So I've been digging through bard archetypes for a cohort I'm building at level 11, and I'm not sure which archetype to give him, in fact I'm leaning towards nothing at all. I want his major role to be buffing the party, and a lot of good archetypes hit things like Inspire heroics or inspire greatness. Voice of the Wild getting druid spells seemed cool until I read the last ability, you give up 3 amazing bard performances for an incredibly janky near-worthless one.
I've been trying to avoid ditching my skill based abilities too. Things like suggestion, fascinate and dirge of doom aren't particularly important to me since:
A. It's wrath of the righteous, demons all day erryday resisting my spells n having super high saves
B. his save DCs probably wont be amazing and he's not really needed for offense.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good bard build or archetype?
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I like the regular bard myself. Though Arcane Duelist might be good if you don't want your cohort to be a know-it-all. (loses Bardic Knowledge)
If you're going for pure support - make sure to grab the Flagbearer feat. You should probably be able to afford the Banner of the Ancient Kings - especially if the rest of the party chips in. (at least the martials should since it buffs them)
Is Skald a valid option? At 11, Urban Skalds hand out +4 Str, Fast Healing 4, and 3 Rage powers, without rage limitations.
OOH! didnt even know that existed. Not so helpful for this campaign though since Inspire Courage might actually be a bit better since my main PC is an archer, but I'll have to bookmark that archetype for later, thanks!
I like the regular bard myself. Though Arcane Duelist might be good if you don't want your cohort to be a know-it-all. (loses Bardic Knowledge)
If you're going for pure support - make sure to grab the Flagbearer feat. You should probably be able to afford the Banner of the Ancient Kings - especially if the rest of the party chips in. (at least the martials should since it buffs them)
Gnarly, so you basically get heroism, for free, sounds good.
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Gnarly, so you basically get heroism, for free, sounds good.I like the regular bard myself. Though Arcane Duelist might be good if you don't want your cohort to be a know-it-all. (loses Bardic Knowledge)
If you're going for pure support - make sure to grab the Flagbearer feat. You should probably be able to afford the Banner of the Ancient Kings - especially if the rest of the party chips in. (at least the martials should since it buffs them)
Only even better because it also adds to damage.
There's too many variables to give a great answer. What kind of group do you have? What challenges do you often face? I find Bards are good once you know your focus and work towards it, yet can be overshadowed easily if your chosen focus is heavily covered already.
A party of wizards, clerics, and other spellcasters? You may want to focus on face skills or skirmish maneuvers. A party of martial combatants? You may want to focus on face skills or spells. And so on and so on.
If you wish to focus on the bardic music boosts, they tend to be iffy with a very small group, yet can change things if you either have a large group that tracks bonuses well, or a summons heavy group. A party with a bard, druid, and a summoner can soon churn out a large rugby team against opponents, and the bardic boosts really helps the summoned minions stay relevant.
since we're on a subject of bards, rules question
Does the Lullaby of Ember the Ancient also inherit the 10 HD restriction of Deep Slumber? it seems like it doesn't simply because details like that aren't usually left out of abilities.
Depending on your GM and what he or she allows get Master Performer feat and Grand Master Performer Feat. Your Cohorts Inspire Courage at 11th would be +5
How about the Archaeologist. Instead of Inspire Courage, he gets Archaeologist's Luck. It gets the attack and damage bonuses as Inspire courage, but instead of a bonus against fear you get a bonus on saving throws. It looks like it will work on Master Performer etc and Lingering Performance. Unlike most Archetypes, you keep Bardic Knowledge. He gets Evasion, so your Cohort has some survivability.
Sound striker and Duettist would both work well for what you want, neither give up anything you can't live without, but a vanilla Bard would work great too.
In any event, for a cohort I would strongly recommend taking dazzling display. He can inspire courage for your team, intimate opponents within 30' and his turns will go by quick while still being a big benefit to the party (and not stealing anyone else's limelight.)
I'd focus spells on mostly emergency and utility sort of things (plus haste).