"no one plays 3.5 anymore, alex"

W R O N G

anyway I think bard 7 / rogue 2 / druid 1 is the best way without like, further obscure prestige classes

but i'm really considering a ranger 9 / bard 2 / druid 1 option

there's a pathfinder feat that lets you learn druidic at level 10 which would open up just ranger 9 / bard 2 / lyrist 9 but i'm not sure it's much stronger than just taking a level of druid?

like you could do druid 6 / bard 2 / rogue 2 / lyrist 10 (or druid 7 / bard 1 / rogue 2 by pathfinder rules) and get higher level spells but you'd be worse off than druid 20, and bardic music ++ wildshape don't jive