[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Jim: Bard Song - agreed, that sucks. A certain ToB HLA nullifies this disadvantage though.

True, but by the time you can get the HLA, your Blade will be stronger fighting than singing, so the only way you can really make it be useful is through Mislead cheese. (Those who actually use Bards should feel free to differ with me on this.)

Running around real fast - I assume you mean via Offensive Spin combined with boots of speed? I suppose this at least means that no opponent is going to run away from you (not that this would be much use in game, I agree).

No, I actually consider speed to be quite a valid asset. For a Tank at least, being the first person seen by an enemy is a definite advantage, and of course running away can always be a big help when you're low on HP, or when you're ambushed by Vampires and you haven't got the Amulet yet.

I feel more credit needs to be given to the Offensive/Defensive spins. ... What does this mean? It means that when dealing with 95% of the foes in the game, the melee offensive abilities of the Blade beat those of a F/M.

Your comment about Offensive Spin's ApR is correct--under OS, a Blade will be only 1/2 an attack behind a F/M. But I consider such factors as THAC0 to be far more important than maximum damage with every hit, especially since the damage due to such things as high STR tends to render the damage from the weapon itself rather negligible. When you're hitting for 25 damage per hit, the difference between 1D4 and 1D10 seems rather inconsequential. Therefore, the Blade's got a long way to go before it can "beat those of a F/M."

AC - not really. Once you get UAI - any AC a F/M can manage gets trumped by the Blade.

Ummm--how? By wearing Plate and shooting himself in the foot without his spells?

ApR - true - However the Blade can get 4 ApR using certain weapons, 5 with OS which has hit the cap anyway.

What's the point of 4 ApR if your weapons don't do anything else and are incapable of hitting the very critters you most need to hit? A F/M can achieve a permanent ApR of 4.5 by dualing Kundane & Your Choice of Nasty Mainhand Weapon.

Hitpoints - I disagree. .... So we have 133HP for a F/M, compared to 140HP for a Blade, and that's even with 18CON vs 16.

Okay, point conceded.

This boils down to preference, since in the games I play XP is plentyful anyway,

Thank you, that brings up another difference: The EXP cap. A Bard will hit Level 39 about 1/4th of the way into ToB, leaving you with virtually no character growth for the rest of the game. A F/M (or any other Multiclass), however, can continue to grow until reaching Level 40 in both classes.

You may not have ever appreciated HD in the party, but with a permanant 60% physical resistance attainable (the highest permamant physical resistance of any other NPC or PC a player can come up with) I've sure been glad to have him from time to time. Again, this is preference.

Not sure if this is truly a valid point or not, since Haer'Dalis is so buggy anyway, but his Resistances are anything but consistent in regards to his recruitment level. I sure wish BaldurDash had something conclusive to say about him.....
But what is a valid point is that Haer'Dalis is not a PC Blade, and therefore his Resistances (and weapon specialization) cannot be counted as being part & parcel of the Blade.

I prefer to play a character that requires more patience and nurturing but has excellent potential rather than one that has little depth but has power available on tap.

Hm. I don't weigh characters by the amount of button-pushing I have to do (although I must admit that my all-Warrior party was my fastest breeze through the game ever), but I suppose this issue is just personal preference.

Many bosses have a THAC0 so low that your AC is irrelevant anyway. If the cap is -24 (iirc), and a boss such as Demogorgon has a -19 THAC0 or whatever it is with 4 ApR or something, he isn't going to run into problems hitting you anytime soon...I place far more value on a moderately high AC but with high physical resistances.

Yes, which is precisely why I mentioned those "Stoneskin scrolls saved for emergencies," such as Weimer bosses or Critical Strike. Besides, a Swashbuckler can achieve exactly the same physical resists that a Blade can, and as for the F/M vs. Blade comparison, it's better to go the AC route: High Resists are all well and good, but your spells will still get disrupted.

This may be considered cheesy (in fact I'm fairly sure it is), but a blade can use his DS (and even improved bard song ability) to actually bypass the AC cap...I need to investigate this more but I'm sure it's possible.

Interesting. Personally, I wouldn't call it cheesy, since the AC cap is only an engine limitation anyway.