Bards as party leaders

[pritchke]

My current party

1. Human Bard(4)
2. Drow Elf - Ranger(1) Druid(2)
3. Wood Elf - Ranger(1) Druid(3)
4. Strongheart Halfling - Monk of the Old Order(1) Rogue (3)
5. Shield dwarf - Fighter (4)
6. Half-Elf - Cleric of Tempos (4)

I am trying to find out if Bards are any good, so far I am impressed as the first song as drasticly improved my parties abilities in battle and it as been easy cake walk so far compared to my first time. Can't wait until level 11. I have not had a character with many points in bluff yet until now, and this leader is a real smooth talker. Also I am testing the Ranger (1) Druid (x) to see how good they are. Again I am impressed but I chose racial enimies as orcs & Goblins which is what I have been facing so far. Later I am hoping they will be more offensive with spells and ranged combat. Do you think 3 levels of Rogue is enough? (ie. Rogue(3)Monk (x)) I am thinking to just build on the Monk from here on. The only problem I can see is that non-clerical magic could be a problem later as it is not bards strong point.

Comments????

[ 11-03-2003, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[motub]

This is actually similar in some ways to my 4-person party. It is unfortunately too small to include a bard, but does have a (formerly) ranger(1)/druid(x), and a rogue(3)/monk(x).

I must tell you that the ranger/druid thing didn't work for me-- not because it's a bad combo, but because I really needed a cleric, so had to multi the druid. At that point, the single ranger level was a big big problem, since the XP penalty became unavoidable.

In case you don't know what I mean: my druid was human, so her highest class is always ignored, and she has no favored class. So fine, let's say her highest class is druid(5) at the time I multi her. For two levels of cleric, no problem, but as soon as she goes to level 3, she's going to get the 20% XP penalty between cleric and ranger (more than one level separates the two classes), and when the cleric levels pass the druid levels, she's going to still get the penalty between druid and ranger-- because once you're dealing with 3 classes instead of only two, all racial bets are off in terms of class restrictions.

It was not worth the ranger level, since as soon as I gave her a cleric level, I got the girl into some heavy armor anyway and just spent the feat points on real ambidextery and two-weapon fighting. And yes, I had to recreate the character very tediously in DaleKeeper to fix this mistake.

As for the rogue(3)/monk(x)-- have had no problems with not raising the monk levels beyond 3, as the monk doesn't have much to spend skill points in except Hide, Move Silently, Search and Disable Device. It's not as if he/she needs Wilderness Lore (especially with a Druid around) or Spellcraft, or Bluff. Of course, my Monk of the Old Order is a Tiefling, so has -1 CHA, and is not allowed to talk to people anyway .

I miss having a bard, but we're doing ok anyway (I'm up to the River Caves at the end of Chapter 3 with this party). And may I take this opportunity to remind everyone that the "party leader" is not a fixed position. The bard does not have to remain as leader when you enter a dungeon or known battle area. Just drag his/her portrait to the back before going in, where s/he will be a bit safer from the Entangles/Webs that the Druid will soon be throwing. Just remember to do so a few steps before entering, so that the formation has time to adjust. Or manually select him/her and have them move (run) behind a more imposing character, so s/he can play his/her music in the peace it deserves.

[ 11-03-2003, 07:28 PM: Message edited by: motub ]

[ZFR]

Hmmm.... I cant really imagine a party without a sorceror/mage...

Anyway, just remember that level 11 song cant be cast outside combat... i believe though that the ease use mod changed that..