Blogs What's the point of Bards?

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2009/06/22/what-s-the-point-of-bards/

 

Maybe to sing songs about how awesome your character is (or isn't) ala Fable/Fable2?

Honestly, I couldn't tell you the point of a Bard, either.

I'm sure there's a D&D buff around here that'll school us, though >.>

 

It would be different if there was a SingStar/Guitar Hero style minigame in Dragon Age, though. Then Bards would be awesome.

 

Dude, don't say things like that too loud or often, it'll only be a matter of time before Activision release 'Bard Hero' with some bizarre peripheral and compatability with Guitar Hero.

 

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/features/bard/bardclass.xml

 

Jesus christ.

That's it. I'm leaving the gaming world.

Yes, I realise it's a joke

 

What's the point of Bards.... why to be Bard ass off course

/gets coat, shuffles off

 

They're all rounders, plain and simple - and that's especially true in BG 2. They have OK fighting skills, a small selection of spells, a handful of Thief skills and a few unique abilities that make they handy for specific situations. The Bardsong is a great party buff at higher levels and the high Lore is handy at lower levels when you need magic items but can't keep shelling out for Identify Scrolls.

They don't excel at anything though and that's their major weakness - that they need constant back-up in combat situations. That said, their typically high Charisma and Wisdom makes them good spokespeople for your party, even if they don't have anything else to recommend them.

On the other hand though, they aren't ever really worth going out of your way for - especially if you're an experienced RPGer and are confident you can manage with specialists instead. When I play Baldur's Gate 2 I tend to recruit Haer'Dalis though still, but that's mainly because I like his character. His bundle of unique equipment does make him pretty useful though.

 

LUTE SOLO!

 

Cousin of Han...

 

If there's ever a Bard Hero with a Lute controller, I'm blaming you!

 

I must agree with the general consensus that the bard is quite a useless class. The only time I've found a bard in a game or book or other entertainment medium that wasn't a useless twit was in the Spellsinger series by Alen Dean Foster. Granted he was still a somewhat useless twit, but at least he was funny and could pull off some serious stuff when needed.

 

bard class was in morrowind (possible oblivion) too, it was just a hybrid of all 3 schools. Magic, Combat, Stealth. thus resulting in being bad at all of them.

 

It sounds like game developers don't know what a bard is either, "Yeah give em all the abilities but make em suck at them". I see the point Joe a character good at nothing.

 

If you dig through the D&D rulework there is a point to bards, but how many % of games actually stick to that? not many, so in most games bards are pretty much pointless.

 

I know from Vanguard Bards were for the group Buffs. they had the ability to heal, speed the party up, increase attack and defense, etc. For doing group quests they are great otherwise the aren't the best.

 

Barbarians in D2 could be built as a bard, and still kick some serious ass with AOE skills, especially with parties. Not sure about other games, I think there was a musician in Ragnarok, but all I ever saw them do was hang around town and play music.

 

ah, but the true bardbarian was very difficult to play. hilarious, though.

 

If they were like Robin's minstrels in Monty Python's Holy Grail, then I'd definitely sign one up. Yet to meet a Bard in a game that doesn't have an annoying voice and poor sense of humour though.

 

bards are there to annoy people.. spell singer always sounds like the coolest thing ever.. but buffing party with your songs while you let the real men do all the damage.. I gues chicks like to play these classes but I find them boring =] just buff me oh mighty bard then laugh while crit some beaverface for 2000 running up a hill

what I loved about lineage was we'd have a 3-4 man team with good micro we could take out groups of insane monsters as long as the tank could hold.. double the healer with bard type skills and it made for a crazy beeoyt who could keep our dps up and keep the tank from going belly up.. only cool thing was the hexes imo, like herpes through the group and those were usually bard types

mage is always a trip to play.. put those bard/crafters rofl to sleep and then wake them up with a fireball to the face.. put them back to sleep- repeat XD let's see you buff your way out of that!