Guard), Goggles ( Supreme Tyrant of Conc Opp Wiz VI, +5 Chr skills, +10 haggle, +10 Concentration, +6 Wisdom) with resistance ritual

HP: 509 base, 609 with rage spell, Yugo pot, and single Madstone rage, about 650 with double Madstone

Saves: Self buffed (GH, Haste, and Rage) 30Fort/34Reflex/22Will and add +2 to all with the Head of Good Fortune

As you can see he was more of a melee Warchanter II with a burst of ranged damage with Many Shot, but not a more dedicated archer like the character AltheaSteelrain plays. But that is fine, both styles are perfectly viable. You will have a bonus in some self healing with the Human healing amplification. Quicken will be much more potentially useful when you have automatic mana regeneration like the Torc from the Demon Queen raid and/or a Concordant Opposition greensteel accessory. If you can afford to supplement it, you can also self heal with healing scrolls. This requires both a UMD and a concentration skill check (make sure that is high) if you are under attack. Have a decent amount of Wand/Scroll mastery because it helps.

To play this build well it requires understanding what you can do and applying it correctly in the situation. I have soloed it with really no problem up through Amrath/Shavarath. Fascinate is extremely powerful, especially in soloing. In parties it helps to be willing to be flexible. If I'm two-manning with a WF Wizard I'll take over mostly the melee/ranged combat role. If I'm rolling with a tank, I might back off a little more on the melee and help keep buffs and heals going occasionally. If I'm fighting a Marilith in the Demon Queen raid or Bastion of Power, I switch to ranged. It also helps to flesh out your capabilities with scrolls, wands, and clickies. A 12th level bard can't cast GH, but he can UMD it from scrolls for 11 minutes. Learn that your songs and Good Hope are good enough in a lot of situations (easier content). You can help out the party by having other buffs available like Mass Invisibility, True Seeing, Protection from Elements, 30 Pt resists from wands (no UMD check on this), etc.

I find having a short succinct message about what your build can do along with being well prepared will usually get you into parties with no problem. Once in a while he wasn't accepted to group because they needed something specific like the AC song. A very few won't take you because they can't imagine the possibilities of the class split. After a while it may not matter cause you'll be off soloing the quest.