I'm considering building a controller bard, as described in Treatmonk's Guide.
Given that Weapon Focus is a requirement for Dazzling Display, and that you can't take Weapon Focus until you have at least a +1 BAB, it seems that by default these will (at earliest) be the character's 3rd and 5th level feats. I'm curious about ways for a Bard to get faster access to Dazzling Display.
The Human alternate race trait Adoptive Parentage says:
Choose one humanoid race without the human subtype…If the race does not have weapon familiarity, you gain either Skill Focus or Weapon Focus as a bonus feat that is appropriate for that race instead.
This sounds promising: It could actually grant Dazzling Display at 1st level…but it requires being raised by a reasonable humanoid race. Any ideas? Bonus points if it might make sense for a Rise of the Runelords character.
The only other things I can think of involve multiclassing, which I haven't rules out but which really changes my vision for the character. Specifically, starting with:
- 2 levels of Cavalier (Order of the Cockatrice) gets (an improved version of) Dazzling Display, without ever needing to take Weapon Focus…but it's 2 levels away from Bard
- 1 level of Oracle (Battle Mystery) lets one take the Weapon Mastery revelation, which could grant Weapon Focus at first level, or
- 1 level of any full BAB class, e.g. Fighter, can get Dazzling Display at 1st level. Fighter can even get it for a race other than human, due to the Fighter bonus feat.
What am I missing? Any other ways worth considering? Any suggestions for a reasonable adoptive parentage, especially given a character who should fit thematically in a Good party playing the Rise of the Rulelords AP?
Best Answer
Retraining
If I understand correctly, your problem is that any feats on Bard level 1 can't go towards Dazzling Display, because you need Weapon Focus first, and to get that you need 1 BAB. However once you're level two, you could, but you already spent the 1st level feats on other things.
According to the official FAQ, retraining is a great option for you:
Here's how that would look for a 2nd level human Bard:
Costs 10 × your level × the number of days required to retrain = 10 gp/lvl/day x 2 lvl x 5 days/feat x 2 feats
Total cost: 10 days @ 8h/day and 200 gp / 2 feats
Note also that