Myraon Bard Build [I hit, you miss, you hit, you dead]

[Ripjaw7]

12 Bard, 7 Fighter, 1 Barbarian - PDK

Build Goals:
The goal of this build was go be able to make it have the best miss chance when being attacked.
Through the high dodge and Armor Class that I was able to accomplish, I found that playing this
bard build helped not only myself in groups, but also helped the groups in general. My goal while
playing this build was to be effective in the group as well as buff and heal them as well.

Core Build (Upon Character Creation):

Abilities: (in order of importance)
Charisma [20]
Dexterity [16]
Constitution [14]
Strength [12]



Skills:
Increase Balance (Hightest)
Perform (2nd Highest)
UMD (3rd Highest)
Diplomacy (Lowest)

Feats: (2 + Human Bonus Feat)
Single Weapon fighting
Weapon Focus Piercing
Shield Mastery (For Buckler Shield)
-------------------------------------------------
[Progression]

Class: Ftr Ftr Ftr Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Ftr Ftr Ftr Ftr Bd Bd Bd Bd Bd Bbn Bd Bd
Level: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
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Perform: 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42
UMD: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Diplomacy: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Balance: 4 5 6 7 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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[Feats (16)]

Improved Critical: Piercing
Power Critical
Improved Shield Mastery
Improved Single Weapon Fighting
Greater Single Weapon Fighting
Perfect Single Weapon Fighting (Acquired in Epics)
Weapon Specialization: Piercing
Greater Weapon Specialization: Piercing
Mental Toughness
Improved Mental Toughness
Dodge
---------------------------------------

[All Enhancements]

PDK Racial Tree : [3 Points]

Core:
Skill Boost [1]

ONE:
Cormyrean Knight Training

------------------------------------------------------------------

Swashbuckler Enhancements to Take: [31 points]

Core:
Confidence [1]
Swashbuckling [1]
Uncanny Dodge [1]

ONE:
On Your Toes (2 ranks) [2]
Blow By Blow (Melee) [3]
Tavern Shanties [3]

TWO:
En Pointe [3]
Deflect Arrows [2]
Fast Movement [2]
Sword Dance [2]

THREE:
Elegant Footwork [1]
Swashbuckling Style
-Skirmisher [1]
Resonant Arms [2]

FOUR:
Swashbucking Style II
-Low Blow [1]
Wind at my Back [2]
----------------------------------------------------------
Kensei Enhancements to Take: [44 points]

CORE:

Kensei Focus: Light Blades [1]
Spiritual Bond [1]
Strike With No Thought [1]
Power Surge [1]

ONE:
Extra Action Boost (3 Ranks) [6]
Weapon Spec.
-Light Blades [2]
Haste Boost (3 ranks) [3]
Reed in the Wind ( 2 ranks) [2]

TWO:
Weapon Spec.
-Light Blades [2]
Improved Dodge [3]

THREE:
Crit Mastery (3 ranks) [3]
Weapon Spec.
-Light Blades [2]
Shattering Strike (3 ranks) [3]
Increase Dexterity [2]

FOUR:
Opportunity Attack [2]
Weapon Spec.
-Light Blades [2]
Strike at the Heart [2]
Liquid Courage [1]

FIVE:
A Good Death (Melee) [1]
Weapon Master [1]
One With The Blade [1]
Deadly Strike (Melee) [1]
Keen Edge [1]

Total Melee Power From Enhancements: +20

----------------------------------------------------
[Spells]

The spells of this bard are really buff based, so taking displacement and blur really are crucial to the builds success!
I recommend preparing Blur, Displacement, and Cure Serious. The rest is really up to you and what you think will help your
character strive!
----------------------------------------------------

[Epic Destinies]:

Fatesinger:

CORE:
Fatesinger Repertoire
Glitter of Fame
Harmonic Resonance
Intoxicating Presence
Grandeur
Majesty

ONE:
First Harmonic Chord
Strength +1

TWO:
Second Harmonic Chord
Reign
Charisma +1

THREE:
Third Harmonic Chord
Aria
STR +1

FOUR:
Martial Hymn
Primal Hymn

FIVE:
The Fifth Chord
Masquerade
Bladesong
Metamagic : Extend

SIX:
Turn of the Tide
Metamagic II: Quicken

----------------------------------------------------
Total Melee Power: 128
----------------------------------------------------

[Equipment]

Level 15 Gear:

Head: Arcsteel Brim (MRR)
Ring1: Celestial Ruby Ring (Stun/Ghost)
Ring2: Ring of Flickering Steel (Elct Absrb)
Hands: Hammerfist (Ddly/Seekr)
Feet: Softsole Slippers (CHA)
Armor: Wildcard
Eyes: Precision Lenses (Inst STR)
Trinket: Battleworn Medal
Neck: Family Recruit Sigil
Cloak: Shadowhail Cloak
Wrists: Hallowed Castigators
Waist: Dragonscale Belt (CON)
Main Hand: Moonwillow
Off-Hand: Moonguard
-------------------------------------------------------
Legendary Gear:
Head: Legendary Compliance
-Charisma +19
-Potency +145
-Exceptional Alluring Skills Bonus +10
-Use Magic Device +7
-Trace of Madness

Ring1: Legendary Celestial Ruby Ring (Stun/Ghost)
-Strength +21
-Stunning +23
-Accuracy +33
-Ghostly
-Empty Green Augment Slot

Ring2: Legendary Celestial Sapphire Ring
-Improved Deception
-Dodge +21%Icon
-Profane Well Rounded
-Empty Yellow Augment Slot
-Dexterity + 21

Hands: Legendary Hammerfist
-Insightful Doublestrike 11%
-Cannith Combat Infusion
-Seeker 21
-Insightful Deadly +8
-Empty Blue Augment Slot
-Legendary Part of the Family

Feet: Legendary Softsole Slippers
-Ghostly
-Anthem
-Perform +22
-Insightful Charisma +9
-Empty Green Augment Slot
-Adherent of the Mists Set (Legendary)

Armor: Legendary Wildcard
-+15 Enhancement Bonus
-Fortification +214%
-Physical Sheltering +54
-Competence Healing Amplification +85
-Hit Points +81
-Empty Green Augment Slot
-Legendary Part of the Family

Eyes: Legendary Collective Sight
-Constitution +21
-Insightful Strength + 10
-Quality Resistance +4
-Temperance of Belief
-Empty Blue Augment Slot

Trinket: Legendary Bottle of Smoke
-Quality Dexterity +5
-Smoke Screen
-Speed +30
-Deception +17
-Empty Blue Augment Slot

Neck: Legendary Family Recruit Sigil
-True Seeing
-Armor-Piercing - 33%
-Competence Deadly +17
-Relentless Fury
-Empty Yellow Augment Slot
-Legendary Part of the Family

Cloak: Invisible Clock of Strahd [Legendary Shadowhail Cloak]
-Invisibility Guard
-Nightmare Guard
-Deception +17
-Magical Sheltering +52
-Empty Blue Augment Slot
-Empty Green Augment Slot
-Silent Avenger Set (Legendary)
------------------------------------------------------------------
[-Hide +22
-Move Silently +22
-Deception +16
-Ghostly
-Empty Green Augment Slot
-Silent Avenger Set (Legendary)]

Wrists: Legendary Hallowed Castigators
-Devotion +214
-Healing Lore +31%
-Insightful Sheltering +27
-Efficient Metamagic - Empower Healing II
-Empty Green Augment Slot
-Legendary Flamecleansed Fury

Waist: Legendary Vistani Fighter's Sash
-Stunning +22
-Vertigo +22
-Vitality +67
-Deadly +16
-Empty Yellow Augment Slot
-Adherent of the Mists Set (Legendary)

Main Hand: Legendary Moonwillow
-+15 Enhancement Bonus
-Keen V
-Sovereign Vorpal
-Holy 9
-Silver, Alchemical
-Empty Red Augment Slot

Off-Hand: Legendary Moonguard
-+15 Enhancement Bonus
-Guardbreaking
-Coruscating 9
-Insightful Magical Sheltering +26
-Quality Magical Sheltering +13
-Empty Blue Augment Slot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Endgame Ability:
After playing this build again and tweaking many aspects about it, in the endgame focus, it does not do equivalent damage to a two weapon fighter, nor a good assassin rogue in that mater, however, Guardbreaking made it possible to handle single mobs at a time as well as reapers because it is a no save effect. In the endgame, I was sitting at around 110 AC, 145 PRR, 100 MRR, and 18-24% dodge. When I built this build again, I lacked a ton of Dexterity because I put more points into Strength which ended up not being necessary at all. Healing was good and helpless damage was also good as well. So, in the end, I was not able to do a ton of damage like a two weapon fighter because I lacked another weapon, but was still doing my part in kills and immobilizing enemies so our top DPS members could do their part too. Looking back at the older build I posted before, it did lack many things that are now fixed or just unnecessary.

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SOURCES:

Gear Sets:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Pa...mily_set_items
https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Le...mily_set_items

Spell List:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Bard_spells

Enhancements List:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Swashbuckler_enhancements
https://ddowiki.com/page/Kensei_enhancements

Feats:
https://ddowiki.com/page/Feats

[Question2005]

So what kind of dodge do you end up with at cap? And how fast are you soloing quests? Do you have any decent AOE to clear mobs?

[Soulfurnace]

Healing Ability: In endgame, this is a great healer. I was able to heal a tank in Hard Killing Time while evading trash and of course, the dracolich.

Healing a tank in hard KT isn't some accomplishment. I did that on a DC caster that I took renewal on because I was bored, while instant killing everything.

[Ripjaw7]

Healing a tank in hard KT isn't some accomplishment. I did that on a DC caster that I took renewal on because I was bored, while instant killing everything.

Ok... What that meant was that I had cleric level healing abilities. Wasn't trying to flex or anything
Was just unexpected at the time that a bard could replace the 3 other clerics that we had in the group who claimed they, and I quote, "can't heal"

[Ripjaw7]

[Reserved]

[droid327]

Yikes...this build is full of holes, sorry to say...

If you're looking to max your stunning blow then why not splash a divine class for Divine Might?

What about magic? You're a light armor build with no evasion...You can't Dodge incoming spells

There seems to be a lot more Fighter levels than you need. You don't need all those rather negligible weapon spec feats. Better off getting more bard levels, higher level spells and more heal scaling

You're taking lots of junk enhancements and leaving good ones on the table

I think what you're going for here is just a step towards discovering a 12 bard 6 fighter 2 cleric or rogue - cleric is more offensive with DM, rogue is defensive with evasion. Cha based pdk ideally or str based if not. 12 feats altogether - swf, sm, ic, prec, dodge mob, fop, emp heal quicken. T5 kens, just enough swash for skirmisher, and t4 stal def for hp and run speed. Or move some into vanguard for stunning shield if you really need a stun. Can hit over 30% dodge in light armor, good bard buffs, and tanky even when you are hit. 100 mrr cap still a liability of course. Clr version can twist CAF as an aoe solution too, especially the cha based pdk version.k

[LiveFast]

At cap, I was easily evading mobs on R1-R5, however, was unable to get into some groups doing R6-R10 due to my lack of reaper points at the time. Soloing Sharn was very quick due to my high Stun DC's. I did not choose to do any AOE spells because I am more of a melee focused player, however, this build does accomadate the Charisma for the AOE spell DCs. Dodgewise, the cap number escapes my mind, I apologize, however, with Blur, Displacement, and the new gear from Gatekeepers, I am sure my last cap could be doubled.

Looks like you don't know yet how MADB and dodge cap work so i'm gonna give you the link: https://ddowiki.com/page/Maximum_dexterity_bonus

Oh and BTW blur and displacement do not stack as they are both 'concealment'

[SpartanKiller13]

Healing a tank in hard KT isn't some accomplishment. I did that on a DC caster that I took renewal on because I was bored, while instant killing everything.

I can heal myself on my tank in Hard KT, assuming I remember to swap on my Ring of Flickering Steel lol. If I don't, I either can't rez people or I run out of SP. I can usually tank Normal for like 300 SP, FWIW.

KT doesn't have a lot of big burst, it's more about the debuffs and DoT's building up until the medium-sized hits kill ya.

At cap, I was easily evading mobs on R1-R5, however, was unable to get into some groups doing R6-R10 due to my lack of reaper points at the time. Soloing Sharn was very quick due to my high Stun DC's. I did not choose to do any AOE spells because I am more of a melee focused player, however, this build does accommodate the Charisma for the AOE spell DCs. Dodgewise, the cap number escapes my mind, I apologize, however, with Blur, Displacement, and the new gear from Gatekeepers, I am sure my last cap could be doubled.

People actually ask how many points you have before letting you into a Reaper group? Huh.

Blur & Displacement are both Concealment (and don't stack with each other). It's a different stat than Dodge is, and both are separate from AC; there's also Incorporeality, which is another stacking stat. This Wiki page on Miss Chance helps explain a lot.

So if I'm understanding, this build solos R5 Sharn? Or what difficulty were you soloing Sharn on?

I think what you're going for here is just a step towards discovering a 12 bard 6 fighter 2 cleric or rogue - cleric is more offensive with DM, rogue is defensive with evasion. Cha based pdk ideally or str based if not. 12 feats altogether - swf, sm, ic, prec, dodge mob, fop, emp heal quicken. T5 kens, just enough swash for skirmisher, and t4 stal def for hp and run speed. Or move some into vanguard for stunning shield if you really need a stun. Can hit over 30% dodge in light armor, good bard buffs, and tanky even when you are hit. 100 mrr cap still a liability of course. Clr version can twist CAF as an aoe solution too, especially the cha based pdk version.k

Could run KtA for a Trance if you're doing /2 Rogue, no? Not sure it's worth it, but is an option.

CAF is a DPS solution in general lol, it hits 3x w/Doublestrike so it's a DPS bonus for single-target as well. Obviously far better in AoE situations, but it's worth using against priority targets too

[droid327]

CAF is a DPS solution in general lol, it hits 3x w/Doublestrike so it's a DPS bonus for single-target as well. Obviously far better in AoE situations, but it's worth using against priority targets too

Yeah I'm late to the party with CAF but I just rekajiggered my pdk swash to the clr variant to take advantage. Cha based so tons of uses per rest, so you can speed things up with trash and champs then burn the leftovers spamming it on the end boss. Short CD charge based is somewhat unique in that it lets you spam it when needed, giving amazing burst (even after the nerf). Useful in all situations - the name is accurate. The only real issue is small aoe range with swf weapons. But CAF, cocoon, LSM makes for three really powerful twists for relatively low cost, then add in Grim Prec with your fourth.

[Blase]

While this build will work, it isn't efficient.

If you want to avoid being hit, and play a bard, focus on the CC aspects.

Play a Tiefling Scoundrel - Fiendish Arpeggio with Ash Imprisonment will just about lock down champs that somehow save against your Dancing Ball/Mass Hold (Works on undead as well).

Go up the spellsinger tree to the top, throw 20ish in swash and enough in race for ash imprisonment.

You can get away with 12 in bard and still have a very high DC for fascinate/ash imprisonment with your perform score, and music of the sewers/dead/makers lets your fascinate work on just about everything.

Mass hold SLA and dancing ball end up with very high DC's thanks to the spellsinger tree.

Swashbucker lets you do a bit of damage, and you have plenty of time to kill a pack of mobs.

Bards can be a very safe play style, if you are willing to accept that the killing part takes time.

You can easily do a 15 bard/3 fighter/2 rogue build, which will get you maxed trapping, and some extra feats to pump into shield mastery if you want to go the buckler route in swashbuckling.

Personally, I play a pure bard in my static epic tr group. With five of us, I make everyone one around me significantly stronger with the songs, my CC is significant, the HP regen song aspect is nice, and I'm referred to as the "2 train" by the spell point loving casters, who often skip a shrine because the two points every two seconds keeps them topped up. Being able to swap weapons for a devotion/healing lore and dropping heal spells if something goes wrong is a flexibility the scroll users would love to have.

Bards can run solo, but they really shine in groups.

[Ripjaw7]

So what kind of dodge do you end up with at cap? And how fast are you soloing quests? Do you have any decent AOE to clear mobs?

So after playing through another iconic life to revisit this build, at cap, I ended up with 18-24% Dodge. This can be increased with items and spending more enhancement points in the Stalwart tree for more AC bonuses, as well as just having a Higher dexterity than I did. I am not a reaper soloist and I spend most of my time running in elite difficulties. Given that I am using Uncanny Dodge and Meld into Darkness wisely, I am soloing most sharn quests within 7-30 minutes, give or take time for the length variations of the quests. Since I decided to go melee, I was not too focused in doing AOE control or damages. At level 28, I did use Timeshard, which gave me the ability to paralyze some monsters, which I found I was doing almost every 3 hits. Additionally, Swashbuckling allowed my sword to get an increased critical threat range, which really helped the buckler'e effect: Guardbreaking. This is a no save effect where on any critical hits, the target becomes dazed. So if I were getting hit very hard from the side or behind, I had an Auto Crit (This is Deadly Strike from Kensei Tier 5) which allowed me to get the instadaze for 6 seconds, and kill them. Since it is a no save effect, reapers are effected as well. In this build, I found that I should be less focused on trying to do the absolute maximum melee damage in the group (competitive) and try to focus on immobilizing enemies so our casters and main melee dps focused members can get them down faster. I apologize that this info is coming late, I just had to get the actual numbers again

- Myraon

[Ripjaw7]

While this build will work, it isn't efficient.

If you want to avoid being hit, and play a bard, focus on the CC aspects.

Play a Tiefling Scoundrel - Fiendish Arpeggio with Ash Imprisonment will just about lock down champs that somehow save against your Dancing Ball/Mass Hold (Works on undead as well).

Go up the spellsinger tree to the top, throw 20ish in swash and enough in race for ash imprisonment.

You can get away with 12 in bard and still have a very high DC for fascinate/ash imprisonment with your perform score, and music of the sewers/dead/makers lets your fascinate work on just about everything.

Mass hold SLA and dancing ball end up with very high DC's thanks to the spellsinger tree.

Swashbucker lets you do a bit of damage, and you have plenty of time to kill a pack of mobs.

Bards can be a very safe play style, if you are willing to accept that the killing part takes time.

You can easily do a 15 bard/3 fighter/2 rogue build, which will get you maxed trapping, and some extra feats to pump into shield mastery if you want to go the buckler route in swashbuckling.

Personally, I play a pure bard in my static epic tr group. With five of us, I make everyone one around me significantly stronger with the songs, my CC is significant, the HP regen song aspect is nice, and I'm referred to as the "2 train" by the spell point loving casters, who often skip a shrine because the two points every two seconds keeps them topped up. Being able to swap weapons for a devotion/healing lore and dropping heal spells if something goes wrong is a flexibility the scroll users would love to have.

Bards can run solo, but they really shine in groups.

Though I agree with what you have said above, My bard is more melee focused, however, I have changed some aspects of the build itself to gain more spells, buffs, and damage all together. I am a melee immobilizer with Guardbreaking and can can get out of tight situations with Meld into Darkness as well as uncanny dodge. I am going for a Flavor build here, not a min/max build

[Ripjaw7]

Yikes...this build is full of holes, sorry to say...

If you're looking to max your stunning blow then why not splash a divine class for Divine Might?

What about magic? You're a light armor build with no evasion...You can't Dodge incoming spells

There seems to be a lot more Fighter levels than you need. You don't need all those rather negligible weapon spec feats. Better off getting more bard levels, higher level spells and more heal scaling

You're taking lots of junk enhancements and leaving good ones on the table

I think what you're going for here is just a step towards discovering a 12 bard 6 fighter 2 cleric or rogue - cleric is more offensive with DM, rogue is defensive with evasion. Cha based pdk ideally or str based if not. 12 feats altogether - swf, sm, ic, prec, dodge mob, fop, emp heal quicken. T5 kens, just enough swash for skirmisher, and t4 stal def for hp and run speed. Or move some into vanguard for stunning shield if you really need a stun. Can hit over 30% dodge in light armor, good bard buffs, and tanky even when you are hit. 100 mrr cap still a liability of course. Clr version can twist CAF as an aoe solution too, especially the cha based pdk version.k

Hey, yeah your right! lots of holes in here! I do apologize! So I ended up revisiting the build and changing up many aspects of it. I am no longer focused in maxing stunning blow, as I have Guardbreaking and am more focused on immobilizing the enemy, instead of outright killing it. Killing it is the goal, but my DPS wasn't kill-stealing worthy, so making the enemy helpless for our caster bombardiers made it very fun! I ended up going 12 Bard, 7 fighter, and 1 Bbn. I took bbn for the +10% movement speed, and the 7th level of fighter for the increasing BAB. I decided to go full CHA based because *coughs* I didnt actually read the PDK enhancements before *coughs louder* so I decided to actually read it and take the knight training because thats CHA to hit and damage with swords, short swords preferably. I was able to hit between 18% and 24% dodge give or take with the buffs. This is, however, due to my lack of dexterity because I decided to put some points into jump, which ended up being pointless. I am hoping to revisit this build again in the future to increase dodge, AC, defenses, and melee capabilities.