Divine Bard - Brd(26),BG(3),Clr(1)

Description
This is primarily a support build, with all the inspirations that come with a level 26 Bard, as well as the relatively standard Curse Song, Chorus of Heroism and Hymn of Requiem. Additionally, it can deploy Divine Might and Shield when the need arises, and eventually qualifies for Epic Divine Might, making it a reasonably strong warrior.

Pros: *Inspire Courage +5 *Inspire Regen +4 *Inspire Defense +6 *Inspire Toughness +4 *Inspire Competence +6
 * Solid Support Bard with:
 * Curse Song, Chorus of Heroism and Hymn of Requiem
 * Blackguard Aura of Despair and Dark Blessing
 * Divine Shield and Epic Divine Might

Cons:
 * Requiem is Entirely Sonic dependent and can be negated by just about any primary caster. In particular, the spontaneous casters (Sorcerers, Favored Souls, other Bards) tend to have Energy Immunity on their list.
 * Relatively low AB, Strength, and HP compared to a optimized dedicated warrior.

Character Creation
Race: Human

Alignment: Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil until level 12

Stats for Low Magic Variant

Stats for High Magic Variant


 * A normal Breast Plate or Mithril Full Plate, has a max dex bonus of 3, equivalent to a Dex of 16.
 * The Low Magic Variant can use Cat's Grace to bring his Dex to 16
 * The High Magic Variant basically relies on +8 Dex gear to raise its Dex to 16, and channels the extra points to Int for more Skills.

BAB: 19 + 3 + 0 = 22

Overview
Feats

Character Feats

1. Luck of Heroes

1. Power Attack

3. Divine Shield

6. Battle Caster

9. Cleave

12. Divine Might

15. Curse Song

18. Lingering Song

21. Chorus of Heroism

23. Great Cha

25. Song of Requiem (Bard 21)

27. Hymn of Requiem

29. Great Cha

Epic Bard Bonus Feats

23. Great Cha

26. Epic Divine Might

Cleric Bonus Domain Feats

1. Darkness (Blindfight)

2. Water (Evasion) OR Earth (Toughness) OR Undeath (Extra Turning)


 * You have some flexibility for your second domain feat. Evasion is a sound choice with your high reflex saves (further augmented by Dark Blessing). But there may be a few rare circumstances where your enemies don't throw anything at you that requires a Reflex save, in which case Toughness is better. Extra Turning may be useful if you need lots of Divine Might / Divine Shield for whatever reason.

Skills:

*33 Concentration *33 UMD *33 Perform *30 Spellcraft *30 Tumble
 * Base Skill points not including Int Bonus: (6 * 26) + (4 * 2) = 164.
 * The 5 core class skills are:
 * You also need 5 Hide to qualify for Blackguard
 * Total: 164 just right

*The Low Magic High Dex/Low Int variant gains 1 extra human skill point per level. *The High Magic Low Dex/High Int variant gains a total of 3 extra skill points.
 * Besides these base Skill points and core skills:


 * In either case, you have extra Skill points you can put into a Bard Skill of your choice. I would recommend to max out at least 1 Convo skill for Campaigns such as Diplomacy, Bluff or Intimidate. With the High Magic variant, you can max out all 3 skills!


 * This build does not have able learner, so skill points should only be bought when levelling up a class which has that skill as a class skill. If using the High int variant with exra skill points, you may not be able to hold all the saved up skill points from taking 3 blackguard levels in a row. In that case, it may be a good idea to alternate between Blackguard and Bard levels.

Character Progression

 * You have some flexibility in terms of levelling. In the scheme above, Cleric is taken early at level 3, to gain Med Armor and Shield proficiency early on. Additionally, all 3 Blackguard levels are taken as soon as possible to get the Evil alignment requirement out of the way. But you can delay either of these until later, so long as you take Blackguard 3 and Cleric 1 on pre-epic feat levels, to get Divine Might and Shield.


 * If you don't want to play an Evil blackguard, and are willing to shift alignments around, you can instead use 26 Bard / 2 Paladin / 2 Cleric. Use the 2 Cleric levels to gain Divine Might and Shield, while the Paladin levels give you Divine Grace, and Martial Weapon proficiency.