Straight Bard or Kit?
kevzeviltwin
Member Posts: 6
Planning to play a bard during my second run through. New class and planning to have each npc join for a bit and complete their quests. Looking at the Bard not sure any of the kits will make a big difference. Not going to dual wield so Blade is out. Skald and Jester songs sound interesting, but not sure how much they will contribute. Any thoughts are appreciated.
0
Comments
1. Blade
2. Skald
3. Bard
4. Jester
However Blade plays VERY differently to the other kits, so if you were after bards then you should avoid the blade.
Also, the Jester is actually good in BGEE, where saves are lower (or higher, whichever means worse) than in BG2.
Skald is probably the best but becomes damned redundant in ToB thanks to a rather poor decision involving high level abilities (it is a bard song that any of the bard kits can gets and is better than the skalds).
Bard is good due to their pickpocket and lore (which the Jester shares). In vanilla BGEE I don't think that the bard song actually goes up with levels, however I may be wrong on that so be careful there. Because of this it would be very hard for me to recommend using the pure class bard.
Just decide which aspect you like most out of the three kits and pick one.
I played a Skald, they're decent, and pretty good in BG:EE. Definitely worth trying. The only issue that I forsee with a Skald is their weak THAC0 progression... *sigh*
I think the current kits are pretty nice and they did a better job with the bard than most other classes in that regard
In fact a Skald might even consider taking another HLA first, such as UAI ( Use Any Item), as Level 20 Skald song is still pretty great.
Even after the HLA song a Skald is still better than a non-kit Bard or Jester as still gets his/her innate +1 To Hit *and* +1 damage to *all* attacks (including ranged). A Skald also still gets the full lore benefit, the only thing you lose out on is pickpockets.
BTW it's perfectly possible to "song twist" as a Skald (or with any Bard song, though not sure this would work for the Jester's song, as this works a little differently) i.e. after you've been singing for a while and you can see on your characters portraits that the Bard song effect is "up", as soon as possible after the round has started you can get some ranged attacks in (actually you can do melee too, but it's harder to manage) or cast a quick spell and then resume singing before the end of the round, without the song effect dropping (i.e. it "lingers" a little) *and* your own attacks benefit from the song. For a Skald this means +3 To Hit *and* +3 damage ( (+1 for Skald innate, +2 for Skald Song) for each attack, so even with darts (which have 3 APR) you could potentially do 4-6 damagewith each dart or 12-18, if all three hit. With the improved Skald Song at Level 15 this would become 6-8 damage with each dart or 18-24 if all hit, more with magic darts. Using a bow when hasted would also do serious damage.
It's also worth pointing out that, as well as yourself and your party NPCs, your Familiar also benefits from Skald song ( and, for what it's worth, the non-kit Bard song), the -2 AC bonus from Skald song can help with their survival *and* for the Pseudo Dragon at least (the Neutral Good familiar) the to hit and damage bonuses actually makes them half decent in melee. I think Skald song also improves the effectiveness of summoned creatures and other temporary NPCs. Non-kit Bard song works like this AFAIK:
Lvl 1: +2 morale per round (so helps to restore morale lost through fear)
Lvl 15: +1 Luck, +2 Morale per round
lvl 21: +2 Luck, immunity to fear and morale break.
Luck gives: +x hit/damage/saving throws/morale
So the non- kit Bard song is pretty poor until level 15 and not great even then.
BTW "Friends" is a great spell for a Bard, increases your Cha to at least 21 (adds +6 Charisma, Bard minimum Cha is 15), which gives the max shop discount possible (prices are 75% of normal).
There have also been some useful recent threads about Bards in the General forum, though these contain some spoilers...
There are also gauntlets in-game that can help with THAC0 and you should also be feeding your Skald potions to buff him/her often (though Bards can't use the fighter-specific ones until UAI).
lol...
Also, dont underestimate the jester... he is quite the powerhouse (as far as bards go) in BG1.
But i think this class to be too silly... with a kind of joxer-the-mighty stigmata.
But if that's your cup of tea...
If you dont want to be a dual-wielding guy then Skald is probably what you are looking for.
Who needs defense when you have MEAD!
You answer your own questions as to why (at least i) view it as "cheesing" and dont do it. You cant really "cheat" in this game, and the only one you do "cheat" is yourself. Since "cheating" makes you have more fun with your game... kudos to you.
I for example, delete spells i dont mind risking failing to recopy to my spellbook.
My friends view this as "a cynical exploit of game mechanics" while i view it as proper PR! As the mages practice writing spells into his spell-book...
To each his own, in other words.
"every bit helps!"... lol.
Funny, as i dont actually farm encounters...
On a more serious note, i cant really explain myself... its just something that is always a part of my gameplay when i am/have mages. Just seems to me a logical thing to do as a mage, it adds to my immersion i guess.
Enough people called me mad for me to understand its an odd quirk... lol
I suppose you could think of it (if shopping from an appropriate store), as selling a used one to the shop keeper to resell later at a cheaper price, and then buying a fully charged one from his stock...so...I mean you can rationalize it....
I will recommend to use 2 handed swords/halberds and crossbow in bg1 with special spins.
With needed buffs they will be much more than viable in weapon fighting + you can use wands, scrolls and get the best "spellcaster level" in bg 1
Actually, this is probably how the Jester would be in reality--a pesky nuisance that the baddies feel they can simply ignore (to concentrate on the "bigger" threats in the vicinity). Looks like the Jester is doing his/her thing even here in the forums! So "meta-" !
Yep, definitely going to try on the Jester for size: deck out with all kinds of tools, max dex. Yes, I can see it now ... cavorting madly in and out of the fray, firing spells, launching bolts from the crossbow, blasting wands, and dancing amid the carnage like a deranged musician, plucking madly at my lyre!
The enemies will try to ignore me, and get burned by my varied arsenal! They will scream at me to shut up, then go mad! They will swat at me, but frustratingly miss (High Dex)!
My party will do the hard work knocking them off, and of course I'd take first pick at the spoils (my companions won't even know what stuff is really worth! (high Lore). I'd be the "face" of the party, the leader, naturally (high Cha) and i'd fence our goods to rack up gold. We'd be the richest, most entertaining, (and most dangerously underestimated) party of adventurers in Faerûn!
Advantages:
— May use Jester's Song ability. While active, the Jester's Song affects all enemies within 30':
1st Level: Every round enemies must Save vs. Spell at +2 or be Confused for that round
15th Level: Every round enemies must Save vs. Spell at +2 or be Confused, and Save vs. Spell or be Slowed for that round.
20th Level: Every round enemies must Save vs. Spell at +2 or be Confused and knocked unconscious, and Save vs. Spell or be Slowed.
Disadvantages:
— None.
Although the description for 20th is misleading, the way it's worded now makes it sound like it's 1 save for 2 effects, it should really say:
20th Level: Every round enemies must Save vs. Spell at +2 or be Confused, Save vs. Spell at +2 or be knocked unconscious, and Save vs. Spell or be Slowed.
They still need to update the description for the default Bard, the in-game description for this doesn't actually say exactly what the song does nor how it levels, I think it should be:
Lvl 1: +2 morale per round
Lvl 15: +1 Luck, +2 Morale per round
Lvl 20: +2 Luck, immunity to fear and morale break.
Luck gives:
+1 hit/damage/saving throws/morale
But I was actually thinking of trying the Chaotic Neutral alignment, if simply to fit the way I plan to do battle (as in my description above). After all I am not in any royal court, I am in the wilderness most days, and I am quite mad, or perilously unstable.
However, the familiar for CN characters is the cat, but I have no particular preference for it. I am not sure how the cat will really be of much benefit to me other than by adding it to my arsenal and having the option to fling it into the eyes of an onrushing orc à la Minsc ["go for the eyes, boo...!"] after all, familiars can be mere inventory items, yes?).
Thanks for the interesting query. I guess my answer in sum: I want to play CN but i'd rather a dust mephit!