Best race for the Bard
« on: December 24th, 2001, 9:17am »

The singing and dancing, music slinging, lute playing, paralyzing her oppenents with her music...the Bard. What more is there to say about the Bard? It's quite possibly the best class in Wizardry 8! I take that back, they ARE the best class in Wizardry 8! OK OK, all you nay sayers, let's just skip ahead to the goodies

Stats in order of importance:
DEX, INT, SPD, VIT, SEN

I'm sure I'll probably get quite a few people out there who totally disagree with me. I however feel the Bard is best if she sticks solely to her music during combat. Not only will this make her a great addition to any party, this allows her to concentrate on those other skills you don't want your other classes to have to bother with. Those skills being: Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Mythology, Communication and Artifacts, in that order too . That being said DEX is up there because it helps raise her Music skill faster, Lockpicking and Pickpocket. INT also helps raise her Music skill, Lockpicking, Mythology, Commuincation AND Artifacts. If you concentrate soley on these two stats to begin with you can raise all of these skills rather quickly, while just putting points into Lockpicking, Pickpocket and Music. SPD comes up next because it helps with her AC and initiative, some of those instruments come in handy at the beginning of the round rather than at the end. Then comes VIT because it'll give your Bard more health, which she'll probably need, and more stamina for playing her Instruments. SEN is next because again it helps with initiative and if you decide to give your Bard a bow it will make her more accurate. The reason STR and PIE aren't on here is because they aren't as important for the Bard as the other stats. All they really do for a Bard is give her more stamina, which is important for a Bard because that's what their instruments require a lot of, but if you give her 1 or 2 Stamina regeneration lockets, and work on her VIT, that should be enough.

Stats needed for Bard: STR 45 INT 50 DEX 55 SEN 55

Human 35 12/11
Elf 30 10
Dwarf 0 0
Gnome 35 12/11
Hobbit 40 14/12
Faerie 25 9/7
Lizard -5 0
Dracon 15 5
Felpurr 35 12/11
Rawulf 15 5
Mook 40 14/12

Stats before Bonus points:

DEX INT SPD VIT SEN
Human 55 50 45 45 55
Elf 55 50 45 35 55
Dwarf 55 50 35 60 55
Gnome 55 50 30 50 55
Hobbit 55 50 50 45 55
Faerie 55 55 60 30 55
Lizard 55 50 50 70 55
Dracon 55 50 40 60 55
Felpurr 55 50 60 35 55
Rawulf 55 50 40 50 55
Mook 55 50 35 50 55

Stats after Bonus points:

DEX INT SPD VIT SEN
Human 67 62 56 45 55
Elf 65 60 55 35 55
Dwarf 55 50 35 60 55
Gnome 67 62 41 50 55
Hobbit 69 64 62 45 55
Faerie 64 64 67 30 55
Lizard 55 50 50 70 55
Dracon 60 55 45 60 55
Felpurr 67 62 71 35 55
Rawulf 60 55 45 50 55
Mook 69 64 47 50 55

Level at which stats would max out:

DEX INT SPD VIT SEN
Human 12 14 27 32 42
Elf 13 15 28 36 43
Dwarf 16 18 38 31 46
Gnome 12 14 32 31 46
Hobbit 12 13 24 32 39
Faerie 13 13 24 37 39
Lizard 17 19 34 36 52
Dracon 15 16 33 30 45
Felpurr 12 14 22 36 37
Rawulf 15 16 34 33 48
Mook 12 13 29 30 44

All stats:
Felpurr, Hobbit, Faerie, Human, Elf, Mook, Dracon, Dwarf, Gnome, Rawulf, Lizard.

All except SEN:
Mook, Human, Gnome, Hobbit, Dracon, Rawulf, Elf, Lizard, Felpurr, Faerie, Dwarf.

All except VIT and SEN:
Felpurr, Hobbit, Faerie, Human, Elf, Mook, Gnome, Dracon, Lizard, Rawulf, Dwarf.

Total starting stats (DEX, INT, SPD, VIT, SEN and bonus points):
Hobbit 285, Felpurr 270, Faerie 265, Mook 265, Human 260, Gnome 260, Elf 245, Dracon 230, Rawulf 225, Lizardman 210, Dwarf 195.

Was there ever any doubt in your mind? The Hobbit takes Second, Fourth, Second, then of course First. However, the Felpurr on the other hand takes first 2 times and second once. It looks like we finally have someone to outclass the sly little Hobbit. However there is more to consider.

While the Felpurr does max out all of their stats 2 levels before the Hobbit, the Hobbit starts with more VIT, slightly more DEX and INT. They both start with the same amout of STR and PIE so that doesn't help much. The Felpurr however starts with more SPD.

Then again, if SEN aren't your thing for your Bard the Mook would actually then make the best Bard, followed by the Human then the Gnome. Faeries WOULD make decent Bards if it wasn't for their low carrying capacity, they won't be able to carry those heavy instruments.

All in all I'd still have to stick with the Hobbit for the Bard. They are probably the most balanced for a Bard and are second to max out their stats. If you want more SPD to start with and want to max out the stats as soon as possible then the Felpurr is your kitty. And my third recommendation would be the Mook (Which now that I think about it was the race for my Bard in part 7

Zannhart

Eww...I know this looks crooked and ugly but it's the best I could do. I tried to fix it but then it said my message was too long =(

Ah well.

Merkin

Excellent post, for an excellent class. I love Bards, and pretty much agree with your breakdown, my Bards always concentrate just on music and theiving. I stick a bow in their hands just for form's sake, and she get's a hit now and then, but I'd rather keep her wailing away on the pipes. Here's one thing I've learned with Bards. (at least hobbit Bards, the only way to go, IMO)

If you raise starting VIT to 56, it gives you one extra hp per level. That adds up really quickly, and makes the bard *just* durable enough that I can concentrate on more important stats. When I start the next party (after deleting/re-installing the game) I think I will raise DEX by 3, INT by 2, and SPD by 1 each level. She'll max out slower on INT, but I think be better rounded on the way up.

vesselle

great work! thanks for posting it for us.

i am very partial to the bard, ever since discovering her in the demo. b