Offensive Bards

[darkbard]

Messieurs et mes dames,

In your opinions, what are the best offensive spells per level for the Bard class (including Spell Compendium, Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane BUT NOT Complete Mage or Scoundrel)?

A player in my game plays a bard (supplementing an urban ranger, cleric, and rogue) in a four-player party, thus serving double duty as support and occasional blaster.

Thanks for any suggestions....

 

[Rystil Arden]

Messieurs et mes dames,

In your opinions, what are the best offensive spells per level for the Bard class (including Spell Compendium, Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane BUT NOT Complete Mage or Scoundrel)?

A player in my game plays a bard (supplementing an urban ranger, cleric, and rogue) in a four-player party, thus serving double duty as support and occasional blaster.

Thanks for any suggestions....

It depends on where you use them. Hideous Laughter at a funeral would be pretty offensive. Even without spells, you could have a Perform (Insult Comic) Bard who specialises in offending.

 

[Allegro]

Confusion and Hold Monster

 

[Aelf]

Entice Gift can be devastating against humaniods. It is also a great RP opportunity.

When Kalen - a despised member of our party (and half elf diplomacy/perform monkey) - first used this spell, he RP'd it as doing his usual 'gab with the mobs' The party was floored with the orc prince handed over the magic greatsword ...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I like the 2nd level spell Whirling Blade- the Bard's proficiency with longsword is enough to make it a viable mook-sweeper, and if he ever multiclasses with a warrior-type class or uses a feat for proficiency with a larger bladed weapon, it becomes even more effective.

Benefits:

1) Area effect 60' line. (Because of unclear wording, your DM may or may not let you use it with Sculpt Spell.)

2) No saving throw, and can score crits.

3) Not affected by SR

4) Usable with virtually anything (spell/feat/class ability) you can use with a melee attack- arcane strike, power attack, wraithstrike, true strike, smites, Kensai Str boosts, etc. You even choose which stat to use for the att/dam bonuses- Str or your casting stat.

5) Damage potential boostable by an effectively non-finite resource: GP. The more GP you spend upgrading your weapon, the better the spell gets.

6) Unlike a Returning weapon, the spell explicitly states your weapon returns to your hand at the end of the spell.

Major disadvantages:

1) Its only a 2nd level spell.

2) Doesn't autoscale its damage output.

 

[frankthedm]

Dance of Ruin from the BOVD deals 2d20 damage to all non demons within short range. For a second level spell that's pretty good as long as you don't mind taking the damage yourself. the one round casting time can be a little tricky to work with.

 

[RangerWickett]

Offensive bards? I find all bards offensive.

 

[wildstarsreach]

Spell Compendium
1st level
Inspirational Boost, it improves your inspire courage by +1. Improvisation from SC is another good spell. This gives you a small luck pool that you can use to add upto 1/2 your level in pluses to suceed at various tasks. Critical strike can be another.

2nd level
Bladeweave, Know Vulnerabilities, Lively Step(a real must for party benefit), Whirling Blade.

3rd level
Allegro, Dolorous Blow, Loves Lament

4th level
Ray Deflection, Sirines Grace

That's all I have from the spell compendium, any other books I don't have great experience.

If you have access to the Eberron Campaign Setting, Song of the Heart feat also improves your Inspire Courage ability.

 

[Darklone]

IMHO offensive bards should specialise in some fighting style, e.g. polearm or archer.

One level barbarian for the melee bard is all you need (plus high str), the archer is a bit trickier to build.

Haste has not been mentioned yet, but even though it's a group buff, it's one of the most important buff spells a bard archer can get and needs. Granted, boots of speed are better since he does not have to waste an action... but most groups enjoy to be hasted, it depends on your co-workers.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I would recommend against making a melee Bard - you have the same hitpoints a Rogue, but don't have the tactical benefit of Sneak Attack to make up for it.
It's better to rely on archery. The Inspire Courage helps archers with their better chances to make many attacks each round a lot.

Still, at higher levels, I don't think Archery will cut it (unless you consider multiclasing a good option). It might be best to stack up on Wands and Scrolls with useful spells. The difficult thing about this strategy is that you have to get accustomed to the fact that you don't have just one "trick/tactic" - you have constantly reevaluate your options based on the magical items you find - you can't rely that you have a specific spell or item available at all times, because most the time, they are consumnable and there is only so much you can stock up (especially if it is supposed to be effective against enemies of your level)

Maybe that's also the general issue with the bard - you can't play it as a "one-trick-pony". He can't just do one thing, because he only is good and useful at it under specific circumstances. You can't probably be an effective "Offensive Bard" - you must be willing to take a defensive role, too.