bard useless

[Irie word of Jah]

Is there any reason why anyone would choose a bard. they seem to be pretty useless cept for the bard song, but still.

[Sagramore]

Oh, don't underestimate the power of the War Chant of Sith...when used with other boosting spells...talk about deadly. Besides, i find bards very useful item identifiers and spell casters (the addition of some divine spells is nice). They also can play those funky instruments you find during the game!

[Gimli]

Really depends on the party the bard's in - if it's tank heavy it can be very effective. And being able to cast healing spells spontaneously is very nice too - they're not magic powerhouses but still very useful with spells. Also they make great leaders/talkers.

[Reeka]

I think Bards rock in IWD2 and HoW. War Chant of the Sith is great! It has kept me alive in many a fight. That combined with some regeneration items? Sweet!

[Irie word of Jah]

damn, i guess i need to look into the powers of a bard a little bit more. I was using one in my party which was a paladin of Mystra, Fighter, ranger, rouge, sorcerer, and the bard.

[Borg]

With your group, you should find the Bard very useful, especially given that you don't have a cleric. Bard's healing capabilities plus the War chant and add in lingering song so that you can shift around the song during battle and enchant some monsters sometimes and you are set. Heck, I just learned that The Ballad of Three Heros stacks with War Chant of Sith (with lingering song, of course) -- that's huge for the tanks in normal mode. I'm not in HoF yet -- imagine that might change things.

Also, (tactic coming) if you give your Bard Chromatic Orb and shoot it at some low reflex saving characters in between songs, you can really change the dynamics of a battle.

[Cloudbringer]

I can only echo what's been said here! I love using the bard characters! I first tried one in my party in IWD and decided they were pretty handy in a pinch! Great for identifying items, backup for tanks mainly as archers but my bards do their fair share of melee when needed and the backup spells, especially calling fodder and healing are really useful....as for the bardsong, let's just say it's saved the party's bacon on numerous occasions!

Bards Rock!

[Tancred]

Multiclassing a Bard can add a little to their usefulness. A lot of people have waxed lyrical about Sorceror/Bards... both classes have similar stat requirements (CHA), and in one package they can be deadly. My own party leader was a Fighter/Bard... Three levels of fighter gave me enough feats to allow him to wield two shortswords with grace. The high charisma and his specialisation in diplomacy skills gave the other party lowlifes a respectable mouthpiece, too. The occasional Bard spell thrown into the mix is useful, especially for my magic-lite party, and the war songs are extremely handy. Lingering song allows Orpheus (for that is his name) to leap in, hack a bit, fall back, start singing, charge back in... and in a pinch, he can tank.

Hmm. A dual-wielding fighter/bard. Just as well he's Human and not Tiefling.

Anyway; don't diss Bards. They're good fun.

[Borg]

I find the Bard with a level of Rogue to be great. If you give the Bard some intelligence, you can pretty much replace the need for a Rogue in the party, because the Bard will be able to raise their points in Rogue skills as high as a Rogue could. You might have to offload one or two Rogue skills to another party member, but it works. Seems right to me for a good party.

I'd think an evil party however must have a Rogue (at least balanced, evil parties).

[Gheital]

And without the patch you can can play with 6 bards singing. The songs stacked. There was like no way you could die, but I only tested it a bit [img]smile.gif[/img]