A Guide to Bard Enhancements
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By Ralsu
Each player gains Enhancements as he increases in ranks; however, he
can only have a maximum of 4 active Enhancements at any point. The
choices for the 4 Enhancements slots are drawn from a list of both
class and racial Enhancements that increase as the character increases
in ranks. This guide will focus purely on the Enhancements available to
the bard class.
I will focus on the last iteration of an Enhancement line,
whether it comes in the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th level versions of
the
Enhancements. Each Enhancement is given a usefulness rating of 1-5
(with 5 being the most useful). The notes will state why this rating is
given as such.
Author's note: I've tried to test
each Enhancement listed below thoroughly enough to offer advice back by
experience. Please note that I cannot change Enhancements once I have
reached the experience cap. Thus, fully testing all of the Level 12
Enhancements is difficult without playing more than one bard to Level
12. For that reason, my comments on some Level 12 Enhancements are
based on the predecessors in that line.
Text (Greater Devotion IV): "Grants a 40% increase to the effectiveness
of your 4th level and lower healing spells."
Comments: This is a nice boost for the href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=190">healing
bard. Aside from the obvious benefit of making healing spells more
powerful, it allows you to manage spell points better by using a lower
level Cure spell.
Rating:
4
Text (Energy of Music XII): "Grants a 85 point increase to spell
points."
Comments: Most bards make a living with their magic. This is an easy
selection.
Rating:
5
Song
Text (Extra Song VI): "You gain the ability to perform ten additional
bard songs before resting."
Comments: Bard songs can buff the melee warriors in the party or charm
enemies. This Enhancement allows the bard to keep buffs up constantly
and charm many more monsters. It is very useful.
Rating:
4
Text (Inspired Bravery IV): "The use of your inspire courage ability
grants an additional +5 bonus to fear saves."
Comments: With Remove Fear being so cheap to use (15 spell points) and
lasting longer than Bardic Music with the Extend Spell href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=264">Metamagic
Feat, I find this Enhancement line to be underpowered.
Rating:
1
Interaction
Text (Skill Interaction VI): "Grants a +8 bonus to Diplomacy and Bluff
skills."
Comments: Bluff is only valuable if your bard is href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=49">multi-classed
with a rogue so that you can use Sneak Attack. Diplomacy works too
slowly to be very effective, and bards don't generate a ton of aggro
anyway. This Enhancement should be skipped.
Rating:
1
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style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 150px;" align="left">Skill
Magic
Text (Skill Magic VI): "Grants a +8 bonus to Concentration and Perform
skills."
Comments: Perform checks only matter on Fascinate and Suggestion Bardic
Music. If your bard only uses her songs to buff combat abilities, the
Perform score is not a big deal. Concentration is more important
because it affords your bard a better chance to complete a spell
casting even while being damaged. This Enhancement is in the middle of
the pack and its usefulness depends on your build.
Rating:
2
Charisma
Text (Bard's Charisma IV): "Grants a +4 increase to Charisma score."
Comments: Since the bread and butter of most bards are crowd control
spells whose DC is based on the bard's Charisma modifier, this
Enhancement is an absolute winner.
Rating:
5
Text (Inspired Damage IV): "The use of your inspire courage ability
grants an additional +4 damage bonus."
Comments: This Enhancement is "iffy" in my book. Plus 4 damage can add
up to a lot of damage in a long fight, but this really only benefits
melee characters in the party.
Rating:
2
of Healing
Text (Lyric of Incredible Healing III): "When your healing spells
generate a critical result, they heal for 3 times the normal amount."
Comments: This Enhancement vastly improves the Level 10 version which
offers a 15% chance at 150% healing. Still, it's a gamble with odds
stacked against you (you'll fail 85% of the time). If I were picking
one healing-based Enhancement, I'd go with the Devotion line. The
payoff is smaller in a burst but greater over the hundreds of Cure
spells your bard will cast on the way to the level cap.
Rating:
2
Text (Lyric of Deadly Sound III): "When your sonic spells generate a
critical hit, they do 3 times normal damage."
Comments: This Enhancement slightly improves the Level 10 version which
offers a 15% chance at 150% damage to sound spells. The truth is that
you don't use sound spells for their damage; you use them to interrupt
casters and give your bard some breathing room when surrounded. Sounds
spells have very limited usefulness, meaning an Enhancement to improve
sound spells is also limited in its utility.
Rating:
1
Attack
Text (Inspired Attack III): "The use of your inspire courage ability
grants an additional +3 attack bonus."
Comments: +3 can mean the difference between a hit and a miss, which
can be a lot of damage coming from the right melee build. Still, this
does nothing to help casters, so it has situational use.
Rating:
3
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style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 150px;" align="right"> style="font-weight: bold;">Music of Makers
Text (Music of Makers): "You can use this ability to fascinate
constructs."
Comments: I don't think DDO has enough constructs to warrant using 1 of
4 very valuable Enhancement slots to be able to charm them. If
constructs are giving you problems, consider taking Inspired Attack
instead so that your party can kill them faster (by hitting more often)
and your Enhancement slot will be used in more situations.
Rating:
1
of the Dead
Text (Music of the Dead): "You can use this ability to fascinate
undead."
Comments: DDO features a ton of undead foes, so this might be useful.
Still, it won't make you or your party any better at dispatching
vermin, oozes, elementals, or constructs. You can find more useful
Enhancements on this list.
Rating:
2
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