Theorybuild - Nature's Song & Dance

[Arlathen]

Theorybuild - Natures Song & Dance

Time for another Theorybuild to provoke a little discussion and feedback on yet another crazy idea.

The Fang of Siberys Scimitar got quite the buff recently with updated Cloudburst effect it now has. If you've missed this, in short, it now deals a 100pt Sonic AoE damage effect when Cloudburst procs (tested as 9% before the Xpack), resulting in a weapon that can be Dual-wielded to fire out some nice AoE damage effects.

So I gots-to-thinking and came up with the following craziness...

12 Ranger - Tempest 2
If your looking for weapon Procs, then going Ranger 12 and Tempest 2 offers you one of the best base platforms for doing with the extra offhand weapon attacks. All the usual goodies are on offer here as part of the build:

Full BAB
Full TWF Line
Full Archery Line for Manyshot & IPS
3x Favoured enemies, at +9 Damage
Light Armour & some PRR
Evasion
High Fort & Reflex Saves
Decent Dodge thanks to Tempest Pre-Reqs
Reasonable Hit Point
SP Pool & Ram's Might
Full Barkskin
Sprint Boost

Bard 7 - Warchanter 1
Ok, yes your thinking the build just went to Hell. But hear me out. No I won't Sing, I promise.

AB +5 from 7 levels
High Reflex & Will Saves
Skills - Max Perform, UMD, Bluff, others to taste (Diplomacy, Hide & MS, Balance & Jump)
Personal Inspire Courage of +2/+5 with enhancements & 6min+ Length
Personal SP based Buffs, including Haste, Rage and Displacement
Mass-CC Fascinate with max perform skill, Epic capable Mez
10 Songs at Level 20

So I gain a nice CC Mez Fascinate for Epic Questing/Soloing, some nice spell buffs including easy SP Displacement.

Fighter 1
Essential extra feat slot and Haste Boost +15% for really going to town during Heroic levels. Can Twist in LD Haste Boost for more speedy goodness.

FateSinger 5
Now for some real goodies...

+3 to Hit, +6 Caster Levels, +150SP
25 Songs Base when capped destiny with chosen Epic enhancements

Glitter: +1 All Stats
Harmonic Resonance: 10% chance for stacking Sonic Vulnerability
Grandeur: +3 Unique damage bonus!
Majesty: +5 Saves vs. Enchantments (Ranger Weakspot)
Dirge: AoE Damage 10D8 Negative & 10D12 Sonic Song for piling on the AoE damage
Reign: 3min Buff, Vorpal Strike 11D20 Electric and 11D20 Sonic Damage on Melee Attacks
Sirens Song & chord of Disruption: Unbreakable Mez with massive damage at end?!..
Allure: More Perform & Bluff
Tailwind: More Ranged damage on Manyshots
Fragment - Valor: +4% Competence Bonus to Attack Speed
Turn the Tide: Trash Sweeper extroadinairre.

Being Sneaky
Take the build to Half-Elf, with Rogue Dilletante. Pick up Echoes of Power: ShadowDancer and Masked Ball Tier 2 for an additional +2D6 sneak Damage. Add in a Sneak Attack item and an Exceptional Sneak attack item for a further +13 Sneak damage. Enjoy your maxed out Bluff skill and dual bluff timers for an extra 5D6+13 sneak DPS.

With Masked Ball, throw Sleetstorm and be Immune to Slippery Surfaces, gain auto-sneak attacks and benefit from mob Blindness (50% Concealment).

Warchanter 1 vs. Virtuoso
I worked out my plan to include Warchanter 1 for the addition Inspired Courage Buff - a free Power-Attack-Style +5 Damage boost seems pretty **** handy to have if there's no better bard around.

Virtuoso has merits but not sure where the feat fits in as you can't take Extra Song 4. I'd like to look at this angle though as using Enthrall will benefit CCing as well as using AoE Damage.

Important Stats
42 Strength = 16Base +6Levels +1Racial +7Item +3Tome +1Grandeur +2 Insight +2Rage +2Rams +2Guild
30 Charisma = 14Base +2Bard +6Item +3Tome +1Grandeur +2Insight +2 Guild

30 Dex is about what I calculate without breaking a sweat, but no Dex Pre-Reqs necessary thanks to Ranger levels.

Feats
Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack - 7% Dodge and Tempesrt Pre-Reqs
WF: Slash, IC: Slash - Warchanter Pre-Req and maximising Scimitar Crits
Power Attack, Cleave and Great Cleave - More DPS and AoE Damage, more Weapon Procs
Toughness - Habitual HP Improvement
Overwhelming Critical - Got all the Pre-Reqs, seems silly not to take it at Epic Levels

Recommended Equipment
Dual Fangs of Siberys
Relevant DR Breakers for appropriate Raid Bosses
Seal of Avithoul or Ring of the Stalker & Tharnes/Tinkers set
Parasitic Breastplate / Epic Duelists Leathers
Epic Charged Gauntlets (Nice but not necessary)

Summary & How I see this playing

1. Quest Trash Killing
Essentially, Sing, Buff, Rage, Haste, Slaughter. Where appropiate, open combat with Dirge then charge in swinging both Fangs of Siberys. Hit both Cleaves when appropiate to get more Cloudburst Procs - as many as possible. 100% Offhand, Hasted, Haste Boosted and an extra 4% Competence Attack Speed. Fatesinger also gives Reign for additional on vorpal Sonic and Electric damage.

Need faster room clearing? Pull out the Manyshot Lightning 2 Bow with Tailwind Damage and Reign procs.

Then as above, throw a Sleetstorm for additional fun - Immunity to Slippery Surfaces from Masked Ball, all targets now taking 5D6+13 Sneak Damage from Blindness.

2. Boss killing
Open with Sirens Song & Chord of Disruption for unbreakable Mez and massive damage. Pound on target and stack Harmonic Resonance for additional Sonic vulnerability (upto 50%!). Double Bluff tiemrs to keep the Sneak Damage pouring in.

3. Epic Questing
Fascinate & Siren's Song as appropiate for Epic Quality Crowd Control when needed. Need to go to town? Dirge, turn the Tide, Fangs out and Haste Boost. Destroy. Keep yourself Displaced through SP, mitigating damage in combination with High Dodge, decent AC and a little PRR. Incoporeal Ring of the Stalker option for more mitigation.

4. Raid-Boss Killing
Pull Out DR Beaters if there's no Arti. Surprise everyone with a freebie +5 Damage for 6 and a half minutes when theres no real Bard around.

In Short...
A Great Gimp but a Great deal of Fun

Why not just roll a Pure Bard? Or an Exploiter? Or a 16/2/2 style Build?
Because I thought this unconventional approach might be a ton of fun and be a bit different. Exploiters don't have the self-buffing or CC mezzing abilities. 16/2/2 is a little tight on feats for what I want to do, and it's been done to death. Pure builds turn me off just for ... well, being pure. *Shrug*

[wax_on_wax_off]

I must say I like it. There is definite synergy between a bard splash and Fatesinger I think.

[Arlathen]

I must say I like it. There is definite synergy between a bard splash and Fatesinger I think.

I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the thought of rolling this build this weekend. Have a toon to TR into it that already has a Lightning 2 Bow, and I have most of the equipment that would be warranted on this build stashed on my bank toons.

I'm working out the finer points (Enhancements, Gear) and will

Provisional Build names:

The Supersonic (More a reference to the Oasis song, not the Sega character)
The Call of Nature
The Pagan Dancer
...

[Aganthor]

Looks really nice.

Give us some feedback if you ever roll it!

**EDIT**
You have an heroic feat that can't fit in those class arragement. Or it might be my noobness

[Arlathen]

Looks really nice.

Give us some feedback if you ever roll it!

**EDIT**
You have an heroic feat that can't fit in those class arragement. Or it might be my noobness

Awesome. I do intend to roll this, it should be real fun to play

Good spot on the Feats, but it fits like this:

1 Dodge
2 Mobility
3 Spring Attack
4 Power Attack
5 Cleave
6 Great Cleave
7 WF: Slash
F1: IC: Slash
Epic1: Toughness
Epic2: Overwhelming Critical

Couldn't think of a worthwhile Epic feat and Toughness is generally a needed feat on any front line melee type.

[whereispowderedsilve]

Awesome. I do intend to roll this, it should be real fun to play

Good spot on the Feats, but it fits like this:

1 Dodge
2 Mobility
3 Spring Attack
4 Power Attack
5 Cleave
6 Great Cleave
7 WF: Slash
F1: IC: Slash
Epic1: Toughness
Epic2: Overwhelming Critical

Couldn't think of a worthwhile Epic feat and Toughness is generally a needed feat on any front line melee type.

Maybe/perhaps Imp. Sunder? Just saying! >><<! :P! ! Worth a thought in my books! xD!

[Aganthor]

Didn't think about epic feats!!! I was only looking at the heroic ones.

Keep us posted

Awesome. I do intend to roll this, it should be real fun to play

Good spot on the Feats, but it fits like this:

1 Dodge
2 Mobility
3 Spring Attack
4 Power Attack
5 Cleave
6 Great Cleave
7 WF: Slash
F1: IC: Slash
Epic1: Toughness
Epic2: Overwhelming Critical

Couldn't think of a worthwhile Epic feat and Toughness is generally a needed feat on any front line melee type.

[Arlathen]

Didn't think about epic feats!!! I was only looking at the heroic ones.

Keep us posted

Will do.

Decided to put my money where my mouth is and my namesake toon Arlathen took his TR medicine last night. Had a complete blast at level 1. So fun being all gimpy again.

Straight to the Harbour, plundered the TR cache of my crafted Lvl1 Gear for him. Initial thoughts.

- Decided on going maxed stealth, diplo, bluff and perform skills, +5 items. Stealth Fascinating is fun & awesome.

- Hit level 2 fast. Picked up first Ranger level and took Sprint Boost straight away. Stealthy Repossession on full on Zerg mode (Exp. Retreat & Sprint Boosts) with Ship buffs and Invulnerability armour - way fun.

It'll take a couple more levels and some more Ranger to start kicking in the TWF and Bow backup. Still struggling for a build name.... but my current thinking is the 'Robin Hood' build.

[Dielzen]

Still struggling for a build name.... but my current thinking is the 'Robin Hood' build.

Thunderstruck?

[Celastelin]

I'd personally take toughness much earlier. Not sure what you would be taking when, but the sooner the better. Probably before power attack.

[unbongwah]

What about going AA instead of Tempest? E.g., Rgr 11 / bard 7 / ftr 2. 11 feats total: 7 base + 2 ftr + 2 epic. Something like:

AA pre-reqs: WF:R & PBS
WC pre-reqs: PA & WF:S
Melee DPS: IC:S / Cleave / GC / OC:S
Ranged DPS: Combat Archery or IC:R

[ShadowFlash]

What about going AA instead of Tempest? E.g., Rgr 11 / bard 7 / ftr 2. 11 feats total: 7 base + 2 ftr + 2 epic. Something like:

AA pre-reqs: WF:R & PBS
WC pre-reqs: PA & WF:S
Melee DPS: IC:S / Cleave / GC / OC:S
Ranged DPS: Combat Archery or IC:R

My wife has a Lvl 20 Rgr 11 / bard 8 / Rogue 1 Warchanter AA that works pretty nice. We haven't re-evaluated it since U14 though. Hit points are a little light, but her personal twitch skills make up for that decently.

On another note, My current favorite toon is a Ftr 12 / bard 8 TWF Kensai II Virtuoso with tactics. I'll probablly finish in dread, but looking forward to fatesinger as my 1st ED choice and moving out from there. "IF" I can grind out long enough, my twists will probablly all be from fatesinger as well, as there lots of good twistables for a deeper bard splash.

ShadowFlash

[Arlathen]

Maybe/perhaps Imp. Sunder? Just saying! >><<! :P! ! Worth a thought in my books! xD!

Yeah, but I'd definitly take Toughness first, and everything else is kind of 'needed'.

I'd personally take toughness much earlier. Not sure what you would be taking when, but the sooner the better. Probably before power attack.

Got access to very good gear and maxxed out crafting, so I can cover the temporary missing hitpoints till I get the feat. I want the DPS toys first

What about going AA instead of Tempest? E.g., Rgr 11 / bard 7 / ftr 2. 11 feats total: 7 base + 2 ftr + 2 epic. Something like:

AA pre-reqs: WF:R & PBS
WC pre-reqs: PA & WF:S
Melee DPS: IC:S / Cleave / GC / OC:S
Ranged DPS: Combat Archery or IC:R

Doable, and an option. Not for me though. Archery strictly a side-line 'BOOM' when needed. I'll leave AA for the Monkcher builds out there, and take the full offhand attacks thank you very much

I want lots of melee weapon procs for Fangs of Siberys here, I love being in Melee and I just want to see dozens of Damage numbers floating up my screen

[Lauf]

your build is a pretty little thing, a rare thought provoking treat in an ocean of conventional wisdom. thank you for posting it.

[Arlathen]

Quick Update Level 5 - Ranger 4/Bard 1
Next Levels - Ranger, Ranger (ITWF, Tempest 1), Ranger, Ranger, Ranger (Evasion!)

So far, so good. Personal DPS is romping through hard difficulty (34pt life) without an issue, and when I'm facing overwhelming odds - Fascinate and take my time leisurely strolling through the mobs. Sneaking is occasionally useful, but again the double social skills really come into play.

Having some low level scrolls is handy - Invis scrolls for a few farm zergs, but mainly been fighting my way through a few chains.

I've also had thought's on three variants of the overall build:

Swordsman
This is pretty much sticking to the original Scimitar/Fang of Siberys idea, going Warchanter with WF: Slash & Overwhelming Critical as an epic feat.

The General
Go Virtuoso instead of Warchanter. Drop WF: Slash and pick up SF: Perform instead. Drop Overwhelming Critical and pick up Exotic: Khopesh instead. Sacrifices the AoE fun of the Fangs for potentially more single target DPS through Lit2 Khopeshes or even Epic Khopeshes of Water from Cannith. You can then get the even more useful Enthrall over Fascinate, given a resistance to blowing mobs out of Mez when wielding the Fangs.

The Archer
Credits to Ungbongwah for the basis of this, but would stick with the 12/7/1 Split, take Virtuoso and go for the following feats:
Ranged: Point Blank Shot, WF: Ranged, IC: Ranged
Melee: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave
Utility: Toughness, SF: Perform
This combination could be quite deadly, when you Enthrall and then IPS/Manyshot everything - and still has a solid Melee option.

Still mulling a build name. The Robin Hood build? He was after all, according to myth, Archer, Swordsman and Leader alike - while sweeping Marion off her feet

[Arlathen]

Quick Update Level 10 - Ranger 9/Bard 1
Next Levels - Ranger,Fighter,Ranger, Ranger, then Bard to 20.

Just steaming through content and XP at the moment. Fastest TR1 life I've done so far.

Notes on levelling - Level 7 was a big jump getting ITWF and Tempest 1. DPS went up a huge notch there. AC is decent, 7% Dodge from Dodge/Mobility/SA is handy but my hit points are definitely a bit low with no Toughness feat yet.

Thank god I've finally picked up Evasion at this level. 30pt resists have gotten me this far, but grrrr to elemental damage. That said, the real weak point is the Will Save - I've had to wear a pair of Will Save +5 boots for the last few levels

Hows it playing? Still pretty much the Ranger with the odd song to boot. Action points are starting to pile up though, as allot of my allocation will be going into enhancements from the Bard side. Which brings me nicely onto..

Self Healing
Nice little bonus I've discovered - Bard Song Magic and Ranger Devotion enhancements can be picked up simultaneously, and stack according to the character sheet. This should allow for some decent spell based self healing with a Devotion item, even though there's no meta-magics. Bard 7 will give me CSW, or if I want the dual Haste/Displacement from Bard 7 can drop down to just CMW. At level 9 I picked up CLW and its great for 20-30pt heals to keep me going between fights without quaffing down the pots.

Based on this possibility of self healing, I've re-worked through my skill point allocations and dumped Diplomacy in favor of a maxed out Concentration skill. It's no substitute for Quicken, but having this makes me feel allot better than no Concentration at all...

Time to steam roll up through Ranger 11 for feats and Ranger 12 for Tempest 2 before finally hitting the Bard levels, and getting some real nice active goodies to play with.

He's gotta look the part...
Found the perfect cosmetic Armour skin for this character: Leaf 1 Violet/Tan from the DDO Store. A nice leather light armour look with a very cosmopolitan purple lavender shade for this charismatic woodsman

[Arlathen]

Quick Update Level 12 - Ranger 10/Bard 1/Fighter 1
Next Levels - Ranger, Ranger, then Bard to 20.

Wasn't going to post again until I hit 15 and was firmly into my Bard levels but with the XP zerging I hit my Fighter level and wanted to elaborate on what a massive plus it's been.

Bringing the Pain to the Face
Previously I'd been playing the Skirmish Fighter role very well - group steams in, I'd pick a target, Bluff, and open up. Salt with ranged Manyshot as and when needed. It worked very well, as I circled around a pack of monsters throwing out impressive DPS.

At 12, it took a big step up. My Fighter level at 12 gave me my Cleave and Great Cleave feats, and access to Haste Boost 1. I also picked up my Pos2 (Holy/Good Burst only) Longswords I had stashed away.

I now have turbo-nutter mode enabled. Haste Boost, Racial Damage Boost, and charge. Bluff the first mob and follow up with an immediate Great Cleave into the pack. 2/3 swings later first target is dead, follow up with Racial Bluff to 2nd Target, and immediate Cleave. Again finish off mob, standard Bluff potentially off timer so Bluff and Great Cleave again.

And if that's not enough? Manyshot & Lightning 2 Longbow.

The sheer speed at which I can move through mobs even on Elite at the moment is nothing short of breath-taking. Expeditious Retreat and Sprint Boosts keep me moving fast, permanent Melee Alacrity 10% item keeps the swing speed fast.

And there's more to come - I've yet to pick up Improved Critical:Slash, GTWF and IPS yet. Manyshot is still on 3 arrows only after reaching BAB11 at level 12.

I'm in complete anticipation of level 16 and getting my Fangs out to play

[Arlathen]

Quick Update Level 15 - Ranger 12/Bard 2/Fighter 1
Next Levels - Bard to 20.

It's been a furious and quick paced run up the levels over the past few days, resulting in finally hitting level 15 yesterday, so time for a quick update.

Levelling Pains

I initially planned out my level scheme so that I could optimise the skill points used and also when I would achieve my free Ranger feats for Melee/Ranged combat styles. I took the opinion that pimping out my Ranger levels first would give me all the significant DPS output that I would need for leveling and that Bard could come later to give me the real juicy extras the build was designed to have in mind.

However, by the time I hit 15 I had 20 AP stacked up ready to spend on enhancements - the build is heavily weighted to use alot of Bard enhancements, and not taking Toughness earlier also meant I couldn't take Tempest 2 as soon as I hit Ranger 12.

So as soon as I hit 15 and got my 2nd Bard level, I chose Toughness as my feat, took all the relevant bits and peices and watched my HP shoot up from 275 to 335.

And I still have 6AP banked as I now progress through my Bard levels.

Can this build get any more Destructive?

The Desert and Giant Hold got torn a new one, as we say in England.

I completed out my Pos2 Longswords with Greater Disruption and Good Blast, so I have two pretty ideal undead beaters - Yes, I was tempted to recraft them as Heavy Maces or Warhammers, but I may TR again through a Monk life or two and these can be used through WSS on such a life. Very handy.

So even without the Bluff tricks, with FE: Undead and the swords WizKing got zerged repeatedly in a decent team for some great XP. Offering of Blood wasn't much different though, Manyshot taking down the Avatars of Vulkoor without a problem.

Giant Hold was also a blast. I partied up for Madstone Crater, and again blew through mobs like there were nothing even with HP Scaling up and on Elite Difficulty. Invis tricks on the Shamans helped and FE: Giants meant I was doing sickening damage on Ogres & Trolls.

I also went round and soloed Hard/Normal difficulties on all the side quests. I had a very helpful Arti join me for Maze of Madness, and again Hard/Normal went down without a problem.

I think really the combination of tearing through Mobs with Bluff/Sneak, Cleaves and Spring Attack and then sprint boosting on further utilising my Lit2 Bow and Manyshots is an incredibly fast way of playing.

CMW and CLW have also been really good - a Ring of Thelis and thus around 500SP means I have tons of efficient, low cost healing available. Don't think I've used a healing potion since level.. 12?

Fascinate saved my party.... again.

Framework is a nice XP zerg when you sneak in the back entrance and then stealth straight to the boss. I was getting solo runs down to about 4 mins where upon fighting the boss a simple Manyshot and Lightning 2 combination would be just about enough to sort him out and then for me to make a quick get-a-way via the ballista back to Dorris. Wash & repeat for some great XP.

However, I had a party with me for one or two runs, consisting of a Artificer and Wizard. More DPs, faster killing I thought. But due to errors in play and under-equipped toons, running that boss room became fraught with danger thanks to HP scaling meaning a single Manyshot was not enough.

Both the Arti & Wiz went down under the swarm, and I was left on Manyshot timer wondering "What the hell?...". However, with a Sprint Boost & Fascinate I literally danced around the huge pack of mobs and managed to get around 25+ mobs all completely mezzed. Drew the boss off to one side - Haste Boost, Damage Boost, Bluff, Great Cleave and went to town on him. He was dead shortly, grabbed the two stones and made a quick exit left back to Dorris.

This is not the first time I've been really appreciative of my "Save the Party Bacon" button being available....

What's next??...
Well, 16 is so close now I can smell it, and with level 16 will come the use of my dual Fangs of Siberys, the weapons that inspired me to create this build in the first place. I'm really looking forward to getting some mass AoE damage fun going with them, and seeing how they compare to using Pos3 Longswords against single targets.

I'm also starting to get more of my Bard tricks. New spells, extra songs, more enhancements, better Will Saves (thankfully!) - the future feels very rosy indeed.

I'm still a little torn over my final feats/Prestige. I can either go:

1. WF: Slash, IC: Slash, Overwhelming Critical - Warchanter 1, Weapon Versatility
2. WF: Slash, IC: Slash, Ex: Khopesh - Warchanter 1, Khopesh Speciality
3. SF: Perform, IC: Slash, Ex: Khopesh - Virtuoso 1, Khopesh Speciality

Option 1 still seems the best option from the point of view of using the intended weapons of Fangs of Siberys. Option 2 and 3 seem more appropiate if I intend to go down a more generic weapon route in the future, such as Lit2 Khopeshes. I think the great thing here is tho I can play around with option through some simple feat swap without needing a whole LR or even TR just to try them out, so will have to feed back on them later on.

Anyways, picked up a pair of cheap Spectral Gloves yesterday and the Orchard is now beckoning for farmville style running of Temple of Vol and Ghosts of Perdition...

[wax_on_wax_off]

I've enjoyed reading about your exploits, I'd definitely go for overwhelming critical if possible.

Scimitar w/OC: 27/20
Khopesh w/out OC: 27/20

Same damage (barring the d6 vs d8 discrepency which is minor), better weapon selection.

[Arlathen]

I've enjoyed reading about your exploits, I'd definitely go for overwhelming critical if possible.

Scimitar w/OC: 27/20
Khopesh w/out OC: 27/20

Same damage (barring the d6 vs d8 discrepency which is minor), better weapon selection.

Hrmmm, very interesting. Better weapon selection is desirable as well, as I'd like the opportunity to potentially test some other weapon idea's I have as well. I think I'll stick with the original plan then of WF: Slash / OC: Slash and Warchanter 1 for now.