my preferred bard items in their personal inventory:
renaissance lute - restoration
dulcimer of mending - heal all
rousing drums - haste
angel's tongue - bless
soulful sax - soul shield
arresting aria - freeze all
silent lyre - silence
infernal horn - nuclear blast
and i like to keep the dulcimer of mending in the party inventory.
however, this can change according to party composition. the above list is for running alongside a single bishop with no other primary spell casters (my preferred party composition).
haste, bless, and sould shield give me maximum buff flexibility for first round casting alongside the bishop
freeze all and silence are the best limiters available (of cou
heal all so that my bishop can do rest all in the same round and everyone's happy.
restoration allows my bard to give herself a kick rather than needing to quaff a potion or wait for someone to cast stamina on her.
and the infernal horn rocks - everywhere except underwater and rapax castle, that is
personally, i dont like items that blind or frighten, as it means hunting down runaways, so that rules out the pandemonium pipes, and single-enemy attacking items are a bit of a waste when there's so few slots left after i include my preferred buffs.