GameBanshee Forums

1. How can i recharge my wands?
2. And is it clever to solo with a bard?
3. Can a bard lock pick or not?
4. How to open a chest with great treasures (like tomes) if i cant lock pick? 5. Can a bard wear robes?

Thank you for answering!

1. Sell them with at least one charge left and buy them back.

2. Not too clever, because you're weak on HP and have no healing abilities, but then, why not. Bards level fast and there are healing potions in the game.

3. Bards can't pick locks.

4. You can open locks with the second level wizard spell Knock.

Or you can bash them if you are strong enough.

[QUOTE=qonqueror]1. How can i recharge my wands?
2. And is it clever to solo with a bard?
3. Can a bard lock pick or not?
4. How to open a chest with great treasures (like tomes) if i cant lock pick?
5. Can a bard wear robes?[/QUOTE]
1. Like said you can sell them and buy them back. This is bugabuse in my opinion.
2. Nope, not clever, but i'm not a big secondedition bard fan. Healing isnt a problem when soloing, there are millions of potions in baldur's gate1. But a bard is going to have ALOT of problematic fights when soloing. They even have alot of problematic fights when not soloing, so that would be realy hard!
3. No, but he can cast knock later IIRC
4. Bash them, or maybe you have to find a key for it
5. Not the robes only wearable by mages, but why would wou want to wear robes?

Also note that there is no good Bard-specific armour within BG1. The best you are going to get (if you want to keep casting spells) are the Gauntlets of Armour AC 6, which are not the best.

Cheers,
TGHO

Still, bards can do a little bit of everything. I find they are not a bad choice when it comes to soloing.

That's true. but not for soloing.
For soloing you will need to be an expert in one, maybe 2 things.

A bard isnt a meatshield that can just storm in with lot's of HP and a low AC.
He can use a bow but not as good as some fighters can.
And his spells will hurt enemy's but arent as good as those of a mage.

Bard do make a very good "extra" character in every party.
And they got even better with 3rd edition rules (IWD2, NWN)

I myself find it impossible to solo BG1 with anything that cant backstab, but that is just me.

Let us know what you picked.

Yup some of the battles are really difficult if you solo with bard, unless you use cheesy stuff like algernon's cloak

Algernon's Cloak isn't cheesy. Overpowered possibly, but items like it (and much better) certainly exist in 2nd Ed! It does make life within the game a lot easier for the player however.

Cheers,
TGHO

Bard

Yes, I started a solo cariere with the bard. And I think its one of the best to go with. Ofcourse you can pick a F/T, F/M or F/T/M, but if someone wants a challenge you go solo with a bard. And IF you go solo I expect you want a real challenge, so..... take one (a bard or druid). I'm level 6 at the moment and ready for the Bandit Camp. That will be difficult I think.

How is you're expierence with a bard solo? And how solo can you go in Baldurs Gate 2 SOA? Is it possible or not? Did anyone solo BG2 with a bard?

mmm, oh and how often can I use the cloak of Algernon?

Elwin (the Netherlands)

Soloing a Bard in BG2 is, in my opinion, a bit easier than in BG1. In BG2 you can choose a kit, and both the Blade and the Skald are significantly more powerful in melee than the Bard.
Still, soloing a Bard in BG1 is far from impossible, and far more easy than soloing a druid. Bards can use all weapons and can use both offensive and defensive spells in combat, not to mention all wands. Dire Charm and Mirror Image can go a long way.
The biggest problem is traps. Bards don't have any defense against those and have to take the damage they do, which can be a problem because Bards do not have hit points to spare.

I'm currently soloing BG1 with a Jester (thanks to Tutu), and so far I'd say it's not really easy, but doable. I thought the confusion effect of the bard song might be helpful, however all that usually happens is that the monsters get confused, but keep attacking me. Once I get invisibility, this hopefully will change, but so far it's pretty much like playing a plain bard.
I'm level 6 now, just did the mines and a few of the southern outdoor areas. Mostly I'm wearing chain mail and use the crossbow of speed to kill things with hit&run tactics, and only take off my armor to quickly finish off ranged enemies (while using magic armor).
The THAC0 is what's annoying, but so far I never had a situation where I thought I could never get through.

"The biggest problem is traps. Bards don't have any defense against those and have to take the damage they do, which can be a problem because Bards do not have hit points to spare."

Mirror image takes all the traps damge, and if its a "save" type spell, then you normally auto save. So traps are meaningless when you have magic.

I think its best to just use "armour" and the defensive bracers, they will lower your ac substantially, just keep a high (18-19) dex.

In SoA, a bard becomes one of the easiest and funnest characters to solo with. Use the Blade kit, and you'll fall in love with his "defensive spin" and "offensive spin" really great spells for low level fighting. You just sit there (not being able to move) with defensive spin on and shoot everyone down with a bow. Great fun!