Battle Herald: 4 / 1 or 1 / 4 Cavalier / Bard?

[The Pale King]

Basically as the title says, which would be the better build to go with for a Battle Herald? 4 levels in Cavalier and 1 in Bard, or the opposite?

[the David]

That depends on what you're going for. 4 levels of Bard gives you 2nd level spells and +2 on inspire competence. 4 levels cavalier gives you a 2nd challenge, an order ability and a better charge while riding.
And then you have to choose between archetypes. You could also do 2/3 which adds more possibilities.

[Salazzar Slaan]

I actually wrote up a guide on this prestige class. Hope it helps!

Realsorcer's Guide to the Battle Herald.

[FLite]

I think the danger here is that your mount will be soft and squishy if you have 3 levels lower of cavalier.

[Salazzar Slaan]

You need at least 3 levels of Cavalier to qualify for the Horse Master feat which will use your total character level to determine your mount abilities.

If you only take one level of Cavalier take the Standard Bearer archtype. This will trade the mount for the Banner ability instead.

[The Pale King]

Thanks! Your guide is awesome. I'm thinking 1 level Standard Bearer, 4 Arcane Duelist now, which honestly fits the character I was envisioning perfectly.