Multiclassing a bard help

[Dannyalcatraz]

I second the Reserve Feats suggestion.

Another consideration would be BattleSorcerer.

You'd gain a whole bunch more spells, could still cast in armor (do consider the Battle Caster feat to boost your protection), and you'd gain access to a martial melee weapon (not that you need that for your build, but it will probably be better than whatever you have right now).

And THAT would open up the various sorcerous heritage feats- Fey, Fiendish, Draconic, Celestial, etc.- any of which can give you some nifty non-melee (and some non-combat) abilities. All supernatural, so no worries about being grappled or ASF. And since they're powered by ANY arcane spells, once you have them, feel free to advance whichever class you care to.

Infernal Heritage coupled with Infernal Sorcerer Howl dovetails nicely with being a bard- Shout, Shout, take 'em all out!

(To take a look at them all, follow this link, check the "Heritage" circle, and then click on "Find" at the bottom of the page.)

 

[Azazello]

Ok, change of mind. You were right, and Warlock class is a bit limited without gearing up for it since lvl 1. But I am thinking of trying a new combo:

Bard 1-6
Rogue 7-8
Druid 9
Sublime Cord 10-11
Fochlucan Lyrist 12 -20

This would give me some pretty beefy abilities, as well as lvl 17 ECL on my wiz/bard spells (before any items, feats), pretty good BAB, access to all my sweet bardic abilities, etc. Any thoughts on that? DM already ruled that my effective WIS is modified by items for the purposes of casting, so druid spells will be more than accessible by the time I get to FL. Also all spells are castable in light armor. XP penalty for multiclassing is waved per combined benefit of being human and FL's class feature.

If I am reading the book correctly, SC ECL is bard + FL, the FL's ELC is SC + FL, thus the end ELC is (bard + SC) + FL, thus 17 for purposes of arcane side, and ELC of 9 for druid spells.

 

[Dandu]

There's some good FL discussion here.

 

[Nedz]

I have played a Bard pretty much all the way through and I always regretted talking two levels of Rogue. OK this did give me Evasion (which you can get on a ring) but little else.
The Bard is an arcanist and like all arcanist it benefits strongly from keeping the spellcasting progressing. The Bard does have a frustratingly slow spell progression but it is worth plugging away at. Unless there is a PRC you want to go for (ideally one with full spellcasting) and you need pre-req class abilities you should avoid multiclassing.
The key with Bards is less about Feat selection and more about spell selection. Bards generally make poor offensive spellcasters but are excellent at buffing and debuffing, though you should be able to blow away mooks without too much trouble. Looking for spells which only Bards get, or spells which Bards get at lower levels is generally sound but like all spontaneous arcanists they benefit from planning ahead and avoiding duplication of effort.
Feats can give you unusual abilities (ones keyed of Cha are obviously good) so things like Heratage feats or Ki Shout are worth considering.
You are also something of a skill monkey so focussing on that is also an idea, especially the interpersonal skills (Diplomacy, Bluff, et al)

I hope this helps

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I have played a Bard pretty much all the way through and I always regretted talking two levels of Rogue. OK this did give me Evasion (which you can get on a ring) but little else.
The Bard is an arcanist and like all arcanist it benefits strongly from keeping the spellcasting progressing. The Bard does have a frustratingly slow spell progression but it is worth plugging away at. Unless there is a PRC you want to go for (ideally one with full spellcasting) and you need pre-req class abilities you should avoid multiclassing.
The key with Bards is less about Feat selection and more about spell selection. Bards generally make poor offensive spellcasters but are excellent at buffing and debuffing, though you should be able to blow away mooks without too much trouble. Looking for spells which only Bards get, or spells which Bards get at lower levels is generally sound but like all spontaneous arcanists they benefit from planning ahead and avoiding duplication of effort.
Feats can give you unusual abilities (ones keyed of Cha are obviously good) so things like Heratage feats or Ki Shout are worth considering.
You are also something of a skill monkey so focussing on that is also an idea, especially the interpersonal skills (Diplomacy, Bluff, et al)

I hope this helps

Mostly agree, though FL is a good prestige class. It's just such a pain to enter I've never seen anyone bother with it. I will say that if Sublime Chord is allowed, I've yet to see a mechanical reason why NOT to go into it. I guess you could try and argue a Bard/Wizard/Ultimate Magus that ultimately rides on the power of the wizard side is stronger, but it's hardly just a "Bard" at that point.