Bard lovers look here.

jim ström · Post by **jim ström** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:47 pm

I'm intrested in starting a new bard, but i want to correct the wrongs i did with my first one, mainley the spell bit.

Lend me you'r spell books, and also explain why you've chosen the spells in the book, also if you have a certain strategy, equipment choice or quest strategy, then i ask of you to please share those too.

BTW I've always thought that the Cleric avatar suits a bard character much better, thats why i always change those on Garrick and Eldoth when they are in my party.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 1:57 am

Spells that protect you from harm like Mirror Image and Blur work wonders. Dire Charm can be extremely useful. Spook and Sleep are great against those hordes of Hobgoblins and Xvart.

me0w · Post by **me0w** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 4:18 am

Guys, I know this is very stupid (and pretty off topic) but it seems clear to me that bards are the best characters for soloing BG, but, to be honest I don't understand why you all love them so much, I saw Bard on the list and I've always thought "pff, what a gay character" I saw Garrick and I hated him, so really, why are Bards so good. They are like thieves with magic, but not theivery?

jim ström · Post by **jim ström** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 7:03 am

Well, you'r right, this is completly of topic.

But to answer you'r question....
I'am a bit tired of hackin and slashing through my enemies, so i started a bard character, to get some variation, and i love it! A bard opens a whole new way to play. That's why i love the bard, but i would like to use them better, that's why i started this thread.

me0w · Post by **me0w** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 8:16 am

So its fun to play, I'd have to agree, any character is better than a PC warrior. But what does it offer in combat, they have Bard song which is useless.. well, near enough. So it offers some magic, you can't wear armour and cast, so you can't really hand to hand anything if need be, the magic is limited, so why is it so good. I'm sure it is because so many enjoy the character, but why!?

jim ström · Post by **jim ström** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 12:02 pm

Maybe, it's because of the challenge, it sounds like you're no bard lover, so may i ask, Why did you ask this question in a thread who is named "bard lovers look here"?

Volk · Post by **Volk** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 12:52 pm

Me0w do you know anything besides powergaming? its called having a chalange or having some fun in games, and no a bard is not the best character to solo BG with its simple possibile to, a mage, fighter/mage, or thief/mage will do it much better and much simpler.

Frankly i dont see why you had to come and post in this thread if all you want to do is attack someone for chosing to play a bard, i dont care if you think their "gay" clearly your not mature or old enough to understand what gay means, or respect someone for having that decision in their life, back on topic if someone wants to play bard they will reagrdless of your oppinion on them, the poster simply asked for some oppinions on spell selection and other strategies, not wheather you like to powergame with a fighter PC or weather you think bards are gay or not.

Now that thats out of the way, i have to agree protective spells are the way to go, it cast them then put your armor and shield back on, the bards dont have a lot of spells to chose from so damage spells usualy fall short because you cant have enough of them and their not strong enough, asside from that charm and sleep spells work well too.

The best weapon choices are usualy the Sword of backstabing, or the dagger of venom and a buckler +1. Or you can go with two handed swords and use the Worlds Edge or the Spiders Bane, for ranged weapons you can go with bows if you like but i prefer to use a throwing axe in stead this allows you to keep your shield on.

In short i usualy put one + in short swords and one in axes. Or + in long swords and + in bows or Misile weapons, misile weapons can work with a shield as well, but slings have low damage and use ammo so i wouldnt advise it, but its possibile.

Wands of monster summoning are usefull and so are wands in general, use them for offensive spells in stead of memorising them.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sun Aug 15, 2004 2:17 pm

It seems to me Me0w is not really attacking anyone, just expressing what his experiences are with bards, so far. He doesn't like them very much, for the reasons he stated and he's only asking us to convince him otherwise.
Ixnay on the gay remarks though.

me0w · Post by **me0w** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 2:05 am

Thanks coot for explaining that, I didn't even think anyone would say I was "attacking" anyone for there preferences.

Sorry about saying "gay", its just in England, especially in London gay is used without the homosexual meaning, and is normaly just used to say crap, etc. Just like *** is often used to say ciggerette, it doesn't mean ciggerettes are homosexual or anything, heh. But I'll try to not use the word here anyway.

so may i ask, Why did you ask this question in a thread who is named "bard lovers look here"?

Reason being, if Bard lovers are browsing the thread, maybe they themselves can best express why its a good character and why so many like it.

Now I understand its to do with a challenge, but what really does the character offer, wands, small ammount of magic, a difficult game, backstabbing? and a variety of weapon options.

Volk please don't patronise me, its clear most everyone has a grasp on the concept of homosexuality. But it seems you didn't understand the idea of gay as a quolocual term for "crap".

So if any could, while helping out Jim, tell me a reason or two why the bard is a good character, I'd be greatfull, I might try one out myself, see how it goes.

SP101 · Post by **SP101** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:57 am

Protection Spells

Armor, Shield, Mirror Image, Blur, Invisibility, etc.

Disabling Spells.

Spook, Sleep, Charm-Type-Spell, Hold Monsters/Persons, etc.

keeB · Post by **keeB** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:00 am

for charm type spells, dont waste a slot in your book, there's always the cloak!

i just played a solo bard all the way through and it was a blast. mirror image, blur, ghost armor, and some nice bracers, all lowered my AC to a reasonable level, and made it hard for the enemy to do damage on me. some places you're going to need spells like knock, improved invisbility, find traps, etc.

my favorite way to get through a trap is to send some summons. the wand of monster summoning is the best thing you can get in the game when you're soloing a bard.

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 11:55 am

I'd use a FTM instead of a Bard

Skuld · Post by **Skuld** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:15 pm

I've tried FMT before and it's just a different character. I'm pretty partial to bards in BG. I'm a fan of using defensive/charming/disabling spells and knock. And it seems to do the job. There are plenty of wands provided you know where to look, and of course there's the cloak which I actually feel bad aboout using because it feels rather cheesy and Dire Charm is a bit more powerful. But when I play I bard I don't use armour as it restricts casting and I hate having to go to the inventory screen to swap anything. I'm also quite fond of throwing axes being as there's a pretty nice one towards the end of the game, and being as you only have one spell slot you can change from melee to ranged with the same weapon. Also the high lore saves you a lot of money which you can use to recharge your wands because there's not a whole lot of items a bard can use that you'd wanna save up for. I did have a question. I thin so far two references have been made to the spell Spook, and IIRC that spell wasn't in the mix until BGII. It's a great spell, but I don't remember seeing it until BGII. My other style of playing a bard when not using throwing axes is the Web/Spider's Bane tactic. It's a pretty solid tactic that's perfect for the solo bard. I think that's about it.

jim ström · Post by **jim ström** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:32 pm

thank you all for all of the tips how i can improve my bard, does anyone more have anything to add?

dark_raven · Post by **dark_raven** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:18 pm

[QUOTE=me0w]So if any could, while helping out Jim, tell me a reason or two why the bard is a good character, I'd be greatfull, I might try one out myself, see how it goes.[/QUOTE]

to be honest, if you don't already like the bard, you probally won't. not untill you have one in iwd. bg1's bards are desent, but they don't get any special instrements to play and (unless i'm mestaken) only have one bard song. as to why i like them thoe...

the bard is a great combination of fighting, spellcasting and a little bit of thevery but all under one class. i mean a fighter/mage is nice, but takes longer to level up then a bard. thats why i like the bard.