My Bard is in COT right now and have pretty much focused on being the party face/buffer type. He's level 5, carries a scorpion whip and when he's being an anarchist he wears his guy fawkes mask. I'd like to put together a priority list of spells I can snag over time as I am human and using my favored class ability to get more spells as I level.
So far, my list has:
Heroism
Gallant inspiration
I've used both to great effect thusfar but I need to pick another, and will likely end up with quite a lot of them (6-8 anyway). So what's your vote here and why? Harmonic spell can set me up nicely after level 8 to debuff saves & drop a save effect on a bunch of guys.
Greetings, fellow traveller.
The spells I would like to get for my bard at level 2 include:
- alter Self
- blur
- glitterdust
- heroism
- invisibility
- mirror image
- pyrotechnics
- silence
- summon swarm
I only looked at CRB and APG - dunno about UM and UC spells.
Highest priority are alter self and mirror image, followed by heroism and glitterdust.
alter self helps as face and gives you nice bonusses when needed. mirror image lets you deal with your lousy AC when in melee since you mentioned your whip (true, you do have reach and can trip, but my experience is, that a bard's CMB gets bad real quick at higher levels, so the trick won't work).
silence and summon swarm can easily shut down casters and especially the swarms can get nasty with mundane fighter types without area damage at their disposal.
pyrotechnics is a nice debuff with a tremendous range, maybe not that useful in a city/dungeon-heavy AP.
Are you going to take the whip-feat-chain? What classes are the other PCs in your group? Would be helpful to know for spell selection.
Ruyan.
An anarchist would love Enter Image from UM. Spy on the bourgeoisie!
Greetings, fellow traveller.
The spells I would like to get for my bard at level 2 include:
- alter Self
- blur
- glitterdust
- heroism
- invisibility
- mirror image
- pyrotechnics
- silence
- summon swarm
I only looked at CRB and APG - dunno about UM and UC spells.
Highest priority are alter self and mirror image, followed by heroism and glitterdust.
alter self helps as face and gives you nice bonusses when needed. mirror image lets you deal with your lousy AC when in melee since you mentioned your whip (true, you do have reach and can trip, but my experience is, that a bard's CMB gets bad real quick at higher levels, so the trick won't work).
silence and summon swarm can easily shut down casters and especially the swarms can get nasty with mundane fighter types without area damage at their disposal.
pyrotechnics is a nice debuff with a tremendous range, maybe not that useful in a city/dungeon-heavy AP.Are you going to take the whip-feat-chain? What classes are the other PCs in your group? Would be helpful to know for spell selection.
Ruyan.
I will not take any whip feats, I'm full up already. I was allowed to qualify for master performer so that ate my two first level feats, I took power attack at 3rd and Harmonic Spell at 5th. I'm thinking Leadership at 7th and Grand Master Performer at 9th.
The rest of the party is a melee based inquisitor, twf rogue and a summoner who pretty much only keeps his eidolon out. The summoner has haste.
I wouldn't take Mirror Image unless you plan on swapping it out later. You'll get improved invis later which makes Mirror Image less useful. You are only going to end up with four or five second level spells, so choose carefully. Alter Self is a good one. Rage is good at higher levels, but not good at low levels because it is a concentration spell. Glitterdust/Blindess is good offensively.
And so we meet again.
Thanks for your reply, Lastoth. Looking at your set up, I am wondering about the spells cat's grace, and eagle's splendor nothing fancy and they don't stack with any ability-enhancing items, but it might be worth it (I play in magic item starved settings) for the rogue and the summoner (and you), respectively. Then again, if you'r done buffing up, the fight is over...
I don't see mirror image as a placeholder for greater invis because with the images you generate a miss chance that can not be countered - afaik - except by true seeing or similar high level magic (blur falls into the same category). see invisibility is also a 2nd level spell and quite common for enemy casters to have.
Ruyan.
Right. I'd rather save my 4th level spells for different things, like Dance of a Hundred Cuts.
Mirror image will give 1d4+3 (average of 5.5) images at 10th level. Plus, it works with Blur.
You should have a rod of Lesser Quicken Spell ASAP, btw.
But anyone with iterative attacks or magic missles can chew through Mirror Image.
Also, you may need to swap out Heroism later. 3rd level good hope is +2 morale bonus as well, but for the whole party.
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1ST
Weapon Wand (Very nice spell for a combat focused bard. Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic.)
2ND
Blur
Invisibility
Vestal Weapon (Very useful in CoT.)
Bladed Dash (Very nice spell for a combat focused bard. Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic.)
3RD
Good Hope
Aura of the Unremarkable ( Found in Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils. One of the best bard spell ever IMO.)
Slow (If you have high spell DC slow is really nice.)
4TH
Dance of a Hundred Cuts
Dimension Door
Also, you may need to swap out Heroism later. 3rd level good hope is +2 morale bonus as well, but for the whole party.
Says you! Heroism is 10min/lvl, which makes it a viable long term buff at higher level (especially with a lesser extend rod). One spell I can drop before stepping into a dungeon which will provide benefits for the entire thing and not be dependent on my range from the recipient? Heck yeah.
Good hope is for the whole party and I agree it's nice, but it's got duration issues.
EDIT: Inner sea magic is a gem of a book, thank you for pointing out those spells.
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Also, you may need to swap out Heroism later. 3rd level good hope is +2 morale bonus as well, but for the whole party.Says you! Heroism is 10min/lvl, which makes it a viable long term buff at higher level (especially with a lesser extend rod). One spell I can drop before stepping into a dungeon which will provide benefits for the entire thing and not be dependent on my range from the recipient? Heck yeah.
Good hope is for the whole party and I agree it's nice, but it's got duration issues.
Level 7
Move Action : Start PreformanceStandard Action : Good Hope (Normaly Haste but you have a summoner that cast it.)
thank you, yes I plan on doing something like that. With harmonic spell at level 8 I will be able to:
Have Summoner delay AOE save or suck spell for my dirge
Move Action: Initiate Dirge of Doom (lay down -2 save penalty)
Summoner: drops SOS
Standard action: Cast my own SOS spell or buff spell
Swift action (from harmonic spell): switch to Inspire Courage for the rest of the group to make melee attacks
I was allowed to qualify for master performer so that ate my two first level feats, I took power attack at 3rd and Harmonic Spell at 5th. I'm thinking Leadership at 7th and Grand Master Performer at 9th.
I would highly consider making room for:
Prerequisite: Bardic performance class feature.
Benefit: The bonuses and penalties from your bardic performance continue for 2 rounds after you cease performing. Any other requirement, such as range or specific conditions, must still be met for the effect to continue. If you begin a new bardic performance during this time, the effects of the previous performance immediately cease.
It essentially lets you use just one round of performance to get three out of it... which is often the decisive portion of a fight. You also can do things like have to effects going at once. VERY useful for a bard.
Sean Mahoney
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I was allowed to qualify for master performer so that ate my two first level feats, I took power attack at 3rd and Harmonic Spell at 5th. I'm thinking Leadership at 7th and Grand Master Performer at 9th.I would highly consider making room for:
** spoiler omitted **
It essentially lets you use just one round of performance to get three out of it... which is often the decisive portion of a fight. You also can do things like have to effects going at once. VERY useful for a bard.
Sean Mahoney
About the bolded part - I keep seeing people say this here on the forums, but it just isn't true. The description of Lingering Performance specifically says, "If you begin a new bardic performance during this time, the effects of the previous performance immediately cease." So no, you can't get the benefits of two performance types at once.
I was allowed to qualify for master performer so that ate my two first level feats, I took power attack at 3rd and Harmonic Spell at 5th. I'm thinking Leadership at 7th and Grand Master Performer at 9th.I would highly consider making room for:
** spoiler omitted **
It essentially lets you use just one round of performance to get three out of it... which is often the decisive portion of a fight. You also can do things like have to effects going at once. VERY useful for a bard.
Sean Mahoney
The only ways to have two performances going at once are the 2 or 3 spells that summon a performer to perform for you. Lingering performance specifically states the performances stop.
I'm at around 20ish rounds of perform every day right now, I have no need for additional rounds at this point. Furthermore some of the spells I have selected depend on an ongoing performance to work. I'd rather not even have lingering performance until I run into a routine issue where I am running out of rounds of perform. It hasn't been a problem thusfar.
As far as I can tell there are only two ways to get simultaneous BP effects. Both are spells.
The first is virtuoso performance which allows you to start a second performance while another is still active, but it costs three rounds of BP each round to keep them both active.
The second is shadowbard which summons a phantasm which has access to your BPs.
If I recall, virtuoso performance is a 4rd lvl spell and shadowbard is a 5th lvl spell. But that's just about it, unless someone out there knows another way.
From what I can recall right now, that is my understanding too Master_Crafter.
Although I have a nagging suspicion that one of the archetypes allows for another way to do it.
Oh, and as far as actual 2nd lvl spells go, I would definitely pick up Silence. It seems counterintuitive, but just having it also means that you can counter it. Not to mention the havock you can wreak on an enemy spellcaster by casting that spell on your party tank before sending him in.
Shadow bard spell allows it -- there is two other ways to have two performances going at once iirc. One is another spell and the other has to do with the wording on battle herald.