Im sad to say that there are a few boring people out there who just pick the plain old fighter class and mock the bard.Have any of ye fools ever gone one.... if you do go a jester it may be the weakest bard in terms of melee combat but it is a true bard and has a nice bard song.

Bards are indeed a handy addition to your party. Although I prefer the Skald not the jester, the skald has a better song when he increases in level.

I don't have anything against most bards. Jesters actually aren't that bad, and one of my best friends is a skald. The bard kit I don't condone is the blade. Simply put, a bard is a bard, not a fighter. The blade loses out on both lore and thieving, and his warsong stinks (doesn't get any better with experience).

I play a blade. Why can't the bard be a fighter? A thief can be a fighter (swashbuckler). The blade is really the bardic form of Erol Flynn, performing awesome acts of derring do. You usually don't have more than one tough fight a day so he can use his spins on every fight. He is a very useful fighter-mage type when you mirror image and stone skin him and use his offensive spin (plus 2 attack/damage, one additional attack, faster movement, and maximum damage per hit). Also, the blade pickpockets as well as other bards (95% chance of success initially). Perhaps it will be fixed in a later patch.

"Wah Wah Wah" "Bards are good", wah wah wah. Yeah Bards are good, good at getting obliterated. I mean, what the hell is a Bard, he has crap spells, semi-speciallised thieving, and ok fighting. I mean why pick a "Jack of all Trades" when you can just pick a Druid and and mop the floor with and "Skald" or "Blade". Heh, and the Druid can find traps(which the Bard cant) , So much for a thief eh?

it's OK shank, I'm only here so there's no need to call me that many times. i only really have a bard on my team because i get him to memorise loads of protection from evils to cast on me whilst i prepare a gate spell - if he dies then too baaaaaaaad. also i gave him the pandemonium harp so he is really happy and doesn't die in battles more often.

Oh my, the anti-Bard gang is here. Time to crack some skulls.

Bards beat the hassle of waiting for your fighter-mage to get up high enough to get his old class back. A blade is awesome at melee. At my lowly stage in the game, I dual wield the sunfyre sword or the sword of roses and the flail of ages. I do not get touched if I wade into the enemy and go into a defensive spin and offensive spin simultaneously. Offensive spin is really a simulatenous casting of haste, beserker rage and Kai. If I'm stuck in the wrong place, I can use a wand or cast offensive spells. Money is not a problem. If I see a +2 shield I like, I pickpocket it, with a skill of 120% success. The only thing I can't get is stuff at the Adventurer's mart. If I am up for a big battle, I can go invis (if needed) and pickpocket the enemy and take away his giant strength potions and arrows and force them to melee. My AC can reach -19 at a mere level 10 with improved invisibility, spin and ghost armor. Strength can't go about 18/01? Pick up a girdle or use innate Holy Might to improve my strength to envious proportions. Then there are those occasional instruments that are the icing on the cake. Maybe my lore is not all that high but I don't have to waste spells identifying +2 daggers.
I may never get level 7 spells, but neither do most casters (not Aerie or Jan Jansen), and I will get plenty of 6 level spells early on. The blade is a challenge but turns fights into chessmatches and there are so many wages to dispose of my enemies.

doesn't that band bardot suck?
no-one out of australia or nz would know who they are...
anyway bardos name just reminded me of them

Sorry, but a dual thief/Mage will wipe away any Bard and be better at thieving and spells. As for fighting, try improved haste, Tenser's transformation, black blade of disaster, absolute immunity, any mantle spell, stoneskin etc and see who's better. And yes bards can cast some but not all these spells, but will take a lot longer to learn them. Or try a swashbucler/mage. It doesn't take long to dual as you should change at level 11, (220,000 EXP) to be able to reach the highest mage level and thus get level 9 spells, max 6 for Bards.


PS love simulacrum...