Can This Toon Be Saved?

[ORIGINALBAG0]

I always recommend being good at THREE things on a build. HP is mandated, so really only two things. As a bard, you already have the buffs going for you, so melee is shockingly easy to be good at. The right bard with even mediocre gear can keep up with the to-hit race (damage, not quite so much). I tried doing the two-rogue splash thing, and could consistently disable anything on normal in almost any quest, even on a 1. Once you start hitting elites and end-game stuff, it gets dicey. You already need STR, CON, and CHA to be a bard, trying to add INT and DEX for traps means you only have ONE non-essential stat. That leaves you stretched pretty thin. I fully-endorse a half-orc two-handed warchanter for a first (or ANY) bard build. It lets you contribute to DPS in the best possible way, and you won't be blowing any traps.

Mediocre saves are another good reason to not play a bard. You'll feel pretty uber with your evasion and your 20 reflex save in the early game, but you want 40+ to be able to evade at high level, and that's a wee bit difficult on a bard.

My first bard was awful. Downright terrible. I went with the more PNP model for my bard, and it is not good in this game. Check out some of the highly min-maxed builds in the bard forums and play around a bit with your enhancements. You'll really start to notice what you aren't good at by the time you hit about lvl 13, and can start to figure out where you need to improve. Failure is an excellent learning tool.

To play devil's advocate, though, as long as you have enough uses of bardic music to round up all the mobs, fascinate, then pick them off one by one, bards can solo almost anything that isn't Reaver's refuge (that stupid blanket immunity to mental effects really messes bards up. And undead, too).

[Stitch78]

Oakianus:

Other posters have given you excellent advice on what to do when you LR you're beloved 1st toon. Most of us have a soft spot for our firsties, so don't let the naysayers get you down. Here's some advice on how to play your fairly gimped singer for now:

1) Prep - abandon melee altogether. With your low STR and low CON, you're not helping much in damage and you're a liability if you get aggro. Ditch your melee weapons and focus on getting spell and healing buff scepters. Anything that boosts the effectiveness of your enchantments or your heals. Also, get a club/scepter/anything that boosts your SP. Wear this item into and out of every quest - after you buff, ditch it for the other item. (Use the temporary SP and then put it away.) Make sure you are wearing light armor once you get the second level of rogue. Evasion does not work in medium or heavy armor. Find gear that boosts your CON and CHA scores. STR too if possible because you will become "helpless" if you get hit with a Ray of Enfeeblement.

2) Prep more - you can reset your Enhancements for a cost in gold. Do that, retake everything you need for Spellsinger, then take enhancements that boost your healing, the length of your songs, and the song buffs (damge and to-hit). Take Hero's Companion or whatever the halfling-only buff is called. Rest into anything that improves your spells. You can reset one spell per 3 days. Do that, and take Hold Person as one of your spells. Drop invisibility. In three days, do it again, take Hypnotism, drop Summon Monster (useless level 1 spell).

3) Enter dungeon - sing you happy songs, buff everyone, but in particular buff the melees with blur. Haste is always the LAST spell you cast. Just before fights, cast Displacement on the melees. Cast Haste again if it ran out or is low on time. Then, target bad guys, cast Hold Person (some baddies are immune, read the spell description). Once you get Hypnotism, cast that, THEN Hold Person. Hypno stops them in their tracks; Hold gives everyone auto-critical hits which means very fast death to baddies. Re-sing your buff songs.

4) Panic mode - You are a capable healer (if you followed the above) but when !@#$ hits the fan, Fascinate is your BFF. When things look like they are going south, hit the magic Fascinate button, wait 3 seconds, and make sure everything is just standing around. Proceed to heal people, scoff at the dead "tank", grab his Soul Stone and Fascinate your way to or back to the nearest shrine.

5) Rinse and repeat.

6) Level - take your second rogue level asap - Evasion helps immesurably. There is a quest in the Market - Lockiana - complete that for a free swap of one Feat. Choose wisely. I would go Heighten or Extend. Heighten will help Hypnotism and Hold Person land as you level up. Extend will help your buffs and save you SP.

TL;DR

7) Have fun!! It's only a game.

[Emili]

Oh! Completely forgot about this part.

Those are the starting stats, so they don't include my +2 Charisma Tome, +2 Cha from Enhancements, etc. I also didn't bother putting any of the bonuses from my gear.

I am p2p, so I think that I'll tough it out til I accumulate enough points for that lesser heart, which should only take another few weeks if the points work the way that I think they do. I read about the fact that Con is such a major factor shortly after rolling my toon, but I've actually been doing pretty well. Not that I never die, of course, but I don't notice myself going down any more often than the other toons in my PUGs. :P I just make sure not to wade in until the tank has had a chance to get a couple of swings in and keep pain off of me - it also allows me to make sure all of my attacks get that sneak attack bonus to hit and damage, which are a huge help with my Bard BAB.

I have done quite a bit of the event, so what should I be getting from it? I'm currently working toward the level 12 spyglass and hope to get enough to upgrade it fully, and I've got a +5 natural armor hat and a +6 Charisma hat out of the event.

I really feel like, as I tough it out, I could do a LOT better for equip. False life seems like it's a good idea right now with my HP total being in the high 70s/low 80s, but I'm sure there's at least one or two other things I could pick up to survive til the middle-high levels when it's finally time to get that LR. :P

Also, thanks for all the help so far!

Ok... I still no clue where you went with your level 4 and 8 ability point increases... You are indeed a little HP shy to run in the melee. I can tell is leaning towards a singer.

Singers generally take to the healing/cc route however despite what the min/max's may tell you a singer does gain ample ability to melee fairly well. Twf lines though be a stretch on the bard unless splashed ... do not care who or what weapons you use IC is very important ... even when your main weapons are min IIs. High Cha based do tend to be of the singer - healing/cc variety however.

When you get the chance to LR ... con of 14 be all. Beleive it or not a bard can get away with starting 16 cha as a singer and a 16 in the prime melee stat ... after that the other points in con and/or even out Int (to 10) just to keep skill points even (which do not have to do if human.)

I mention such as my SS melee's and is actually close in you base except for con - she has more. She's an old bard of mine, a gimp yet Rosewood despite that fact is surpisingly one of my favorite and best character's to play. Surprisingly the character turns heads and have saved more partys from DOOOOOM than any of my others. I remember Hordo once say to me - "Oh? You're one of those working bards." Course first thing in my mind be - O' course I like to play.

First elf is not a great race for a bard - first rolled in Feb of 2006 she predates drow (fact is she was 28 points and LR'd her bout a year ago to grab 4 points). I plan to TR her but cannot decide on race. She a pure Spell singer feated toughness, finesse, extend, heighten, IC Pierce, Max, and I forget the 7th? I am running her with +1 ship buffs and self buffed at 23 31 31 16 17 40 bout 3 shy of 500hp and bout 1600sp... now then that may seem a little rich to you but imagine ... level 20 running raids and epics things mount up. What people seem to not realize is outside the base the items are at least as powerful if not more in this game.

Now let's discuss a plan... your choices... LR to put some con on and/or Run to 20 and TR which probably you'd most likely do anyways or just reroll at this point... while I do know a +2 tome seems like a high loss - among the levels 20's - it is not.

BTW... while evasion is nice - is a heafty price (capstone) that a spell singer give sup for it. Often times HP and a decent reflex save make up for not having evasion ... especially with the items in game available. Is a decision to be made... when I look at rogue levels I look at the SA and enough dex to make evasion worth it.

[Oakianus]

Oakianus:

Other posters have given you excellent advice on what to do when you LR you're beloved 1st toon. Most of us have a soft spot for our firsties, so don't let the naysayers get you down. Here's some advice on how to play your fairly gimped singer for now:

1) Prep - abandon melee altogether. With your low STR and low CON, you're not helping much in damage and you're a liability if you get aggro. Ditch your melee weapons and focus on getting spell and healing buff scepters. Anything that boosts the effectiveness of your enchantments or your heals. Also, get a club/scepter/anything that boosts your SP. Wear this item into and out of every quest - after you buff, ditch it for the other item. (Use the temporary SP and then put it away.) Make sure you are wearing light armor once you get the second level of rogue. Evasion does not work in medium or heavy armor. Find gear that boosts your CON and CHA scores. STR too if possible because you will become "helpless" if you get hit with a Ray of Enfeeblement.

2) Prep more - you can reset your Enhancements for a cost in gold. Do that, retake everything you need for Spellsinger, then take enhancements that boost your healing, the length of your songs, and the song buffs (damge and to-hit). Take Hero's Companion or whatever the halfling-only buff is called. Rest into anything that improves your spells. You can reset one spell per 3 days. Do that, and take Hold Person as one of your spells. Drop invisibility. In three days, do it again, take Hypnotism, drop Summon Monster (useless level 1 spell).

3) Enter dungeon - sing you happy songs, buff everyone, but in particular buff the melees with blur. Haste is always the LAST spell you cast. Just before fights, cast Displacement on the melees. Cast Haste again if it ran out or is low on time. Then, target bad guys, cast Hold Person (some baddies are immune, read the spell description). Once you get Hypnotism, cast that, THEN Hold Person. Hypno stops them in their tracks; Hold gives everyone auto-critical hits which means very fast death to baddies. Re-sing your buff songs.

4) Panic mode - You are a capable healer (if you followed the above) but when !@#$ hits the fan, Fascinate is your BFF. When things look like they are going south, hit the magic Fascinate button, wait 3 seconds, and make sure everything is just standing around. Proceed to heal people, scoff at the dead "tank", grab his Soul Stone and Fascinate your way to or back to the nearest shrine.

5) Rinse and repeat.

6) Level - take your second rogue level asap - Evasion helps immesurably. There is a quest in the Market - Lockiana - complete that for a free swap of one Feat. Choose wisely. I would go Heighten or Extend. Heighten will help Hypnotism and Hold Person land as you level up. Extend will help your buffs and save you SP.

TL;DR

7) Have fun!! It's only a game.

This is awesome advice all around, and I REALLY appreciate that you can understand the fact that when it comes down to it, I'm a bit of a nutjob with a soft spot for a collection of pixels. I have been pumping Perform to the sky as much as possible and with that 25 Charisma that I'm about to hit to 26, I'd imagine I'm one high-level Perform item away from changing the game. I barely ever use Fascinate, which I'm starting to think means that I'm doin it rong as a Bard. :P

Ok... I still no clue where you went with your level 4 and 8 ability point increases... You are indeed a little HP shy to run in the melee. I can tell is leaning towards a singer.

Singers generally take to the healing/cc route however despite what the min/max's may tell you a singer does gain ample ability to melee fairly well. Twf lines though be a stretch on the bard unless splashed ... do not care who or what weapons you use IC is very important ... even when your main weapons are min IIs. High Cha based do tend to be of the singer - healing/cc variety however.

When you get the chance to LR ... con of 14 be all. Beleive it or not a bard can get away with starting 16 cha as a singer and a 16 in the prime melee stat ... after that the other points in con and/or even out Int (to 10) just to keep skill points even (which do not have to do if human.)

I mention such as my SS melee's and is actually close in you base except for con - she has more. She's an old bard of mine, a gimp yet Rosewood despite that fact is surpisingly one of my favorite and best character's to play. Surprisingly the character turns heads and have saved more partys from DOOOOOM than any of my others. I remember Hordo once say to me - "Oh? You're one of those working bards." Course first thing in my mind be - O' course I like to play.

First elf is not a great race for a bard - first rolled in Feb of 2006 she predates drow (fact is she was 28 points and LR'd her bout a year ago to grab 4 points). I plan to TR her but cannot decide on race. She a pure Spell singer feated toughness, finesse, extend, heighten, IC Pierce, Max, and I forget the 7th? I am running her with +1 ship buffs and self buffed at 23 31 31 16 17 40 bout 3 shy of 500hp and bout 1600sp... now then that may seem a little rich to you but imagine ... level 20 running raids and epics things mount up. What people seem to not realize is outside the base the items are at least as powerful if not more in this game.

Now let's discuss a plan... your choices... LR to put some con on and/or Run to 20 and TR which probably you'd most likely do anyways or just reroll at this point... while I do know a +2 tome seems like a high loss - among the levels 20's - it is not.

BTW... while evasion is nice - is a heafty price (capstone) that a spell singer give sup for it. Often times HP and a decent reflex save make up for not having evasion ... especially with the items in game available. Is a decision to be made... when I look at rogue levels I look at the SA and enough dex to make evasion worth it.

Sorry! I wasn't clear about my increases, which both went into the Charisma in my first post. I forgot to factor that in to the stats. :P I started off with 16 Charisma and ate a tome, put 2 enhancements into it and put both of my level-ups into it. I have a soft spot for Charisma as a stat, obviously, and I justify it by saying it's more spell points. :P

Definitely conflicting info regarding the Rogue splash in these two - any tie breakers out there? haha.

I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate all of this, by the by. Makes me feel like I can get through this game after all. :P

ETA: OH! And one last thing - with the "Abandon all Melee, ye who enter here" discussion that's going down, should I perhaps think about a repeating crossbow? They do look pretty damned cool. :P

[Gorbadoc]

I barely ever use Fascinate, which I'm starting to think means that I'm doin it rong as a Bard. :P

Correct. Though to be fair, unless you go Virtuoso, Fascinate doesn't tend to dominate until you get an ML 8-ish perform item. At early levels, it's often hit-or-miss, and you're dealing with a smaller number of uses of Bardic Music.

[JoeyWMD]

Str 8
Dex 18
Con 10
Int 12
Wis 8
Chr 18

I take it you're a spellsinger?
If so, this can work don't listen to them you'll be squishy but it can work!!
you need to get a +2 con tome and a +6 con item asap! if you're on ghallanda i'll try and help ya out, just to prove these guys wrong "Luhh" is my name.
Also, hopefully all your level ups are into Cha?
Keep pumping UMD,PERFORM,HAGGLE and when you take your second level of rogue max out search/disable you can get items to boost those, also look into taking "rogue skill boost I" then your traps are a tad less gimped
but UMD/PERFORM are your main skills however with a 12 int you should be able to keep them all maxed out relatively easily!

[Oakianus]

Str 8
Dex 18
Con 10
Int 12
Wis 8
Chr 18

I take it you're a spellsinger?
If so, this can work don't listen to them you'll be squishy but it can work!!
you need to get a +2 con tome and a +6 con item asap! if you're on ghallanda i'll try and help ya out, just to prove these guys wrong "Luhh" is my name.
Also, hopefully all your level ups are into Cha?
Keep pumping UMD,PERFORM,HAGGLE and when you take your second level of rogue max out search/disable you can get items to boost those, also look into taking "rogue skill boost I" then your traps are a tad less gimped
but UMD/PERFORM are your main skills however with a 12 int you should be able to keep them all maxed out relatively easily!

To be more correct, I actually have a 16 Charisma before any enhancements or level ups or my tome, which combine to give me a base of 22.

As I'm only 8th, I can't find any +6 items yet obviously - though it looks like (from my trolling of the AH) I can get myself up to a +4 item pretty easy.

I'm on Khyber, sadly, or I'd love to accept your advice. I can deal with 'squishy but it can work,' quite frankly, even if I am leaning pretty heavily toward taking advantage of that LR suggestion.

My question for folks is what exactly should I do if I do LR? What stat spread would you look at? Should I just say **** it as far as my Dex goes and drop that to 12 to move over to a 14 Con in one mighty swipe? Dare I say - drop my strength to 6 and just take two from dex? Drop the Int?

Definitely not sure where I should be going with that. Obviously if I consider dropping the Strength at all, I'll have to go with repeating crossbow or something similar for my main attack. Doesn't strength damage (and resulting penalties) apply to shortbows?

[Lerl]

I had your issue. I went overboard, though, AND used the premade paths. After looking on the forums, and deciding that these alts weren't much fun to play, I rolled a couple using builds that I had found and liked. (I had a cleric that would shoot out a soul stone if someone sneezed at him. : ))

I now have a much better understanding of what is needed and am having way more fun playing. I have LR/GR'd a few of my original alts and they are so much more fun to play. I would definitely look at enchancements/feats on DDOwiki.com. Now that I have something to work towards when I hit the trainer, it is easier to do.

As for the rest of my alts, I look at them as 'veteran status' characters. I am loathe to just give up the experience points they have, so when I am ready for a new alt, I will LR/GR them. : )

[Emili]

This is awesome advice all around, and I REALLY appreciate that you can understand the fact that when it comes down to it, I'm a bit of a nutjob with a soft spot for a collection of pixels. I have been pumping Perform to the sky as much as possible and with that 25 Charisma that I'm about to hit to 26, I'd imagine I'm one high-level Perform item away from changing the game. I barely ever use Fascinate, which I'm starting to think means that I'm doin it rong as a Bard. :P



Sorry! I wasn't clear about my increases, which both went into the Charisma in my first post. I forgot to factor that in to the stats. :P I started off with 16 Charisma and ate a tome, put 2 enhancements into it and put both of my level-ups into it. I have a soft spot for Charisma as a stat, obviously, and I justify it by saying it's more spell points. :P

Definitely conflicting info regarding the Rogue splash in these two - any tie breakers out there? haha.

I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate all of this, by the by. Makes me feel like I can get through this game after all. :P

ETA: OH! And one last thing - with the "Abandon all Melee, ye who enter here" discussion that's going down, should I perhaps think about a repeating crossbow? They do look pretty damned cool. :P

The sweet spot of bard stops at level 14... except in case of looking forword at the third tier PrE shall they release those... the Capstone itself however is enticing to a spell singer or virtuso but not really for a chanter. Bards are three spell levels behind arcane casters ... +2 Cha Spell pen and DC help to catch them up a little in the CC area. What's also is level 20 is a +1 to the str of inspire courage ... for every splash we take we need to look what a full class has at the top and weigh that in comparison to what we receive from the splash. Multi-classing is a fine art and one looks for the synergies we may obtain. Truth told the real strength of two level of rogue are not so much in skills for DD/OL but in SA and evasion... Decent Evasion in end relies on a reflex save least within the 30's and reflex is based upon dex for the most part unless you wish to spend a feat.

Bard Musical Prodigy
Usage: Passive
Cost: 2 action points
Spent: 74 action points
Available to Bard class level 20
You gain +2 Charisma, two additional uses of Bardic Music per rest, as well as +2 to Spell Penetration checks and the DC's of your Enchantment spells. Your beneficial songs last 20% longer.

btw... I also play on Khyber.

[Aashrym]

To be more correct, I actually have a 16 Charisma before any enhancements or level ups or my tome, which combine to give me a base of 22.

As I'm only 8th, I can't find any +6 items yet obviously - though it looks like (from my trolling of the AH) I can get myself up to a +4 item pretty easy.

I'm on Khyber, sadly, or I'd love to accept your advice. I can deal with 'squishy but it can work,' quite frankly, even if I am leaning pretty heavily toward taking advantage of that LR suggestion.

My question for folks is what exactly should I do if I do LR? What stat spread would you look at? Should I just say **** it as far as my Dex goes and drop that to 12 to move over to a 14 Con in one mighty swipe? Dare I say - drop my strength to 6 and just take two from dex? Drop the Int?

Definitely not sure where I should be going with that. Obviously if I consider dropping the Strength at all, I'll have to go with repeating crossbow or something similar for my main attack. Doesn't strength damage (and resulting penalties) apply to shortbows?

STR damage does not normally apply to shortbows. If you want damage STR and a 2 handed weapon works and you can dump you DEX down a lot. LR is a good option if you want to go that route.


What do you want the end result to be might be? My first thought going spellsinger is maximum CHA (18 in your case) and CC / healing feats. You can ditch the CHA for STR and go for melee / healing feats.


Give up the rogue level unless you want to go melee. In which case you might be looking at going with bard 14/16 and some fighter levels. Halfling Bard 16/rogue2/fighter2 (or bard14 with a 2/4 split) can squeeze in TWF if you wanted that and still get the SP regen etc from the spellsinger.


If DPS is what you want CHA isn't doing much for you. STR is where the damage is, and adding your inspire courage. If you go TWF (I see you did take a feat towards that) then forget CHA for the most part, and only take enough DEX to meet feat requirements. For most people that is a 15 DEX and a +2 Tome. Take a 14 STR and 14 or 16 CON. Save a feat slot and don't go finesse.

Use Maximize Spell to qualify for spellsinger instead of mental toughness. This will improve your healing and probably save you a feat exchange down the road.

You can rely on fascinate and Otto's irresistable dance eventually and use your SP for buffing and healing, and make a decent spellsinger using melee feats. It's not the norm (most would choose either other PRE for melee) but possible to be effective that way.

Just don't forget to maximize your inspire courage enhancements. You are giving up a tier of IC at level 20 by splashing. Otherwise you might still want to give up on the splash classes and DEX and go for more STR/CON with a two handed weapon.

Those are my random thoughts looking at what you have for us to look at. I hope it helps. I see a lot of other good advice has already been posted. If you posted how many build points you have I did miss it. There is a difference between a 28pt build and a 32.


PS: A lot of this is looking at LR. Otherwise you will be looking at TR as soon as possible.

[Oakianus]

Okay, so after going over this thread, I think that what I really need to do is try to stick fairly close to an already extant build.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=271818

I'm thinking of going with this from the Bard Love Guide. Seems to be better balanced and more what I'm going for. I'm not going to be a huge use against a big boss, but I don't want to be completely worthless as far as melee is concerned. Seems like a great move toward that without too much damage to what I want my build to be.

The low dex absolutely kills me, but I can get past it and understand that this is just a different game. :P However, as I'm going to have to do this as a 28 point halfling, I'll obviously be making some different choices.

I'm thinking that my best bet will be to give up just a little of that melee and go with a 10 strength, which is still a kick in the pants, and then try to squeeze by with a 14 Dex. Obviously I have to get rid of a feat as well, so I'm thinking maybe Heighten? Not sure on that part. It'll cause me to have to get a +1 LR so I can overwrite my Rogue level, but I'm okay with that.

[Alleyna]

Okay, so after going over this thread, I think that what I really need to do is try to stick fairly close to an already extant build.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=271818

I'm thinking of going with this from the Bard Love Guide. Seems to be better balanced and more what I'm going for. I'm not going to be a huge use against a big boss, but I don't want to be completely worthless as far as melee is concerned. Seems like a great move toward that without too much damage to what I want my build to be.

The low dex absolutely kills me, but I can get past it and understand that this is just a different game. :P However, as I'm going to have to do this as a 28 point halfling, I'll obviously be making some different choices.

I'm thinking that my best bet will be to give up just a little of that melee and go with a 10 strength, which is still a kick in the pants, and then try to squeeze by with a 14 Dex. Obviously I have to get rid of a feat as well, so I'm thinking maybe Heighten? Not sure on that part. It'll cause me to have to get a +1 LR so I can overwrite my Rogue level, but I'm okay with that.

If you want to do spell CC, heighten isn't a great feat to get rid of. You need Otto's Sphere of Dancing, Hold Monster, etc.. to have the highest DC possible at end game. If you are fine with Fascinate song and Otto's Irresistable Dance as your CC, then you would be all right dumping Heighten. Heighten raises all your bard spells to level 6.

For example:
Hold Monster or Otto's Sphere of Dancing, both level 4 Bard enchant spells.

Bard Spell DC = 10 + spell level + charisma modifer + feats + items + enhancements + other effects

Without heighten:
DC = 10 base + 4 spell level + 13 (assume 36 charisma easily obtainable for halfling max cha) + 2 (sf enchant, gsf enchant) + 2 (greater enchant focus from dreamspitter) + 2 bard capstone + 1 spellsinger song = 34

With heighten, the spell level will go from 4 to 6, so your DC raises to 36. If you plan on running end game content, namely epics, you really want at least a 38 DC if you want your spell CC to reliably land. Even then, you will still get some saves, so you really want it as high as possible, so each and every increase to your DC is that important.

If you want to do spell CC at end game, you could probably live without extend, maximize, or spell penetration. If you want to do pretty good healing, I would not drop maximize. If you want your CC and your buffs to have double duration, I would not drop extend. I would not advise dropping extend, and if you want good heals not drop maximize, either. However, I believe you could get by without spell penetration. You can take the bard enhancements to get up to a +3 spell penetration plus you get +2 spell penetration from the capstone. Add to that the fact that you can easily find random weapons that give you a +1 to your spell penetration, and eventually hopefully you can pick up a greater spell penetration item. I recommend Torc from the Demon Queen Raid.

My spell and song CC bard does not have the spell penetration feat and with a little easily obtained gear and enhancements, she doesn't have much of a problem getting through spell resistance (well except for Drow in epic, but that's another issue ) And, if you can't beat their spell resistance, you can always try fascinating them

You could otherwise always drop quicken, but if you're going to be hit a lot, you don't want your spells to be interrupted (espcially Otto's Sphere of Dancing since it takes a long time to cast). However, bards have displacement, invisibility, and Fascinate to help prevent being attacked while casting spells. But, if you do want some melee capability, you probably want to keep quicken so you can drop quick mass cures without being interrupted while in combat.

If you don't really care about spell CC at end game except for Otto's Sphere of Dancing, I would drop heighten, and maybe even drop sf enchant and greater sf enchant, too, since you really won't get a high enough DC to matter at end game (although for leveling, keeping the spell focus feats should be sufficient for spell CC). You could grab fighting feats or empower healing or greater spell penetration (so you can skip spell penetration enhancements for you Otto's Irresistable Dance) or all sorts of other options instead.

edit: Since you're 28 pointer, using stat points will be important. I would highly recommend maxing charisma if you want to do spell-based CC, even though you only have 28 points. Also, if you want to go with Irinis's Diva, don't be afraid to dump intelligence as she mentions. You will still get 5 skills fully maxed (perform, UMD, and conentration, and then maybe haggle and balance and, if you eat a +2 int tome at level 7, you'll have some points you can put into jump). You could do something like this: Str 12 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 18 (this is after -2 str +2 dex from Halfling). If you don't care about CC, you can probably get by with a lower charisma, depending. Going only 16 base Charisma saves you 6 extra stat points. Maybe Str 12 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 16 (after Halfling modifiers) if you like your Dex.

[Oakianus]

Okay, here's what I'm looking at now that I've really thought about it. Doing an LR to a pure bard and focusing a lot more on CC.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.8.0
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Akrites 
Level 9 Chaotic Good Halfling Male
(9 Bard) 
Hit Points: 123
Spell Points: 518 
BAB: 6\6\11
Fortitude: 6
Reflex: 9
Will: 6

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 9)
Strength             12                    12
Dexterity            15                    15
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence          9                    10
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             16                    22

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Intelligence used at level 1
+1 Tome of Charisma used at level 1
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 9)
Balance               2                    10
Bluff                 3                     6
Concentration         6                    18
Diplomacy             6                     9
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                7                    18
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  2                     6
Intimidate            3                     6
Jump                  1                    11
Listen               -1                     1
Move Silently         2                     4
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               7                    18
Repair                0                     0
Search                0                     0
Spot                 -1                    -1
Swim                  1                     1
Tumble                3                     3
Use Magic Device      7                    20

Level 1 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (1): Charm Person
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I


Level 2 (Bard)
Spell (1): Focusing Chant
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I


Level 3 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (1): Expeditious Retreat
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I


Level 4 (Bard)
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (2): Soundburst
Enhancement: Improved Concentration II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery I


Level 5 (Bard)
Spell (1): Master's Touch
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Improved Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II


Level 6 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Enchantment
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I


Level 7 (Bard)
Spell (3): Displacement
Spell (3): Haste
Spell (2): Glitterdust
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II


Level 8 (Bard)
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II


Level 9 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music III

Thoughts, opinions, perspectives? Am I screwing myself that hard by not going with an 18 Charisma? I feel like a +1 to DCs aren't going to make up for slightly decent Dex for a bit more Reflex and AC, not to mention that one little point of intelligence that I partially wasted on Diplomacy for pure RP purposes. I might decide to put those three points between Balance and Concentration, like I have thus far.

Can this toon manage not to suck?

[TheDearLeader]

Okay, here's what I'm looking at now that I've really thought about it. Doing an LR to a pure bard and focusing a lot more on CC.

Thoughts, opinions, perspectives? Am I screwing myself that hard by not going with an 18 Charisma? I feel like a +1 to DCs aren't going to make up for slightly decent Dex for a bit more Reflex and AC, not to mention that one little point of intelligence that I partially wasted on Diplomacy for pure RP purposes. I might decide to put those three points between Balance and Concentration, like I have thus far.

Can this toon manage not to suck?

You don't need AC. Or, more accurately, a pure-CC bard is going to come to a point around Gianthold, if not sooner, where they AC will not matter. You have Displacement. They miss you half the time. Drop the Dexterity.
Your reflex save should not be your primary concern. Should it be a concern? Sure. But build points are precious. Drop the Dexterity.

Int 8 is probably fine.

On a CC Spellsinger, you. want. max. Charisma. Every DC point counts, especially when you're looking to get a DC 40 Dancing Ball.
10
+ Spell level (6 with heighten)
+ Item (+2 Max)
+1 Spellsong Trance
+1 Enchantment Focus
+2 Capstone
=22. So thats 22/40. Meaning you want like, a +18 Modifier to your Charisma score to be rocking it that high. (That's a 46 Charisma btw. Yeah, its pretty high up there.)

Point is, focus on what you do best, and you'll go far. Start worrying about each and every little thing, and you'll end up being mediocre at everything. Works well in PnP, sucks in DDO.

[Oakianus]

You don't need AC. Or, more accurately, a pure-CC bard is going to come to a point around Gianthold, if not sooner, where they AC will not matter. You have Displacement. They miss you half the time. Drop the Dexterity.
Your reflex save should not be your primary concern. Should it be a concern? Sure. But build points are precious. Drop the Dexterity.

Int 8 is probably fine.

On a CC Spellsinger, you. want. max. Charisma. Every DC point counts, especially when you're looking to get a DC 40 Dancing Ball.
10
+ Spell level (6 with heighten)
+ Item (+2 Max)
+1 Spellsong Trance
+1 Enchantment Focus
+2 Capstone
=22. So thats 22/40. Meaning you want like, a +18 Modifier to your Charisma score to be rocking it that high. (That's a 46 Charisma btw. Yeah, its pretty high up there.)

Point is, focus on what you do best, and you'll go far. Start worrying about each and every little thing, and you'll end up being mediocre at everything. Works well in PnP, sucks in DDO.

Oh, all RIGHT. :P

Had a feeling it would come to this.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.8.0
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Akrites 
Level 9 Chaotic Good Halfling Male
(9 Bard) 
Hit Points: 123
Spell Points: 536 
BAB: 6\6\11
Fortitude: 6
Reflex: 7
Will: 6

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 9)
Strength             12                    12
Dexterity            10                    10
Constitution         14                    14
Intelligence          8                     8
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             18                    24

Tomes Used
+1 Tome of Charisma used at level 1
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 9)
Balance               2                     4
Bluff                 4                     7
Concentration         6                    18
Diplomacy             4                     7
Disable Device       n/a                   n/a
Haggle                8                    19
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  0                     4
Intimidate            4                     7
Jump                  2                    10
Listen               -1                     1
Move Silently         0                     2
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               8                    19
Repair               -1                    -1
Search               -1                    -1
Spot                 -1                    -1
Swim                  1                     1
Tumble                1                     1
Use Magic Device      8                    21

Level 1 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (1): Charm Person
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I


Level 2 (Bard)
Spell (1): Focusing Chant
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Damage I
Enhancement: Bard Lingering Song I
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I


Level 3 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (1): Expeditious Retreat
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I


Level 4 (Bard)
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (2): Soundburst
Enhancement: Improved Concentration II
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic II
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery I


Level 5 (Bard)
Spell (1): Master's Touch
Spell (2): Cure Moderate Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Improved Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II


Level 6 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Enchantment
Enhancement: Bard Spellsinger I


Level 7 (Bard)
Spell (3): Displacement
Spell (3): Haste
Spell (2): Glitterdust
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song II


Level 8 (Bard)
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II


Level 9 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Quicken Spell
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music III

[TheDearLeader]

Not worried much about the rest of the build, but what will the next feats be?

1: Extend
3: Toughness
6: SF:Enchantment
9: Quicken
12:?
15:?
18:?

[Oakianus]

Not worried much about the rest of the build, but what will the next feats be?

1: Extend
3: Toughness
6: SF:Enchantment
9: Quicken
12:?
15:?
18:?

12: Spell Pen or Maximize.
15: Heighten
18: GSF: Enchant or Maximize.

[TheDearLeader]

12: Spell Pen or Maximize.
15: Heighten
18: GSF: Enchant or Maximize.

Sounds like you're about on the right track. CC/Heals/not dying in the process. By George, I think he's got it!

[Oakianus]

All right! Going to LR into this form tonight when I get off work, then.

Anyone have any opinions regarding those feats and where I might squeeze in Maximize? I know it's pretty useful for healing, which I'm obviously working on, but I'm worried that without GSF or Spell Pen, I won't be landing any of my spells when I get on toward epics.

[Gorbadoc]

You might ditch Extend. Take Enchantment Focus at level 1 so all you'll need is a feat swap if you decide to go that route-- for example, if you take Maximize at 18 and later decide that you want Maximize AND GSF but not Extend. I'm not saying that's what you WILL decide; just that it's nice to keep your options open.

In any event, you'll be in a better position to prioritize once you've seen the high-level content. Also, you'll get a feel for the kinds of items needed to truly maximize your DCs.