Am I missing something here?

Playing a bard for the first time, I've picked up a certain harp that can cast confusion three times a day, (somewhere during my stronghold quest, I believe)

It seems to me, though, that this harp is extremely effective:

-Casts fast enough that it often beats mages spell protections.
-Seems to bypass said protections even when they activate in time (i.e. mages don't have the right kind of protections)
-Enemies don't seem to fail their save all that often. I tend to incapacitate around 50% of the enemy party, and it's not unusual to get all of them (got 5/6 of the guarded compound on the first attempt, without malison).
-Never mind that three times a day is a lot.
-I got it REALLY early in the game.

The harp seems significantly more effective than any other AOE "or-else" spell (e.g. Hold Person, Choas, Emotion, etc). After years of playing BG, I've gotten used to the Malison + AOE disabler spam taking out perhaps 25% of a party, so seeing 75% plus being taken out without even a GM primer is...odd.

Or am I smoking something?

It can't be more effective than Chaos or Emotion, given that it is basically a Confusion spell. Just double-checked with Near Infinity.

Chaos has a -2 save penalty.
Emotion renders them unconscious.
The Wizard version of Hold Person has a -1 save penalty.

Most enemies in SoA do not have rock bottom saves. [img]smile.gif[/img] Especially for SavevsSpell, which is why 'or else' spells are pretty potent. A Spell Sequencer of "GMalison + Slow + Emotion". Try it sometime, especially against the Guarded Compound fight. ;)

Isn't the difference that the harp is a save vs wands as opposed to save versus spells?

I've never used it, but it sounds pretty lethal.

Nope, the Confusion from the Harp is also SavevsSpell.