Ultimate Performer

[LordOfCain]

Opinions???
Lesser Aasimar Bard 7/Marshal 1/Stormsinger 3/Sublime Chord 9
Skill Focus (Perform (Sing))
Martial Study (Moment of Perfect Mind)
Martial Study (Action Before Thought)
Martial Study (Mind Over Body)
Item Familiar
Doesn't matter as much after these.

Minor Aura: Motivate Charisma

[Blackhawk748]

How are you qualifying for those Martial Stances?

[Grod_The_Giant]

How are you qualifying for those Martial Stances?
It should be Martial Study-- those are Strikes. But what are you doing with them? You're missing a few steps there. You might have meant to grab Melodic Casting to replace Concentration with Perform, but that wouldn't RAW work-- it only specifics spells and SLAs, and then only "to cast" them, which might or might not include the Concentration-check-for-damage. What you need is the Undersong spell (Bard 1, SpC), which works for all purposes.

But even then, I'm not sure what you're doing really counts as "ultimate perform," seeing as how you're really only got one thing that actively uses Perform-- the Stormsinger's Thunderstrike. The maneuvers are just for saves, and since you nabbed them with feats those are only good for 1/encounter. (Also, there's no good reason to keep taking Sublime Chord after 2-- go back to Stormsinger or something and progress the SC casting). Also, Item Familiar is a super-cheap method of skill boosting.

No, if you really want to be an "ultimate performer," you need more Diamond Mind maneuvers for more Perform uses. The list would be

Action Before Thought- lv 2, Reflex saves
All the ___ Nightmare Blade maneuvers- lv and 1, 4, and 8, damage boost. (and a slight accuracy boost with Sapphire Nightmare Blade)
(Greater) Insightful Strike- lv 3 and 6, weapon damage
Mind Over Body- lv 3, Fortitude saves
Moment of Perfect Mind- lv 1, Will saves

The trick is getting both those and spellcasting, which isn't easy since none of the gish PrCs grant Diamond Mind maneuvers. You could take Jade Phoenix Mage anyway and just blow a lot of feats, but that's kind of painful. You can get the save boosters, Mind Over Body, and Ruby Nightmare Blade with a straight dip at ECL 9, and add Ruby Nightmare Blade at ECL 13, but Greater Insightful Strike and Diamond Nightmare Blade are off the table until epic. Your best bet might be to use the PrC to improve your initiator level, but take some strategic Warblade dips to pick up the Diamond Mind stuff when you qualify.

As for other stuff, I'd drop Stormsinger-- Insightful Strike fills much the same roll, but without resistances and daily limits. (Especially with a Warblade base for easy recovery). You might pick up Snowflake Wardance and/or Slippers of Battledancing and Gauntlets of Heartfelt Blows to reduce MAD and use your sky-high Charisma in battle.

[LordOfCain]

It should be Martial Study-- those are Strikes. But what are you doing with them? You're missing a few steps there. You might have meant to grab Melodic Casting to replace Concentration with Perform, but that wouldn't RAW work-- it only specifics spells and SLAs, and then only "to cast" them, which might or might not include the Concentration-check-for-damage. What you need is the Undersong spell (Bard 1, SpC), which works for all purposes.

But even then, I'm not sure what you're doing really counts as "ultimate perform," seeing as how you're really only got one thing that actively uses Perform-- the Stormsinger's Thunderstrike. The maneuvers are just for saves, and since you nabbed them with feats those are only good for 1/encounter. (Also, there's no good reason to keep taking Sublime Chord after 2-- go back to Stormsinger or something and progress the SC casting). Also, Item Familiar is a super-cheap method of skill boosting.

No, if you really want to be an "ultimate performer," you need more Diamond Mind maneuvers for more Perform uses. The list would be

Action Before Thought- lv 2, Reflex saves
All the ___ Nightmare Blade maneuvers- lv and 1, 4, and 8, damage boost. (and a slight accuracy boost with Sapphire Nightmare Blade)
(Greater) Insightful Strike- lv 3 and 6, weapon damage
Mind Over Body- lv 3, Fortitude saves
Moment of Perfect Mind- lv 1, Will saves

The trick is getting both those and spellcasting, which isn't easy since none of the gish PrCs grant Diamond Mind maneuvers. You could take Jade Phoenix Mage anyway and just blow a lot of feats, but that's kind of painful. You can get the save boosters, Mind Over Body, and Ruby Nightmare Blade with a straight dip at ECL 9, and add Ruby Nightmare Blade at ECL 13, but Greater Insightful Strike and Diamond Nightmare Blade are off the table until epic. Your best bet might be to use the PrC to improve your initiator level, but take some strategic Warblade dips to pick up the Diamond Mind stuff when you qualify.

As for other stuff, I'd drop Stormsinger-- Insightful Strike fills much the same roll, but without resistances and daily limits. (Especially with a Warblade base for easy recovery). You might pick up Snowflake Wardance and/or Slippers of Battledancing and Gauntlets of Heartfelt Blows to reduce MAD and use your sky-high Charisma in battle.
What about changing to Sublime Chord 2 and Stormsinger 10. Hm... thought you were locked into taking Sublime Chord until 10 or something... I don't know why...

[Grod_The_Giant]

What about changing to Sublime Chord 2 and Stormsinger 10. Hm... thought you were locked into taking Sublime Chord until 10 or something... I don't know why...
Were you looking at the Therafim version? That site uses houserules. More Stormsinger is certainly more thematic, but I don't think it gets you much more use out of your boosted Perform.

[LordOfCain]

Were you looking at the Therafim version? That site uses houserules. More Stormsinger is certainly more thematic, but I don't think it gets you much more use out of your boosted Perform.

Probably accidentally looked at it and didn't cross check.