Untrained Melody II
Updated Fri, Feb 13, 2009 by Shayalyn
Spells of
the Skald II
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Guide to Level 2 Bard Spells
By DarkgolemLevel 2 bard spells are a mixed bag. You get more powerful spells, some of which duplicate and amplify the benefit of 1st level bard spells. Hypnotic pattern instead of hypnotism, Heroism instead of focusing chant. A new player should occasionally switch out one spell for the other, to get the feel for what works, and what doesn't. This gives you an idea of what is worth using as a second level, and what is worth keeping as a first level spell. Keep in mind that heighten spell makes lower level spells have as high as a dc as your highest level spell, and it is well worth getting this feat to make sure your first level spells that require saves are as effective as possible in this comparison.
For example, focusing chant and heroism do similar things. But if you examine both spells carefully, in the end, focusing chant is probably more valuable. Why? Because focusing chant is a circumstance bonus. This means it stacks with bard song. Heroism has a lot going for it. It is almost as effective as bard song, and in some ways, superior. It works on others (focusing chant does not). But it doesn't stack with bard song, meaning that you get little value out of heroism cast on party members, while you always get a benefit from focusing chant.
Look at hypnotism and hypnotic pattern. Hypnotic pattern is a static affect, that is, it stays in place and affects all who enter. But keep in mind that hypnotism, under the effects of a heighten spell, is just as effective, and is a faster cast. Hypnotic pattern takes a fairly long time to cast. It's a toss up in this case, but between the two, I tend to favor a heightened hypnotism with my bard. A bard doesn't have a huge list of spells, and it's important to distinguish these spells from each other with experimentation to decide what to take for what level.
| Blindness Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: necromancy Components: verbal Duration: permanent until removed Range: medium Save: fort to avoid Target: foe Rating: 2 Notes: “The power of unlife renders an enemy permanently blinded. A successful Fortitude save negates this effect.” This is a fairly useful spell, but remember that once you are noticed by an opponent, they can cast spells upon you. However, spells that do not have foe as a target (instead directional, such as ray spells) can miss as the opponent moves around to look for you. The main benefit of this spell is that opponents have a 50% miss chance and lose dexterity bonuses. |
 BlurCooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: medium School: illusion Components: verbal Duration: 1 minute/level Range: short Target: friend, self Rating: 4 Notes: “An ally's outline becomes slightly blurred, granting a 20% miss chance.” This is a great spell, it lasts a lot time, and provides a great benefit for a party at all levels. True sight will bypass this defense. |
| Cat's Grace Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: transmutation Components: verbal, somatic, material Duration: 1 minute/level Range: medium Target: friend, self Rating: 2 Notes: “An ally becomes more graceful, agile, and coordinated, giving a +4 enhancement bonus to Dexterity.” This is nice, but most classes at high levels will have items to add dexterity. It is rarely useful past about level 7 or so. |
| Cure Moderate Wounds Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: fast School: abjuration Components: somatic, verbal Range: medium Save: will for ½ (undead foe Target: self, friend, undead foe Rating: 3 Notes: “Positive energy is channeled to heal moderate wounds of your target or damage undead for 2d8 hit points +1 per caster level (max +10).” This is a more useful than cure light wounds, but still a spell better used as a wand. Bards do not have enough spell points for healing using spell pools, generally. |
| Daze Monster Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: enchantment Components: verbal, somatic, material Duration: 6 seconds Range: medium Target: will to avoid Rating: 1 Notes: “Clouds the mind of an enemy so that it takes no actions for 6 seconds. Creatures of 7 or more Hit Dice are not affected.” Not a very good spell. Otto's Resistable Dance is lower level, lasts longer, and has no hit dice limit. |
| Eagle's Splendor Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: transmutation Components: verbal, somatic, material, focus Duration: 1 minute/level Range: medium Target: self, friend Rating: 1 Notes: “An ally becomes more poised, articulate and personally forceful, giving a +4 enhancement bonus to Charisma.” Not a absolutely horrible spell, but once you have a charisma item that is +4, you won't want this in your inventory. Not really useful to other party members, with rare exceptions. |
| Fox's Cunning Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: transmutation Components: verbal, somatic, material, focus Duration: 1 minute/level Range: medium Target: self, friend Rating: 1 Notes: “The ally gains wit, giving a +4 enhancement bonus to Intelligence.“ This isn't a very useful spell. If you wish an intelligence buff and don't have an item, carry a couple potions, because having this in your repertoire is a bad idea. |
 GlitterdustCooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: long School: conjuration Components: verbal, somatic, material Duration:Area: 15' diameter Range: medium Save: will to avoid Target: foe, positional, breakable Rating: 3 Notes: “A cloud of golden particles covers everything in an area, causing targets to become blinded and outlining invisible creatures. Any creature covered by the dust takes a -40 penalty on Hide checks. A successful Will save negates the blindness portion of the spell.” This is a handy spell, in some circumstances. While not the best of spells, it does assist in blinding opponents and so on. Rogues should love this spell, because opponents without sight have no dexterity bonus, and are thus automatically vulnerable to backstab if hit. |
| Heroism Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: fast School: enchantment Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute/level Range: long Target: self, friend Rating: 3 Notes: “Imbues a single ally with great bravery and morale in battle, gaining a +2 morale bonus on attacks, saves, and skill checks.” Very handy as a spell, since it buffs allies. Note it does not stack with bard song, but since bard song does not affect saves (other than fear) it still provides a benefit. |
| Hold Person Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: enchantment Components: verbal, somatic, focus Duration: special (6 seconds/level) Range: medium Save: will to avoid Target: foe Rating: 3 Notes: “The target enemy humanoid becomes paralyzed and freezes in place. It is aware, but can take no actions for a maximum of 6 seconds per caster level. The enemy may attempt to make a new Will save every 3 seconds. Humanoids include kobolds, goblinoids, player races except for warforged, troglodytes, and more.” Very nice spell, but remember you get more powerful similar spells later in levels. |
| Hypnotic Pattern Cooldown: 6 seconds Casting Time: medium School: illusion Components: somatic, verbal, material Duration:Area: 15' diameter Range: medium Target: foe, positional Rating: 2 Notes: “A twisting pattern of subtle, shifting colors weaves through the air, fascinating targets within it. A successful Will save negates this effect.” Hypnotic pattern is useful, but hypnotism, if you have heighten, probably is an acceptable substitute. |
| Invisibility Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: fast School: illusion Components: somatic, verbal, material Duration: 1 minute/level Range: long Target: self, friend Rating: 2 Notes: “An ally becomes invisible, vanishing from sight, even from darkvision. If he or she attacks a target, the effect is removed.” Keep in mind that this spell has specific parts of it's nature which are most important. One is that it does not provide “true” invisibility, but instead a +20 to hide as a bonus, and second that defensive spells do not cause it to break. So a bard can invisibly heal allies without breaking this spell. |
| Rage Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: medium School: enchantment Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 1 minute + (6 seconds/level) Range: medium Target: ally, self Rating: 3 Notes: “Causes the target to fly into a screaming blood frenzy, gaining phenomenal strength and durability but becoming reckless. Grants a +2 morale bonus to Strength, Constitution, and a +1 morale bonus to Will saves, but causes the target to take a -2 penalty to armor.” This is a fun spell to stack with your normal bard buff, though many do not like the armor class penalty enough to accept it. This is an area of effect in a sense.. cast it upon an ally and any allies standing “on” the target will receive the benefit of this spell also. |
| Scare Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: short School: necromancy Components: verbal, somatic, focus Duration: 9 seconds/level Range: medium Save: will to avoid Target: foe, positional Rating: 1 Notes: “Casts Cause Fear on multiple targets.” This is a very bad spell. At the point where you are casting this spell, it's not very useful. I strongly suggest avoiding it. |
| Sound Burst Cooldown: 3 seconds Casting Time: medium School: evocation Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 6 seconds (stun only) Area: 15' diameter Range: medium Target: foe Rating: 2 Notes: “Blasts an area with a tremendous cacophony, doing 1d8 of sonic damage and stunning enemies for 6 seconds. A successful Fortitude save negates the stun.” The stun affect of this song is actually quite handy, if you have a formidable save dc, and heighten. It works against vermin, which makes it better than it otherwise would be. However, use it for crowd control, don't bother trying to use it for damage dealing. Note that you have to "chase " a target, so you should wait until it stops moving before casting it, else it will often be outrun by opponents. |
| Suggestion Cooldown: 3.5 seconds Casting Time: fast School: enchantment Components: verbal, material Duration: 6/seconds level Range: medium Target: foe Rating: 4 Notes: “Influences the actions of an enemy, allowing you to suggest it to fight as your ally for 6 seconds per caster level. A successful Will save negates this effect.” The nice thing about this spell is that you know when an opponent is going to break out of a suggestion, and furthermore, it works against all creatures that are affected at all by enchantments, such as giants or similar. |
| Summon Monster II Cooldown: 2 minutes Casting Time: long School: enchantment Components: somatic, verbal Duration: 2 minutes Range: medium Target: ally, self Rating: 1 Notes: “Summons a fiendish scorpion to fight for you for a brief time. Casting this spell locks out casting any other Summon Monster spell for 2 minutes.” The scorpion looks cool, but is isn't very powerful, and has a habit of burrowing around half the time, meaning it doesn't do it's job of drawing agg very well. |
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Genre: Fantasy
Status: Published
Release Date: February 28, 2006
Fee: Free-to-Play
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