Ok, so he's a decent-stats Blade. You've got two options:

a) Use him as a pretty good fighter (If given nice weapons)
b) Have him hang around the back singing songs to increase the stats of the other guys.

Which is the better choice? And what does the bard song actually do figure-wise (ie. which stats increase and by how much)?

It all depends on who your tanks are. It would be helpful to know who is in your party and what roles they play before a judgement can be made. But if you have some solid tanks such as Minsc(and the God-Like Boo [img]smile.gif[/img] ), Korgan, leave him at the back singing his song.

As far as the actual stats of what the song does, I do not have a clue in all honesty. The two things that I do know (or think I know lol im sure someone better will correct me soon [img]smile.gif[/img] ) is that the song affects people on the WHOLE map so if he isnt a strong fighter you can hide him and let the others fight on with his bonuses, and that the songs bonuses stack

Since H'D is a Blade, his bard song is nerfed to first level, so keeping him back singing is practically worthless. Think of him as a fighter/mage with excellent lore skill.

Truthfully, the guy irritates me. I've never been one much for bards anyway. They make for good PC story and role-playing characters, but suck in the performance department. Too much "Jack of all trades" to be worthwhile. I guess if you got one high enough and he was playing along with lower level characters it would work. As it stands, his challenges will be based on the party's level. That makes his talents unreliable at best unless you cheat him up. The song is the only worthwhile skill a bard has, and the blade class sucks at it! If you want a bard, get the "Skald". To top it all off, this guy messes with the Aerie romance. I guess if you're romancing another character you wouldn't have to worry.

If you're looking for performance, ditch him. If you're looking for role-playing a less than perfect party for the challenge, pick him up!

I'd add to that:

c) Use him as a decent rear-rank artillery mage and missle support (dart/dagger plus shortbow/crossbow if you have him learn them).

Haer'Dalis has two subtle benefits over pureclass mages that actually make him a bit better as a back-line caster/archer in some respects:
- Rogue XP table means that at any given time his level will be higher than a mage with the same amount of XP.
- Rogue THACO table means that he's more accurate with missle weapons when not casting spells.

The former means that for spells that grow in power with level like Skull Trap and Flame Arrow, he is actually more effective at casting them than a Mage. He is usually the first party member to be able to cast a Skeleton Warrior with Animate Dead also. The latter means that when he's not bothering with spells, his darts, daggers, etc, are more accurate. Both advantages work together to make him the ideal Melf's Minute Meteors caster: better THACO and he makes lots of them.

Also, when you factor in his XP advantage for being a Rogue, his spell slots aren't that far behind a pureclass mage and just about equal to or a bit better than a multiclass mage like Aerie.

I usually use him as a combination of a) and c) depending on the party and situation, and occasionally b) if the encounter is minor enough that it's not worth expending spells or ammo.

*Minor item spoilers*
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I've been gaining a newfound appreciation for Arbane's Sword (grants stun immunity) with him, though his ideal offensive off-hand weapon is Kundane for the extra attack and an easy 4APR combined with his offensive spin.

[ 12-15-2003, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: Klutz ]

If you have TOB or the additional merchants, the Zerth Blade would be excellent for H'D.

I think you should use him as both. That is the main point of Blade. His songs are not as strong as from other Bards. But he is a good fighter, because he can gain mage spells from 1-8 level (I think).

Blade rules...