I have a support bard that I need to build up to 7th level (maybe higher) and I'm not sure which way to go with it.
I'm being handed the following requirements. Half-elf CE male with at least 4 bard levels. Unfortunately, ability scores are set:
Str 12
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 14
Cha 18
This is with racial ability scores factored in.
He's a squire for an antipaladin knight and has other melee combatants around often.
I know I want to primarily support, so I don't want to give up inspire courage for any archetype. I'm used to playing high strength striker bards so not sure how build this one. I'd though about flag bearer, but it seems like more of a trap feat when I realized it won't stack with good hope or heroism.
An antipaladin dip would be thematically appropriate, improve saves, give smite, proficiency in better weapons and open up mithral breastplate as a defensive option. Seems to add a bit of survivability to the build. Does it sacrifice too much bard progression for a support character?
If I get martial proficiency I've thought about taking dervish dance and pumping dex. With a light shield, I'd have a decent ac and average damage.
I guess I don't know how to build for support. I plan to inspire/buff the first couple rounds, but what after that? I don't want to just plink away with a crossbow or something equally ineffective.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Focus spells, spells, and more spells my friend. Bards have some of the best buff spells and CC spells in the game, and ignoring (or belittling them) is as silly as it gets when it comes to Bards.
A great archetype which will help you greatly while being in the frontlines is the Arcane Duelist archetype; it gives bonus feats (Combat Casting, Arcane Strike, plus Greater Penetrating Strike makes for the best feats you could possibly ask for) and some neat substitutions. Having an increased Wisdom and Intelligence, you can sacrifice some of the extra skill points and such that you get from the Core Bard and not really lose out on anything. And the best part is as you said: you don't have to give up inspire courage. You actually get better substitutions for the abilities you hardly ever use! Bladethirst (I think it's called that) can be a fair substitution for the weapon version of Fiendish Boon (but can be applied to other people's weapons), which works perfectly with the Shadowbard spell you'll get later down the road. Not to mention the Arcane Bond (which must be a weapon, but making it a Spiked or regular Gauntlet would make having a Metamagic Rod in hand very helpful, and you can cast spells even while the Rod is in the hand that's the same as the Gauntlet).
To be honest, you might want to go straight Arcane Duelist Bard, considering the Arcane Duelist gives access to proficiency to use (and cast in) Medium, and later Heavy, Armor. Although the only problem is you'll be lacking in the BAB department; (but let's face it, you always will be, since you're stuck with 4 Bard levels). However, if you're serious in committing dips, I'd suggest you take either a single level in Fighter, or 2 levels of Anti-Paladin. Fighter gives more proficiencies and a Bonus Feat in addition to the 1D10 Hit Dice. Lacking an additional +2 to Will Saves won't kill you, though if you invest in 2 levels Anti-Paladin, being able to add your Charisma to all saves (while still being able to essentially cast 6th level spells by the end game with little compromise) is a very powerful boon in itself. If you need the feats and Tower Shield proficiency for protection, take the 1 Fighter. If you need the Saves and slightly other useful goodies, take the 2 Anti-Paladin.
The cost for all that forces you to have a delayed and (slightly lowered) Bard progression, which reduces the net amount of Spells you get by max level. (For a Fighter Bonus Feat in regards to how I have this sort of build planned out, work towards Swift Aid, and take Combat Expertise if you don't already have it, since your character has a high enough Intelligence Score.)
I also highly suggest you invest in a Metamagic Feat or 2 (Extend is probably your best friend, with round/level duration spells), as well as a lot of Quicken Metamagic Rods to switch out during fights (Double spells/round makes buffing twice as fast, as well as gets you in the fight quicker).
The only problem with this build is it goes against how you envisioned him to be: A really good in-your-face secondary combatant. However, once he's done buffing/debuffing, you can then proceed to using a Benevolent property Weapon and Ready an Aid Another on your main frontliner's lowest BAB in a Full Attack, guaranteeing all hits. You can also use the Swift Aid feat, giving him even more bonuses, and aiding him twice in the same round.
I'd suggest the Sound Striker.
At 7th level, you can make 7 Weird Words, each at d8+4 as a standard action, and then start (or restart) your inspire courage as a move action. You'll burn through your bardic musics, but you'll be a decent damage-dealer and keep up the buffs. It's not front-line, though, but with those stats, you'll never be a good front-line combatant anyway.
I'm not sure Sound Striker is the best choice. 1d8+4 isn't great damage even as an AOE (casters doing 7d6 in my party). Also, I'd have to start and stop inspire courage each time I used weird words if I want to keep everyone buffed.
Darksol, you make some really interesting suggestions. I don't think I've ever used the aid another action, so I hadn't even considered it. The bodyguard feat might be a good idea. Also, I didn't realize that Arcane duelist lets you use somatic components with a weapon so I can use a heavy shield with a rapier and still cast.
I'm not 100% sure benevolent is worth a +1 bonus... at least not early on.
Anyway, I think I might go that route. I hate losing versatile performance, but as you say, I can afford a few extra skills.
What about this:
APal 1: Weapon Finesse
Apal 2
Bard 1: Arcane Strike, Dervish Dance
Bard 2: Combat Casting
Bard 3: Bodyguard
Bard 4
Bard 5: Arcane Bond, Toughness
BAB: +7
We have a crafter for Wondrous items so those are half price. For starting equipment maybe:
+2 Mithral Breasplate, +2 Heavy Mithral Shield, Belt of Dex +2, headband of Cha +2, +1 Scimitar, Ring of Prot +1, Amulet Nat Armor +1, Cloak of Resistance +2
AC 27, attacks 11/6 1d6+4 18-20x2, Fort 9, Ref 9 Will 12.
With inspire and arcane strike the attacks are 13/8 1d6+8. The occasional smite brings it to 18/13 1d6+10.
Put favored class bonuses into hp. That and toughness should help my HP.
I won't be a high damage dealer, but I'll be able to stand next to the frontliners, help their AC with the bodyguard feat, while casting spells and attacking for respectable damage. Future feats might include Combat Reflexes and Imp Crit for the Scimitar.
Seems like a pretty satisfactory and versatile build. Not the most optimized but very survivable and can do a lot of things. Any other thoughts?
Just to clarify; the weird words of a Sound Striker is 7 attacks, each of d8+4. Each roll to hit vs. touch AC, each has fort. save for half.
Assuming every attack hits and half of them are saved against, that's 4d8+16, and 4d8+16 halfed. About 6d8 + 24. Not to bad for a bardic music use... of course that's all dependent on dice rolls.
I'm not saying Sound Striker is the optimal build, just clarifying that Weird Words is 7 x d8+4, not a single d8+4.
Bodyguard has Combat Reflexes as a requirement for taking the feat, so you'll need to take Combat Reflexes first. Even so, taking that feat when going the Aid Another route is a really smart idea to begin with.
The nice thing about the Benevolent property (which can apply for your armor as well, and doesn't count towards your total Base Price Bonus limit,) is that it increases the bonuses of your Aid Another equal to your armor/weapon's enhancement bonus. So having that +3 Enhancement in addition to your properties (which can be increased further with Bladethirst for weapons) gives a spanking total of +5 (+7 max) to their AC or Attack Roll for one hit [each].
If you are really serious about being a damage contributor, I would suggest you invest in some good damage spells, especially when forced to deal with high DR enemies: 1st level, Ear-Piercing Scream is a great damage dealer, and has some nice debuff potential (1 round stun is huge in combat). Not to mention it deals Sonic Damage, a resistance that is rarely resisted from. 4th level Wall of Sound is a great damage dealer/crowd control effect, forcing them to either walk around or take additionally powerful damage that is again hard to resist. There are others, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
Even if you have a lot of buffs that increase to-hit and damage, unless you really outscale a target's AC (which can be very high, depending upon the target), you won't be hitting that much, and you'll be essentially wasting perfectly good action economy. I also suggest that any time you aren't using your Swift Actions (Arcane Strike!) could also be better put into using Aid Another again, thanks to the Swift Aid feat.