Is it really worth to micro-manage for song-twisting? The problem I'd imagine is that you miss the exact point of the round start (or even 0.5 sec before), the song shouldn't take effect at all. If I further look at the enhanced Skald-song of RR, that nets you a loss of 5 Dam for each your damage-dealer's attackroll. That IMO negates completely the damage your Skald 'd have done for this very round.
In a even more stupid example, with Keldorn, Mazzy, Jaheira, Valygar, Skald, Mage each with either a ranged or single/2-handed wp: (with GM-fix installed) - assuming the mage is casting so he/she doesn't count - Kelly 2.5 / Mazzy 3.5 / Jaheira 2.5 / Valygar 3 ApR - if my math isn't wrong, that sums up to missing 57.5 Damage for only one round you 'd have missed by enabling that song :O (not to mentioned the -5 AC & some immunities) With Lingering Song you have 2 rounds for doing something without interfering your song though...
edit: In reality it will be less, cause you are doing some minor damage as well but it still is less than just doing nothing ^^ And maybe there are some misses and other stuff, I guess a more realistic number 'd be ~30 damage - and that is still pretty huge. That said, I think that the mere presence of a singing Skald in a party is like having a permanent 7th party member in a non-Skald-party ^^ (damn, 3 times party in 1 single sentence ^^)
If carefully done, your song never drops off, so you're not only getting the bonus to the whole party, you're adding additional damage, so yes, in THAT case it is like having 7 party members, since you're contributing your own damage, + an additional amount for every attack everyone else in party makes. Otherwise, the Skald has to sing 100% of the time to justify his position in the party, vs using another class.
Of course, once you can hit 8-9 attacks per round under IH, you can put out about ~135 average personal melee damage (that's accounting for missing...if you use tenser's for the massive thac0 boost it's more then ~177) per round and skip the song entirely, just treating the Skald as you would a F/M.
I usually take crossbow and shortsword just because they're traditional bard weapons. Any ranged weapon plus any two-handed long-reach weapon are also a good choice.
However, I don't worry about it much, because I pretty much spend the whole game staying invisible and singing when I play a skald. Those bonuses to my party are just too good to do without.
@Oxford_guy 24 is the earliest, right at 3 mil xp, if memory serves. While the SN is pretty sweet, Belm and Kuudane are both easily acquired till you get there (and you'd probably hit the planar prison for the melodic chain asap anyway (boots of speed and Kuudane both drop there as well))..and +2 is actually perfectly high, save for a tiny handful of SoA enemies (vs which you can toss a +4 on your MH, and speed OH for a respectible 5 MH attacks under IH).
While that is technically true of the Zerth blade, you also have to go into your spell book and rememorize the spells every single time you unequip it, and that is way too much of a headache for so little gain, I'd much rather have a constant extra attack, some damage resistance, or a floating immunity weapon for my off-hand....then again...I solo a lot...so that's more important I suppose to me, then in a party configuration.
@valky yeah, I do tend to solo a lot though...so... it helps mitigate the boredom of just murdering everything with melee. Though depending on party set up, and if you use AI scripts or not, you can usually ignore the other characters and just let them shoot or melee whatever.
...Got to be honest, it sounds a lot less of a headache than microing every round of combat!
And again, once you unequip you can do whatever. Its not either/or with using other weapons, you only need to equip it on rest.
I'm not necessarily thinking of song twisting every combat, but shooting off the odd powerful magic bolt or arrow (or spell) could help in some situations...
Didn't the vanilla Skald-song having only melee range? I think in the 30 minutes I played in BGEE it was more than annoying. Checked for the reference in rogue reb. and BG2 and it was set to the common range of sight. Changed the song-projectile (!) explosion-radius in BGEE as well, so it's usually always active.
Aside from soloing, I have currently more fun with SCSII. That and Beyond the Law, as it gives you quite some additional city encounter in chapter 2/3. The most annoying are the groups of 3-4 lvl 18 cowled enforcer - powered by SCS really a pain.
Soloing BG/BG2 was never attractive and I didn't went far into the game...
Didn't the vanilla Skald-song having only melee range? I think in the 30 minutes I played in BGEE it was more than annoying. Checked for the reference in rogue reb. and BG2 and it was set to the common range of sight. Changed the song-projectile (!) explosion-radius in BGEE as well, so it's usually always active.
You can't be too far away, but you can still stay far enough away to loose ranged weapons safely
I really like @SandmanCCL's idea of using an axe/hammer with your bard if you go skald. Unless you're bringing Kagain along chances are you're not going to have anyone who uses axes and the same holds true if you don't bring Yeslick. Both of them have really nice options and the Warhammer +2 is available extremely early.
Once the Mac version of BG EE comes out I hopefully will do my own run including a Bard FAQ.
I couldn't wait, so I'm currently running the Windows version under Bootcamp (with Win 7) on my mid-2012 Macbook Air, it works fine. I'll still buy the native Mac version when it come out, though, as I'd prefer not have to boot into Windows just to play BGEE and I'd like to support further development of BGEE/BG2EE on Macs.
I really like @SandmanCCL's idea of using an axe/hammer with your bard if you go skald. Unless you're bringing Kagain along chances are you're not going to have anyone who uses axes and the same holds true if you don't bring Yeslick. Both of them have really nice options and the Warhammer +2 is available extremely early.
If you go this route, would be best to play as Good-aligned, otherwise you can't use the Azuredge Axe in BG2 until you get UAI. It's a pity only Dwarves can use the throwing hammer in BG2 too, though I assume a bard with UAI could use this?
Also, if going the axes route, would be good to either try to roll high strength or use the Strength spell or Ogre Gloves, as in BGEE (and in vanilla NG2 currently) throwing axes get strength bonus damage. Also throwing axes can be used with a buckler, and benefit from the single-weapon style -1AC when in melee mode, but *not* when in throwing mode.
BTW the Buerel's Retort +1 (but non-returnable) Throwing Axes you can now purchase cheaply in Beregost in BGEE can be used as a very cheap +1 Melee Axes early on, though only do 1d6+2 (3-8) damage, instead of the 1d8+1 (2-9) damage of a "real" +1 Axe, so minumum damage is higher, but max damage lower. Buerel's Retort is also faster than the +1 Battle Axe (speed 4 vs.. 6), which could be helpful for a Bard tryiny to song-twist. Unfortunately, though, you can't equip another weapon in the off-hand, even when using a throwing axe in melee mode, though, pity as it would've be lethal to have the 25 Str Crom Faeyr hammer in the off-hand whilst throwing Azuredge or Rifthome!
In BGEE you can't get either the +2 Battle Axe nor +2 (returning) Throwing Axe until quite late in the game, though, so Bassilus' +2/+1 hammer is probably a better choice until then, especially as a Bard needs all the help they can with THAC0 bonuses, it's also very fast (speed 2), which again could help with song twisting.
BTW a Skald doesn't necessarily have to be "Norse", as other cultures also have a history of battle musicians (e.g. Scottish highlanders with bagpipes and claymore swords!), so other weapons could still be realtistic RP-wise.
If using Buerel's Retort with single-weapon style, one trick would be to put on axe in melee mode in one quick weapon slot, and others in throwing mode in the other quick slot, allowing quick changing between the two.
Have also just realised throwing axes have the same effective ranged as bows, unlike throwing daggers and darts...
Well, their PnP description says they're specifically from Viking-based cultures, with strong oral traditions. And even makes them spend a prof on warhammers, axes, spears, or longswords at creation. They can also use platemail, helms, and any shield.
On the other hand, they're completely illiterate, until they spend 2 non-combat proficiencies to acquire reading ability, and suffer a massive -25 penalty to read languages (spending the 2 points eliminates the penalty and allows them to begin putting bard skill points in read language, they can't prior to becoming literate), and they can't use magical items such as wands or learn spells until they've gained at least 1 level (after becoming literate), after adventuring in a culture with magical traditions, and their caster level doesn't begin to increase until they've done so (which in BG, means their caster level would be 1 level lower then their level..if PnP, it's much more severe since if they didn't encounter a culture with strong magic traditions until lvl 6, at lvl 7, they'd have a caster level and spell progression of 1).
Their Bardic lore, also only applies to items used for battle, or information regarding great battles, or great leaders of men, rather then more general purpose as a plain Bard.
Their Battle Song is also MUCH more powerful then Bard Song, since it has 6 different effects, some of which increase based on level, instead of 3 static ones, and rather then just choosing 1 effect only, for every 3 levels, they can apply an additional effect of their choice per song. And unlike Bard song that only lasts 1/round per level, the Battle Song lasts until the Skald takes damage, so long as he engages in melee along with his fellow party members, but only 1/round per level if he hangs back to use ranged or avoid combat.
Though in PnP, you can only attempt Songs once per battle and it requires 3 rounds of singing to take effect, unless your forces temporary withdraw (which could be implemented as working similar to stealth, not allowing use when an enemy is in LoS, but also has a 3 round activation time) and you bolster them before sending them back into the fray.
Thanks @ZanathKariashi, interesting to know, though for now will have to play with a Skald as currently implemented in BGEE.
BTW Just been investigating Buerel's Retort further, I though there was actually only limited supplies of this available in Beregost, but actually it looks like there are inifinite quantities of this available, if you have the cash, though base cost is around 20 per axe (though this could be considerably less if you have your Bard cast "Friends" before buying, and have high Reputation). Also another factor, Buerel's Retort is considerably lighter than (2 weight vs. 5) than non-magic throwing axes, meaning you can carry more.
I'm actually tempted to go with these proficiencies for my Skald, if I can get at least 16 Str (for the +1 damage bonus, though the Strength spell will help later) though suspect would need other NPCs to share some of the load carrying of the throwing axes:
Have just been thinking about the potential damage of throwing axes with various strength bonuses, to compare to some other ranged options:
For a Skald, with the innate +1 damage bonus, Buerel's Retort does (in *both* melee and ranged modes, though damage is slashing in the former, piercing for the latter):
1d6+2+1 = 4-9 damage (6-11 with Skald Song up)
with 16/17 Strength (+1 damage) this does 5-10 damage (7-12 with Skald Song up)
with 18/50 Strength (+3 damage) from Strength spell, this does 7-12 damage (9-14 with Skald Song up)
with 18/00 Strength (+6 damage) from Ogre Gloves, this does 10-15 damage (12-17 with Skald Song up)
Obviously with the various potions of giant strength the damage increased even further
For comparision:
(non-magic) Darts (if all three hit) would do 6-12 (12-18 with Skald Song), though there's triple the chance potentially for a critical
+1 Darts, which is perhaps a more direct comparison (though expensive to use!), would do would do 9-15 (15-21 with Skald Song),
+1 Lightcrossbow of Speed (if both attacks hit) does 8-22 (12-26 with Skald song), with two chances of a critical, though obviously this could be higher with magic ammo.
So, using Bereul's Retort only really starts to compete with darts once you start using the strength spell, if Skald Song can be maintained then this only really starts to compete when wearing the Ogre Gloves, though the Haste spell (+1 attack) makes using Throwing Axes more competative vs. the other options:
e.g. Skald using Beuerel's retort with haste (2 attacks) + strength spell does 14-24 damage (18-28 with Skald Song) Skald using haste + ogre gloves with Beuerel's retort does 20-30 damage (24-34 with Skald Song)
Darts with haste (4 attacks) could do 9-16 (17-24 with Skald Song), though +1 darts would do 12-18 (20-28 with Skald Song),
Lightcrossbow of Speed with haste (3 attacks) could do 12-33 (18-39 with Skald song)
Giant Strength potions could make throwing axes even more worthwhile...
From the analysis above, from a powergaming perspecrtive, at least, darts or the the Light Crossbow of Speed (or even other types of bow) do more damage than the Bereul's Retort throwing axes, especially if Skald Song can be maintained, Bereul's Retort only really starts to compete when hasted and using strength gloves or potions. Of course, from an RP persepctive throwing axes could still be a fun option, and are not *that* bad, especially as the Strength spell can be obtained quite early on (though I don't think you can find haste scrolls until Cloakwood), though are perhaps only realy worth using after glugging a giant strength potion.
Once the Mac version of BG EE comes out I hopefully will do my own run including a Bard FAQ.
I couldn't wait, so I'm currently running the Windows version under Bootcamp (with Win 7) on my mid-2012 Macbook Air, it works fine. I'll still buy the native Mac version when it come out, though, as I'd prefer not have to boot into Windows just to play BGEE and I'd like to support further development of BGEE/BG2EE on Macs.
I want to wait and play BG EE relatively bug free.
< I get the impression the PC version is still being patched.
Sure, though it's *much* better than the original release and I think the next patch will likely fix the majority of remaining issues. The elven chain mail (which a Bard really needs) still doesn't drop when it should, but you can CLUA it in or use Shadowkeeper after doing the relevant encounter.
I got impatient waiting for BG2:EE (lol I know), so I started a Skald in BG2 with the Rogue Rebalancing mod. So far, I gave him Short Sword, Long Sword, Crossbow, and I think Shortbow or Single Weapon style. Twisting the song in melee is really hard. Haven't gotten a chance to test it with ranged yet.
I got impatient waiting for BG2:EE (lol I know), so I started a Skald in BG2 with the Rogue Rebalancing mod. So far, I gave him Short Sword, Long Sword, Crossbow, and I think Shortbow or Single Weapon style. Twisting the song in melee is really hard. Haven't gotten a chance to test it with ranged yet.
Yes, I think it's probably easier with ranged, though in melee can probably be used for at least your initial hit easily, useful if using something like the Staff of Striking, which has limited charges, or a touch spell
If you have rogue rebalancing, it corrects two-weapon fighting (as per PnP), so any rogue (thief OR bard) can max two weapon fighting (and gives blades an automatic *** as per PnP), so dual-wielding is actually a perfectly viable form of combat. Especially with dual-speed weapons. Even without RR, dual-speed weapons gives so many attacks the penalty for only * two weapon isn't crippling, and most enemies have crappy AC relative to your base tach0 by that point anyway.
The way I see it you either go for Two-Handed Style for damage...or single weapon style for slightly less damage and an AC bonus.
+Halberd (For Chelsey Crusher!) +Two-Handed Weapon Style +Darts (For Darts of Wounding) +Quarterstaff (Staff of Striking and the +3 Staff)
He's not an archer so the high rate of fire with darts will help him with being useful as a ranged combatant...Chelsey Crusher is easy to get early on and he'll only get 1 attack per round anyway so it's a very strong weapon. Later on he can take Staff for the two stronger staves in the game. Basically he's an off tank who can throw a lot of darts fast.
+Scimitar +Single Weapon Style +Darts +Crossbow
This Character would be more into ranged attacks, Darts AND a Crossbow so you can fire from a distance and have various types of ammo available. You can give him a Katana if you want, but he'll never hit with a measly +1 bonus or less. There are several magic scimitars and two EASY to find +2 scimmies so it's easy to put one aside for him.
Can bards use Bastard Swords? If so change Crossbow to Bastard Swords for the +3 against changelings sword. (same effect as Chelsey Crusher at that point.)
+Halberd (For Chelsey Crusher!) +Two-Handed Weapon Style +Darts (For Darts of Wounding) +Quarterstaff (Staff of Striking and the +3 Staff)
He's not an archer so the high rate of fire with darts will help him with being useful as a ranged combatant...Chelsey Crusher is easy to get early on and he'll only get 1 attack per round anyway so it's a very strong weapon. Later on he can take Staff for the two stronger staves in the game. Basically he's an off tank who can throw a lot of darts fast.
+Scimitar +Single Weapon Style +Darts +Crossbow
This Character would be more into ranged attacks, Darts AND a Crossbow so you can fire from a distance and have various types of ammo available. You can give him a Katana if you want, but he'll never hit with a measly +1 bonus or less. There are several magic scimitars and two EASY to find +2 scimmies so it's easy to put one aside for him.
Can bards use Bastard Swords? If so change Crossbow to Bastard Swords for the +3 against changelings sword. (same effect as Chelsey Crusher at that point.)
Yes Bards can use Bastard Swords, I think just about the only weapon they can't use is a composite bow, even with 18 Str
I think I've decided that for Level 1 Skald I'm going to go with:
Scimitars * Darts *
In Candlekeep I will actually buy both a Wakizashi (1-8 piercing damage, speed 3) *and* and Ninja-To (1-8 Slashing Damage, speed 4), both are faster than a Scimitar (speed 5) and it's nice to have both piercing and slashing damage options from single proficiency - most armours have less penalties for piercing than slashing, but some enemies have higher (or even complete) resistance to piercing.
I'll get the +1 Wakizashi in Dorn's Ambush encounter, so hopefully both the initial weapons won't break before then. After that I'll have to wait until Cloakwood to get the +2 Rashad;s Talon Scimitar.
Not sure what proficiencies I'll take at levels 4 and 8, probably single weapon fighting at 4, maybe crossbow at 8 (since should be able to afford the Light Crossbow of speed by then), to have a choice of ammo options and to prepare for Firetooth in Bg2, but maybe something else (possibly axes, as some good ones later and in BG2, maybe Katanas to prepare for Zerth blade in BG2).
BTW I'm going to play good-aligned (for a change...) and will take Atjantis, so he'll have Bastard Swords and Two-handed Swords covered, will probably also be taking Imoen (maybe will dual her), Kivan (but then replacing with Coran asap), Neera and Branwen (*maybe* replacing later with Yeslick, not sure about that), so both short and long bows are covered.
BTW I didn't think the 18/00 Ogre Gloves (Hands of Takkok) could be used by a Bard, but actually they can, it's only Mages, Thieves, Wizard Slayers and Kensai that can't use them :-)
Comments
Is it really worth to micro-manage for song-twisting? The problem I'd imagine is that you miss the exact point of the round start (or even 0.5 sec before), the song shouldn't take effect at all.
If I further look at the enhanced Skald-song of RR, that nets you a loss of 5 Dam for each your damage-dealer's attackroll.
That IMO negates completely the damage your Skald 'd have done for this very round.
In a even more stupid example, with Keldorn, Mazzy, Jaheira, Valygar, Skald, Mage each with either a ranged or single/2-handed wp: (with GM-fix installed)
- assuming the mage is casting so he/she doesn't count
- Kelly 2.5 / Mazzy 3.5 / Jaheira 2.5 / Valygar 3 ApR
- if my math isn't wrong, that sums up to missing 57.5 Damage for only one round you 'd have missed by enabling that song :O (not to mentioned the -5 AC & some immunities)
With Lingering Song you have 2 rounds for doing something without interfering your song though...
edit:
In reality it will be less, cause you are doing some minor damage as well but it still is less than just doing nothing ^^ And maybe there are some misses and other stuff, I guess a more realistic number 'd be ~30 damage - and that is still pretty huge.
That said, I think that the mere presence of a singing Skald in a party is like having a permanent 7th party member in a non-Skald-party ^^ (damn, 3 times party in 1 single sentence ^^)
Of course, once you can hit 8-9 attacks per round under IH, you can put out about ~135 average personal melee damage (that's accounting for missing...if you use tenser's for the massive thac0 boost it's more then ~177) per round and skip the song entirely, just treating the Skald as you would a F/M.
However, I don't worry about it much, because I pretty much spend the whole game staying invisible and singing when I play a skald. Those bonuses to my party are just too good to do without.
While that is technically true of the Zerth blade, you also have to go into your spell book and rememorize the spells every single time you unequip it, and that is way too much of a headache for so little gain, I'd much rather have a constant extra attack, some damage resistance, or a floating immunity weapon for my off-hand....then again...I solo a lot...so that's more important I suppose to me, then in a party configuration.
@valky yeah, I do tend to solo a lot though...so... it helps mitigate the boredom of just murdering everything with melee. Though depending on party set up, and if you use AI scripts or not, you can usually ignore the other characters and just let them shoot or melee whatever.
And again, once you unequip you can do whatever. Its not either/or with using other weapons, you only need to equip it on rest.
Aside from soloing, I have currently more fun with SCSII. That and Beyond the Law, as it gives you quite some additional city encounter in chapter 2/3. The most annoying are the groups of 3-4 lvl 18 cowled enforcer - powered by SCS really a pain.
Soloing BG/BG2 was never attractive and I didn't went far into the game...
Also, if going the axes route, would be good to either try to roll high strength or use the Strength spell or Ogre Gloves, as in BGEE (and in vanilla NG2 currently) throwing axes get strength bonus damage. Also throwing axes can be used with a buckler, and benefit from the single-weapon style -1AC when in melee mode, but *not* when in throwing mode.
BTW the Buerel's Retort +1 (but non-returnable) Throwing Axes you can now purchase cheaply in Beregost in BGEE can be used as a very cheap +1 Melee Axes early on, though only do 1d6+2 (3-8) damage, instead of the 1d8+1 (2-9) damage of a "real" +1 Axe, so minumum damage is higher, but max damage lower. Buerel's Retort is also faster than the +1 Battle Axe (speed 4 vs.. 6), which could be helpful for a Bard tryiny to song-twist. Unfortunately, though, you can't equip another weapon in the off-hand, even when using a throwing axe in melee mode, though, pity as it would've be lethal to have the 25 Str Crom Faeyr hammer in the off-hand whilst throwing Azuredge or Rifthome!
In BGEE you can't get either the +2 Battle Axe nor +2 (returning) Throwing Axe until quite late in the game, though, so Bassilus' +2/+1 hammer is probably a better choice until then, especially as a Bard needs all the help they can with THAC0 bonuses, it's also very fast (speed 2), which again could help with song twisting.
BTW a Skald doesn't necessarily have to be "Norse", as other cultures also have a history of battle musicians (e.g. Scottish highlanders with bagpipes and claymore swords!), so other weapons could still be realtistic RP-wise.
Have also just realised throwing axes have the same effective ranged as bows, unlike throwing daggers and darts...
On the other hand, they're completely illiterate, until they spend 2 non-combat proficiencies to acquire reading ability, and suffer a massive -25 penalty to read languages (spending the 2 points eliminates the penalty and allows them to begin putting bard skill points in read language, they can't prior to becoming literate), and they can't use magical items such as wands or learn spells until they've gained at least 1 level (after becoming literate), after adventuring in a culture with magical traditions, and their caster level doesn't begin to increase until they've done so (which in BG, means their caster level would be 1 level lower then their level..if PnP, it's much more severe since if they didn't encounter a culture with strong magic traditions until lvl 6, at lvl 7, they'd have a caster level and spell progression of 1).
Their Bardic lore, also only applies to items used for battle, or information regarding great battles, or great leaders of men, rather then more general purpose as a plain Bard.
Their Battle Song is also MUCH more powerful then Bard Song, since it has 6 different effects, some of which increase based on level, instead of 3 static ones, and rather then just choosing 1 effect only, for every 3 levels, they can apply an additional effect of their choice per song. And unlike Bard song that only lasts 1/round per level, the Battle Song lasts until the Skald takes damage, so long as he engages in melee along with his fellow party members, but only 1/round per level if he hangs back to use ranged or avoid combat.
Though in PnP, you can only attempt Songs once per battle and it requires 3 rounds of singing to take effect, unless your forces temporary withdraw (which could be implemented as working similar to stealth, not allowing use when an enemy is in LoS, but also has a 3 round activation time) and you bolster them before sending them back into the fray.
BTW Just been investigating Buerel's Retort further, I though there was actually only limited supplies of this available in Beregost, but actually it looks like there are inifinite quantities of this available, if you have the cash, though base cost is around 20 per axe (though this could be considerably less if you have your Bard cast "Friends" before buying, and have high Reputation). Also another factor, Buerel's Retort is considerably lighter than (2 weight vs. 5) than non-magic throwing axes, meaning you can carry more.
I'm actually tempted to go with these proficiencies for my Skald, if I can get at least 16 Str (for the +1 damage bonus, though the Strength spell will help later) though suspect would need other NPCs to share some of the load carrying of the throwing axes:
Level 1
Axes *
Single Weapon Style *
Level 4
Hammers *
Level 8
?
For a Skald, with the innate +1 damage bonus, Buerel's Retort does (in *both* melee and ranged modes, though damage is slashing in the former, piercing for the latter):
1d6+2+1 = 4-9 damage (6-11 with Skald Song up)
with 16/17 Strength (+1 damage) this does 5-10 damage (7-12 with Skald Song up)
with 18/50 Strength (+3 damage) from Strength spell, this does 7-12 damage (9-14 with Skald Song up)
with 18/00 Strength (+6 damage) from Ogre Gloves, this does 10-15 damage (12-17 with Skald Song up)
Obviously with the various potions of giant strength the damage increased even further
For comparision:
(non-magic) Darts (if all three hit) would do 6-12 (12-18 with Skald Song), though there's triple the chance potentially for a critical
+1 Darts, which is perhaps a more direct comparison (though expensive to use!), would do would do 9-15 (15-21 with Skald Song),
+1 Lightcrossbow of Speed (if both attacks hit) does 8-22 (12-26 with Skald song), with two chances of a critical, though obviously this could be higher with magic ammo.
So, using Bereul's Retort only really starts to compete with darts once you start using the strength spell, if Skald Song can be maintained then this only really starts to compete when wearing the Ogre Gloves, though the Haste spell (+1 attack) makes using Throwing Axes more competative vs. the other options:
e.g. Skald using Beuerel's retort with haste (2 attacks) + strength spell does 14-24 damage (18-28 with Skald Song)
Skald using haste + ogre gloves with Beuerel's retort does 20-30 damage (24-34 with Skald Song)
Darts with haste (4 attacks) could do 9-16 (17-24 with Skald Song), though +1 darts would do 12-18 (20-28 with Skald Song),
Lightcrossbow of Speed with haste (3 attacks) could do 12-33 (18-39 with Skald song)
Giant Strength potions could make throwing axes even more worthwhile...
From the analysis above, from a powergaming perspecrtive, at least, darts or the the Light Crossbow of Speed (or even other types of bow) do more damage than the Bereul's Retort throwing axes, especially if Skald Song can be maintained, Bereul's Retort only really starts to compete when hasted and using strength gloves or potions. Of course, from an RP persepctive throwing axes could still be a fun option, and are not *that* bad, especially as the Strength spell can be obtained quite early on (though I don't think you can find haste scrolls until Cloakwood), though are perhaps only realy worth using after glugging a giant strength potion.
The way I see it you either go for Two-Handed Style for damage...or single weapon style for slightly less damage and an AC bonus.
+Halberd (For Chelsey Crusher!)
+Two-Handed Weapon Style
+Darts (For Darts of Wounding)
+Quarterstaff (Staff of Striking and the +3 Staff)
He's not an archer so the high rate of fire with darts will help him with being useful as a ranged combatant...Chelsey Crusher is easy to get early on and he'll only get 1 attack per round anyway so it's a very strong weapon. Later on he can take Staff for the two stronger staves in the game. Basically he's an off tank who can throw a lot of darts fast.
+Scimitar
+Single Weapon Style
+Darts
+Crossbow
This Character would be more into ranged attacks, Darts AND a Crossbow so you can fire from a distance and have various types of ammo available. You can give him a Katana if you want, but he'll never hit with a measly +1 bonus or less. There are several magic scimitars and two EASY to find +2 scimmies so it's easy to put one aside for him.
Can bards use Bastard Swords? If so change Crossbow to Bastard Swords for the +3 against changelings sword. (same effect as Chelsey Crusher at that point.)
Scimitars *
Darts *
In Candlekeep I will actually buy both a Wakizashi (1-8 piercing damage, speed 3) *and* and Ninja-To (1-8 Slashing Damage, speed 4), both are faster than a Scimitar (speed 5) and it's nice to have both piercing and slashing damage options from single proficiency - most armours have less penalties for piercing than slashing, but some enemies have higher (or even complete) resistance to piercing.
I'll get the +1 Wakizashi in Dorn's Ambush encounter, so hopefully both the initial weapons won't break before then. After that I'll have to wait until Cloakwood to get the +2 Rashad;s Talon Scimitar.
Not sure what proficiencies I'll take at levels 4 and 8, probably single weapon fighting at 4, maybe crossbow at 8 (since should be able to afford the Light Crossbow of speed by then), to have a choice of ammo options and to prepare for Firetooth in Bg2, but maybe something else (possibly axes, as some good ones later and in BG2, maybe Katanas to prepare for Zerth blade in BG2).
BTW I'm going to play good-aligned (for a change...) and will take Atjantis, so he'll have Bastard Swords and Two-handed Swords covered, will probably also be taking Imoen (maybe will dual her), Kivan (but then replacing with Coran asap), Neera and Branwen (*maybe* replacing later with Yeslick, not sure about that), so both short and long bows are covered.