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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6705363" data-attributes="member: 74499">Originally posted by Litigation:Advanced Composition: Combos I. Scales and Chords: Basic CombosThese 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).Heroic and Paragon TierCunning Rearrangement[sblock]Piece 1: Virtue of Cunning (Bard feature, PHB2)Piece 2: Advantage of Cunning (Bard heroic feat, PHB2)Piece 3: Improved Cunning (Bard paragon feat, PHB2)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 CunningNext 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):[CODE]000000      000000    00B00000B000 into 00B000 or 00E000 (the first if E attacks A, second if E attacks B)00AE00      00E000    00A000000000      00A000    000000[/CODE][CODE]000000      0000000B0000 into 0B0000 (E attacks A)00AE00      00E000000000      000A00[/CODE]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:[CODE]000000      000000    00B00000B000 into 000000 or 00E000 (E attacks B)00AE00      00AEB0    00A000000000      000000    000000[/CODE]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:[CODE]0000000      000000000BEE00 into 00B0000 (4 E's attacks A; 4 E's attacking B is the mirror going up)00AEE00      00EE0000000000      00EE0000000000      00A0000[/CODE]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:[CODE]0000000      0000000000EE00 into 0000000 (4 E's attacks A)0BAEE00      0BEE0000000000      00EEA000000000      0000000[/CODE]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.[/sblock]A Very Vicious Mockery[sblock]Piece 1: Vicious Mockery (Bard at-will, PHB2)Piece 2: Beguiling Enchantment (General heroic feat, PHB3)Piece 3: Psychic Lock (General paragon feat, PHB)Piece 4 (optional): Master's Wand of Vicious Mockery (Implement  property, wand, AV2)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 penaltiesSequence:Bard standard action - Vicious MockeryDefender standard action - AttackDefender miscellaneous actions (minor, free, none) - MarkNext 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.[/sblock]No Shifting Allowed[sblock]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 DefenderSequence: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.[CODE]0000XXX00XXEEAX00XAEEXX00XXX000000000000[/CODE]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.[/sblock]Shock, Stagger and Skewer[sblock]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 attackSequence: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:[CODE]0000A00000E000 (A=ally, B=bard, E=enemy)00000000000000000B000[/CODE]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.[/sblock] II. Etudes: Advanced CombosHere are the more advanced combos, some of which use the basics above as building blocks.Heroic and Paragon TierMocking Rearrangement[sblock]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 MockeryDefender action - AttackDefender miscellaneous actions (minor, free, none) - MarkIf enemy misses and attacks either melee combatant - Cunning RearrangementNext turn: RepeatDescription: 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.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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