Diary if a pure spellcasting bard.

[Bacab]

I am going to keep a running diary of my Pure Bard life.

Will post my build up here and make updates as I progress.

I am not a meta-gamer, but I enjoy the game a whole lot and figured this could be fun.

So far...here is where we are at.

Race: Dragonborn
Heritage: Black Dragon
Alignment: Neutral

Stats:

STR 12
DEX 10
CON 16
WIS 8
INT 12
CHR 20

Big thing, is max CHR and get CON up there. I had a decent INT for skill points. The STR and DEX and WIS, I didn't think would matter, so I have enough STR to smack stuff with a sword if I run out of SP.

Skills:
Perform, Balance, Jump, Spell Craft, UMD, Concentration, tumble, sneak and Hide, heal
I won't be able to max these early on, but will catch them up as tomes take effect.

FEATS: (so far)
1. Maximize (Boosting SLAs)
3. Empower Spell (Sill boosting SLAs)
6. Completionist (I think Quicken or Wizard Past life or Spell Focus Evocation or Enchantment would be fine)
9. Quicken (main reason is so when I get Disco Ball, I can put it up faster)
Spells:
1. Sonic Blast (take expeditious retreat if you lack Abbot Item), Charm Person, Hypnotism, Merfolks Blessing,
2. Invisible, Soundburst
3. Displacement, Haste, Cure Serious Wounds

[Bacab]

Part 2 of Diary (day 1)

Low levels: level 1-3 quests
Korthos and the Harbor: Was easy, just used a "Nicked Shortsword" from a previous life and spammed Sonic Blast SLA. Had my trusty friend Byron Scoutsword to help me with things.

Only have a few Harbor Quests to go, will make level 4>>>then head to the Marketplace for those and then back to Harbor for Waterworks.

It is slow so far, but not really dangerous. Most things die to 2 Sonic Blast SLAs. I can also treat Sonic Blast like improved precise shot. It goes through monsters and also can hit multiple monsters. Easy to clear a few things at once (like Misery's Peak)

Looking forward to the Shout SLA as well.

[peng]

I'd recommend going blue dborn. If you end up taking horn of thunder, there's some synergy there.

[Bacab]

I'd recommend going blue dborn. If you end up taking horn of thunder, there's some synergy there.

Took black because of cleric past lives (conjuration)...though the blue with evocation would have made sense.

Was just thinking that Acid seems to damage almost everything.

[Tlorrd]

Are you running elite, reaper, etc? Interested to hear what difficulty you're running each chain.

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

I'm onboard! Let's get to building!

Great start thusfar

[Bacab]

Made level 6 (almost 7) tonight.

Did a bit of soloing on reaper. Sonic Blast seems to stun lock reapers.

Shout made this way easier and faster. Advice...get Sonic Blast and Shout ASAP. I skipped/respecced out of reverberate.

Finally got enough AP to have full shout SLA and the Dragonborn breath attack. I also maxed the Wand/Scroll enhancements. I heal more with wands than potions (esp in reaper)

Was a super fun night.

Was in a group with a new player named "Bledfordays" a warlock and their guildy "Gatli" who has been around a long time (since beta).

We did Shaagh's Helm and STK on Reaper with an old friend Yvonnel (legendary Cleric on Ghallanda) and it went pretty smooth. Took our time and showed the new player a good time. Did optionals, didn't zerg.

Showed the new player the fun of charming a champion brute and watching the champ do the heavy lifting for you.

We then ran Tangleroot, which doesn't have a reaper setting, but it didn't matter. Was super fun.

Showed the new player the prisoner in part 2 of tangleroot who dies from the scorpion bites.

Later, released the Flenser and watch the Flenser kill about a dozen hobgoblins.

The new player kept mentioning in chat how they are enjoying DDO and how its "different than other MMOs". They are VIP atm and I said thats a good choice, you can buy whatever packs you like later and just see how ya like it.

If you play on Ghallanda and get a chance to play with Bledfordays, welcome them to the game and help them out. We have all been there...new and broke lol. Pass them that loot that you'd just crunch into some essences.




As far as the build...super fun like I remembered it from a few years ago.

Sonic Blast and Soundburst lets me neutralize Reapers.

Shout and Dragon breath kills packs of monsters.

I did a few quest solo where I did invisible>sneak by packs of mobs>run to boss>kill boss>loot chest>recall out

Bard gets a lot of skill points and its easy to have enough move silently and hide.

I am enjoying myself immensely. This build seems to be easy get the Discreet, Devious, Insidious Cunning bonus.

It also parties extremely well. The constant songs make it easier. Has nice wand whipping at lower levels.

Even at low levels, Sonic Blast and then Soundburst provide nice CC.

Charm is also super effective CC. Especially if a low will save champion is in a pack of monsters. They will either clean the room for you, or come close to doing that.

Looking forward to using fascinate and Mass Suggestion, Dancing Ball and other strong spells.

Oh, a Resonance Item is a MUST HAVE. I did the Cannith Crafted item, but its not hard to find a Sonic Lore, Resonance item. They are generally cheap on auction house.

[Bacab]

Are you running elite, reaper, etc? Interested to hear what difficulty you're running each chain.

I tend to run on Reaper 1-3. If its a hard quest or a quest I really don't like or that has a high risk of failing, I will drop it down to 1. If its an easier quest, I will bump it up.

I think once I am higher level, I think this will hold its on in higher reaper content since Crowd Control and heals seem to be party role(s) that are always needed.

My DPS was really bad until Shout. Now its a lot easier. It certainly isn't a DPS monster, but it does well because it spams CC effects.

I like to open with Sonic Blast>stuns them>run up to the monster(s)>Shout in their face or Dragonbreath>follow up with second Sonic Blast. Clears most things.

[Hipparan]

Yeah Reverberate is an interesting concept for a spell but it's horribly weak so not worth taking.

I'm glad you're enjoying your spellcaster Bard! It's one of my favorite builds to play and I have a great time playing as one especially in raids (although I haven't done one with mine in a while).

[Bacab]

Made level 8 today.

Did most of level 6 and 7 with Motept who was on a Warforged Paladin this life.

We rolled 99% of all content with Sonic Blast/Sound Burst for the stun and he'd beat stuff.

I would try to handle the Reapers because at this level, spells work 100% of the time, while most melees are not ghost touch.

The healing song>Sustaining Song seems to be really strong. I would put it up on both of us and it generally lasted a whole quest, except Proof is in the Poison (that is a long quest at level).

Eventually, I had to take off and do grown up stuff, so the party ended.

When I got to play again, I did Necro 1, which was really easy. Sonic damage basically hurts everything. As does acid from my Draconic Heritage.

Once I got displacement, only Reapers and the True Sight Champions became dangerous. Often when I see a champion or a reaper, I charm stuff near them so they are distracted.

The ability "Flicker' is extremely useful btw. 100% recommend it.

Now that I took level 8, I am looking forward to using my Slaver's Gear. Oh yeah, I am still using the Kobold Admiral Uniform with Medium Fortification slotted.

So far, I am really enjoying this build.

[Bacab]

Made level 9

Did some Shadow Crypt farming.

I 100% carried the group because I had Merfolk's Blessing and it made those swimming rooms 10% faster.

I was XPing mainly with Quijonn and Returnof. A few people joined for some of the runs.

When I get a chance to log back in, I will go back and run the quests that I "missed", but it was nice to gain a whole level in about 45 min with a R/Ex4/H/N Shadow Crypt farm.

I normally do not repeat any quests, but I was in good company and ejoyed catching up with some players that I hadn't XPed with in a long time (been back about a month from a year break)

Every level, I move my SLAs back into my hotbar to include the Dragonbreath Attack (a long time ago, there was a bug where the increased damage would not take effect unless you did this).

At level 9, I took quicken and noticed that I did not have my Maximize and Empower turned on for my Shout SLA...so double check that stuff...don't be a noob like me!

[Bacab]

Made almost level 13 today (raelly 14...banking a level)

I finally got the running speed enhancement from Swashbuckler...it is very noticable.

Today I got a little sneaky while XPing and secretly started cranking up the difficulty and the party didn't seem to notice (no one said anything).

The crowd control kept the incoming damage extremely low and the Sustaining song on others worked really well.

I joined a party with a Warlock, a Rogue and a caster Druid.

We did Enemy Within and I started running way ahead of the group while invisible and using Fascinate on mobs.

The DPS guys cleaned up the trash after me, it was done at literally run speed for the most part.

Then it was Dreams of Insanity and then some other level 11-12 quests.

The DPS guys cleaned up the trash after me, it was done at literally run speed for the most part. Fascinate seems to lockdown about everything. I wasn't sure if Reapers are effected by it. When reapers show up I spam SLAs and my breath attack.

Eventually the party leader who was the Rogue left for food and to take a break and I ended up with the star.

We then did the side quests in the Sands of Menech....err the Side quests in the Desert and OOB.

And then did the first group of quests for Attack on Stormreach and INVADERS!.

It was a really strong group and a lot of fun. I gained 2 levels (11-13) in less than hour because I only buffed from the ship once.

If a group works to togeher in heroic, this builds Crowd Control works well enough forhigher than Reaper1 (I snuck it up to Reaper3).

The only time anyone got close to dying was 2 times.

One of those "Cruelty Champions" tagged me with a DoT and I was way underlevel for a quests. So I was alternatiing Heal Scrolls and Cure Serious Wounds spells on myself. It was hard overcoming the self-healing Debuff of Reaper.

The other time, the caster druid got attacked by a Famine Reaper while soloing a separate wing in "The Enemy Within" , and the reaper kept moving behind a pillar so their SLAs would fire but not actually go off. I was able to put the reaper down for them and heal them (even though they were good heals due to the healig debuff of a famine reaper).

I am still having a TON of fun with this build and it really shines in a party with other good players who utilize your Crowd Control.

[BoBoDaClown]

Fascinate seems to lockdown about everything. I wasn't sure if Reapers are effected by it.

Yah it works on reapers (if regular reapers)

[Bacab]

Yah it works on reapers (if regular reapers)

Thanks man!

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

I am still having a TON of fun with this build and it really shines in a party with other good players who utilize your Crowd Control.

"Music" to my ears!



May a bard's music never fall silent.