I defeated Kel Garas with my bard -who now just finished HotU- I was
using a greatsword :) , and spells, try using some defensive spells on
yourself, try Ghostly Vissage for shure, displacement in another good
one,but I don't think you can cast third level spells until level 8.
also try drinking a potion of speed, and don't forget to use your bard
songs. Also Dispell Magic (Lesser Dispell, Dispell Magic, and Greater
Dispelling) is an essential when you are fighting any sort of caster.
And for general hints on how to make a good Bard build, I would
suggest taking Martial or Exotic weapons -your choice- so you can use
some decent weapons, if your using weapon finesse you'll probably want
to be using a rapier which is a martial weapon, or possibly
dual-wielding kukri's, which are exotic weapons. if your not using
finesse you can probably chose any weapon, though double weapons, do
require the dual-wielding feats to be used effectivly. If you are using
weapon finesse just be mindful that only certain weapons are
"finesseable", look at the feat discription for the full list.
The feat curse song is also very good, it gives all enemies affected
the penalties, that your bard song gives you bonuses, there is no saving
throw on this. Of course toughnes is always a good feat if you want
extra hit points, gives an additional plus 1 on all rolls for hitpoints.
In the way of spells I would say that following spells are almost
DuRigur: the healing spells, the Dispells, Ghostly Visage, Find Traps,
Haste, Wounding Whispers, Displacement (though if you want to free up a
third level spell slot you can replace this with Improved Invisibility
when you get that spell), Dissmissal, War Cry, Improved Invisibility,
Etheral Visage, and Energy Buffer. be advised that Bards have only two
direct offense spells, so you will be doing a lot of fighting with a
weapon, as well as backing up your henchman (henchwoman).
As for prCs I would reccomend Weapon Master, which requires whirlwind
attack -including all the prequisities for that feat-, weapon focus in
melee weapon, both of which I would reccomend having anyway if you can
afford the feats, whirlwind in particular. the only other requirement
for a Weapon Master is 4 ranks in intimidate -I know it dosen't make any
sense-.
A Red Dragon Deciple is another good PrC to consider the only
requirements for that are 8 ranks in lore (besides being either a
sorceror, or a bard), though I'm not shure if bardic knowledge counts
towards this or not.
If you are evil some levels of assassin wouldn't be a bad choice, all
the assassin's spells are already on the bard list, but still you would
get Death attack, Uncany dodge, Poison resist, and poison use. The
requirements for an Assassin are 8 ranks in hide, 8 ranks in Move
silintly, and any evil allignment.
If you want to use a bow you can't go wrong with an Arcane Archer,
though I should say that is not possible to be an Arcane Archer with a
crossbow. In order to be an Arcane Archer you must be an Elf, of
Half-Elf -if your not you are out of luck-, Have a Base Attack of plus
6, this means that as a Bard you'll have to be level 8 before you can
take any levels of AA; Have weapon focus in either longbow or shortbow,
you also need to be able to cast arcane spells, but as a Bard you've
already met that requirement.
If you want to be a Harper Scout by all means go ahead, though asside
from a couple of minor saving throw bonuses it won't provide your
character with much bennifit, aside from roleplaying of course.
Pale Master is an interesting choice, and provides some really nice
benifits, though you gain attack bonus at the same level as a mage, so
I'm not shure if it is a viable choice for a Bard, the only requirements
are at least three levels in an arcane spellcasting class, plus having a
non-good allignment.
You mentioned Shadowdancer in your post though as far as I can tell
Shadowdancer is aimed at classes that can sneak attack, so I don't think
you would benifit much from it, also as a Bard you can pick spells that
are very similer to the Shadowdancer abilities, Though if you want to
roleplay as a Shadowdancer don't let me stop you. Of course pure bard is
a very good option, I just finished HotU, and I'm a level 27 Bard. I
found my attack rating was a bit lacking at times, but other than that I
had no trouble, In fact with all my buff spells I generally took damage
better than a tanking hanchman.
Post by GezHi all, I've returned to SOU after several months of leaving
it getting frustrated at Kel Garas kicking my ass.
I bought different supplies, and after a bit of trouble finally
defeated him.
I'm a Lev7 Bard which I thought would eventually turn
into a Shadow Dancer but now I'm not so sure. Everything
seems based around defence. My primary attack is useless, I'm
using crossbow and sound burst spells but I seem so useless.
Anyone got any ideas how I can beef up my bard (I don't want to
multiclass, but I'll try other prestige classes etc)