Best Bard/Seeker of The Song Spells And Feats Plus Prestige Class Question

[Tierny]

Hello, first time poster here. I stumbled upon this forum as I was trying to search for some good Bard Spells and Feats.

Currently I am playing in the Iron Kingdoms setting with D&D 3.5 rules. All available spells and feats from first edition to 3.5 are available to me as long as I can reasonably use them. Aka I am not trying to cast some cleric or sorcerer spell that is obviously class specific. We have just reached level 8 with 6 levels in Bard and 2 in Seeker. I had decided to go with a Seeker of the Song as our DM is pushing the story of old world magic being the only type to really be able to work, thus elemental magic would be more powerful then casting just something else more just musically inclined.

Right now we haven't gotten into too much combat. But the stuff we have experienced has often involved dealing with snipers (so range combat), some melee to be expected and of course spell resistance/elves etc. I expect my character will be taking more of a back seat to full on melee combat, but would like some spells/feats for those just in case moments. What I am really looking for are Feats and Spells that will help/buff if party members are a far distance from me or help take out enemies from afar. The DM is giving us a choice of being able to make some changes.

My Feats right now are Combat Casting, Blind Fight, Skill Focus: Perform, Two-Weapon Fighting, Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot, Spell Focus, Dodge, Extra Music.

I have generic Spells right now straight out of the 3.5 player's handbook like Read Magic, Detect Magic, etc.

Since this is really my first time actually going into a prestige class I know in the book it claims that taking levels in Seeker means that for all spell purposes the Bard and Seeker stack. I would like to know if that is the same for skills (as the Seekers Skills are far less then the Bards) in regards to what class skills they know and can put points into?

My other question pertains mostly to spells, feats and skills. Since I have the ability to make changes and keeping in mind I will need some feats to shoot a gun and not kill my party and there were freebies given for having my Dexterity super high etc. Which Would be the best spells for range combat? Which would be the best to buff the party both far and near to me?
Which feats would be better to take given the potential combat scenarios? And lastly is there certain skills I should be trying to max out every time I level other then the usual Perform, Concentration, Knowledge's stuff?

Your help will be appreciated. Thanks and sorry for being long winded.

[Manateee]

Welcome to the forums!

EDIT:
Actually, with a level 8 seeker and levels stacking for spellcasting, you're probably not using the normal Seeker of the Song prestige class. I'm going to spoiler my message, in case any of it's still relevant (I was talking about the one printed in Complete Arcane), but could you point us to the version of Seeker that you're using?

I'm just going to go through and address things as I see them. If I mention something from a book you don't have or can't use, don't worry about it - I'm just trying to cover the bases.

Bard and Seeker levels stack for Bardic Music, not spells. The Seeker levels have no effect on things like Haste or Dispel, which is part of the class's bad reputation, but they do stack for the number of Bardic Music uses a Bard/Seeker gets per day.

In terms of skills, they kind of stack. It works as standard for multiclassed 3e characters:
Once a skill is on a character's list, the maximum ranks in that skill are Hit Dice + 3, regardless of any further multiclassing the character does.
Every level, a character only gets the specific number of skill points assigned by the class they've leveled in.
Skill ranks from the class they've gained a level in cost 1 skill point each.
Skill ranks from outside their class skill list cost 2 skill points each.


Your feats right now are kind of a mess. D&D is pretty unforgiving to dabblers - it helps to pick one or two things you want to do and stack your feats to be good at it. I'd recommend dropping Dodge, Combat Casting, Spell Focus (a useful effect, but spells with DCs are probably going to be a bad call if you're using level 3-4 spells on a level 11+ character) and Two-Weapon Fighting. Maybe also Blind-Sight and Extra Music, depending on how the campaign's been going.

Unfortunately, Seeker of the Song does little to improve ranged combat (most of its abilities are limited to 10-20 yards), so you're probably going to need a bow to deal with that sort of problem.

Fortunately, Bards have a lot of tools that can improve their archery.
The Rapid Shot feat is an extra attack for archers, so that's nice.
The Song of the Heart feat from the Eberron Campaign setting is an extra +1 to inspire courage (it doesn't look like much now, but it adds up).
The Inspirational Boost spell from Spell Compendium is an extra +1 inspire courage.
The Haste spell is an extra +1 to hit and yet another attack.
The Knowledge Devotion feat from Complete Champion is +1 to +5 to both attack and damage, depending on a Knowledge skill check. With a few skill ranks or skill buffs like Improvisation from Spell Compendium, it's not hard to get an extra +5 to each.


There are a few items and feats that can push this further (especially Inspire Courage (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9830)), but this should basically put you on the right track there.

Also, if it's available, you'll probably want to grab the Melodic Casting feat from Complete Mage. It's about the best feat a Bard can get because it allows you to simultaneously cast a spell and use your music. This is basically an extra action, and gaining an action advantage is really what D&D tactics boil down to.

Good luck!

[Tierny]

Actually I am using the Seeker Of the Song from the Complete Arcance. It was chosen after trolling around to find a good prestige class in which the idea of having ties to a more older style of music/spells would work within the game setting.

I haven't really busted out many bardic/seeker music but I am sensing that the seeker music would be great from close quarter combat as the music can enable my character to shoot fire, ice, etc.

Since I've been fumbling around not knowing really what to take I'm sure I took some feats and spells that just reallly did not make sense. Would you know of spells that would help me buff the part far away more then the usual 30 ft or strike at an opponent more then 30 ft?

PS thanks for the info as it helps me stream line my miss match picks