These are the basic tricks the Bard can pull, many of which have been hinted at through this guide. Here you get to see them come together. Many of these are done at-will or per-encounter. Some of these are just general things he/she can do to help the party with his/her own devices, while others may be standard combos for assisting a certain type of ally. Many of these combos can serve as the building blocks for greater works (i.e. the advanced combos to come later).
Ideal allies: 1) One Defender with Agile Opportunist (any) 2) One melee Striker or second Defender with Agile Opportunist (any)
Sequence: If enemy attacks and misses either melee combatant - Virtue of Cunning + Advantage of Cunning
Next turn: Repeat.
Description: This is how a Cunning Bard can completely turn the tables on enemy melee units engaged with your melee allies.
Here are some basic flank setups he can pull off with the Virtue/Advantage combo, even in Heroic Tier before he gets Improved Cunning (0=Unoccupied Squares, E=Enemy, A=Ally 1, B=Ally 2):
000000 000000 00B000 00B000 into 00B000 or 00E000 (the first if E attacks A, second if E attacks B) 00AE00 00E000 00A000 000000 00A000 000000
000000 000000 0B0000 into 0B0000 (E attacks A) 00AE00 00E000 000000 000A00
In Paragon Tier, with Improved Cunning the options become even more extensive, and you also get more opportunities to trigger Agile Opportunist from the ally you slide. Such as:
000000 000000 00B000 00B000 into 000000 or 00E000 (E attacks B) 00AE00 00AEB0 00A000 000000 000000 000000
In this example, B can get his Agile Opportunist attack when you slide him one square to the right, then slide him diagonally another square either down-right (setting up the flank immediately) or, alternatively, up-left and sliding E up-left where B used to be, into a flank there.
Improved Cunning + Advantage of Cunning can get really fun against Large enemies:
0000000 0000000 00BEE00 into 00B0000 (4 E's attacks A; 4 E's attacking B is the mirror going up) 00AEE00 00EE000 0000000 00EE000 0000000 00A0000
Remember that Advantage of Cunning's language makes the slide work as long as the enemy's destination includes one square where the ally used to be, and there is no limit to the amount of squares you can slide the enemy. Here, after the first square A slides, he gets his AO (he's still adjacent to the 4 E's at that point), then he slides the second square and the Large enemy gets shoved into the flank for his efforts.
Another one for kicks:
0000000 0000000 000EE00 into 0000000 (4 E's attacks A) 0BAEE00 0BEE000 0000000 00EEA00 0000000 0000000
You slide A down-right, then right (he gets his AO at any point here), then slide the 4 E's into the flank.
I could come up with a lot more, but hopefully after these first few diagrams you can see just how potent this combo can get in redrawing the battle lines. This is the reason both Advantage of Cunning and Improved Cunning are rated mandatory.
Ideal allies: 1) One Defender (any works, but even better if he/she inflicts additional to-hit penalties on or in addition to his marks, i.e. Charisma-based Paladin with Enfeebling Strike) 2) Any other ally who inflicts hit penalties
Sequence: Bard standard action - Vicious Mockery Defender standard action - Attack Defender miscellaneous actions (minor, free, none) - Mark
Next turn: Repeat.
Description: This combo is meant to stack penalties on top of what Vicious Mockery can already do. Extra self-defense comes in the form of Beguiling Enchantment, taking advantage of the power's Charm keyword to inflict additional penalties when the enemy attacks you. In Paragon Tier, this power inflicts an additional -2 on the enemy's first attack against anybody thanks to Psychic Lock and the Psychic keyword.
Combined with a Chaladin's basic mark and Enfeebling Strike, you have a simple at-will party combo that can inflict -6 to hit the Chaladin, -8 to hit all your other allies, and -10 to hit you. A Cunning Bard can really take advantage of this, as we'll see in the advanced combos.
Piece 1: White Lotus Hindrance (Arcane heroic feat, D 374) Piece 2: White Lotus Master Hindrance (Arcane paragon feat, D 374)
Ideal allies: 1) One Defender (any, but especially a Fighter with Combat Superiority) 2) A melee Striker or second Defender
Sequence: Standard action - Any Bard at-will when your melee allies are flanking an enemy or enemies.
Next turn: Repeat.
Description: When you use Master Hindrance to create difficult terrain around your melee allies when they're flanking someone, the enemy literally has nowhere to shift, as shown here:
E = enemy, A = ally, 0 = unaffected squares, X = difficult terrain.
0000XXX0 0XXEEAX0 0XAEEXX0 0XXX0000 00000000
Here, the enemy is large (4 E's), but still can't shift anywhere. Anywhere he would try to shift would have an X in it, a square of difficult terrain.
Piece 1: Staggering Note (Bard at-will D 383) Piece 2: Arcane Admixture (Lightning) (Arcane paragon feat, AP) Piece 3: Oncoming Storm (General heroic feat, PHB2) Piece 4: Wand of Thunderous Anguish (Implement property, wand, AV2) Piece 5: White Lotus Riposte (Arcane heroic feat, D 374) Piece 6: White Lotus Master Riposte (Arcane paragon feat, D 374) Piece 7 (optional): Mark of Storm (Dragonmark feat, EPG) Piece 8 (optional): Echoes of Thunder (General paragon feat, PHB2)
Ideal allies: 1) At least one melee ally with a strong melee basic attack
Sequence: Standard action - Staggering Note, push enemy next to melee ally. Move action - If necessary, move into a spot relative to your ally where you can push your enemy again toward your ally if the enemy decides to still attack you. And you want to be within three squares of your ally (you'll see why). Immediate action - If enemy attacks you, repeat Staggering Note, push enemy next to melee ally again.
Next turn: Repeat.
Description: This is the path toward optimizing the effects of Staggering Note. Arcane Admixture the Lightning keyword onto it (remember even post-errata that feat still stacks keywords) and you'll make it play nice with the attack bonus you get from Oncoming Storm. Wand of Thunderous Anguish makes your melee ally of choice inflict extra Thunder damage on all his following attacks, including the attack Staggering Note grants. And the reason you want to move yourself into a position like so after your standard action:
is to (a) possibly entice the enemy to attack you so it triggers your Master Riposte, and (b) if he does trigger your Staggering Note repeat, you're in a position to push the enemy back two squares toward your ally, where he can make yet another melee basic attack. This can be a way to really rack up the damage ... that or make the enemy deathly scared to attack you back. (Alternatively, you could find a second melee ally to attain this position with if it would be easier.)
If you took Mark of Storm, you can be an extra square away thanks to the slide you get from that power.
II. Etudes: Advanced Combos
Here are the more advanced combos, some of which use the basics above as building blocks.
Piece 1: Cunning Rearrangement (Basic combo) Piece 2: A Very Vicious Mockery (Basic combo)
Ideal allies: 1) One Defender, preferably one who optimizes to-hit penalties, with Agile Opportunist. 2) Second Defender or melee Striker with Agile Opportunist.
Sequence: Bard standard action - Vicious Mockery Defender action - Attack Defender miscellaneous actions (minor, free, none) - Mark If enemy misses and attacks either melee combatant - Cunning Rearrangement
Next turn: Repeat
Description: This combines an optimized Vicious Mockery with the combo of Advantage of Cunning and Improved Cunning. Pretty simple, but with the penalties your Vicious Mockery inflicts, combined with any penalties from your Defender (Enfeebling Strike on a Paladin is really nice here) you're looking at the enemy missing very often, and thus triggering your Virtue of Cunning to turn the tables ... or better still, the enemy being scared to attack at all lest he get shoved into an even tighter situation.
D&DN Paladin: Half-Fighter, half-Cleric, all useless. D&DN Ranger: Third-Fighter, third-Rogue, third-Druid, all useless. With one interesting concept that has its execution botched.
After some analysis of actual gameplay, here are things Bards must keep in mind at the table:
I. Know how you direct.
Cunning: You are pretty much a Controller (Leader) through and through and should play like one. Generally, you'll want to hover a few squares away from the thick of a melee, just close enough to influence the fight with your Virtue of Cunning and your ranged implement powers. Play off your melee units and adjust your positioning round after round accordingly. If the enemy group has some annoying Artillery or Skirmishers that move on the perimeter, you're the best equipped to deal with it, using your ranged positioning powers to get your melee allies to trap them.
Valorous: You are mostly a Soldier (Leader), still with a hint of Controller. With your high Constitution and chain (or better) you'll want to be in the thick of the fight, backed up by defenders and melee strikers, where you can easily grant THPs to your allies with your Virtue of Valor, buff their attacks, and shuffle them around with your movement powers.
Prescient: You are mostly an Artillery (Leader) unit. Much like the Cunning Bard, you'll want to hover a few squares away from the heaviest area of the battle, where you can trigger your Virtue of Prescience if you need to. Most of your attacks are single-target buffs, so you tend to influence the direction of the combat most visibly.
II. Take initiative.
This is especially important if your Bard is oriented toward movement enabling. You should've taken Improved Initiative (and later Superior Initiative) and any items and other feats that boost your initiative. If you've done this, you should consistently beat enemies to the punch, which will also mean that your high-initiative allies won't mind delaying their turns until right after yours.
When you get the jump on your enemies with a higher initiative count, immediately use your movement enabling encounter powers to get your allies in position to unleash hell.
Another important part of taking initiative is when to delay your own turn. This is important if you have save-ends daily powers that boost your allies' attacks, such as Satire of Prowess. In such a case, having a high initiative gives you the freedom to delay your turn until right after your target enemy's turn, which will allow your allies to all take advantage of your ensuing daily power's benefits for at least one whole round. This is especially vital against an Elite or Solo, which is more likely to (a) be the target of such a power, and (b) save against a second round of such a power.
III. Know your numbers, and spread the word.
Few things are more frustrating than sitting at the table with a Leader player who can't remember his bonuses, or what his powers do, or how they're supposed to help you. If you granted an ally a bonus, remind them of it; in fact, remind them every turn the bonus is in effect.
IV. Be a team player.
Meaning, always be ready to help out in any situation, and play accordingly. If an ally needs healing, heal them. If you already see your allies advancing toward one enemy, throw one of your party starters in that enemy's direction to make your allies' job easier.
D&DN Paladin: Half-Fighter, half-Cleric, all useless. D&DN Ranger: Third-Fighter, third-Rogue, third-Druid, all useless. With one interesting concept that has its execution botched.
D&DN Paladin: Half-Fighter, half-Cleric, all useless. D&DN Ranger: Third-Fighter, third-Rogue, third-Druid, all useless. With one interesting concept that has its execution botched.
D&DN Paladin: Half-Fighter, half-Cleric, all useless. D&DN Ranger: Third-Fighter, third-Rogue, third-Druid, all useless. With one interesting concept that has its execution botched.
Really looking forward to the new guide as I have recently started playing a half elf bard.
One interesting multiclass option/half elf dilettante combo that I noticed is that if you happen to pick up the shaman multiclass option, you can also pick up the new power Spirit of the Tempest from the Primal Power (spirit of the tempest grants a saving throw to a nearby ally of the spirit companion or the shaman, regardless of hit or miss)
I've noticed that powers that grant saving throws are a bit of rarity in bard powers and into paragon, some of those ongoing effects are worse than straight damage - this fixes that to a certain extent.
16, 16, 12, 12, 10, 8: Charisma and your relevant secondary stat get equal, intensive focus. Two other stats get marginal play. The best array if you place a premium on your Virtue benefit and the riders on your powers.
I think it will typically better to have 16, 16, 13, 11, 10, 8. The odd stats let you qualify for certain feats and multi-class feats easier. Depends a little bit on where you're getting the racial bonus.
18, 12, 12, 12, 10, 8: Variant of above, if you want an appreciable quaternary stat while still going for maximum attack bonus.
I don't even think this array is worth mentioning. This time the 18, 14, 11, 10, 10, 8 might be worth recommending, but only for those who don't get a primary boost to charisma (and even then 18, 13, 13 or 17, 14, 14 might be better depending on goals).
For races, you have none that are black. And I think some of the ones with purple actually deserve a black.
Eladrin with the ability to teleport, and education, a good early damage boost with eladrin soldier with a song blade longsword, and easy access to dual implement and a number of dex based multiclasses can do quite well. Add a wizard multiclass and an appropriate master's wand in the offhand for a bit of extra control if you don't have a controller. I think it certainly deserves a black.
Elf make almost blue precient bards. For the other builds, I'd agree with the purple.
I would also consider bumping up Genasi and Goliaths a knotch. There are some nice elemental tricks that can be done with the Genasi. And the survivability of a Goliath Bard in the front lines can be pretty impressive with easy access to scale (even plate is within reach). Add Warchanter, Improved Valor, and maybe unyielding Stone, and you can fight side by side with the defernder, even pick up Warden multiclass for some marking ability. I'd mark both Genasi and Goliaths as Black. Goliath should be at least a purple as I think they have better options than the currently purple dwarf.
I would like to suggest Magic Weapon as a good pick for a Half-Elf's Dilettante pick. While it doesn't give near as good an attack bonus as Furious Smash, it can possibly buff more than one ally, and its damage and attack bonus last for every attack your ally might make, so it works out better when applied to multi-attacking allies. I don't think its as good as Furious Smash, but its worth a mention if the Bard is in a party with a bunch of melees with multi-attacking powers. Doesn't work well for Cunning Bards, though.
