Adventures of Baron Munchausen: Revisiting CHA Swashbucklers for New(ish) Players

[unbongwah]

A New Day Dawns



Now that the Feydark Illusionist Universal tree is available from the DDO Store, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the classic Swashbuckler. At long last, we have a (relatively) cheap option for getting CHA to-hit and damage which works with all weapons (unlike Cormyrian Knight Training or Favored Soul's Grace of Battle), right after SSG has apparently ruined everything forever again in Update 49. These builds will be heavily inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo, but that thread has acquired almost 7 years' worth of cruft and CThruTheEgo isn't around to update it, so it seemed like a fresh start on a clean slate is a good idea. But if you'd like to understand the core concepts and history behind this build concept, I recommend you read that thread.

Named after the famous character, especially John Neville's portrayal in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, in case the thread title wasn't a dead giveaway. Depending on how you look at Munchausen, he's either the consummate gentleman-adventurer or a delusional madman who is well past his prime, so that seems perfect for a mostly-retired old player like me.



So why play a CHA Swashbuckler in the first place? The gist of the concept is the same as it was 7 years ago: with Feydark Illusionist, CHA becomes both your melee DPS stat as well as your DC stat for offensive spells and optional Warchanter abilities (Frozen Fury & Spinning Ice). It's for players who prefer versatile hybrids over minmaxed DPS toons. Depending on how you spread your APs, you can focus on personal DPS, party buffage via improved bardsongs, or crowd-control effects.

Okay then what are the downsides?

• Bard is a feat-starved class particularly if trying to combine melee DPS with offensive / CC spellcasting. Alchemists, Artificers, and wizards all get bonus feats which helps out when making melee/caster hybrids.
• Single Weapon Fighting can feel like the unwanted stepchild of DDO's melee combat: it lacks the single-target DPS of dual-wielding and the AoE DPS of 2H weapons (Strikethrough + higher damage modifier from THF feats). There's only two multi-target melee attacks in the bard trees - En Pointe (Swashbuckler) and Spinning Ice (Warchanter) - and the latter is a tier-5 ability locking you into that tree.
• Feydark Illusionist doesn't have a Battle Trance ability, which means either (A) splashing cleric or Favored Soul for Divine Might, (B) making INT your secondary stat for Harper's Know the Angles (makes this build more MAD), or (C) skipping a Trance and relying on Insightful gear.
• The current meta strongly encourages highly specialized toons rather than jacks-of-all-trades. [plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose] Now personally I haven't raided in years, I have zero interest in DDO's endgame anymore, and I don't care if I can solo high-skull Reapers with my eyes closed. But if you do care about any of those things, this isn't the build for you.

I also don't play on Hardcore and while this build is designed to be twink-free, it hasn't been optimized for HC play.


Pure vs Multi-classed

I'm going to focus on pure bards in this thread because I can already tell this post is going to be way too long. But the main advantage of sticking with bard 20 are the capstones:

• Warchanter: "+2 Charisma and Constitution. +25 hit points. Skaldic Scream: Activate this ability to scream the songs of your frozen ancestors, expending a Bard Song to force enemies in the area to make a fortitude save versus being frozen solid in frozen ice for 6 seconds (DC 14 + Charisma modifier + 1/2 Bard Level + Stunning modifiers). Even if they make the save, they take 20d20 Cold damage and are significantly slowed for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes." Sounds really......cool, but the long cooldown and short duration of the effect hampers its usefulness.
• Spellsinger: "You gain the Heal and Wail of the Banshee spells as level 6 Bard spells. +4 Charisma +25 Universal Spell Power +1 Diplomacy, Listen, Perform, and UMD +2% critical chance with sonic and positive spells." Having Heal in your spellbook is good if you want a more party-support-specced build. WotB always felt like an odd addition to me; fits thematically but bards don't get Necromancy spells otherwise so it can make upping your DCs a PITA.
• Swashbuckler: "+2 CHA, +2 DEX. While Swashbuckling, you gain the Evasion feat, +1% Doublestrike, 1% Doubleshot, +1 Attack Damage, and the weapon in your main hand gains an additional +1 to its Enhancement bonus." The big add here is Evasion, since Swashbuckling restricts you to light armor. But you can also gain Evasion by splashing rogue 2 (which also grants trap skills) or running in Shadowdancer.

So what class(es) might you want to splash?

• Cleric or Favored Soul for Divine Might ("You gain an Insight bonus to Attack, Damage and the DC of tactical feats equal to 1/2 of your Charisma modifier for 30/60/120 seconds") and free Magical Training feat (a Feydark Illusionist pre-req). Also unlocks the Heal skill which boosts Positive / Negative Spellpower. Favored Soul gives a bit more spell points; cleric gives the Turn Undead feat which can be used to power abilities like Confront Any Foe (though CAF got nerfed not long ago).
• Fighter for extra feats and access to Enhancements like Haste Boost (Kensei) or defensive stance (Stalwart Defender).
• Barbarian for +10% runspeed (stacks with Swashbuckler Fast Movement); barb 2 will gain access to Blood Tribute, the go-to survivability perk for a lot of melees.
• Rogue 2 adds trap skills and Evasion. Swashbuckling restricts you to light armor (or robes) so it's definitely a good idea to have Evasion, either from the Swashbuckler capstone, a rogue 2 splash, or the Shadowdancer Epic Destiny.
• Artificer adds trap skills and free Magical Training; Arty 2 would let you equip a Runearm instead of an orb or buckler.

Choose Your Weapon

Swashbuckling restricts you to Finesseable weapons, even though you don't need the Weapon Finesse feat. But that still leaves a lot of options. You can browse this list of named weapons which have improved critical threat ranges which stack with Swashbuckling bonuses. You can also add these bonuses:

• The Swords to Plowshares feat adds +1 critical threat range to kamas and sickles which stacks with Swashbuckling and Improved Critical (or Keen) bonuses.
• For blunt weapons like light maces: Pulverizer (Legendary Dreadnought) will stack with Swashbuckling but not with Exploit Weakness (tier-5 Swashbuckler).
• Vistani Knife Fighter: the critical threat bonus from One with Blades doesn't stack with Swashbuckling, but the temp buff from Vendetta will. Also VKF provides extra Doublestrike and Melee Power to daggers, among other DPS bonuses.
• If using handaxes or light picks, the critical threat range bonus from Swashbuckling will stack with the critical multiplier bonus from either Strike with No Thought (level 6 Kensei core) or Focused Wrath (tier-5 Frenzied Berserker). [Naturally these require fighter 6 or barbarian 5, respectively.]
• Likewise if using kukris or rapiers, the critical multiplier bonus from Swashbuckling will stack with the +2 critical threat range bonus from Critical Rage (tier-5 Ravager), which despite the name doesn't actually require Raging. [Again, this requires barb 5.]

You also need to decide if you're going to equip a buckler to take advantage of SWF and Shield Mastery feats stacking (as the Count of Monte Cristo did) or take advantage of the new Offhand Versatility feat:

Requires Base Attack Bonus 8 and Single Weapon Fighting

Your offhand item modifies your main hand:

• Runearms and Orbs now grant: when you vorpal strike, your next spell automatically crits. This has an internal cooldown of 20 seconds and lasts for 20 seconds.
  
• Nothing in your offhand increases your ability score modifier to damage by 25%.

Okay that's a lot of info, I know, so let's move onto our first build. I'll present it with two weapon-combo options:

• The classic S&B Swashbuckler designed for rapiers & bucklers, like the original Count of Monte Cristo. [Would also work for daggers+Vistani Knife Fighter builds.] This approach will take the Skirmisher enhancement for +10% Dodge. Feats: Shield Mastery, Improved Critical:Piercing Weapons, Improved Shield Mastery. Optional: Greater Shield Mastery, Improved Shield Bash (Familiar's Flourish doesn't work with shields, but Smooth Flourishes does).
• The single-wield Swashbuckler who uses sickles with an empty offhand. This one will take Dashing Scoundrel for +10% Doublestrike. Feats: Swords to Plowshares, Improved Critical:Slashing weapons, Offhand Versatility.

Race: I'll use human for the extra feat and racial Damage Boost, but drow or Tiefling would also work for the extra CHA.

Enhancements: I went with a classic Swashbuckler configuration - again based on The Count - but these are actually really flexible because there's only 20 AP's worth of requirements:

• 13 APs Swashbuckler for Swashbuckling + Smooth Flourishes (CHA to damage) + Swashbuckling Style
• 4 APs Spellsinger for Magical Training feat (can be skipped if splashing a caster class like cleric)
• 3 APs Feydark Illusionist for Familiar's Flourish I (CHA to hit)

That leaves 60 APs to spread as you see fit. Part of why I don't minmax is I dislike builds where your APs are so tightly constrained that there's no room for redistributing them to fill a different party role.

I'm also going to present it as a Veteran I (level 4) character because frankly it's easier that way.

Baron Munchausen
Bard 20
True Neutral Human




Stats
               28pt     32pt     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength         8        8       4: CHA
Dexterity       14       14       8: CHA
Constitution    14       16      12: CHA
Intelligence     8        8      16: CHA
Wisdom           8        8      20: CHA
Charisma        18       18      24: CHA
                                 28: CHA


Skills
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Perform   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Concent   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spellcr   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Balance   3  2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2  23
UMD       4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Heal      2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     11
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         24  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6  6



Feats


 1        : Single Weapon Fighting
 1 Human  : Extend Spell
 3        : Precision
 6        : Shield Mastery OR Swords to Plowshares
 9        : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
12        : Improved Critical: Piercing OR Slashing
15        : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18        : Improved Shield Mastery OR Offhand Versatility
20 Swap   : Spell Focus: Enchantment replaces Extend Spell
21 Epic   : Inspire Excellence
24 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
26 Destiny: Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction OR Empower Healing Spell
28 Destiny: Lasting Inspiration OR Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge OR Deific Warding
30 Epic   : Epic Reflexes OR Embolden Spell OR Greater Shield Mastery
30 Legend : Scion of: Feywild




Enhancements (Spent: 80+0r +0u / Max: 80+0r +0u AP)


Swashbuckler (41 AP)
Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge, Panache, Roll with the Punches, Evasive Maneuvers
Blow By Blow: Melee III, Tavern Shanties II
En Pointe III, Deflect Arrows, Fast Movement, Double Strike Boost III
Elegant Footwork, <Dashing Scoundrel|Skirmisher>, Smooth Flourishes
<Slap in the Face|Low Blow>, Battering Barrage II
Thread the Needle, Second Skin I, Exploit Weakness, Coup de Grace: Melee

Warchanter (24 AP)
Skaldic: Constitution, Weapon Training, Song of Heroism, Fighting Spirit
Inspired Bravery III, Poetic Edda I
Boast III, Iced Edges III, Sprint Boost I
Ironskin Chant III, Frozen Fury III
Reckless Chant III

Spellsinger (11 AP)
Spellsinger, Music of the Sewers, Music of the Dead
Magical III, Lingering Songs III
Marigold Crown: Yellow

Feydark Illusionist (3 AP)
Find Familiar: Illusory Sprite
Familiar's Flourish I

Human (1 AP)
Damage Boost

Leveling Guide
(Bank 4 AP)
(Bank 8 AP)
(Bank 12 AP)
Hum0 Damage Boost; Spl0 Spellsinger; Spl1 Magical I, II, III; FYD0 Find Familiar: Illusory Sprite; FYD1 Familiar's Flourish I; Swa0 Confidence; Swa1 Blow By Blow: Melee I, II, III; Swa1 Tavern Shanties I; Swa0 Swashbuckling; Swa2 Double Strike Boost I
Swa2 Deflect Arrows; Swa3 Smooth Flourishes
Swa3 <Dashing Scoundrel|Skirmisher>; Swa0 Uncanny Dodge; Swa2 Fast Movement
Swa2 En Pointe I, II, III; Swa1 Tavern Shanties II
Swa3 Elegant Footwork; Swa4 Battering Barrage I
Swa4 Battering Barrage II; Swa2 Double Strike Boost II
Swa4 <Slap in the Face|Low Blow>; Spl1 Lingering Songs I, II, III
Spl0 Music of the Sewers; Spl2 Marigold Crown: Yellow; Spl0 Music of the Dead
Swa0 Panache; Swa5 Coup de Grace: Melee; Swa5 Exploit Weakness
Swa5 Thread the Needle; War0 Skaldic: Constitution; War1 Poetic Edda I
War1 Inspired Bravery I, II, III; War0 Weapon Training
War2 Boast I, II, III; War2 Sprint Boost I
War0 Song of Heroism; War3 Ironskin Chant I, II, III
War2 Iced Edges I, II, III; War3 Frozen Fury I
War3 Frozen Fury II, III; Swa0 Roll with the Punches; War0 Fighting Spirit
Swa5 Second Skin I; Swa2 Double Strike Boost III
Swa0 Evasive Maneuvers; War4 Reckless Chant I, II, III



Destiny (24 AP)


Fatesinger
First Harmonic Chord III, Music of the Spider Queen
Second Harmonic Chord III, Reign III
Third Harmonic Chord III
Fourth Harmonic Chord III, Martial Hymn
The Fifth Chord, Metamagic Attunement I: Extend, Masquerade, Bladesong
Metamagic Attunement II: Quicken, Turn of the Tide

Twists of Fate (22 fate points)
Grim Precision (Tier 3 Shadowdancer)
<Lithe (Tier 2 Shadowdancer)|Legendary Shield Mastery (Tier 2 Sentinel)>
School Specialist: Enchantment (Tier 2 Magister)
Unearthly Reactions (Tier 1 Magister)

Okay I need a break now, so to be continued in our next chapter.

[Shadospawn]

Nice write up... thanks much!

[Marshal_Lannes]

Looking forward to hearing more. I've enjoyed my time with bards immensely lately.

[jdlawhorn]

What spells would you recommend with this build? I'm looking to make it, but I need a little direction with spell choices if you could please.

[unbongwah]

What spells would you recommend with this build?

Broadly speaking, you'll want to focus on buffs and crowd-control spells. Any spare slot(s) can go towards Cures. Remember you can swap spells by talking to the bard trainer, so don't be shy about swapping out obsolete spells (e.g., ditching Heroism once you take Good Hope).

1. Cure Light Wounds, Detect Secret Doors, Expeditious Retreat, Focusing Chant, Grease, Hypnotism, Sonic Blast
2. Blur, Cure Moderate Wounds, Glitterdust, Heroism, Hold Person, Hypnotic Pattern, Rage, Sound Burst
3. Crushing Despair, Cure Serious Wounds, Displacement, Good Hope, Haste
4. Cure Critical Wounds, Dimension Door, Dominate Person, Freedom of Movement, Hold Monster, Otto's Sphere of Dancing, Shout
5. Greater Heroism, Mind Fog, Shadow Walk
6. Greater Shout, Heroes Feast, Otto's Irresistible Dance

I bolded the spells I consider must-haves; the rest are possible recommendations.

[jdlawhorn]

Thanks very much for the input! I wanna say that looks similar to the Monte Cristo build from back when I last played, so I'm glad I stuck with those spells xD

[iPuffinstuff]

First, let me say, thank you for all your builds. Secondly, let me say, I've never dropped my Dwarven axe weilding toon since I first seen Zodas build of The Dwarven Parody. Loved that build and followed it all the way to its end...and continued it after everyone said it was dead. When feydark illusionist came out with cha to hit and damage I had a big smile since the normal set up was Dwarven throw your weight around and hoping your str was enough to land that hit. With update after update it just turned into more and more glancing hits since you couldn't land anything.
I suggest those who like a little flavor with there builds and dislike the "meta" to read over both the count build and Dwarven parody build. They are very similiar and both offer great fun with survival and decent, not meta but decent damage.
Gist of it is you will be zerging through content swinging a weapon like you was on speed while having respectable hps and damage and great survivability. If built correctly you will also be able to trap well enough to help any group, be able to tank to help your team and have fun doing it. Also, I'd like to say these builds are first life friendly. I ran a Dwarven defender parody to 20 on hc. Very rarely did I ever come close to dying. Have fun.