Another (bad) bard

Bored at work, taking another shot at a bard build.

Class: Bard 6 (Arcane Duelist)
Race: Halfling!

Str: 8 (10-2 race) [0]
Dex:  20 (17 +1 level +2 race) [13]
Con: 12 [2]
Int: 14 [5]
Wis: 10 [10]
Cha: 16 (14 +2 race)  [5]

L1: Weapon Proficiency: Scimitar
B1: Arcane Strike
L3: Weapon Finesse
B2: Combat Casting
L5: Dervish Dance
B6: Disruptive
E7: Combat Expertise or Reflexes?

Hit (using bladethirst for keen):
5 dex
4 BAB
2 cat's grace
1 weapon enhancement
1 size
= +13

Damage (using bladethirst for keen):
5 dex
2 cat's grace
2 arcane strike
1 weapon enhancement
= +10

AC: 24ish?  (10 base, 4 studded leather +1, 5 dex, 3 heavy shield +1, 1 size, 1 deflection, possibly more on combat expertise)

+13 [1d4+10] = .40(12.5) + .30(.70(25) + .30(12.5)) = 11.375 DPR (erk)

Hit (using inspire courage): +15
Damage: +12

+15 [1d4+12] = .65(14.5) + .15(.80(29) + .20(14.5)) = 13.34 DPR (still erk)

It's almost not worth drilling down into arcane duelist at this level, since inspire courage is better than the available weapon enhancements (even feating for crit boosts since you can't get the weapon burst stuff in E6) and no matter how much you build for melee combat you'll never match the other classes, and you're gimping your non-combat utility to get there.  You can't even get piranha strike since scimitars aren't light, and swapping out for a light weapon (while opening up a feat [and technically normal weapon proficiency feats don't seem to exist in the Pathfinder SRD, so the whole premise is on shaky ground to begin with]) loses you the +5 dex bonus to damage, so you can't break even.

Maybe it works better with ranged weapons, or some kind of combat maneuver build (whips?).  I may work up a standard bard just to see how it looks.