Doest the bard song increases effects? What it does? What's your opinions about BARDS

[Zoltan]

Doest the bard song increases effects? What it does?

I mean normal bards. Whats the difference between a level 7 bard and level 14 bard. Whats your opinions about bards?

And kits (jester is useful? confusion is great spell but later monsters can have resistences)

[AngelofDeath]

I've heard, word on the street, that the skald kit is the best. I personally dislike them immensely, they are quite useless, IMHO. But hey I am a strict Mage/sorcerer or I have a rather powerful Kensai/mage character, that i beat the game with.

I'd say on a scale of 1 to 10 a bard rates a strong 3, just above Keldorn.....see my other thread.

I guess I'm not a Bard man........

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[deathknight]

Heh your other thread never proved how Keldorn was bad. Bards are versatile and fun to play. both pluses. Its not all about massive power for everyone

[AngelofDeath]

Originally posted by deathknight: Heh your other thread never proved how Keldorn was bad. Bards are versatile and fun to play. both pluses. Its not all about massive power for everyone

I'm not really ta;lking all powerful, I just want someone to hang up front and take a beatin IE. Minsc(and Boo), while I sit back and make crispy critters out of my enemy. Not All Powerful, but thick skinned, with a ton of stamina.


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[AzureWolf]

It may not be about power but bards have nothing of anything. I personally dont mind the blade kit but all the others really suck IMO. They have only a few spells and are restricted a lot in what equipment they can use. I soloed with a jester one time and at the start he was so crap wiping out a band of goblins was a challange. Well that was until i remembered fireball

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"I was born of darkness. My fathers eyes closed before mine opened. I am not of this world or the other, and I have the right to be what I am..."

[zNOVAz]

I have just never liked Bards, they may be fun to play with but they dont hold up good as fighters, the spells are not worth it because you have to wait so long, thier thiefing skills are not worth it as well, just get a normal thief with more abilities and a better fighter,, and the bard song is just annoying as hell.

[Kitty]

Personally, I never liked bards - if I ever have an open slot in my party, I'd rather add someone good at one thing, either thieving, spellcasting, healing or fighting. The main reasons for this are: 1) bards lack main thieving abiliies that a thief has; 2)their spell progression is not as fast as a mage's; 3)they may wear better armor than a thief can do, the blade kit can put 3 slots into 2 weapon style, but they don't have enough HP and THAC0 to handle a fight.
And about the bard's song ability to cause confusion on enemies does not sound a good idea to me, since confused monsters can still attack your party.

---sigh--- OK, now for a rebuttal from someone who actually *likes* bards. First, keep in mind that bards are meant to be providers of support - they're not meant to be powerhouses at anything, but they make a nice backup for your main mage, can fight in a pinch or provide arrow support, can identify almost any item in the game with their high lore, and can steal shopkeepers/passersby blind with their pickpocket skill. All this plus the bard song, too! True, their spell progression may not be as fast as a mage's, but they level up quicker so spells with level-based effects are deadly in their hands, like Flame Arrow, Skull Trap, & Tenser's Transformation.

Imagine a skald constantly singing, giving the rest of the party at least +2 to AC, THACO, and damage. This is especially useful when there is a monk or kensai in the party.

In addition, Kitty, did you realize that a Jester (or any other bard) can sing his song while invisible? Imagine sending an invisible jester on ahead to confuse the monsters, letting them attack themselves and thus softening them up for the rest of the party.

I will admit that a bard is not someone I would want to solo the game with - although I have heard of it being done - but, played correctly, he can be a very valuable member of your group.

Mike

[Lochen]

I was a bit surprised they didnt add the variety of songs to BG2 that they gave to Heart of Winter bards. Bards in that game get new songs at different levels that have various effects. The magic resist related ones were supposed to be very good. It DOES make sense for a bard to have more than one song I usually use mine for all those minor protection spells IE protection from petrification. And give him a good crossbow. The plus 4 one is real nice I havent tried Haer Dalias yet. He seems like a fun NPC so maybe all those longswords might be useful to someone in my party this time.

I think a bard is not a very good character on his own. Like said, there are better fighters, there are much better thiefs and much better magi as well. But, like it says in the manual, the bard is meant as a supporting character. The high lore is what makes them most useful, but they can also give you additional magical firepower, use missile weapons like everyone else, pickpocket pretty good and can hold their own in a combat at least long enough to allow you to get the fighters in and the defensive spells cast. The single biggest drawback is that they can't sing while they are doing something else (in the case of the Skald: a nordic bard swinging his axe in a meele should be chanting loudly instead of remaining quiet. A Jester should laugh at his opponent and make fun of him as he dodges blow after blow and so on). This means that you can either hold the bard back, or have the song bonus for one round and use magic or a weapon in the next. It makes the song a lot less effective, which IS a bard's special ability.

As for the other question, I don't know what a normal bard's song does, but I think it has the same effect as a luck spell at the lower levels.

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The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew,
and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain.
All the others fled. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings