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Bochser Bard Building
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Bochser Not trying to steal Atlus' idea or anything about a SPOTLIGHT, but as ProvingGrounds mentioned in Atlus' latest Spotlight some people out there seem to think the bard is totally useless. The Bard is perhaps my favorite class in the game (Even though I chose 3 Fighters in my latest party...) Just figured I'd give my take on the bard for anyone whos interested. They're not really all that difficult but I'm bored at work and need something to do. The only skill I find my bards needing in battle is music, it's all I have them do is play their instruments. They don't have any magic and they aren't quite on par with fighter type classes in melee combat, so let them do what they do best. Eventually you get a lot of instruments which have a variety of effects which really makes your bard a nice addition to any party. In the very beginning of the game your Bard can easily cast a level 7 Sleep spell or level 7 Bless spell with their instruments while your magic users would never be able to cast these spells so high already, much less have enough mana to cast them every round of battle. Most important skill to focus on is Music. In all actuality it's possible to raise your music skill quite high on it's own rather than putting points into it. If you want to get your music skill high as soon as possible place 3 points into it per level. Otherwise 20-30 points should do it to get you started then you can raise it to 100 easily by just practicing. Since you won't really need any combat skills your bard can pickup two of the most important skills in the game that usually detract from combat skills of other classes; pickpocket and lockpicking. Again, you can raise pickpocket quite high on it's own by just practicing the skill often (Which you should do anyways because NPC's have a lot of nice stuff to steal.) Place 3 points into it per level if you don't feel like practicing much, otherwise 20 points is enough to get you started. Lockpicking, easy, 3 points per level until it's maxed (Well, 75.) If you choose to stop pickpocket and music at skill level 20 that means you still have 6 points to use per level on other skills. I personally get Mythology, because it's useful sometimes to see the enemies weaknesses, and artifacts so my bard can use items effectively against monsters that are immune to her instruments (Like those darn Troopers in the beginning that refuse to sleep! Darn robots.) Or if you really want your bard to have some combat prowess, put points into a weapon of some kind. This would make your bard effective in combat, be able to pickpockets, pick locks and traps, and still be able to pickup Mythology and allow your bard to ID everything with her Artifacts. That being said the most important stats for a bard is intelligence and dexterity. Intelligence helps with Music, Locks and Traps, Mythology and Artifacts, which would be everything except Pickpocket if you follow my advice. Otherwise it'll still help with Close Combat and such. Dexterity helps Music, Locks and Traps, and Pickpocket. Also when Dexterity reaches 100 you'll get Reflextion which helps with her AC. Place 3 points into each until they are 100. The next most important stat for a bard is Speed followed by Senses. Both affect initiative which is important because you want your bard to go first in battle to inflict all sorts of status ailments on the enemy before they can move. Speed also helps with her AC. That would make the Hobbit the most ideal race for the Bard. The following contains possible spoilers on instrument effects. First off you should place your bard in the middle if all other four sides are covered by other characters, if not place her in the back. Have her play her poets lute every round of combat even if it means making her fall asleep, it not only raises her music skill quickly it also makes the enemy pretty easy to handle. Eventually you'll get many different instruments which have effects such as hex, slow and one that does heal all, which is usefull in fights with monsters that are immune to slow and such because she can keep the whole party healed. If you can't afford to have your bard fall asleep, because you're fight a tough monster, than have her drink a heavy stamina potion before she falls asleep, or defend. Or even use an acid or fire bomb or what not. At the Inn in Arnika you also get a violin that casts charm. This is the best way to get your bards music skill high. If you have a female bard first go to the crypt under the Temple and get the 2 lockets which increase stamina regeneration. Go to a 'blind' NPC, like Anna, and steal from her, after you steal an item from her keep playing the violin until she is charmed or until the bard falls asleep, rinse and repeat. With the two lockets she'll be able to recover her stamina in no time. I was able to get my pickpocket skill from 20 to 50 and Music skill from 58 to 71 in just 30-45 minutes doing this in Arnika, not to mention all of the nice items you steal from the NPC's. --------------------------------- All in all I find the bard to be very useful and plan to have one in all of my parties. It's nice to have a character who can cast spell with only needing to concentrate on one skill, music, as compared to the spell casters who need points in their realm of influence AND each of the 6 realms. It's also nice to have the same character get the locks and traps skill, frees up other characters to concentrate on their combat skills. Zannhart snooze I agree with just about everything you said. INT and DEX are the key stats, and Hobbits make the best Bards. I used mine for Pocket Picking also, although I used my Gadgeteer for Lock Picking. The Bard could just as easily have done that job though, because I ended up putting most of my extra points into Mythology. There are two things that I would add though. First, Vitality is a very important stat for Bards. The Bard's mana is Stamina, and Vitality affects that. It also affects HPs, and who doesn't need more HPs? I gave my Bard a spare shield I found, and that worked out great. She never attacks anyway, so I always have the shield equipped. It adds AC and blocking ability, and the shield even throws a bonus resist in for good measure. All for the cost of a little weight! So, in closing, Bards rock. I don't see how anyone can say otherwise after finishing the game with one. |
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