Sickles! Oh wow! I would never have though about that. I need to look into these. I always though Swords to Plowshares was for staffs and wraps.
So with CHA being at 14, wouldn't that impact the freezes or spells DC's?
Swash Freezing bard - trying to bring the love back
- Thread starter Eleazzar
- Start date
So with CHA being at 14, wouldn't that impact the freezes or spells DC's?
Spells yes, freezes no because "Spinning Ice, Frozen Fury, and Skaldic Scream now use the highest of Dexterity, Charisma, or Strength for their DCs." So I want to do a DEX Swashbuckler/Warchanter who goes all-in on melee and only uses spells for support.
ok cool. Loving this. Just one question tho. What allows Dex to Hit and Dmg?
Last edited:
Weapon Finesse gives DEX to hit; Swift Strikes gives DEX to damage. Or you can use a named weapon with inherent DEX to hit and damage like Tiefling's Assassin Blade.
Since we are going SWF, why not Shadar-Kai for chain whip as well? I know we lose a feat, may have to use a +1 heart but have your theorycrafted anything around this idea? Do you think its WORTH it.
Last edited:
As I said upthread, the issue is AP costs. Grabbing everything I want is at least 88 APs so I need to decide how to downscale it for a "lowbie" toon. One option would be a "DEX primary, INT secondary" variant which goes for Know the Angles instead of No Step Missed; smaller bonus than if I went all-in on DEX but lower AP cost for a Battle Trance (6-8 APs for KtA vs 11-13 APs for NSM). And bumping up INT means more skill points for trap skills to go with rogue 2 splash.
Silver lining: if I decide to use daggers or kukris, I can get DEX to hit for 1 AP from Assassin, thereby saving a feat (Weapon Finesse). I'll also benefit more from Vistani tree (e.g., Rapid Slash).
Last edited:
chocothunder
Member
In terms of gear, how to go about building a basic setup for this build at this point? After so many years away, I'm finding myself completely lost on epic/legendary gear. I usually run a setup from 20-26 and another one for the last couple of levels. 20-26 is basically cannith crafting atm. I have no clue how to go about building something new and start looking for stuff. Any input?
LeslieWest_GuitarGod
Well-known member
Unbongwah did it again. 2 very good bard build contributions in this thread.
How I am doing it, is using the Fam Set from Sharn and Adherent of the mist set from RavenLoft till 29, then switch to the level 29 versions.
I went onto Lamannia last week to test the sickle version. Functioned basically as expected. With minimal gear at level 20, Warchanter DCs were low 50s while No Step Missed is active; so I'm sure it gets much better with a little effort. I'm underwhelmed by Skaldic Scream though: the 2-minute cooldown is way too long for a freeze effect that's shorter than Spinning Ice yet has the same DC. The devs should just make it have the same CD as other bard songs; the finite charges are enough of a limiter already IMO.
So I might dust off the bard 18 / rogue 2 combo again, trading Skaldic Scream for trap skills and Evasion, which can be upgraded to Improved Evasion at level 26 (The Darkest Luck).
FVSHasBeenGuttedwhyohwhy
Well-known member
this may be unpopular, but doing VKF with kukris is a very good choice for swash bard because warchanter gives cleave abilities and more importantly right now rapid slash is the old confront any foe attack, meaning it hits 3 times in a huge frontal AOE. therefore, doing VKF makes you an AOE god, yes, it has less crit range than handaxes, but the aoe attacks make it much better (IMO) for leveling. for raiding, obviously handaxes best cuz its the most single target dps, but I doubt you are raiding if your asking this question because freeze bard isn't amazing for raids other than the ballad buffs.
I was actually wanting this for cap. So raids, reaper point farming, gear farming etc. I loved running a freezing bard back in 2015. I got all my PDK/Bard lives on it. If its not going tp be gimped with freezes or DPS then I will ditch this project.
I am not expecting Meta but if my freezes are hardly hitting in R3-R5 w/70 Reaper points and the gear I stated above, then it will suck playing and a waste of my time.
FVSHasBeenGuttedwhyohwhy
Well-known member
oh i got to 115 DC on a 2nd lifer, its very doable, just needs work, ideally hit 120 DC for r3-5 for modern content, but 110 is pretty much no fail in older stuff
Thulsadoom
Well-known member
Im warchanter at cap right now 
Take 2 on the concept, now with trap skills.
Your Enhancement spread will depend on whether you're F2P or have the Universal Enhancement trees.
Completely F2P:
Best-case scenario with Vistani Knife Fighter and Horizon Walker:
Epic Destinies offer a lot of flexibility, though you'll definitely want Unyielding Sentinel for Renewal and Legendary Shield Mastery. Sample configuration:
Built to use daggers or kukris; DEX to hit comes from Assassin (Knife in the Darkness), saving us a feat on Weapon Finesse. Or use one of the Swashbuckling-compatible weapons which natively support DEX to hit, such as Tiefling Assassin's Blade or Zephyr.
Your Enhancement spread will depend on whether you're F2P or have the Universal Enhancement trees.
Completely F2P:
Best-case scenario with Vistani Knife Fighter and Horizon Walker:
The F2P version actually has more sneak attacks and +3 Imbue dice; but the P2P one has higher doublestrike and a Battle Trance so both its DPS and Warchanter DCs will be better.
Epic Destinies offer a lot of flexibility, though you'll definitely want Unyielding Sentinel for Renewal and Legendary Shield Mastery. Sample configuration:
Legendary Dreadnought instead of Fatesinger is also a good option IMO, since Dire Attack's DC uses any stat plus Stunning bonuses which also apply to your Warchanter freezing attacks.