BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

OOC General Discussion

Moderators: Forum Moderators, Active DMs

Post Reply
let it trip
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:13 pm

BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by let it trip » Sun Jun 14, 2020 9:41 am

Hello all,

Just a quick comment... Where are the bards, are they undesireable classes, are they too support orientated but not on the same level as a healer cleric? I love bards. I might even go ahead and play one just so that they exist more. I'm all for rare, not-often-seen classes and characters and personalities, but where are my bards? I want to hire one to follow me around but I meet like one every year.

User avatar
ReverentBlade
Posts: 577
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 2:45 am

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by ReverentBlade » Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:40 am

Watch for IC performances to get scheduled and follow the music. There's plenty of bards!

User avatar
Opustus
Posts: 817
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:07 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Opustus » Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:22 am

I've heard bards surface when it rains.
Characters: all poor babies suffering from neglect

the grim yeeter
Posts: 330
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:47 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by the grim yeeter » Sun Jun 14, 2020 12:11 pm

Many players think bards are a bad class mechanically while in fact they're probably the most powerful class in the game.
Sockss wrote: There is an overriding premise that all changes should be appreciated and welcomed because someone has taken time out for free to make them. [...] I don't believe volunteering should put your work above criticism [...] .

User avatar
Rigela
Posts: 211
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:28 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Rigela » Sun Jun 14, 2020 12:58 pm

Lots of them about and doing things, just got to find them. Not all do the same kind of performances, or even music, so a nice variety of different kinds of bards too.

Also a very mechanically strong class
Isabella Isherwood - Priestess of Selune
Piper Barley - Joybringer of Lliira

User avatar
Dalenger
Posts: 1184
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:56 pm
Location: 422nd layer of the abyss, sacraficing some poor sap to Yeenoghu

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Dalenger » Sun Jun 14, 2020 2:41 pm

Bards make some of the most powerful builds on the server and, next to the healer, probably the best support class in the game. You don't see a lot of them because A) metabuilt bards are just fancy fighters or paladins, so unless they're singing you'd think they're just another sword'n'boarder and B) bard builds suffer until midlate teens, so people tend to either give up on them or powerlevel with their buddies until they're demigods.
DM Void wrote: Don't be a salty idiot and everything will be fine.

User avatar
Hunter548
Posts: 1869
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:40 am

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Hunter548 » Sun Jun 14, 2020 3:44 pm

Dalenger wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 2:41 pm
Bards make some of the most powerful builds on the server and, next to the healer, probably the best support class in the game. You don't see a lot of them because A) metabuilt bards are just fancy fighters or paladins, so unless they're singing you'd think they're just another sword'n'boarder and B) bard builds suffer until midlate teens, so people tend to either give up on them or powerlevel with their buddies until they're demigods.
Adding on to this, gearing a meta bard usually takes more work - so people who aren't willing or don't think to do that see lower performance.

Bards are extremely strong.
UilliamNebel wrote:
Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:24 pm
You're right. Participating in the forums was a mistake. Won't do this again.
Anime Sword Fighter wrote: I have seen far too many miniskirt anime slave girls.

User avatar
Anatida
General Admin
General Admin
Posts: 371
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:00 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Anatida » Sun Jun 14, 2020 9:45 pm

There are some very prominent bards in circulation atm. Not necessarily the sort that want to do what you describe, but they still exist.

My pronouns are: She/Her/That *itch


User avatar
DM Rex
Posts: 806
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2020 11:13 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by DM Rex » Sun Jun 14, 2020 9:46 pm

Sneaky bards.
Just leave out some sheet music that's never been played in an open field, and wait.

There's lots about. Some do performances based on song and prose, others in mortal combat.

AstralUniverse
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by AstralUniverse » Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:03 pm

No one:
Builders: Bards are op!
Svrtr wrote:

I've spoken with Kenji and warpriest will be allowed to take elemental avatar so keep this in mind too


azrael_athing
Posts: 193
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:42 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by azrael_athing » Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:24 am

AstralUniverse wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:03 pm
No one:
Builders: Bards are op!
Overpowered is usually a measure of how easy the class is to exploit, and whilst other classes may be really strong and still easy to play, Bard is, in my opinion, not one such class. If you don't know what you're doing or building for on a Bard, you'll be as usefull in this game as Dandelion is to Geralt.

But to answer opening post, There are bards around the island, but very few actually commit themselves to playing 'bards' as we know them, and some are simply 'bards' for the powerspike but act out as Fighters so you'll never notice them.

User avatar
Ninjimmy
Posts: 352
Joined: Wed May 16, 2018 8:40 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Ninjimmy » Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:40 am

Also worth noting, there's a lot of bards around who won't fit the exact niche of "I follow adventurers around" and even the ones who do will probably be a bit picky about who they pursue and compose ballads about, your best bet is either to stick a notice up saying you want to hire one or doing some stuff which is so notable they start wanting to follow you for IC reasons.
Playing:
Olwin (AKA Olicoros Vrozt Akael Shilligg Jugem Dojj Winzalfur AKA That £$%^ing Wizard)

User avatar
livingNPC
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:35 am
Location: GMT+2

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by livingNPC » Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:48 am

AstralUniverse wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:03 pm
No one:
Builders: Bards are op!
Used to play champion of Corellon, Sylwyn Gallyn. Had 60 AC, crit rate of 13-20 (lower with green steel, which I never used)... and still spell in that heavy armor, to cast fear and other CC nasties in combat.

This was back in 2010, before artifacts arrived.

PS. Can't take credit for build, as Coar build it for me and I just tweaked minor things for my play style.

User avatar
Dalenger
Posts: 1184
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 8:56 pm
Location: 422nd layer of the abyss, sacraficing some poor sap to Yeenoghu

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Dalenger » Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:58 pm

Ninjimmy wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:40 am
Also worth noting, there's a lot of bards around who won't fit the exact niche of "I follow adventurers around" and even the ones who do will probably be a bit picky about who they pursue and compose ballads about, your best bet is either to stick a notice up saying you want to hire one or doing some stuff which is so notable they start wanting to follow you for IC reasons.
Yeah, I think we're kinda derailing from the OPs point. To answer the OP, I think you're going to have a hard time finding the perfect player of the perfect bard at the perfect level who'll have a schedule that matches yours so you can play together. Honestly, it does sound like a lot of fun though. I've got a surface bard in the early teens rn, send me a PM and we'll see if we can mesh play times :)
DM Void wrote: Don't be a salty idiot and everything will be fine.

Preytoria
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 4:50 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Preytoria » Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:02 pm

I play Zelos. He's a bard! But really there is a lot going against bard that makes people shy away from them, I think. The best things about your class is bard song and curse song. However, bard song doesn't become -that- incredible until 14+. And you'll need 20 Bard if you want your song to last more than 10 rounds (you do). Even when it's all said and done: you're there to bard song and curse song. That's the game plan. It can be a dull playstyle to some. Are the abilities absolutely broken? Yes. Yes they are. Where bards shine mechanically is against other players. PvP isn't and should not be the focus of the game, however.

And the other negatives? It's very painful to level on your own, you have AWFUL HP, and you simply don't get enough skill points per level. Additionally the caster level changes hurt Bard a lot. 16 Bard and 20 bard were very popular 'stopping points,' but now it's not recommended if you intend on having CHA > 10 because you will be absolutely annihilated by dispels. There used to be a workaround -- now there isn't. The weaknesses I listed sound simple, and they are, but believe me when I tell you it's the suffering.

Even RP wise there are a lot of expectations. People are of course free to play how they want, but Bards gotta bard! Come on! You're going to be hosting events, composing song/poetry, or doing -something- bard-like. These are additional commitments to the game that are kinda hard to maintain and require a certain kind of player who enjoys that stuff.

I'd enjoy seeing Bards with higher hit dice and more skill points. But only if Bard song/Curse song got smoothed out. Right now the scaling swings too hard from useless to absolutely broken. It should just go from useful to pretty damn good.

Arelith is not a game where Character Class = Character Identity. I'm not trying to sound facetious. I've played a lot of RP games where that very much is the case -- and I personally /prefer/ that approach. But Arelith has a lot of source material already to draw inspiration from. While I absolutely LOVED games where each class had a guild hall that you had to visit -just- to become that class, that is not what this NWN server is. There's a lot of people with bard TECHNICALLY as their class. But do they 'act' like bards? Probably not.

let it trip
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:13 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by let it trip » Mon Jun 15, 2020 7:40 pm

Preytoria wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:02 pm
I play Zelos.
ENOUGH SAID ZELOS RULES <3

Gouge Away
Posts: 425
Joined: Fri May 24, 2019 4:38 am

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Gouge Away » Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:34 pm

"Bard" brings to mind some half-elf strumming a lute and singing magical Renaissancey songs but it can cover a lot of territory, so I'd watch saying people aren't playing their class if they have bard levels.

For that matter you don't have to be a bard to be a performer or even a musician. You just need the willingness to perform.

Anyway bards are cool but I don't play them because I hate the clunkiness of the class. I know you get really powerful and can make a skald paladin who's one of the strongest builds in the game but the spells vs armor clash just doesn't do it for me and I find them very unfun at low levels so I always delete before their time. We all have our preferences I suppose.

User avatar
Tarkus the dog
Posts: 1045
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:12 am

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by Tarkus the dog » Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:40 am

Bards, the most powerful class on the server that no one wants to play.

User avatar
R0GUE
Arelith Platinum Supporter
Arelith Platinum Supporter
Posts: 423
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:10 pm
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by R0GUE » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:56 pm

My bard will happily join you for adventures!

-slave
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2020 5:49 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by -slave » Wed Jun 17, 2020 3:32 am

Tarkus the dog wrote:
Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:40 am
Bards, the most powerful class on the server that no one wants to play.
Except for Feylocks.

But no, Bards are fantastic, and exceptionally powerful. But leveling them is pain. And you need friends. But if you have friends, and hate yourself enough to level up to the epics as say, a CON Tank Bard with EDR III, Taunt, Curse Song and Bards song, you can play the game of "Really nice AC you have there, would be a real shame if I were to take 12 of it from you" with people.

If somebody tries to kill the bard they are doing it wrong and die.

If people don't kill the bard, then they are watching their stats vanish before their very eyes and die.

It's a very wholesome experience that takes 2-3 button presses (There is more to it than this but really the core of it) and getting to this point will probably make you question your mental stability.

AstralUniverse
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by AstralUniverse » Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:59 pm

-slave wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2020 3:32 am
But if you have friends, and hate yourself enough to level up to the epics as say, a CON Tank Bard with EDR III, Taunt, Curse Song and Bards song, you can play the game of "Really nice AC you have there, would be a real shame if I were to take 12 of it from you" with people.
Ah that build was so so fun. Not sure it's really fun these days with wounding whispers being breachable and heal skill no longer enchantable in basin but it might be fun with that armor of immolation if it deals enough damage. Its one of my all time favorites.
Svrtr wrote:

I've spoken with Kenji and warpriest will be allowed to take elemental avatar so keep this in mind too


seamogs
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2020 8:25 am

Re: BARDS WHERE ARE THE BARDS

Post by seamogs » Sat Jun 27, 2020 11:26 pm

They're too busy being the center of the party and getting all the dungeons.

Post Reply