Human str 14(29) dex 12 con 12(14) wis 14(17) int 12(14) cha 14(16)

lvl 1 Bard WP: martial, WF: greatsword
lvl 2 B1/C1
lvl 3 B1/C2 power attack
lvl 4 B1/C3 +str(1)
lvl 5 B2/C3
lvl 6 B2/C3/RDD1 cleave
lvl 7 B2/C3/RDD2
lvl 8 B2/C3/RDD3 +str(2)
lvl 9 B2/C3/RDD4 great cleave
lvl 10 B2/C4/RDD4
lvl 11 B2/C5/RDD4
lvl 12 B3/C5/RDD4 extend spell, +str(3)
lvl 13 B3/C6/RDD4
lvl 14 B3/C7/RDD4
lvl 15 B3/C8/RDD4 impr crit
lvl 16 B3/C8/RDD5 +str(4)
lvl 17 B4/C8/RDD5
lvl 18 B4/C8/RDD6 still spell
lvl 19 B4/C8/RDD7
lvl 20 B4/C8/RDD8 +wis(1)
lvl 21 B4/C8/RDD9 EWF: greatsword
lvl 22 B4/C8/RDD10
lvl 23 B4/C9/RDD10
lvl 24 B4/C10/RDD10 ov crit, +wis(2)
lvl 25 B4/C11/RDD10
lvl 26 B4/C12/RDD10
lvl 27 B5/C12/RDD10 dev crit
lvl 28 B5/C13/RDD10 +wis(3)
lvl 29 B5/C14/RDD10
lvl 30 B6/C14/RDD10 armor skin
lvl 31 B7/C14/RDD10
lvl 32 B8/C14/RDD10 +str(5)
lvl 33 B9/C14/RDD10 curse song
lvl 34 B10/C14/RDD10
lvl 35 B11/C14/RDD10
lvl 36 B12/C14/RDD10 KD, +str(6)
lvl 37 B13/C14/RDD10
lvl 38 B14/C14/RDD10
lvl 39 B15/C14/RDD10 IKD
lvl 40 B16/C14/RDD10 +str(7)

skills: spellcraft 40, tumble 40, perform 36, lore 8, conc 43, disc OR UMD 43. (total 210ish points).

buff, sing a tune, IKD, keep on hitting.

very playable build.
good saves, decent hps, great buffs, great dmg and AB potential, great immunities (natural and buffs), decent AC for dmg dealer.

it has probably been done to death, but I wanted a shot at one too

Edited By Cinnabar Din on 02/25/08 02:41

Hey Diesel,

Interesting build. I'm surprised this one hasn't been posted before when I look at it - it seems like a good blending of characters. One of my favorite builds to play is a cleric 28/bard 2/rdd 10 with Strength and War domains.

Did you specify which cleric domains you'd choose? Or is that open depending on the PW you play on?

Why do you end with strength 29 and wisdom 17? Wouldn't you be better served by leaving strength at 28 and raising wisdom to 18 for bonus spells?

And does Perform need to be so high? I don't have my manual with me, but for only a level 16 bard, 36 perform seems like wasted skill points that could be applied to discipline or taunt. Okay, I looked at the NWN Grimoire - it shows you only need a skill level of 30 for a Bard level 16 Bard Song. Additionally, I believe your Charisma bonus is applied to your perform skill, so you could go even lower than 30 when assigning points. As I understand it. If I'm wrong go ahead and educate me.

One last thing, it's really beneficial to readers when you post your stats with your build. I didn't see your naked AC, hit points, and AB with mundane greatsword. Those are nice to have because it let's us evaluate and compare this build to others.

Thanks for posting the build. Let me know what you think of my questions. I'm a n00b and always looking to learn.

Thanks,
Kaliban I believe that for a lvl 16 bard only 25 perform is required for bard song to work it's maximum effect. feel free to lower perform to lowest possible while keeping maxed song, I wasn't sure about the number of points it took so better safe than sorry. plus you can't max another skill anyways.

str is 29 because wis 18 adds nothing of use to this build and you wont run around with +12 str all the time. with just a few buffs up and running (bulls str + eq) you're just as likely to end up with an uneven boost as an even one, I know 30 or 28 would be more optimized, but I just don't see the point in tweaking it that way since I don't want to lose any epic feats. and as I already said, 18 wis adds nothing for this build.

stats mundane eq and unbuffed (which you will NEVER be):
AC: 19 (full plate + dex) + 8 (tumble) + 4 (RDD) +2 (armor skin) = 33
AB: 25 (BAB) + 3 (WF + EWF) + 9 (str 29) = 37
dmg: 2-12 (greatsword) + 13 (str) = 15-25

with buffs and eq you'll get a huge boost to everything, especially dmg and AB of course. but this guy isn't a zero debuffed either, especially since he has high conc and access to great sanc x LOADS.

normally I'd choose trickery and travel for a low magic pw cleric, but since this cutie already gets improved invis and haste from bard levels there really is not point in going that route. I would probably go with war and str since you do have a half decent char bonus, and you can buff it up before using abilities, plus divine power really makes this char shine, the extra attack per round just rules.
Quote: Posted 11/21/04 11:34:02 (GMT) -- Diesel, Vin Diesel

I would probably go with war and str since you do have a half decent char bonus, and you can buff it up before using abilities, plus divine power really makes this char shine, the extra attack per round just rules.

This is especially valuable because this build gets only 3 attacks per round, yes?

And regarding Wisdom at 17 versus 18, my tables show Wis 17 gives a bonus spell for level 1, level 2, and level 3, while a Wisdom of 18 also gives a bonus 4th level spell. So it's debatable that whether you should put that extra point on strength or wisdom.

Kaliban. if you're counting on running around with a +12 boost to str at all times then yes, wis would be better. but I know that I wont, so one extra extended divine power per rest is what you get for the tradeoff... I can rest sooner instead

one other thing to do would be to not get IKD counting on your high buffed AB to do the job just fine with only KD anyways. the tradeoff then would be +1 AB all the time except for KD which would get a -3. I don't really like that tweaking either.

I posted what I liked, you're free to tweak it to fit your playing style of course