LF Bard Reach-Skirmisher Advice

[Gogo]

I am currently exploring the idea of a Arcane Duelist Bard, Half-Elf with a Flying Blade Ancestral Weapon (1d12 damage/x3 on crit, reach, with a -2 attack except with AoO's, then it has a +2 attack)

I am thinking that making the most of AoO's, as well as making standard attacks is the way to go as I think alot of full-attacks will miss, but I am open to suggestions and input as I cant decide on how to feat this. This was one of many ideas, but I am just really unsure of myself on this.

1st) Combat Reflexes
3rd) Dodge
5th) Mobility
7th) Spring Attack
9th) Combat Patrol
11th) Power Attack
13th) Combat Expertise
15th) Whirlwind Attack
17th) Lunge
19th) Furious Focus or Spell Focus: Enchants

My initial idea was a high damage (non-CM) approach skirmisher (with Acrobatics pumped with skill points and the Arcane Duelists Bladethirst to cleave if needed)

Any advice/ideas would be great!

[revaar]

Using a Flying Blade, you should focus on AoO, to get the +2, as opposed to the -2 when taking normal attacks. As such, Spring Attack and Whirlwind Attack won't be doing you much. That also frees you from having to take Combat Expertise. Lunge also won't help with taking AoO, since the increase to reach ends at the end of your turn.

Honestly, I'd replace those 4 feats with some feats to help your casting. Spell Focus, and Spell Penetration are good places to start.

Or, seeing the bonus feats that Arcane Duelists get, you could go down the Step Up line, to really stick it to spell casters.

[Sindakka]

While Step Up is good, you must be adjacent for it to work (LINK), which is somewhere most reach-Bards don't want to be;
Meanwhile, Stand Still is great for not only getting the hit in there, but stopping them from leaving your threatened area or getting within your reach.

(Hooray Bards!)

[Rodinia]

Sindakka wrote:

Stand Still[/url] is great for not only getting the hit in there, but stopping them from leaving your threatened area or getting within your reach.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but Stand Still only works vs. adjacent foes. Stand Still and Step Up are both worthless for anyone wielding a reach weapon. I suspect the authors didn't think about reach weapons when writing them.

[Gogo]

Yea, I understand the reasoning about making the most of AoO's, the trouble is when I looked/thought about it, there really doesn't seem like a lot of great help other than Combat Reflexes (as notes in the posts about step-up and stand still).

I am somewhat dubious about usefulness of Combat Patrol on a 3/4 BAB, it may come into play maybe once during an encounter, but could waste my turn completely when a spell or a spring attack could at least get a hit in at my full BAB - same goes for Whirlwind, with lunge helping to encourage attackers to come into my threatened areas. This also avoids full-attacks with big minuses to hit after the first. That was my thinking at the time anyways, it may not work in practice.

Also, am kinda wondering if 2 levels of fighter would help.

Thanks for the input so far, am away for the weekend so look forward to reading hopefully more on returning;)