Bards, Druids, Wizards, and Rangers: Your Experiences

[Albromor]

Hey all. I was just wondering if anyone played the classes I placed in the subject heading in the NWN world. I am trying a ranger now and find it difficult to utilize this class skills espacially in low to mid-levels.

Also, I have yet to try out the other three because I am wondering how they can survive especially at low levels. I have never played a wizard. What has been your experiences?

[Kestrel Daystar]

I often play as Bards seeing as they are my all time favourite class ever !!

I actually fond it relatively easy going through the campaigns with Bards. They have a rather good array of arcane spells (mainly buffing spells but in higher levels some nice offensive spells), aswell as a good hand when it comes to melee fighting. I always made my bard able to dual wield which I found most effective. If you utilize the bard song upgrade and upgrade the toughness and spell-casting feats, you have a rather nifty character there.

Low levels it can be quite tough, but as you advance through the game, you advance with power. If you have HotU, I would advise multi-classing with the Red Dragon Disciple class.

This was only my experience though. Others may tell you otherwise but under my recommendations, *whispers* go for the bard


--Kestrel--

[javan]

Try searching this forum looking for those classes.

Back in October Neo the Warrior Cat asked about your favourite character. I posted this:

*gets out pot of glue /copies and pastes/*

I only have the OC (so far ). My favourite character is a Rogue (3)/Bard (11) that I am currently using to kick butt in Chapter 2. [img]tongue.gif[/img] His original statistics were:

STR 8/DEX 16/CON 12/INT 12/WIS 10/CHA 16.

His current stats vary depending on the robes/ amulets/ belts/ gloves/ rings that he wears.

I like “utility” characters; ones that can fill almost any role.

• By maximizing his Heal skill and using Bard songs he can buff and heal like a cleric.
• By taking a few levels of rogue he hasn’t met a trap or lock yet that he can’t get past.
• He has a few wands and a library of scrolls to dish out arcane magical damage at a distance.
• By using damage-absorbing equipment and buffing up with spells and songs he can melee most hordes without taking a scratch.

After losing his summoned wolf and henchman in a boss fight, he went on to mop up everything in the room by himself. I then discovered the joy of soloing my character.

Javan

When the going get tough, the bard goes drinking- Bard’s Tale [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img]

[pritchke]

One of my favorite has been an elvish Ranger. Started out as a ranged character in SoU but in HotUD he became a dual-wielding death machine with some very enhanced weapons. Once you reach level 4 and get your familiar (Panther is sweet) things start looking up. Can't really comment on the others except for the druid, I found it a little weak starting out so I canned the class for a ranger as it was a little tougher with good ranged ability. Might try the Druid again though.

[ 01-25-2005, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Legolas]

In brief, the wizard starts out with some difficulty but grows to be one of what are easily the most powerful classes around. Resting often, and using summoned creatures strengthened by spells, are your best bets during the initial stages.

The druid, while not as effectively as the cleric, makes for quite a versatile class which specialises in summons. Of the two, the druid uses the more offensive magic and that, combined with some very respectable defensive spells, makes the class stand out in environments where little magical equipment is available. The same strategy applies here as it does with the wizard, with the exception that the druid can keep going just that little bit longer, and can also fall back on combat when spells run out.

The ranger isn't particularly powerful. In fact, the only two reasons to take the class are because you might want to play a lightly armoured, dual-wielding character in which case you can consider taking fighter levels anyway, and because no matter how much the rules mess them up, rangers are still cool. They are reasonably solid fighters with a few nice tricks, but nothing spectacular.

The bard class isn't as much a jack-of-all-trades as the cleric is these days, but like the ranger, they have the background thing going for them. Start out with ranged weapons until you can switch to something more slashy. The spells aren't as plentiful as they are with the other arcane caster classes, but they can certainly give you a nice little boost now and then.

Also, by now, Druid means Shifter and Bard means RDD, and with good reason. The prestige classes are almost too good not to use. If you go the way of the stereotype, you'll end up with effective characters indeed, but it's all down to whether or not you find any fun in that.

[Target]

I've just started a druid, who is going to become a shifter, it was very difficult to start with, putting points into wis, int and a few in con didn't leave any for str, so was hard to start with.But with my animal companion, summoned animal and a dog I picked up on the way I survived until I got my first animal, now I can shapeshift into a bear life is much easier, with a few buffing spells I can now stop using the animals.
I am enjoying this druid, and I'm really looking forward to getting some more shifter levels!!

[robertthebard]

Uh, this may sound strange, all things considered, but I hardly ever played bards in the beginning. With the introduction of SoU, and Arcane Archers, I play them a lot. I find them to be very versatile, and it's not that hard to get by in lower lvls, as long as you're careful about what you engage in combat. I really prefer them to be archers, whether arcane or not, as it gives you plenty of time to prepare, before you have to actually get physical.

As for the Ranger, two of my favorite chars were pure rangers. I went the light armor, high dex approach, with both ranged and dual wielded weapons on one, and heavy armor, and a big ol' halberd on the other. The pets are the selling point there.

As for pure spell casters, I don't play them much. I have a hard time remembering to work their spells, and essentially ruin them in the process.

Side note, I finally made my first bard/rdd not too long ago, trying out a char build I saw posted on one of the forums here, and all I can say is...Wow.

[Kestrel Daystar]

Never under-estimate the power of a bard!

Bards rule! Especially in RP [img]tongue.gif[/img]

--Kestrel--

[T-D-C]

A Quite potent build involving a Bard is a Bard/RDD/AA.

With the strength bonuses from the RDD you can get DEv Crit for your Bow and concentrate on pumping your DEX to get a dexent AB.

If you starting strength is 17 you will get a strenght of 25 by the time your RDD is level 10.

The rest you can pump into dex. if you want a archer class go with something like 9 Bard 10 RDD 21 AA.

[Dace De'Briago]

Would a fighter/thief/monk build be any good?