Spellsinger Tips and Equips

[Zeronic]

Heey everyone,

After not playing for a while I decided I should play again, and become a vip.
I started my new VIP account with a Drow Spellsinger bard: http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...&postcount=123
Tihocan has some great builds, yet I miss something in the spellsinger. Equipment.
Atm I am only lvl 4 but still walking around with some korthos **** equipment. Anyone have any idea's what to go for?
Money is not really a problem since I have a high lvl rogue that I gave up, money enough .
Also, for a VIP, anyone know a good leveling route (for NON soloists since spellsinger ain't one )
Thanx in advance

[Jaid314]

this may sound crazy, but my recommendation would be a melee/healing spellsinger instead of a caster spellsinger.

the present state of the game is that even enchantment archmages aren't that awesome, and quite frankly a spellsinger was never going to be much more than second fiddle to an enchantment archmage to begin with. oh, i'm not saying you should completely neglect your spells... but unless you have crazy gear for it, you're not going to have the DCs for difficult content, and your only mass spells of value are dancing ball and mass suggestion (and even those have their limitations; some mobs don't get properly CC'd by dancing ball, and charms of all types don't work in epics very well, for example). add on top of this a smaller SP pool (even with regen) and you get what is frankly just not a very effective option right now.

that being said, if you do have the gear to get crazy high DCs (like, 40ish or better ideally, though even mid-to-high 30s can be useful in some endgame content) then don't let anyone tell you that enchantment spells have no value. a very good CC-focused spellsinger bard can be a powerful ally. it's just really difficult to get to that point.

as far as gear for said CC-focused spellsinger? well, basically you have two main groups to focus on: stuff that makes you harder to kill (fortification, resists, etc) and stuff that increases your save DCs (primarily stuff that boosts charisma, but also something with greater enchantment focus would be a good idea. maybe even evocation focus to some extent). also, since you're a bard and you have so few SP to fuel your spells, gear to boost your SP and to refill your SP bar should be a consideration as well. i realise this is all fairly vague, but the simple fact is there isn't really one true gear list for a spellsinger bard. it all depends on how much time you plan on spending farming various things; some people don't mind getting an eardweller (to boost healing when needed and as an enchantment DC booster) and having to throw a few adamantine rituals on it. some do. some people don't mind the idea of farming an epic weapon for cha to attack and damage (there's a couple of options for that btw). some do. some people don't mind farming ToD for indeterminate amount of time hoping that they'll actually pull a useful ring this time. some do (like me). some people don't mind farming elite end-game raids to try and pull +4 tomes. some do. some people hate farming abbot for the litany of the dead. some people love it.

giving you a "perfect" gear setup is a bit of a pointless exercise in futility anyways... give it a few months, and there will be a new "perfect" list. i would focus on covering your basics in those three main areas, and you should be fine.

[Zeronic]

So you suggest that making a spellsinger ain't worth it? I kinda liked it, also for the haggle, but it seems to me that I rather make a solo warchanter instead of a spellsinger, and that doesn't fit with drow. I would like to stay with drow since I don't have 32 point buy and that race kinda makes up for it. Any suggestions then?

[Jaid314]

oh, i'm not saying spellsinger isn't worthwhile. spellsinger is great. right now, casters are frankly stronger than melees unless you have extremely well-geared melees or are running extremely long quests with few shrines.

i'm saying that bard CC in general has problems, particularly spell CC (your songs will still be extremely effective, but you may find that as a spellsinger you burn through songs like crazy).

if you're going to have a lot of gear to boost your charisma, bards can work adequately in spell CC, but they'll never really be as good as even an equally-geared enchantment-spec sorcerer, let alone an enchanter wizard. they simply don't have the spells to do so; no mass hold being one of the biggest things missing.

that being said, if you build a melee spellsinger, you're not really very far behind a melee warchanter build at all. your song is slightly worse, and you won't be wearing medium armor (but then, it's not like that's a huge difference anyways, since you likely aren't building for AC). but overall, the difference between a melee spellsinger and a melee warchanter is not huge. and your ability to throw caster buffs is almost unique in the game. boosting save DCs, giving cheaper spells, restoring SP, these are all very powerful abilities in difficult content.

and like i said, depending on content, even a less-than-stellar DC can work. i've CC'd epic big top with a spellsinger bard and my only support being an occasional greater command from a favored soul, for example. i just wouldn't dream of taking my spellsinger (DC around 34-35 iirc) to, say, amrath, and expect good results.

another route some people like is to focus on supporting ranged. basically, you get a bunch of debuffing repeating crossbows, spend a feat on proficiency, and go to town raining curse, destruction, paralyzing, etc on mobs to support the main DPS. it probably isn't as directly effective, but it can keep you out of the main line of battle, which can help keep you alive if you're worried about lower hit points. some people also like arcane archer bards, but you'd have to give up on drow for that.

i'm not saying don't do it; bards are great for the fact that they tend to be welcome in groups even if they don't have amazing gear or builds, just for their songs. i *am* saying that spell CC is a difficult route, and that i wish i had gone melee with my spellsinger, even though i would still want to be a spellsinger.

perhaps a more palatable alternative for you would be to invest in full or almost full charisma, put a few points in strength and con, and just focus on picking up a few basic melee (or ranged) feats (improved critical, maybe power attack although you may have to turn it off occasionally, etc). with the right gear, you'll still be able to hit with your attacks to some extent.

[Zeronic]

I just want to get the best out of a character, and it seems spellsinger isn't the way to go for me then. Any good idea's for a solo drow then? ^^ I just want something that isn't too hard to play Preferably not rogue