Gold Dwarf Bard?

[Khazrak]

Would Bard 26 / Fighter 4 be a perfectly viable Gold Dwarf Bard? Assume Practiced Spellcaster. Or is Dissonant Chord 5 something I'd absolutely want?

[chad878262]

yes. DC is fine but b26 gets 2 more bonus epic feats.

[Khazrak]

Good to know! Also, how necessary is Concentration and UMD for a bard? Up to what point should I take those skills?

[Valefort]

Max concentration and enough UMD to be able to cast level 9 spells ideally.

[izzul]

Max concentration and enough UMD to be able to cast level 9 spells ideally.

min UMD is 29 to be able to cast lvl 9 spell?

[Sun Wukong]

Bard 26/Figther 4 works wonderfully. Battle Caster lets you wear medium armor and cast spells, so it is a feat worth getting. There are some light and medium armors that offer a reduction in arcane spell failure, and because bard can ignore the arcane spell failure of a light and a medium armor, the reduction in arcane spell failure can be used to negate the arcane spell failure from a shield.

I have such on my bard. As for Concentration and Use Magic Device, you should max out both skills. You got the skill points for it anyhow.

[Khazrak]

How is this? I'm new to playing bards in NWN2. Some thoughts follow.

Link - Gold Dwarf Bard

I'm debating feat choices with this build. Combat Expertise / Improved Combat Expertise gives me some nice defensive power, especially since I can use a tower shield, and would potentially let me hold my own as a tank when needed. However, the temptation to swap out Imp. CE for Imp. Knockdown exists, mostly for those instances where a bad guy mage NEEDS to be on his ass.

Alternatively, perhaps Song of the Heart / Leadership could be swapped out for something else? Toughness/Steadfast, perhaps? Imp. Knockdown + Toughness?

As it stands, I'm looking at 26 STR with a +8 Inspire Courage (5+2(feats)+1(spell)). I'm also, with Lingering Song, able to throw out Curse Song and Chorus of Heroism at the same time, doing cool stuff to friends and foes.

For weapons, due to not specializing in anything I'm free to choose whatever. Dwarven waraxes seem like solid picks, as do scimitars and warhammers.

Thoughts?

[Hendrak]

Song of the Heart doesnt exists on BGTSCC. Leadership doesnt give a bonus to inspire courage on BGTSCC. You want to get rid of both.

You want PA/IPA. You can give up CE/ICE. Your defense come from MirrorImage + Displacement + CuresSong (lowers AB of enemies). Either KD/IKD or Toughness/Steadfest are good choices.

Consider going TwoHanded Weapon Fighting with IPA and just use a Shield if needed. Can also use Shield Wand.

Stop UMD at 28 (+3 CHA, +2 skill synergy for Spellcraft 5+ = 33; 34 UMD DC needed for no failure with 9th grade scrolls. can even go 4 lower with G.Heroism).

[Sun Wukong]

You could also consider going the way of the Northlander Hewing. You have access to Haste, so you can get 4 attacks per round with it.

[Khazrak]

How is it now? Relinking.

Keeping Combat Expertise means I can still get that extra nudge of AC if I really want it. Since Leadership/SotH aren't a thing here, I was able to fit PA/IPA pretty easily. Imp. Combat Expertise is now Northlander Hewing (Imp. Unarmed Strike on the sheet).

Does that cover my bases?

Also... Is Improved Knockdown worth taking? I see people saying that a lot of high end enemies are immune to it, so that leaves it being used for PvP largely.

[Sun Wukong]

Yes, it lets you have +4 in your knockdown roll. It is the same as having +8 strength.

Chorus of HEroism... I am not entirely sure if that is worth anything... You can make do without.

[Hendrak]

I woupd consider dropping NH. It costs you 2 Attacks per Round which are empowered by IPA,InspireCourage+6,+1D4 Sonic Weapon.I guess your dmg output is high enough to interrupt casters regulary. I would also drop CE. But overall your build is good now and those are personal preferences.

We need dwarven bards and your most welcome as bard in groups.

[Khazrak]

Mmkay. Having given it some thought, I'm gonna replace NH with Improved Knockdown. Chorus of Heroism may not be super duper good, but dodge bonuses to AC stack, so if I really needed to bolster the party's AC I could throw up Inspire Defense + Chorus of Heroism, especially with a second bard in the party. Or I could just Inspire Courage + Chorus + Curse Song for tough fights (that's a thing I can do, right?).

Anyway, I think I'll roll with this. Thanks!

[Sun Wukong]

I woupd consider dropping NH. It costs you 2 Attacks per Round which are empowered by IPA,InspireCourage+6,+1D4 Sonic Weapon.I guess your dmg output is high enough to interrupt casters regulary. I would also drop CE. But overall your build is good now and those are personal preferences.

We need dwarven bards and your most welcome as bard in groups.

I would just ignore Improved Power Attack, it costs two feats, puts you down -6 AB, and doesn't exactly give damage if you have a shield up for AC.

Northlander Hewing is superior to disrupting casters, as you only get those first two attacks in a flurry to do it, and Northlander Hewing maximises your damage dices. With IPA you can always roll low, and it is not like you have Frenzied Berserker in that build of yours.

On a side note, nothing wrong in a Bard 25/FRenzied Berserker 5...

[Khazrak]

That's a fair point on IPA / Northlander Hewing. And truthfully I've been wanting to try Northlander Hewing out, as well as more of the new clickies.

I'll chew on this - replacing IPA with NH does make sense when put like that.