Twist on Barcher

[paperarmor]

Dipping my toes into charop again and had an idea for a Bardic Archer build using DFI and the manticore belt but having trouble with build. I was thinking about Savage Bard 4/ Totemist 16. With usual dfi stuff hero's badge song of the heart etc. Is it too focused on totemist levels? Thanks in advance

[Darrin]

Dipping my toes into charop again and had an idea for a Bardic Archer build using DFI and the manticore belt but having trouble with build. I was thinking about Savage Bard 4/ Totemist 16. With usual dfi stuff hero's badge song of the heart etc. Is it too focused on totemist levels? Thanks in advance

With only 4 bard levels, your Inspire Courage is not going to be all that impressive. Since your soulmeld capacity is based mostly on your character level rather than Totemist level, you'd probably be better off with Totemist 2/Bard 15/Something 3.

If you want to focus on spellcasting, maybe try: Bard 7/Totemist 2/Virtuoso 1/Sublime Chord 2/Virtuoso +8.

If you want to focus on archery, then maybe try: Bard 4/Totemist 2/Crusader 14 with Song of the White Raven.

[paperarmor]

OK would a Factotum dip be worth it for the extra spines which I believe are a standard action? Afb. So Bard 12 totemist 2 Factotum 6?

[Darrin]

OK would a Factotum dip be worth it for the extra spines which I believe are a standard action? Afb. So Bard 12 totemist 2 Factotum 6?

You need Factotum 8 to get Cunning Surge. You also need lots of Font of Inspiration, but your feat slots are largely going to be taken up by archery/bardic music feats, so you won't have all that many Cunning Surges available... possibly 3 per encounter, but more likely 2. Bard 10/Totemist 2/Factotum 8 might work, but there will be a long stretch where you're not getting enough Bard or not getting enough Factotum, so your signature trick probably isn't going to work all that well until after ECL 12ish.

I was going to say, just use one of Piggy's archer builds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?284283) or Tippy's Bird of Prey (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?286818), but now that I'm looking at the various Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401516&postcount=9) builds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401526&postcount=10), I am not seeing a definitive Factotum/Totemist Archer. Hmm.

[gorfnab]

What about something like Bard 8/ Arcane Archer 2/ Sublime Chord 2/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Ruathar 3? This gives you 16 BAB at level 20, 9th level spells, and the ability to imbue spells into your arrows (ie. Antimagic Field).

[paperarmor]

You need Factotum 8 to get Cunning Surge. You also need lots of Font of Inspiration, but your feat slots are largely going to be taken up by archery/bardic music feats, so you won't have all that many Cunning Surges available... possibly 3 per encounter, but more likely 2. Bard 10/Totemist 2/Factotum 8 might work, but there will be a long stretch where you're not getting enough Bard or not getting enough Factotum, so your signature trick probably isn't going to work all that well until after ECL 12ish.

I was going to say, just use one of Piggy's archer builds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?284283) or Tippy's Bird of Prey (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?286818), but now that I'm looking at the various Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401516&postcount=9) builds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=15401526&postcount=10), I am not seeing a definitive Factotum/Totemist Archer. Hmm.

Wow. Rustier than I thought. Anyway I haven't seen a lot of Bard and incarnum. Thought it was a neat idea.