You know, I just can't respond to this without coming off as sarcastic.
"I was NOT refering to an inability to cast higher (7-10) level spells, although that does hurt the Bard severely. I was *referring* to the fact that your *casting* level tops at 20 for the bard, but is unlimited for the F/Mu dual...a *very* important point in ToB"
While I haven't tested it, where are you pulling this information from? The only time I noticed this was when my Globe of Invulnerability dropped a few seconds before Imoen's, and I was 35th and she was 29th. The 9 round difference that she should've had supports the manual's claims. The manual itself (far from a reliable source as we all might know) states all defensive spells with a level-based duration are capped for all casters at 20th level. Where does anything come out with the fact a pure caster doesn't hit this effect cap, and that Bards in fact do?
After poking through some of the datafiles, I cannot find any such reference (but I could've missed something, or I could be looking in the wrong place). Spells themselves all appear to cap at 20th (a few exceptions, Sim goes up to 23rd level for duration). Incindiary cloud, Horid Wilting, etc. all cap at 20th level in the data files, unless I'm missing some modifier...
So feel free to tell me I'm wrong, but kindly show me how you know this.
"I also point out that many of the Bard special abilities in SoA require the Bard to sit out of combat (much like turning undead). This is ok for a backliner like Aerie (I like to have Aerie turn undead when she has nothing better to do), but a 'blade' is a mid-rank character and needs to be contributing each round."
And they can contribute every round, but they can also fall back and provide decent support with the enhanced bard song. That's one of the three different special (combat) abilities a Blade kit has. Offensive and Defensive Spins are quite combat oriented.
Aerie is a waste of space outside of a few scant combinations of uses that I never used often enough to really warrent her presence. Yes, some triggers and contingancies are nice with cleric spells, along with the Robe of Vecna, but I prefered Anomen's passable combat skills and brutal turning undead, Keldorn's ability to spank casters silly, and Imoen's wizard spells rounded out the party (when I did the party route in SoA, this was after the bugs referenced below were introduced and I had to adapt). I still had the majority of kills throughout SoA and ToB, and SoA can be solo'd by a blade.
"I also point out that time is *not* an issue."
Eh?
How is the benefit of getting (itemX) early on in the game compared to getting (itemX) later on in the game not a time issue?
The difference between the Ring of Regeneration and the regeneration Ioun Stone is far from minor. Yes you can sleep every time you need something you've "used up", but you quickly fall into familiar patterns.
/shrug
Ultimately, power lies in the roll of the dice. A (class) with 99% magic resistance and -20 save vs. death can still blow a MR check and roll a critical failure on their saving throw, and be dead on the ground from a death spell (Disintigrate, Flesh to Stone, etc.)
Its been stated by BIO that classes themselves are not balanced between each other, and monks and certain combinations are indeed more powerful than others. This doesn't mean a bard is useless, weak, or not worth having in a party.
If you're going to Min/Max everything, then yes, a bard is "useless" in comparisons to other class combinations, but alone or in a party they can be quite effective in SoA and ToB. Which was the major point, and one proven here.
Are there things that could've been done differently to make the even more interesting? Yup. One song the entire game? Even my AM Radio does better.
Note - This is ignoring the Dual Wield and Offensive Spin BUGS introduced with ToB.
