Best spells for a Dragon Disciple (Paladin / Bard)?

[Rycaut]

I have a PFS Nagaji Paladin/Bard/Dragon Disciple and as he levels up I am trying to plan ahead for which spells he will learn. (And which spells if any would be worth spending limited gp on via pages of spell knowledge)

Currently he is approaching level 9 (depends on if I apply some DM credit to him)

He is a Paladin 4, Bard (arcane duelist) 1, Dragon Disciple 3 or 4

(He also has magical knack - bard so his effective caster level is 2 higher)

As a paladin (oath against fiends) he gets a few paladin spells as well - resist energy (oath) and with his CHA of 20 he has 2 1st level paladin spells a day usually Heroes Defiance and Litany of Sloth

At present he wears agile half-plate +2 so generally casts verbal only spells. He is primarily a two-handed weapon power attacking specialist with a lot of other tricks (lots of lay on hands, limited bardic performance - oratory, spells etc)

He currently knows:

Level 0: detect magic, ghost sounds, read magic, Mage hand, mending, open/close (or another if you suggest something better)

Level 1: Liberating command, tap inner beauty, timely inspiration, feather fall (unless there is something better you suggest than feather fall)

When he goes to 4th level dragon disciple he will be effective bard level of 4 for spell knowledge. Which means second level spells. He gets two spells known.

Options I am considering are:

Blur
Tongues
Heroism
Gallant inspiration
Bladed Dash

The last two are my current choices - both are verbal only spells so no arcane spell failure and both would be highly useful - bladed dash to close a bit faster (since his usual movement is only 20' though he does have feather step slippers which help) and gallant inspiration would let him help allies hit which could change many battles.

But tongues and blur or heroism are all amazing spells as well and well worth using. Heroism could even be cast before be puts on his armor.

Any suggestions for other spells I should consider? Remember that he faces a huge arcane spell failure chance if he tries to cast spells with somatic components. Buffs with long durations are an option however (he faces the happy problem of two many swift actions - immediate action spells, arcane strike, smite evil and lay on hands)

(His lay on hands is also effectively 5d6 via a magic item and the Greater Mercy feat and for himself he gets another +10 - so probably better than any cure spells)

[Arkady Medvyed]

I like heroism. It boosts lots of things for a long time, and so doesn't cost actions in combat. Flexible and powerful. Also you can cast it on allies who might benefit, as well as yourself.

Tongues is the sort of thing you carry a scroll of, not use one of your extremely limited selection of spells on. How many times in your career so far have language barriers been a problem?

[Rycaut]

In PFS play language barriers happen fairly often actually but yes a scroll could work though it isn't all that cheap since PFS defaults to wizard or cleric for scrolls so it would be a 3rd level scroll.

[Arkady Medvyed]

Well, if its a problem, it's a proble. I still think that heroism, which covers a much wider range of situations, is probably better for a dragon disciple.

[Rycaut]

Right. But is heroism better than Gallant Inspiration or Bladed Dash? Especially since I may have problems casting heroism reliably in the heat of an adventure (ie if in armor)

[Iammars]

As someone who plays a bard in PFS, Gallant Inspiration is an amazing spell. It does take up an immediate action though and does require to pay full attention during other people's turns. (I have to do that so people remember my song; I don't know how much you've been doing that so far.)

If you think Gallant Inspire is going to work for you, I would grab it. Otherwise I would go with blur and heroism.

[Rycaut]

I already use Timely Inspiration to great effect even when it was only a +1. Now it is a +2 so fairly useful. gallant inspiration would have the chance of being better but only a chance.

Blur is certainly always good but so is bladed dash (which is a standard action spell that gives you a free move that doesn't provoke up to 30' in a straight line and a free attack at your full BAB at any point in that straight line. ). For my paladin with only a 20' move that means potentially 50' of movement in one turn plus a full BAB attack (I think I could use power attack on that attack)

[Weirdo]

Unless you plan on taking attacks in the middle of that movement, Bladed Dash is not much better than a charge - it requires a straight line of movement and your feather step slippers prevent difficult terrain from getting in the way of charges. I do not think it's worth the spell slot + spell known.

[Arkady Medvyed]

Think of it this way:
Gallant inspiration helps you or other party members when you fail a roll, but takes an in-combat action (immediate, but that still means you can only do it once per turn and can't follow up with a swift action.) And you can only do it at most once a round. It's a higher bonus but it works better for nova builds since you run out of spell slots very fast.

Heroism makes you less likely to fail in the first place, and you don't have to cast it nearly as many times. It's not as high a bonus, but it affects you a lot more often. People won't remember the "made it by 1" as much as they remember the "saved by inspiration at the last minute", but I think overall it's more effective.

Casting in armor is an issue, but (a) you can get a still spell metamagic rod for not very much, and (b) you can cast it before putting on armor (maybe an extend metamagic rod for longer duration -- both rods are fairly cheap in their lesser form.)

[Hawktitan]

Timely/Galant Inspiration isn't that good in my opinion because it doesn't stack with inspire courage. Though a going into DD means your bard level won't be as high as your caster level so it might be worth it.

I'd see if you can change armor to Mithril Breastplate and call it a day. The flexibility for spell selection is a strong draw to it but that might not be easy depending on your campaign.

As far as the spells you listed I like Heroism as a precast, preferably with an extended rod, 2nd choice would be Blur.

[Rycaut]

Actually it is a common mistake but by RAW there is NO Rod of Still Spell - it is one of the few metamagics which are not available as a Rod. (so for PFS play it is not available at all)

For this specific build I don't think Heroism is a good fit - he is ALL about using swift actions effectively - so Gallant Inspiration fits his wheelhouse perfectly - while Heroism even with a reasonable duration is far less like him - especially as a single person buff. Gallant inspiration is nice in that it will help exactly the right party member at the right moment - i.e. when the party really needs everyone to hit. Yes mechanically Heroism may be "better" in that it has an effect over many more rounds - but given the sheer number of ways this character has to help his party I really do like the flexibility of spells like Gallant Inspiration over the preplanning aspects of Heroism

(unclear but can you target yourself with Heroism?)

And a final note about the Rod question - even if a Rod of Still spell was available (which it isn't) as a Two-handed fighter this character would have a real challenge using Rods reliably and usefully - he doesn't ever really want to one-hand his primary weapon (since it can't be used onehanded) and he doesn't really want to wield a rod as a one-handed mace. Sure he could do something with a wrist sheath etc but still might result in leaving metamagic rods on the battlefield. (an extended metamagic rod might be an exception to this as it would be used with long duration buffs)

[Rycaut]

This is for PFS play so sure I can change my armor to mithral breastplate but I don't particularly want to - this guy is very much about being a tank. High AC, nearly infinite HP, hits really really hard and lots of other ways to help the party.

He has fey foundling and a magic item Bracers of Merciful Knight which combined with his Greater Mercy and Extra Lay On Hands feats means he has 11 uses of Lay On Hands a day each for 5d6+10 if he uses them on himself - assuming he isn't currently sickened - 4d6+8 plus removes sickened if he is) and at least once per day he can use lay on hands when he goes to 0 or below as an immediate action for 6d6+12 via casting the Paladin spell Hero's Definance) this means that his effective HP pool is quite quite large - on average his lay on hands will heal over 25 hp (for himself).

He doesn't use Inspire Courage all that often - usually for just one or two combats per PFS scenario (because of the standard action to activate it - and because he only has 9 rounds of bardic performance per day. So the issue of not stacking with Timely/Gallant Inspiration isn't a big deal.

- Gallant Inspiration will be higher than his Inspire Courage bonus so would be at least +1 over that and could be as much as +7 more if I rolled really well which would be used as the higher bonus of two overlapping bonuses applies. Plus it can be used for failed skill checks as well as attack rolls so as Inspire Courage does nothing for skill rolls it would still be useful.

- Timely Inspiration when it was just a +1 bonus indeed wouldn't stack if my Inspire Courage was up (though again it can also work for failed skill checks) but now that it would be a +2 it too would be better by 1 than my inspire courage - so can certainly make a difference.

It is worth noting that in many cases it is just one extra successful hit or a well timed skill check that makes all the difference in a combat between TPK and success - a rogue successfully maneuvering into flanking position or hitting when she will deal full sneak attack or a crucial heal, climb or disable device check being made etc could all save a party member's life or be the difference between success and total failure.

That said Blur is certainly useful for a tank as hits that miss entirely are one fewer use of lay on hands which is needed to be used (freeing them up for party healing as needed - at 5d6 it is perhaps more effective in many cases than many cure spells)

[Sevus]

Rycaut wrote:

(unclear but can you target yourself with Heroism?)

Took me a while to find the relevant rules - I expected them to be in Magic, but for some reason, they were in combat instead.

Touch Spells in Combat wrote:

Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) as a free action. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.

(Emphasis mine.)

So yes, you can cast Heroism, or any other touch-range spell on yourself and it will automatically take effect.

Source: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat#TOC-Cast-a-Spell

If you really think Gallant Inspiration suits your build better than Heroism, then pick it up - but having played Paladin/Arcane Duelist/Dragon Disciple builds before, I definitely prefer Heroism given that my swift action is frequently consumed doing something else, and Heroism is a very long-duration buff.

Also...why half-plate? I've had a grand total of one character use it, personally, and that's because they started at a level where they could afford half-plate but not full plate - and I don't see agile being useful enough to justify using it over either half-plate or breastplate.