Why a Bard?

[Evil_Twin]

Why would i include a Bard in my Party? Although the Lore bonus is a big help, my bard always seems to get diced by everyone, even with 18 constitution and Dexterity? Any Bardic Tactics would be appreciated.

[Axterix]

Well, a bard benefits much from having HoW. More songs. Without HoW, not as much reason to have one.

Now, reasons to have bards:

1. Never have to memorize identify again. Just hand it to the bard.
2. Nifty bard items. Horn of the Berserkers, mostly.
3. Pickpocketting. Let the thief worry about the other crap, use the bard to lift items.
4. War Chant of Sith. 2hp per round, -2 to AC, +10% resist to blunt, pierce, slash, maybe missile as well?
5. Luck song of Tymora. +2 to all saves, party is lucky.
6. the Siren song thingy. Enthralls critters so they stand around as long as you don't hit them. Great crowd control.
7. War Chant of Sith. It's so good it deserves to be mentioned twice.
8. Goes great with druids, mainly their level 7 spell Stalkers. Shambling mounds are 90% blunt, 50% slash, pierce resistant. With War Chant of Sith... that's 100% blunt, 60% slash, pierce. 100% means no blunt damage will they take. They are also 100% fire resistant. Great for having the bard cast fireballs and other nasty AE fire type spells.
9. Clerics and druids get to mem spells besides heals. Yup, it's that war chant of sith in action again. Not that clerics have too many low level spells worth casting (unlike druids, who've got alicorn lance and the level 1 sunbeam spell).
10. If you've got a speciality mage, the bard can use the spells the mage can't.

As you can see, the majority of the advantages to the bard involve having War Chant of Sith. Without that, you've got a weak mage that can use about any weapon and can't really take a hit.

Now, as for how to keep the bard alive, well, in the grand tradition of wimpy peoples, the number 1 rule is don't be where the things that want to kill you are. 18 dex is good. Elven Chainmail is your friend. You can wear it (2 or 3 ac, don't recall exactly, +1 dex) and cast in it. 16 con for when you do get hit (higher is a waste on non-fighters/rangers/paladins). Don't melee. You can use crossbows, bows, slings, axes, whatever you want. So hook your bard up with a sling or throwing axe (if you are using the lyre of progression) or a crossbow or bow. Never stand in front of the party in hostile circumstances. Just stand behind and plunk away with ranged weapons. Of course, if you have HoW, odds are you won't be doing that. You'll be standing in the middle of the party (behind the front line tanks, in front of the casters) singing. Especially once you get War Chant of Sith.

[Fljotsdale]

Ahem. You REALLY like Bards, don't you, Axterix?
BTW, why so you spell your name with an 'x' instead of an 's' after the A?

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[Axterix]

Because Asterix was illegal by EQ naming conventions. Axterix wasn't And so my little gnome was Axterix En'Obelix.

As for liking bards, they are fun and go great with druids If you've played the game without one... and then play one with one... you'll see the huge difference they make.

[Fljotsdale]

Originally posted by Axterix: Because Asterix was illegal by EQ naming conventions. Axterix wasn't And so my little gnome was Axterix En'Obelix. As for liking bards, they are fun and go great with druids If you've played the game without one... and then play one with one... you'll see the huge difference they make.

ROFL! I like it!

I've played Bards in BG2, but not in IWD/HOW. When I've finished my current game, I'll give it a go. A bard and a druid hey? Mmmmm. Now what to go with them.......


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[Leafy]

Bard Songs and Shambling Mounds; now there's a combination i hadn't heard of yet. Good thinking
Incidently, how do you know the resistances of a Shambling Mound? Is it listed somewhere obvious? I wonder what the Elementals resistances are? (i notice they don't get entangled very easily)

[Gaelic]

Who would you drop in favor of a bard? My party is:

Paladin
Ranger
Mage
Fighter/Thief
Fighter/Cleric
Druid

Thoughts?

(I know I have asked this before, but I am still mulling it over.)



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Gaelic

Originally posted by Gaelic: Who would you drop in favor of a bard? My party is: Paladin Ranger Mage Fighter/Thief Fighter/Cleric Druid Thoughts? (I know I have asked this before, but I am still mulling it over.)

Not much experiance i have but i would say
drop either the Paladin or the Ranger
And change you mage for a specialist mage



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Help me create A Fantasy Realm with your imagination

[Fljotsdale]

Originally posted by Gaelic: Who would you drop in favor of a bard? My party is: Paladin Ranger Mage Fighter/Thief Fighter/Cleric Druid

You are rather fighter-heavy so it has to be a fighter. You need 2 clerics (IMHO), and the Thief( though I always go for single-class Thief myself, as they rise in level faster)
On the whole, I would say lose the Ranger (sadly) and have have another Mage-type. A Bard will be fine
I would also suggest you modify your Druid to Fighter/Druid and change your Cleric to single-class Cleric. You need him/her to advance in level quickly so as to get advanced healing spells as soon as poss. You are gonna need 'em!

Speaking personally I like to have one single-class Mage, Cleric, Thief and Fighter, a Multi Cleric/Mage and whatever takes my fancy for the 6th
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[This message has been edited by Fljotsdale (edited 05-27-2001).]

[Gaelic]

What I was considering was keeping the Paladin, and doing some dual classing for improved armor class opportunities. Fighter to Mage, Fighter to Druid, for example. Then add the Bard for all the reasons listed. My Cleric is a problem because he's a multi-class and takes ages to level. Maybe do him over as a dual fighter to cleric. I already have a dualed Fighter to Thief. I dualed him late (level 9 or so) but he is kicking butt right now. The others I would dual at level 3ish, maybe. (Any suggestions there?) This way, depending on the situation, anyone could melee if needed to free the thief, cleric, mage, or bard to do their business.



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Gaelic