I’m trying to determine the best option for a PFS physical damage dealer and face. To get both of these I settled on a bard instead of a swashbuckler because they have more skills and get spells. I’m now trying to decide whether to go for a straight bard with archery feats or to go Dervish of Dawn and be a switch hitter. I haven’t played PFS in 2.5 years but I have GM’d a few home games for PFS credit which I think is legal and would give this character 9 xp and 12 prestige/fame.
I used Level 7 as a benchmark since most abilities have come online at this point but there is still PFS play time left. I’m leaning towards the switch hitter it doesn’t seem stronger but has more options.
Questions:
1. Which will be most effective.
2. Will the melee portion of my switch hitter go unused
3. Am I over valuing Eldritch Heritage (Arcane Bond) vs Deadly Aim or Power Attack
4. Is there a better race option for either?
5. Any reason I should consider Dervish Dancer vs Dervish of Dawn
a. Dervish Dancer really comes online at L12 when PFS ends
6. Any better optimal feat selections
a. Battle Cry vs Deadly Aim for instance (team buff (1/1 morale) vs damage with a to hit penalty -2/+4)
7. Anything in this not PFS legal that I missed? (I have source books)
Ability Scores (4th level to DEX, 8th to WIS) (Racial to DEX)
STR: 14 DEX: 17 CON: 12 INT: 10 WIS: 7 CHA: 16
Switch Hitter: Zen Archer 2/ Dervish of Dawn 9
Pros:
Level 7 Max Hit/Damage Modifiers w/o Spells or items (Ranged 10/10) (Melee 9/13 + free action Intimidate)
+2 all saves from Monk
+2 saves vs Enchantment from Half-elf (Basically +2 Will saves)
Flurry of Blows = Rapid Shot at -1 penalty instead of -2
+1/1 Moral Bonus from Battle Cry to everyone 3x per day (Swift Action)
+4 Initiative Mismatched Half-Elf alt racial trait
Ability to take Eldritch Heritage (Arcane Bond) ½ price weapon & plus 1 spell per day
Melee tactic Enforcer + Cruel Weapon (Shaken/Sickened)
Inspire Courage as move action
Cons:
2 Bard levels behind (Level 2 Spells at L6/ 3rd Level at L9/ 4th at L12)
Inspire Courage only affects self
Bardic Performance Rounds at Level 7 = 13 (Cha 3 + Favored Class 3 + 2/per level x5)
Versatile Performance at L4 & L8
Can’t get Many Shot without spending a feat on Rapid Shot
Ranged Bard
Level 7 Max Hit/Damage Modifiers w/o Spells or items (Ranged 7/6) (Melee 2/2)
+1/1 Moral Bonus from Battle Cry to everyone 3x per day (Swift Action)
+2/2 Competence Bonus from Inspire Courage to everyone
+1 Skill per Level Human
Full Bard Spell Progression
Bardic Knowledge
Lore Master
Versatile Performance at L2 & L6
Bardic Performance Rounds at Level 7 = 17 (Cha 3 + Favored Class 0 + 2/per level x7)
Cons:
Melee abilities weak
Inspire Courage as standard action until L8
Bardic Performance Rounds at Level 7 = 17 (Cha 3 + Favored Class 0 + 2/per level x7)
Feat Details:
Half-Elf Zen Archer 2/ Bard 9
Traits: Blade of Mercy, Magical Knack
Skill Focus knowledge, Enforcer, Dervish Dance, Precise Strike, Arcane Strike, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus (Long Bow), Perfect Strike, Battle Cry (All of these by Level 5), L7 Eldritch Heritage (arcane), L9 Clustered Shot, L11 Deadly Aim
Combat
Round 1: Swift Battle Cry, Move Battle Dance, Standard Allegro
Round 2: Swift Arcane Strike, Full attack 3 shots at full BAB + iterative
Round 3: Ranged or Melee depending on situation
Human Bard Archer
Traits: Maestro of Society, Dead Eye Bowman
Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Battle Cry, Many Shot (retrained at L8), Cluster shot, L11 Arcane Strike vs Deadly Aim
Combat
Round 1: Swift Battle Cry, Standard Inspire Courage, Move none
Round 2: Swift none, Standard Haste, Move none
Round 3: Ranged attack or spell
Defensive option for both: Scroll of Mirror Image or Invisibility in spring loaded wrist sheath.
Swift wrist sheath, 5 foot step, standard action scroll cast, move draw melee weapon or run away.
Items:
Belt DEX 4k/16k
Headband CHA 4k/16k
Cloak resistance 1k/4K
Ring of Seven Lovely Colors (Shelyn) 4k
Ring of Eloquence 3.5k
Scimitar +1 cruel 2.3k/8.3k
Composite Adaptive +1 Longbow 2PP/2K/3K/11k/19k (divided by 2 with Arcane Bond)
Deliquescent Gloves 8k
Buckler (150g) & Mithral Chain shirt 1.1k or Elven Mail 5,150k Enhancements +1k/4k
Cracked Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone 500g
Oh, good news, though:
Dervish Dancer really comes online at L12 when PFS endsYou've been gone for a while.
PFS caps at level 20. There are now three Seeker Arcs for level 12+, plus many, many Modules for higher level play.
I wrote a portion of this at work and so was using the D20pfsrd wording. Still haven't tracked the book it's in. Probably hiding in a box in the garage. But if I remember correctly the correct name is Dawnflower Dervish.
I agree that a two level dip out of Bard probably isn't a good idea, unless you really don't care about your casting. When dipping for martial competency I'd probably prioritize a dip into a full BAB class.
Also building a switch hitter without class based bonus feats is really tricky. You could try to rely on spells for ranged combat, but to the best of my knowledge Bard is lacking in that department.
Also for build advice even if it's for PFS I'd go to the advice board.
Having played a Bard to L11.x so far, most of my experience has been to not deviate from the core of the class.
Picking up Flagbearer if you have the Inner Sea World Guide is a nice bump to being a buffer for the party.
Unfortunately, can't offer more advice as some of the things that caused me to remain bard all the way through are still subject to significant table variation.
Also building a switch hitter without class based bonus feats is really tricky. You could try to rely on spells for ranged combat, but to the best of my knowledge Bard is lacking in that department.
Also for build advice even if it's for PFS I'd go to the advice board.
Actually, if your not set upon a specific archetype Soundstriker and Wit bards arent bad at range attacks that don't require the ability to hit. Wit bards maybe not the best idea but having just verbally berated an entire cult of Zyphus to unconsciousness is amazing.
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If you're looking at an archer bard, I'm surprised Arrowsong Minstrel from Arcane Anthology hasn't hit your radar. It is very good. You lose the knowledge piece and delay Versatile Performance, but it is a solid archer. Another thing to consider is a 1 level dip into Relic Channeler Medium to pick up the Champion bonus permanently. My hunter archer used that + Spirit Focus in place of Deadly Aim and it hasn't steered him wrong.
If you're looking at an archer bard, I'm surprised Arrowsong Minstrel from Arcane Anthology hasn't hit your radar. It is very good. You lose the knowledge piece and delay Versatile Performance, but it is a solid archer. Another thing to consider is a 1 level dip into Relic Channeler Medium to pick up the Champion bonus permanently. My hunter archer used that + Spirit Focus in place of Deadly Aim and it hasn't steered him wrong.
And you could, if not difficult, to show the build of an archer?
Arrowsong seems really nice for a archer bard imo... if I wasn't already running a archer i probably would have went that way