Back from a long silence, here I come singing aloud the glory of the darkness. Let the forces of light despair, the howling of the black wind will strike fear in their hearts as it leads the armies of the night to conquer and pillage...
Here we have an effective class combo which is fun to play, with undispellable bardic power and almost top lvl bard/curse song, LI early enough, some punch from the fighter and style points from the BG with save boosting and divine feats. Here I went STR 28, CHA 18 just because I like to see a mundane AB of 40+, but going STR 26/CHA 20 is probably better. Traps skills are in for added versatility.
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Black Wind - Bard(26), Fighter(10), Blackguard(4) Human, NE or CE PvM, playable 1-40
Advantages •Decent unbuffed Ab, Good buffed AB •Good Buffed AC, put in gear for more. •22nd lvl Bard Song, 25th lvl Curse Song without gear/buffs •Lasting Inspiration at 30th character lvl •UMD •Taunt •Good HPs for a Bard •6th lvl Bard spells •4 base APR •WS/EWS •Divine Might/Shield •Undispellable
Weaknesses •Tight on skillpoints (well, for my tastes) •Low duration/power on divine feats •Moderate saves •Needs perform/CHA gear
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The only build in the search engine with these classes: Explicate Lyrics (Bard 35 / FTR 1 / BG 4) -- dmuzzy
Feedback and constructive criticism is, as usual, greatly appreciated. _________________ Unto to the darkness I commend my soul Never shall I repent Never shall I be saved
I'll go into the House of Death Before my last breath My enemies all shall die!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 03/19/08 02:33
Quote: Posted 03/17/08 02:38 (GMT) -- Kail Pendragon Weaknesses •Tight on skillpoints (well, for my tastes)
OMG! Tight on skills! Bard 26 WITH 14 int! Whats that, like 100 skills per lvl?? I play clerics with int in and around 10 (mostly). Having that many skills would be a DREAM!!
Other than that, VERY NICE. If i ever get around to playin a hard core Bard, this would be it.
Very strong and unique build. I was surprised to not see something like this before. I don't see anything I would change, as it is strong from ground up (though as you suggested, I would be tempted to go for a 20 Charisma).
The only build in the search engine with these classes: Explicate Lyrics (Bard 35 / FTR 1 / BG 4) -- dmuzzy
Well, there were these two pesky fellows bouncing around in the ether....
The Bastard (Bard 21 / FTR 6 / BG 13) -- grizzled_dwarflord The Shrike (Bard 16 / BG 22 / FTR 2) -- grizzled_dwarflord _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
Superb as usual Kail, just one thing, playing out Bards I've found it's actually easier to play taking heavy Bard at the beginning, to take advantage that Bard gets an XP adjustment at low levels (I don't remember the name for that stuff, ask Cinnabar Din, I believe he knows), I'd recommend you lay back the Fighter levels a bit, taking Fighter in level 2 throws it all out.
Quote: Posted 03/17/08 02:58 (GMT) -- avado
Quote: Posted 03/17/08 02:38 (GMT) -- Kail Pendragon Weaknesses •Tight on skillpoints (well, for my tastes)
OMG! Tight on skills! Bard 26 WITH 14 int! Whats that, like 100 skills per lvl?? I play clerics with int in and around 10 (mostly). Having that many skills would be a DREAM!!
Peace
Well I do believe it is a bit tight on skill points too, though I'd normally agree with you that Kail is obsessed with skills, but Bard is the one class that really needs skillpoints, notice that his UMD and Spellcraft are not maxed out. _________________
Quote: Posted 07/28/06 23:16:09 (GMT) -- Big Meph Using the 2 ESF's in a dex based sneak build, to me, just looks like you're teasing your diabetic opponent with extra sugar on your whipcream covered chocolate mudcake.
Quote: Posted 03/17/08 02:58 (GMT) -- avado
Quote: Posted 03/17/08 02:38 (GMT) -- Kail Pendragon Weaknesses •Tight on skillpoints (well, for my tastes)
OMG! Tight on skills! Bard 26 WITH 14 int! Whats that, like 100 skills per lvl?? I play clerics with int in and around 10 (mostly). Having that many skills would be a DREAM!!
I'm a known skills addict avado, you should know it. Hence the disclaimer "for my tastes"
Quote: Other than that, VERY NICE. If i ever get around to playin a hard core Bard, this would be it.
Very strong and unique build. I was surprised to not see something like this before. I don't see anything I would change, as it is strong from ground up (though as you suggested, I would be tempted to go for a 20 Charisma).
Doh, man, I think I forgot to remove the lvl requirement from the search engine query page after checking if there were any builds similar to mine and used that result as if it had no minimum bard lvls requirement. Anyhow, thanks for pointing it out. Dmuzzy's and yours are all the builds in the search engine with those classes.
Superb as usual Kail, just one thing, playing out Bards I've found it's actually easier to play taking heavy Bard at the beginning, to take advantage that Bard gets an XP adjustment at low levels (I don't remember the name for that stuff, ask Cinnabar Din, I believe he knows), I'd recommend you lay back the Fighter levels a bit, taking Fighter in level 2 throws it all out
Good point Thax, I never think about ECL (Effective Character lvl). Anyhow, if one wants to take advantage of this feature and to get bardic goodness earlier one can go for a straight out 12 bard lvls (I think the ECL bonus stops there) then get the BG and FTR lvls. In the lvling here I went for earlier fighting prowess. Anyhow, it's easily adjustable.
Thanks all for the feedback! _________________ Unto to the darkness I commend my soul Never shall I repent Never shall I be saved
I'll go into the House of Death Before my last breath My enemies all shall die!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 03/17/08 11:37
I'd like to see ESF: Discipline and/or ESF: Taunt. _________________ " -- They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."
- Pozzo in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Cool build Kail!
Just like Thax I prefer taking more bard lvls early on. But I like taking at least one Fighter lvl early so I get the weapon and armor proficiencies. The Str/Cha balance is tricky. How much Cha you want depends a lot on how good equipment you can get. Cha 18 means a capped Cha of 30 with a +10 bonus. I wouldn't go for less with Divine Might/Shield. Dark Blessing is still worth it with a lower Cha though, since it doesn't have the time limit of the Divine Might/Shield.
These stats made me worry "seriously" about the RP: How do you roleplay a clumsy, foolish performer? In my book that description fits a clown ((((I can't help thinking that that kind of childish act gives a certain sound and flavour (or perhaps smell is a better word) to the term "Black Wind".)))) But as long as the "howling of the Black Wind strikes fear in their hearts" I guess he gets the job done _________________ I generally avoid temptation, unless I can't resist it...
These stats made me worry "seriously" about the RP: How do you roleplay a clumsy, foolish performer? In my book that description fits a clown ((((I can't help thinking that that kind of childish act gives a certain sound and flavour (or perhaps smell is a better word) to the term "Black Wind".)))) But as long as the "howling of the Black Wind strikes fear in their hearts" I guess he gets the job done
He is, however, a fairly Intelligent (14) and Charismatic (18) performer.
Quote: Posted 03/18/08 22:30 (GMT) -- Mick Dagger
Cool build Kail!
Just like Thax I prefer taking more bard lvls early on. But I like taking at least one Fighter lvl early so I get the weapon and armor proficiencies. The Str/Cha balance is tricky. How much Cha you want depends a lot on how good equipment you can get. Cha 18 means a capped Cha of 30 with a +10 bonus. I wouldn't go for less with Divine Might/Shield. Dark Blessing is still worth it with a lower Cha though, since it doesn't have the time limit of the Divine Might/Shield.
*nods* In fact when playing for real such a build I'd go for the final 20 CHA, since the AB is gonna have enough buffs to make up for a mere -1 loss, while DS/M are capped by CHA and definitely need some help. For posting here, I liked to see the 40 AB
These stats made me worry "seriously" about the RP: How do you roleplay a clumsy, foolish performer? In my book that description fits a clown ((((I can't help thinking that that kind of childish act gives a certain sound and flavour (or perhaps smell is a better word) to the term "Black Wind".)))) But as long as the "howling of the Black Wind strikes fear in their hearts" I guess he gets the job done
it reminds me of my players' comments about the order of the "Mages of the Winds" in a campaign of mines (and about how and why their tower got blown up).
which gets an ECL of 1,2,2,3,3,5,6,7,... (lvl 1,2,3,etc. respectively).
If you change the 1st ftr lvl with the 12th bard lvl you get an ECL of 1,1,2,2,4,5,6,7,... which means you are at a disadvantage at lvls 2 and 4 but at an advantage at lvl 5 (then it equalizes), but you'll have to move one combat feat up and lose the lvl 17 skilldump. _________________ Unto to the darkness I commend my soul Never shall I repent Never shall I be saved
I'll go into the House of Death Before my last breath My enemies all shall die!
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 03/21/08 18:21
To be fair on the RP question, 8 Wis is a fairly common score for bards. Bards and rogues tend to be impetuous type characters to RP anyway, so the 8 Wis fits.
8 dex for a bard makes me cringe. But oh well.
I'd go for 20 charisma as well, but I like this build a lot. And honestly I think a dex version of this would still be a lot of fun to play... be interesting to see what it would look like.
Who pulled this old geezer out from his retirement home?
But nice comeback buddy, I'll grant you that. Perhaps I'll do a comeback too.
But yeah, agreed on the skillpoints, bards just has access to all those skills, which makes it near impossible to get enough. In NwN2 though, they have 2 extra pr lvl. Wish that it had been the same here. Very smooth and playable build, and class-abilities put to good effect.
Welcome to world of the awake again. _________________ We are sons of Odin, and the fire that we burn inside is the legacy of warrior-kings who reign above in the sky I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind Sons of Odin fights to die and live again
Quote: Posted 03/21/08 22:00 (GMT) -- Grimnir77
Who pulled this old geezer out from his retirement home?
But nice comeback buddy, I'll grant you that. Perhaps I'll do a comeback too.
But yeah, agreed on the skillpoints, bards just has access to all those skills, which makes it near impossible to get enough. In NwN2 though, they have 2 extra pr lvl. Wish that it had been the same here. Very smooth and playable build, and class-abilities put to good effect.
Welcome to world of the awake again.
Thanks buddy. Yeah, I really like this one myself. I wished bards got 6 points /lvl too, there's too much goodness in their skill selection and perform is a must.
My semiretirement is momentarily over These are some builds planned for World of Greyhawk, I suddenly felt the urge to post them. I guess they reflect my new playstyle and how my build preferences evolved.
Uh and I'm looking forward to some fierce norse build of yours buddy! _________________ Looking for a realm of adventure? Check out World of Greyhawk, you won't regret it.
Well I do believe it is a bit tight on skill points too, though I'd normally agree with you that Kail is obsessed with skills, but Bard is the one class that really needs skillpoints, notice that his UMD and Spellcraft are not maxed out.
