Playing a Maximizing bard

[Kirito]

Hello all! I am playing a bard where my main function in the party is to give bonus damage to the man using the gargantuan hammer affectionately nicknamed "MC Hammer", and the number of extra d6's I give him depends on my inspire courage ability doubled because of feats and bard shenanigans, so I'm looking for magic items and stuff that would increase my inspire courage ability. My price range is 2k maximum. Thanks for the help! Feats list: Song of the heart, dragon fire inspiration, dragon touched(Dragon magic) and words of creation.

[PallentisLunam]

Using the rules for playing a horn from one of the Complete books (Adventurer I think) adds 1 to your inspire courage ability but it severely limits the duration.

[Malroth]

Badge Of Valor
Vest of Legends
Wand of "Inspiration boost"


Should add another 6d6

[Hiro Quester]

Learn the harmonize spell (RotW I think), and take melodic casting. Then you can start a bardic music as a move action, leaving a standard action for casting haste.

Haste gives bonuses to hit, and an extra attack at highest attack bonus (another round of those d6s for damage is way better than adding another +1 to hit many times).

[Kirito]

Thanks for the help!

[Troacctid]

Using the rules for playing a horn from one of the Complete books (Adventurer I think) adds 1 to your inspire courage ability but it severely limits the duration.

You're thinking of a mandolin, not a horn.

[Ruethgar]

Learn the harmonize spell (RotW I think), and take melodic casting. Then you can start a bardic music as a move action, leaving a standard action for casting haste.

Haste gives bonuses to hit, and an extra attack at highest attack bonus (another round of those d6s for damage is way better than adding another +1 to hit many times).

You can't actually do this. Even if you are a god of music and can use Bardic Music as a free action, Bardic Music specifically prohibits the casting of spells while in use as well as spell completion/trigger/command word magic items, weather you have the actions to do so or not.

[Fuzzy McCoy]

Sure, if you don't have Melodic Casting, that's how it works. Of course, you could always cast haste first and then start the music.

[Troacctid]

You can't actually do this. Even if you are a god of music and can use Bardic Music as a free action, Bardic Music specifically prohibits the casting of spells while in use as well as spell completion/trigger/command word magic items, weather you have the actions to do so or not.

Melodic Casting is a staple feat for bards. Even without it, you can just stop performing—most combats don't last longer than 6 rounds.

[AnonymousPepper]

If you're already leveled, this won't help much, but for future reference, if you can finagle your way into adding bonus sonic damage via DFI, you can drop the low-level Druid spell Creaking Cacophony (buy scrolls of at first, get an Eternal Wand or a Schema or two of it ASAP) to then give everyone in its AoE sonic vulnerability.

This was a wombo combo I played with a DFI Bard and my Druid in a game about a year or two ago. We flat-out broke most encounters if we got both off. Especially if I, the Druid, managed to also get off Cloudburst + Call Lightning/Call Lightning Storm during the encounter too. >_>

The moral of the story is to find a way to apply energy vulnerability to your energy type to your enemies, as that will multiply your damage output significantly.

Another thing you can do is grab the Snowflake Wardance feat and get mixed in yourself, taking advantage of the YOOGE to-hit bonus from your CHAMOD to reliably apply your own stacks of energy damage.

[Bronk]

Sure, if you don't have Melodic Casting, that's how it works. Of course, you could always cast haste first and then start the music.

This works as long as you're casting the spells from scrolls.

[Troacctid]

Another thing you can do is grab the Snowflake Wardance feat and get mixed in yourself, taking advantage of the YOOGE to-hit bonus from your CHAMOD to reliably apply your own stacks of energy damage.
Snowflake Wardance is a good way to get yourself killed. Squishy arcane casters generally don't belong within 5 feet of the enemy. Yeah, it's decent if you're doing some kind of Swiftblade or Jade Phoenix Mage thing, but on a typical bard build, it's mostly a trap—even more so if you are leaning hard into Inspire Courage and Dragonfire Inspiration, because that's a very feat-hungry strategy and you don't have the feat slot to spare.

[AnonymousPepper]

Snowflake Wardance is a good way to get yourself killed. Squishy arcane casters generally don't belong within 5 feet of the enemy. Yeah, it's decent if you're doing some kind of Swiftblade or Jade Phoenix Mage thing, but on a typical bard build, it's mostly a trap—even more so if you are leaning hard into Inspire Courage and Dragonfire Inspiration, because that's a very feat-hungry strategy and you don't have the feat slot to spare.

By the time he's late enough in his build to have room for Snowflake Wardance, he can get himself some miss chances fairly trivially. Smoking weapon, greater mirror image, and greater blink come to mind.

Also, if Divine Bard, while wearing heavy armor if he wants to.

[Hiro Quester]

By the time he's late enough in his build to have room for Snowflake Wardance, he can get himself some miss chances fairly trivially. Smoking weapon, greater mirror image, and greater blink come to mind.

Also, if Divine Bard, while wearing heavy armor if he wants to.

Bards don't have to be squishy at all, if you want to melee. You can easily have a hugely buffed attack, damage and AC, as well as enough temporary HPs to weather a melee encounter.

The spell Sirine's grace buffs your CHA and Dex by +4, and gives you your (now improved) CHA bonus as a deflection bonus to AC. The bard/sublime chord I used to play usually had a better AC than the party fighter by using this spell, along with bracers of armor, natural armor spell, (e.g. dragonskin), persisted shield spell, etc.

Plus if you get a horn of resilience and play Inspire Greatness you can give one target an extra 50 bonus HP (in addition to the regular d10s of bonus HP). That can be your party Tank, but it can also be you if you intend to Melee.

Again, Melodic casting plus Harmonize enables you to play bardic music and cast a SA spell every round.

So sing DFI and cast Haste first round. That discharges most of your obligations to buff the party. Next round, play IG (with bonus) on the horn tied round your neck --drop it as a free action-- and cast Sirine's Grace on yourself, then dance into combat ready to SFWD in the next round.

[Kirito]

wow. Thats a really indeapth build, instead of the usual, "you can do this and this and this, but i not going to tell you what there used for" Thanks!