After avoiding the Bard since 2nd edition I have been playing one now and at 8th level I consider him a hard core bad ass!
Introduction to Pike Macky the Savage Skald.
He's got an 18 str a 24 charisma. He can spring attack, inspire courage to pump his BAB bonus & damage an extra +2. He can Rage all spell casters with his skald ability in turn owning them completely.
He can Cacophonous call & Hideous laughter you effectively making you into a chump. Sound burst a group of Mages with +2 fort saves and their toast.
Suggestion? "Go get me a sandwich" Hold Person? "Makes my Bard into a killing machine.
Think of the guy from Dune and thats Pike Macky.
This guy has too many tools in the shed, I love playing him and my DM is scare of me!
Is the Bard the best Class to play solo? The hardest opponent to fight?
The bard might be the best to solo(though Alchemist might give him a run for his money), but I will argue that he is not the hardest opponent to fight... when he's alone. They can certainly make fights more difficult if they have allies/thralls.
A bard leading a bunch of low-level fighters...
A Magician bard among spellcasters...
A Street Performer bard and a rogue...
Or, perhaps worse than those three, would be a fight with a Dirge Bard. With a little song/dance/etc they can make it so you need to kill every enemy twice.
Not to forget Dirge of Doom! no save and your -2 to everything, sucks when your making those saving throws.
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This is timely, I need to know how a PC in my game can be a badass bard.
He is currently a level 2 Celebrity and has been frustrated by his feelings of ineptitude in combat, using the armor as DR system from UC, and only managing to poke things on occassion with his rapier.
For some reason I read that as bardass.
BARDASS! That is awesome!
I would say the Bardass can be a front line combatant. Picture him kicking ass while Displaced, or to a lesser degree Blurred.
The arcane duelist and dervish archetypes are DEFINITELY Bardass!!
After avoiding the Bard since 2nd edition I have been playing one now and at 8th level I consider him a hard core bad ass!
Introduction to Pike Macky the Savage Skald.
He's got an 18 str a 24 charisma. He can spring attack, inspire courage to pump his BAB bonus & damage an extra +2. He can Rage all spell casters with his skald ability in turn owning them completely.
He can Cacophonous call & Hideous laughter you effectively making you into a chump. Sound burst a group of Mages with +2 fort saves and their toast.
Suggestion? "Go get me a sandwich" Hold Person? "Makes my Bard into a killing machine.
Think of the guy from Dune and thats Pike Macky.
This guy has too many tools in the shed, I love playing him and my DM is scare of me!
Is the Bard the best Class to play solo? The hardest opponent to fight?
I am interested in starting a Pathfinder Society Bard...
I could use some help with stats, feats and spells (think bards for dummies). I am looking for an outline to follow.Thanks,
D.
The arcane duelist and dervish archetypes are DEFINITELY Bardass!!
The dervish is solid, but you do lose the ability to buff your allies with Inspire Courage. You also gain scimitar profiency which allows you to go into Weapon Finesse -> Dervish Dance for getting to add dexterity to damage.
I am running a level 3 dervish bard with 19 dex 17 charisma. Hitting for 1d6 + 4 damage with a 20 AC.
After avoiding the Bard since 2nd edition I have been playing one now and at 8th level I consider him a hard core bad ass!
Introduction to Pike Macky the Savage Skald.
He's got an 18 str a 24 charisma. He can spring attack, inspire courage to pump his BAB bonus & damage an extra +2. He can Rage all spell casters with his skald ability in turn owning them completely.
He can Cacophonous call & Hideous laughter you effectively making you into a chump. Sound burst a group of Mages with +2 fort saves and their toast.
Suggestion? "Go get me a sandwich" Hold Person? "Makes my Bard into a killing machine.
Think of the guy from Dune and thats Pike Macky.
This guy has too many tools in the shed, I love playing him and my DM is scare of me!
Is the Bard the best Class to play solo? The hardest opponent to fight?
I am interested in starting a Pathfinder Society Bard...
I could use some help with stats, feats and spells (think bards for dummies). I am looking for an outline to follow.
Thanks,
D.
Here is my level 10 version of a Dancing Dervish Bard with a 20 point buy, not quite fully optimized, but you get the general idea.
Male Neutral Good Half-Elf
Bard (Dervish Dancer) 10
Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 18/22 (+4/+6)
Constitution: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 10 (0)
Charisma: 14 (+2)
Acrobatics: +14, Bluff: +12, Diplomacy: +13, Disable Device: +10, Disguise: +12, Escape Artist: +17, Fly: +8, Perception: +18
Perform (Dance): +14, Sleight of Hand: +12, Spellcraft: +14, Stealth: +19, Use Magic Device: +14
Hit Points: 73 HP
Initiative: +8
Attack Bonus: +11/+6 (melee: +11/+6) (ranged: +17/+12)
Fortitude Save: +9 Reflex Save: +20 Will Save: +12
Armor Class: 27 (touch: 18) (flat-footed: 20) CMB: +7 CMD: 25 (flat-footed: 18)
Feats & Traits: Arcane Strike, Armor Proficiency (Light), Bard Weapon Proficiencies, Blind-Fight, Dervish Dance, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency - All, Skill Focus: Perception (Adaptability), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus: Scimitar, Armor Expert, Elven Reflexes
Special Abilities: Low-Light Vision, Elven Immunities - Sleep, Elven Immunities, Bardic Performance: Countersong (Su), Bardic Performance: Distraction (Su), Bardic Performance: Fascinate (DC 17) (Su), Bardic Performance: Inspire Competence +3 (Su), Battle Dance: Inspire Courage +2 (Su), Battle Dance: Inspire Greatness (Su), Arcane Training, Battle Dance (swift action) (24 rounds/day), Battle Dance: Rain of Blows +2 (Su), Battle Dance: Razor's Kiss (Su), Elf Blood, Fleet (+20') (Su), Hero Points (1), Jack of All Trades: Trained skills (Ex), Well Versed (Ex)
•+3 Mithral Scimitar (+21/+16, 1d6+14 damage, crit 18-20/x2)
•Masterwork Kukri (+18/+13, 1d4+5 damage, crit 18-20/x2)
•Unarmed Strike (+17/+12, 1d3+5 damage, crit 20/x2)
•Longbow, Composite (Str +0) (+13/+8, 1d8+5 damage, crit 20/x3)
Magic Items: +2 Mithral Breastplate, +3 Mithral Scimitar, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Arrows (x50), Belt of Incredible Dexterity, +4, Cloak of Resistance, +3, Handy Haversack (empty), Longbow, Composite (Str +0), Masterwork Kukri, Ring of Protection, +1, Wand of Cure Light Wounds
Spells: Allegro (2), Dancing Lights (0), Detect Magic (0), Feather Fall (1), Freedom of Movement (4), Ghost Sound (0), Glibness (3), Glitterdust (2), Grease (1), Heroism (2), Innocence (1), Invisibility (2), Mage Hand (0), Message (0), Prestidigitation (0), Reviving Finale (3), Saving Finale (1), See Invisibility (3), Terrible Remorse (3), Vanish (1), Versatile Weapon (2), Wall of Sound (4)
With the Allegro + Inspire Courage + Arcane Strike active you are pushing out 62 damage per round, which puts you on par with a Two-Hand fighter. You get that combo at level 4, and it only takes one round of buffing to get that Combo Active.
So does anyone have any insight to how to make mine better? :p
Make him into Pike Macky! lol.
This is timely, I need to know how a PC in my game can be a badass bard.
He is currently a level 2 Celebrity and has been frustrated by his feelings of ineptitude in combat, using the armor as DR system from UC, and only managing to poke things on occassion with his rapier.
What do you want to know? I have played bards for quite a bit. To help you better, I would need to know about race, stats, feats, skills ...
In general, celebrity seems to be one of the more circumstantial bard archetypes. Some of the things that come to mind:
- He gets great bonuses on diplomacy and intimidate. I would try to build on that, otherwise you just lost inspire courage and gained nothing. So I would max the skill and boost and augment it with feats such as skill focus and dazzling display
- Arcane strike is great for bards. Use it to improve damage and thus puncture DR.
- Use a decent weapon to increase base damage or critical damage (such as a greatsword with exotic weapon proficiency, focus on critical build with a rapier, etc.)
- Pick spells wisely. Buffing comes first IMO, then debuffing or hindering opponents ("silence" against spellcasters, "grease" and "glitterdust"), then augmenting/modifying weapons.
Hope this gets you started... :-)
So does anyone have any insight to how to make mine better? :p
Time machine. Go back and fix the foundation of the character.
Seriously talk to your DM about touching up your character based on what you know now. Try to get a high Str. Armor as DR heavily favors power attack and big two handed swords. Any bard can be a contributor with a minimal investment of feats. At first level I've locked up my bardic performance role with extra perform though I probably would take lingering performance if you don't mind wasting actions turning it on and off for a few levels until you can activate as a swift.
At 3 I took Power Attack and Arcane Strike at 5th. Personally, my background feat made me proficient in a two handed sword, but you might not be able to do that, so just use a longsword two handed when you power attack. It's only a couple points less damage, on average.
Ideally you'd want a high strength (18) half orc for the free falchion proficiency or half elf for the alternate racial trait that lets you become proficient in any weapon. Go right into power attack if you can. Arcane Duelist starts with Arcane Strike, but it's not a huge benefit at first level (+1 damage) yet.
Keep potions of enlarge on you. For 25gp you get 10'reach and some strength, and that's no joke. Keep a studded gauntlet on just to have a weapon in case you are grappled and also to be able to reach into your immediate area while you are enlarged.
You're not going to be doing fighter damage or hitting fighter hard, but you can keep things closer than you might expect. There is a level 2 spell to act hasted while you perform, which at 4th and 5th level closes the gap between you and the fighter since you're getting an extra power attack on the same target and he is still depending on cleave.
Once you hit third level spells you can safely shelf your inadequacies, as your buffing has now arrived and no one can question how awesome it is to have you in the party. Covering the gap in performance until that time is the challenge.
For some reason I read that as bardass.This is timely, I need to know how a PC in my game can be a badass bard.
He is currently a level 2 Celebrity and has been frustrated by his feelings of ineptitude in combat, using the armor as DR system from UC, and only managing to poke things on occassion with his rapier.
For some reason I keep reading your post as lardass
For some reason I read that as bardass.This is timely, I need to know how a PC in my game can be a badass bard.
He is currently a level 2 Celebrity and has been frustrated by his feelings of ineptitude in combat, using the armor as DR system from UC, and only managing to poke things on occassion with his rapier.
For some reason I read that as lardass.
I am playing a tiefling bard (Chelish divo archetype from the Inner Sea World Guide) in the Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign who ended last session by...
12th-level, started level 1 and haven't died once with him... and he likes to melee, when it's totally unfair to his opponent, by ramming his rapier into their skulls (18 Str).
Chelish Divo is in Inner Sea Magic.
Sorry for being pedantic.
By the way Aretas, how exactly did you get your ability scores so high?
Chelish Divo is in Inner Sea Magic.
Sorry for being pedantic.
Yes. Yes it is.
My mind was saying "Inner Sea Magic" but my fingers evidently heard "Inner Sea World Guide".
By the way, ISM is an awesome book.
And I shall be even more pedantic against myself by adding that it is the Chelish Diva class, but being that my bard is male, he is a Divo.
Introduction to Pike Macky the Savage Skald.
introducing .... JUP the face smashing jaw breaking monk!
can save against anything a bard would toss out, AND can completely stop his annoying singing. jaw breaker is a wonderful thing.
Are you asking for a ONE on ONE encounter? Pike is all about the Jaw Breaking. I doubt you will ever get in a full rounder/flurry.
By the way Aretas, how exactly did you get your ability scores so high?
We rolled 4d6, at 8 level & I have a head band of Charisma +2
High stats I agree.