Knowledge Gish

[Bloodgruve]

Hola Playgrounders,

I have made a terrible mistake. Due to a failure to read properly I have been overlooking Knowledge Devotion.

I have decided to play a bard as my next character, I would like the communities input on this to help optimize the concept. I would like the concept to play off of Knowledge checks and Knowledge Devotion.

So here it goes;

Bard1>Archivist1>Bard6>Warblade1>Bard2>Sublime Chord9

Feats
Melodic Casting (Flaw)
Versitile Spellcaster (Flaw)
1-TWF
3-Knowledge Devotion
6-Song of the Heart
9-Song of the White Raven
12-Arcane Strike
15-Words of Creation
18-?

Required stats would be Int and Cha at 19 by lvl 20 and starting Dex of 15.

Basics of the build;
*Stacking Inspire Courage, Knowledge Devotion and Dark Knowledge Tactics

*Archivist with Versatile Spellcaster for Divine casting, good Spellcraft is needed to record and learn spells like a wizard. Burning bard spells for it.

*Sublime Chord for Arcane casting and 9th level spells for Versatile Spellcaster.

At level 20 this could potentially give 9th level Arcane and Divine casting, +16 Hit / +13 Damage in melee (+11/+8 for the party), a few maneuvers and a stance, swift Inspire Courage and the potential for buffing with Divine Power.

This build assumes that Archivist works the same as Wizard for spell recording and spellbook use.

Is Sublime Chord the right choice here? Should I add Abjurant Champ?

Input appreciated,

Blood~

[eggs]

That is the sketchiest use of Versatile Spellcaster. :smalltongue: But if you're using it, you should drop a level in Wizard for good measure. SC spells known are very limited (and Wizard's a nice dip for things like Abrupt Jaunt/Familiar and the bonus feat).

Song of the White Raven kind of sucks for IC optimization due to its action economy interaction. What it's useful for is doing IC while progressing in Warblade or Crusader, but that's not going on here. If speeding up your music is the issue, just IC continuously (if that's a problem, Subsonics lets you IC without making big loud sounds all the time).

Sublime Chord levels are pretty crappy after SC2. Going Abjurant Champion/Sacred Exorcist with those levels is always safe for a Gish. Virtuoso is also a common choice, due to its music progression (just burn the dead casting level before SC entry).