Thinking of an LR for my bard

[JohnRove]

I want to LR my current 19/1 warchanter to a Pure Virtuoso, and am looking for advice on how I should go about this. My goals are to be effective at buffing and CC, with melee and heals being available but not primary attributes of the build. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

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Level 20 True Neutral Drow Male
(20 Bard) 
Hit Points: 242
Spell Points: 980 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 9
Reflex: 12
Will: 11

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(28 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             14                    14
Dexterity            10                    10
Constitution         14                    16
Intelligence         12                    12
Wisdom                8                     8
Charisma             18                    30

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 20
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 20

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills         Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)            (Level 20)
Balance               3                    23
Bluff                 4                    10
Concentration         6                    26
Diplomacy             8                    37
Disable Device        n/a                   n/a
Haggle                8                    33
Heal                 -1                    -1
Hide                  0                     0
Intimidate            4                    10
Jump                  6                    11
Listen               -1                     5
Move Silently         0                     0
Open Lock             n/a                   n/a
Perform               8                    41
Repair                1                     1
Search                1                     3
Spot                 -1                     1
Swim                  2                     2
Tumble                1                    12
Use Magic Device      8                    33

{\b {\ul Notable Equipment }} \par Minos Legens \par Voice of the Master \par Charismatic Cloak \par Vorne's Belt \par Ogre Power Gloves \par Striding Boots \par Stormreaver's Napkin \par  \par Level 1 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Spell (1): Master's Touch


Level 2 (Bard)
Spell (1): Focusing Chant


Level 3 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Enchantment
Spell (1): Grease


Level 4 (Bard)
Spell (2): Rage
Spell (2): Blur


Level 5 (Bard)
Spell (1): Merfolk's Blessing
Spell (2): Glitterdust


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


Level 7 (Bard)
Spell (3): Haste
Spell (3): Good Hope
Spell (2): Soundburst


Level 8 (Bard)
Spell (3): Cure Serious Wounds


Level 9 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness


Level 10 (Bard)
Spell (4): Cure Critical Wounds
Spell (4): Freedom of Movement
Spell (3): Charm Monster


Level 11 (Bard)
Spell (4): Otto's Sphere of Dancing


Level 12 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell


Level 13 (Bard)
Spell (4): Shout
Spell (5): Greater Heroism
Spell (5): Mind Fog


Level 14 (Bard)
Spell (5): Summon Monster V


Level 15 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment


Level 16 (Bard)
Spell (1): Otto's Resistable Dance
Spell (6): Otto's Irresistable Dance
Spell (6): Greater Shout
Spell (5): Shadow Walk


Level 17 (Bard)
Spell (2): Invisibility
Spell (6): Mass Charm Monster


Level 18 (Bard)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration
Spell (3): Crushing Despair


Level 19 (Bard)
Spell (4): Dimension Door
Spell (6): Mass Cure Moderate Wounds


Level 20 (Bard)
Spell (5): Mass Cure Light Wounds
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song I
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song II
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song III
Enhancement: Bard Extra Song IV
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack I
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack II
Enhancement: Bard Inspired Attack III
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 Lingering Song IV
Enhancement: Bard Virtuoso I
Enhancement: Bard Virtuoso II
Enhancement: Bard Musical Prodigy
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Improved Perform I
Enhancement: Improved Perform II
Enhancement: Improved Perform III
Enhancement: Improved Perform IV
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Song I
Enhancement: Bard Lyric of Incredible Song I
Enhancement: Bard Song Magic I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music I
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music II
Enhancement: Bard Energy of the Music III
Enhancement: Bard Charisma I
Enhancement: Bard Charisma II
Enhancement: Bard Charisma III
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery I
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery II
Enhancement: Bard Wand and Scroll Mastery III

[BoBoDaClown]

Get rid of mental toughness.

1) Toughness
3) Maximise
6) Spell Focus
9) Spell Focus
12) Extend
15) Quicken or Spell Pen
18) Heighten.

Creates a CC/Heal/ Character

If you want to work Melee into the mix, you would need to look at Improved Critical and Power Attack, maybe for Quicken and Spell Focus..

It could be an idea to use songs for CC and build for melee and healing.

Which would look like:
Str: Max and level ups
Con: Max or close to
Cha: a bit

1) Toughness
3) Extend
6) Maximise
9) Power Attack
12) Improved Critical
2 more feats could be: Quicken/Empower Healing/Virt pre-req feat/THF/ITHF

[Alleyna]

I have a first life 32-pt Human 20 Bard Virtuoso specc'd in CC (spell and song), and I love her! I run her regularly in all epics. She shines in eChrono, epic Small Problem, epic Into the Deeps, epic Devil Assault, eVON6, as well as every other epic I run her into. I prefer running her in epics to my evoker-specc'd Favored Soul. She has Enthrall for stopping the mass of yellow-names, songs for those pesky epic Drow and other high SR mobs, dance balls for the orange-named mobs, and single-target holds to help the group take down individual mobs faster one at a time. She even has songs to stop the yellow-named undead and constructs. I regularly get comments from my friends and from PUGs about her CC ability.

For feats (human) I went the route of:
toughness, spell focus enchant, greater spell focus enchant, heighten, quicken, extend, maximize, and FOP. In hind-sight, I would drop FOP in an instant.

I agree with BoBo to drop Mental Toughness. It's really not needed. I feel between my songs and spells that I have enough spell points to buff party members that need it (e.g. I don't give blur/GH to casters and FOM to divines, and know which buffs are necessary where to conserve spell points) and to CC. I have not found a quest where I was just dying for spell points between shrines. Plus, your high charisma will give you a small bump to spell points.

I think for a spell-based CC bard, toughness, sf enchant, greater sf enchant, heighten, and quicken are mandatory. I know people will debate heighten since bards only get level 6 spells, but if you plan on doing CC in epics, every DC matters. Quicken is very important for getting those dance balls off when getting hit by mobs. It is a very slow spell. Extend and maximize are optional. I like extend so I don't have to worry about haste, rage, and displacement so often, but I know a lot of people dropped it once U9 hit. Maximize is nice for the larger heals when you really need a heal, but scroll healing works too, so that one also depends on player preference. If you want to get more melee specc'd, you could swap out maximize for IC or PA, and possibly extend. Use two-handed weapons. I don't have spell penetration on my bard and haven't had too much of a problem there with just a torc. Anything that has too high of SR (ie Drow) just get Enthralled and Capering Song.

For spells, they looked pretty good. If you're going to run eChrono, I'd highly recommend picking up Break Enchantment. The end boss throws down many AOEs that need to be dispelled quickly. I also use it several other quests, but that one I use it in all the time.

Stats look as good as they can be for a Drow. You may want to consider dropping your INT to 10 and raising STR to 15 depending on your tome/gear situation to get yourself a little extra melee capability. If that makes your stats odd after tomes/gear, doing the 14 STR and 12 INT is perfectly fine. I started with an 8 INT on my bard (equivalent to 10 for non-human races in regards to skills) and felt like I had no problem taking all the skills I needed.

For enhancements, drop Skill Improved Perform III-IV. You will hit a high enough perform without it. I have been running around without a perform 15 item and still hitting DCs in the 50's-70's, which is plenty enough for epics. With a perform item and buffed, I've seen a song DC as high as 92 or 93, which is way overkill (although very fun to see ). I'd also drop the energy of music enhancements. Again, I haven't had a problem with my spell points without them. For the ultimate CC experience, pick up the Song of the Dead and Song of the Makers. Nothing is more fun than going into epic Wiz King and just fascinating the undead mummies and skeletons as you run by. For the 4 remaining AP, I really like having as much Wand and Scroll Mastery as possible, since that's the only way you're going to be able to hit a single target with the most healing short of going full heal-spec.

TL;DR version: Overall, it looks pretty solid. I would drop mental toughness and one other feat (spell pen, maximize, or extend) and pick up heighten and quicken, pick up Break Enchantment spell, and drop Improved Perform III-IV and Energy of Music I-III for Music of the Makers, Music of the Dead, and W&SM IV.

I hope you have fun with your build! I really enjoy mine

[JohnRove]

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will go ahead and try it out and see how he plays.