Bard Class and Set Breakdown
Malta
Member Posts: 11
I've always been a Mage or a Cleric or Theif and I understand the nuances of those classes and the point of the fighter classes, but I've never got the point of having your character as some form of a Bard Class.
Can someone dedicated to the Bard Classes explain their strengths and appeals?
Can someone dedicated to the Bard Classes explain their strengths and appeals?
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There are some other advantages:
1) Fast level progression gives an edge on spells that scale with level, like Chromatic Orb, Dispel/Remove Magic, Haste (higher duration), and Fireball/Skull Trap (more dice damage).
2) The high lore is convenient and handy, as, by about 4th level or so, you can free your mage from having to memorize Identify spells.
3) Six-sided hit dice plus fast leveling gives you a level of hit points that a mage can only dream about. Plus you can Find Familiar.
4) Gets Use Any Item in Throne of Bhaal.
5) There are several bard instruments in the game that give extra spells per day (usually Chaos and Confusion, or Horror), which is nice.
Bards can't cast magic in armor, like they can in D&D 3.5, they don't get extra attacks, their thac0 is crap, their hp rolls are low and they have none of the useful thief skills. It's supposed to be a jack of all trades, master of none type of class. The problem is that most of the time it's a "crap of all trades" compared to more specialized classes.
The bard song is one of the benefits, but it's really not worth having one character stand idle in combat, for such a petty bonus. Most of the time people don't even bother casting Bless before a battle which gives about the same bonuses, but lets your cleric fight too. (In 3.5, Bards can have active bonuses and fight at the same time).
I'd say the only worthwhile way to make a Bard in Bg1 is to make a Blade with max Str/Dex, dual wield longswords and hope for the best. Wear chainmail until you can cast several spells before rest (minimum lvl 4 i'd say).
I've come pretty far in my first BG:EE Playthrough, using a half-elf Blade, max str/dex/int. Currently lvl 6 and regretting it. The gimped fighting and not-worth-mentioning casting is leaving me rather disillusioned. (Even Khalid and Imoen are kicking more arse than I am, except for those 24 seconds i am buffed :S)
Also, I've cleared every single area outside of Baldur's Gate, excluding Durlag and Ulgoth and I still haven't come across the elven chainmail we were "promised", which Bards are seriously nerfed without. (Using bracers with thac0 +1 Dam +2, instead of AC bracers)
I think a Blade with Longbow could be interesting though.. (Bit of an oxymoron that..)
That's my take it on.. not very positive I guess. Bards are much better suited for Bg2, where you pretty quickly get access to spells like Stoneskin, Fireshield Red, elven armors, weapons that add more attacks, higher than 18 str etc etc, which makes them into quite deadly magical melee fighters. Bg1 just doesn't seem to have enough juice to get them going though.
They're fun though.. if you don't mind watching Khalid rack up kills faster than you can ever hope to
Advantages:
Low exp threshold: Bards level up very quickly, in fact, at the same rate as thieves. This actually means their damaging spells are more effective than a mage's with the same exp. They'll also have more hit points than a mage, with their better hit dice, and more frequent levels.
Bard Song: This is much better if you're a skald, of course, but the bard song is nice for when their spellcasting isn't needed. Especially if you still have Khalid in the party...
Lore: Not bad early on, since saving slots for identify isn't always the best option. If Edwin is your only mage, then he won't be able to cast the spell either. This saves some time, and lets you use loot that you find earlier.
Equipment: Bards, like thieves, can use shortbows and some other weapons. They won't be as good as fighters, naturally, but they're a bit more handy with a ranged weapon than a mage using a sling. They've also got access to some armor, but that's rarely used.
Pickpocket: Not terribly useful, but it does save your thief from having to invest in it. Blades and Skalds aren't as good at this.
Stat minimums: In character creations, bards have some pretty nice minimums, so their dexterity, intelligence, and charisma will always roll above a certain amount (12, 13, and 15 respectively, I think)
Disadvantages:
Armor usage: While they can use armor, they can't cast spells while wearing anything, and chainmail even stops them from pickpocketing.
Mediocre combat: They don't get exceptional strength, and only have a single proficiency point maximum. The strength can be overcome by using the strength tome at 18 for a massive boost, but the proficiency slots will always be a problem. Blades have decent combat abilities, however.
Spell access: Bards don't learn new spell levels as quickly as wizards do. This is worse in BG2, as it completely prevents them from learning all the crazy 7+ level spells, like horrid wilting and time stop. In BG1, however, it's just a single spell level behind, so it's not as detrimental.
Stat dependency: While they have nice minimums, there are also a number of stats they need to have high in order to be effective, especially if you plan on doing any combat with them.
Hm, I think that about covers bards.
The only thing, is that I was used to playing with the Rogue Rebalancing mod, which makes bardsong have a slightly longer range and duration, which has the effect of enabling you to keep your bonuses on the party.
I had forgotten this, but in vanilla, the way the song is implemented makes it very hard to keep your bonuses on everybody, even if you're standing right next to them. They need only get more than about three steps away from you, and they lose your bonuses for at least one round.
cant wait for mods to be allowed and ability to create. I am looking to create my first kit which will be a modified Harper Scout kit. Possibly a few new 'Bard only' items.
Cant wait for Rogue Rebalancing to be compatible.
Still I think they are worth bring along for they're identify ability alone. Without a bard along all my mages first level spells are identify.
And while I'm bummed there appears to be no eleven chain for them to use, the new special halberd (+2 attack +6 damage, sets attacks to 1) seems custom made for them - suddenly your Bard is doing as much damage as Minsc!
Still, I like the idea of bards, so I may as well go with it.