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I´ve just started a ToB game as a skjald, excellent kit, really!
Just wanted to know if there´s somebody out there with all the great hints/tips up their sleeve...

BTW, my lore is 210 (!), is that normal? (I´m lvl 21 and have 18 int. and 8 wis)

I'm sure we'll be able to provide some useful tips for you. First, you could make a search on Bards and see what's already written.

About the Skald kit, if you don't want it RPG-wise, I see no reason to choose it for ToB. (And as I personally don't feel that vikings belong to the Bhaal spawn saga, I tend to avoid it.)

The Skald is probably the best Bard kit for SoA, as his song gives your whole party some very nice (in the beginning) to awesome (towards the end) bonuses. However, in ToB, you'll want to replace it with the high level ability Enhanced Bard Song, which is even better but also available to all Bards. Thus the only reason (RPG-reasons excluded) to play a Skald in ToB would be the +1 to hit, but at that level it's no longer a big deal.

The Jester's song (or taunting) isn't especially useful (due to a stupid + 4 to the saving throws), so you'd want to replace that one in ToB with the EBS as well. In short, no reason to pick this kit either.

Now we have only the Blade and the True Bard left. If you want a fighting Bard, the Blade is the way to go. With the right spells, I would say he's easily the best fighter in the whole game, if only for a shorter period at a time (until his spells wear off). RPG-wise, "Blades study weapons, not scrolls, maps, and books" (from the Complete Bard's Handbook), so if you want a more spellcasting-focused/sage-like Bard, I'd opt for the True Bard. The True Bard will still be awesome in battles after the right spells, fear not, and gets the full Lore and Pick Pocket abilities.

Regarding stats, these will have to depend upon which kind of Bard you're playing. Are you going to throw him in toe to toe with the enemies, make sure his DEX (for AC bonus) and CON (for max HPs) are high (at least 17 for DEX and then 16 for CON). As you'll have to compensate somewhere, give him a lower STR (get a Girdle of Strenght instead) and WIS (his Lore will be more than enough anyway).

Now, as for armor, you'll obtain the excellent Melodic Chain during (or just before, actually) the Bard Quest. You'll also find the useful Harp of Discord at this stage. As the Bard can use all weapons, I recommend you pick either categories you'd really like to use, or categories which aren't covered for by any other member of you party (the Bard is a teamplayer, after all). Dual wielding is normally the way to go for a Blade, but his Offensive Spin can be quite effective with a distance weapon as well.

About spells, the one spell casting advantage a Bard holds over a Mage is his constantly higher level. Thus, spells that take the caster's level into consideration are always interesting. His spells will then both be more effective and last for a longer period of time.

Some of my favorite Bard spells are:

Level 1:
Magic Missile
Burning Hands
Spook
Chromatic Orb

Level 2:
Mirror Image
Blur
Melf's Acid Arrow

Level 3:
Dispel Magic
Flame Arrow
Haste
Melf's Minute Meteors
Fireball
Skull Trap

Level 4:
Improved Invisibility
Spirit Armor
Stoneskin
Spider Spawn

Level 5:
Cloudkill
Chaos
Sunfire

Level 6:
Improved Haste
Chain Lightning
Tenser's Transformation

I hope this gives you a good start. Come back if you have more specific questions.

Oh, I forgot: Your Lore is normal, the Bard gets 10 points per level. You INT should give you a bonus to Lore as well but in this case the bonus is nulled by the penalty given to you for your lower WIS.

And finally, my complements upon your excellent choise of class. Bards are the best!

Again thanks to you Asta, for the great info.
I also tend to find the vikings a little off-rpg, but I felt like exploring some of kits I had not tried before, and bards is, as you mentioned, really great! Your choice of spells was very similar to mine, if not the same. A tensers for the blade is awesome, actually.
May power-play burn in hell for all I care, the fun in the game lies in exploring the many opportunities...

Originally posted by Jaesha
May power-play burn in hell for all I care, the fun in the game lies in exploring the many opportunities...

Well Said!

Cheese, on the other hand, is so much fun....Hehehe.....

I must agree with Astafas as far as choosing a skald for SoA but they do become utterly useless since their main advantage becomes available to all bards in the form of improved bard song.

As for spells go, I loaded up on acid arrows and mag missiles and used minor sequencers when i wasnt playing my musix. The instruments generally wreak havoc on lower level units and are very helpful throughout.

Try out a blade with a couple of katanas (dakkons zerth blade, celestial fury) and you can really get a kick ass all around character -- little bit of fighting, little bit of buffing, all the identification you would ever need, and pickpocketing when you need it....

I haven't made a PC bard yet in BG2 because Haer'Dalis is just awesome with his two profs in Short Sword. I rarely use the Bard song as I always use parties no greater than 4 members, and the bard is usually on the frontline after some buffing. I use them as secondary spellcasters and secondary fighters. Come to think of it I also never used his spins either. But after some serious buffing he was able to take down the Shadow Dragon single-handedly. Bards are definately my favorite class, and I tend to play them more like fighter-mages than troubadours(yes I know that's a TDD kit).

@Skuld

There is nothing preventing you from having two Bards in your party. Imagine the two of them playing Enhanced Bard Song at the same time...

H'D's specialization in Short Swords is an advantage, of course. However, I prefer having him dual wield Long Swords (such as Daystar and Blade of Roses) or Katanas (Celestial Fury and Dak'kon's Zerth Blade), so that feat is pretty much wasted for me. His own swords aren't bad but they aren't that good either, IMO.

H'D's his real drawback is the lack of HP's. This can be compensated for with the Girdle of Fortitude, and I sincerely recommend all to do so. A front line fighter who dies after two or three hits as soon as the protection spells run will have problems... And contrary to a Bard of your own, he'll get no extra HP's from a Familiar either.

You haven't used the Spins?! Then you've missed the whole point with the Blade...

Offensive Spin - lasts 24 seconds, +2 to hit, +2 to damage, +1 attack per round, all attacks do maximum damage

Defensive Spin - lasts 24 seconds, roots Blade in place for -1 AC/level (not to exceed -10)

Make sure to activate the Spin before throwing Tenser's as it otherwise won't be possible - it's treated as a spell even though it's an innate ability.

Astafas the bard king!

Nice to see how everyone has his masterfield!
A new title for Astafas it seems!

He he, thank you guys. Although Bruce Lee ain't bad on this subject either.

Actually the game I used Haer'Dalis he was weilding Kundane and Daystar/Blade of Roses being as my PC F/T had Belm and Celestial Fury. But with Stoneskin and the Girdle of Fortitude he's not too bad. And once he got Tenser's and I mproved Haste he was a blendor.

Originally posted by Astafas
[BThere is nothing preventing you from having two Bards in your party. Imagine the two of them playing Enhanced Bard Song at the same time...
[/b]

Nice idea... (would the effects stack?)

Hope I have an useful trick to add.
When playing a Skald, or a Blade with EBS, you'll most likely find yourself asking yourself "to sing or to fight, that's the problem" more than often

You would like to cast Simulacrum and have your clone sing while you go into melee, but alas, Simulacrum is 7th level and bards will never get it...

Here's the solution: cast Mislead instead. You get improved invisible and your image, for some odd reason, can use enhanced Bard Song!
(You must have the ability, obviously)
Worth a 6th level slot or not?
Tell me

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade


Nice idea... (would the effects stack?)

Hope I have an useful trick to add.
When playing a Skald, or a Blade with EBS, you'll most likely find yourself asking yourself "to sing or to fight, that's the problem" more than often

You would like to cast Simulacrum and have your clone sing while you go into melee, but alas, Simulacrum is 7th level and bards will never get it...

Here's the solution: cast Mislead instead. You get improved invisible and your image, for some odd reason, can use enhanced Bard Song!
(You must have the ability, obviously)
Worth a 6th level slot or not?
Tell me

Yes, the effects stack. I'd say Mislead is worth the slot - but you'll need a way to counter True Sight. And for the ultimate advice on playing a bard, check Two's No deaths, no reloads.

Non-detection would do that trick, no?

Originally posted by Jaesha
Non-detection would do that trick, no?

Uhm, I don't know how and when Non-Detection exactly works...
Against True Sight, I like Spell Immunity: Divination.

Originally posted by Jaesha
Non-detection would do that trick, no?

You probably mean the Cloack of Non Detection. Yes, it will.
But, as serjeLeBlade said, Spell Immunity : Div will also help.

non detection will not prevent true sight...non detection will enhance your ability to sneak past a monster capable of noticing inv creatures, like beholders and flayers, but a scripted monster like mage can cast it, and dispell invisibility...

but, spell immunity will prevent true sight from working, but will also dispell the mislead clone, if in sight of monster, like the dispell spell would....

mislead clones are actually better than wiz eyes for distractiong monsters, if they dont have true sight, they will auto go for them, and hack away until spell runs out, and you can indeed cast multiple times, and generate a army that way...think of filling all slots with mislead, and having 4 cast enhanced bard song before battle...

aside from that, i still think bards are best used as deployable decoys...

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
but, spell immunity will prevent true sight from working, but will also dispell the mislead clone, if in sight of monster, like the dispell spell would....

In fact, I'd leave the clone to sing as far as possible from the battle site... !

(Another option is to leave the clone and the bard playing a duetto as far as possible from the battle)

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
...think of filling all slots with mislead, and having 4 cast enhanced bard song before battle...

aside from that, i still think bards are best used as deployable decoys...

Multiple misleads all singing works a treat, you end up with an outrageous AC, enhanced bard song has a huge range so you can keep the clones safely away from battle or divination spells. Using the ease of use mod gives bards access to project image which can cast multiple misleads too and all of their songs stack.

Strangely enough, when you've cast several misleads, some of them start talking in another of the available PC voice sets...