Bard Training Advice

[Uryens]

I have a level 20 bard that I built about 5 years ago and didn't do any research when I did. So I am looking for some advice on what to do with him.

Also not sure what build I want so any suggestions on which is the better one would be helpful as well.

He is in Voln at the moment on step 14. Thanks for any advice.

(at level 20), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 108 26
Shield Use.........................| 96 22
Combat Maneuvers...................| 96 22
Edged Weapons......................| 144 44
Brawling...........................| 96 22
Physical Fitness...................| 96 22
Dodging............................| 96 22
Harness Power......................| 96 22
Perception.........................| 96 22
Climbing...........................| 90 20
Swimming...........................| 50 10

Spell Lists
Bard...............................| 20




Race: Giantman Profession: Bard (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 52 Expr: 477019 Level: 20
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 70 (25) ... 70 (25)
Constitution (CON): 69 (19) ... 69 (19)
Dexterity (DEX): 76 (8) ... 76 (8)
Agility (AGI): 76 (8) ... 76 (8)
Discipline (DIS): 79 (14) ... 79 (14)
Aura (AUR): 86 (13) ... 86 (13)
Logic (LOG): 68 (4) ... 68 (4)
Intuition (INT): 71 (10) ... 71 (10)
Wisdom (WIS): 60 (5) ... 60 (5)
Influence (INF): 75 (17) ... 75 (17)
Mana: 67

[DaCapn]

Scrap brawling and shave some of your dodge. You should shoot for 1x air lore if you're going to be using a light weapon. Also get some telepathy lore.

[Drakefang]

I guess the question is, what do you want to do with your bard? Fixing small things in your current training is very simple. Deciding, for you, another route to take with your bard is a whole different story.

I agree the brawling skill only hurts your current training plan. I like the 1x Dodge but many bards think .75x with 1x shield is plenty. I went 1x the whole way, though. I agree that air lore is a necessity and having 35 ranks at level 35 is a primary concern. How you accomplish that is up to you. Consider cutting back to 1x on climb/swim combined and if you feel a pinch on training points, shave off those extra 4 ranks of armor. I would not go pure bardsongs, myself. I understand many people have outside access to the 400's but you can't handle running all the songs you have in your spell list, anyway. Also, 425/430 are necessary by level 60 and really nice to have by 50. I'd have 1012 and 410, at your level. Ewave is a nice crowd controller.

Having pretty much done most of the training paths, though, I would recommend polearms at mid-levels for bards. I think it is potent and viable from level 0 to cap. I found sword and board worked best 0-25 and again around level 55, once I started using Tonis a good bit. Your issue will be the difficulty with your AGI/DEX. It's pretty low and you'll be hampered by it for a good while, yet. Using a jeddart axe or hammer of kai is decent enough, though. Alternatively, you could go full brawling over the edged. You will get the new unarmed combat system to play with and from the appearance of it, it looks fun. That will mesh nicely with being in Voln, too.

You have choices. Your current plan has one glaring error in it but beyond that, you're fairly well off.