Shattered Kingdoms

Sithara didn't die because she hid most of the time she was on, that doesn't count.

Just like a necro, a bard has to over-prepare to make sure they don't die. If they over-prepare though, they are extremely powerful.

You can't believe how many insane combos to play a bard there are, many depending on the cabal you are in. Seriously man, bards are not barbs, you don't simply rush into battle and expect to survive. They require to be played in a much more... imaginative and inventive manner. However, once you get the grasp of them, they can rock the house.

P.S. And yes, Sithara didn't die because she hardly ever left the hammer keep with her loot on, she hardly ever passed loot around except for her buddies that she kept it for, and in general was a... [REDACTED] (use your imagination to "bypass" the word-filter there ).

Once again, you are trying to play the class as you think it should be played, and not how it is designed to be played. "Nature, in order to be commanded, must first be obeyed." Figure out the way that bards are designed, and play within those confines. Completely changing the focus of the class is not the solution to YOUR inability to adapt to the class's playstyle.

Could bards be tweaked a little? Yes, but not in the drastic ways you suggest. Very small modifications to dance's bonus vs skills, and the non-aggroing of persuade would just about perfect the class.

BS. Just because you suck doesn't mean you have to blame it on others.

Sithara was pretty effing useless in her later years. That's not the point of this thread by any stretch of the imagination.

Bards are fine.

Kin always makes a character and then pulls up a topic on the forums saying how that class is underpowered and how it should be improved so that it may benefit him more to play not thinking about how it would really just OP the class when the class was alright in the first place.

I sort of agree with OA that the cost of persuade is too high for it to be aggro. Salandarin made a thread one time about rejecting every post suggesting changes with the "it's fine, don't change it" argument. It's best to try considering how the game could best be benefited, or how proposals can be evaluated for their worth. Change it good, so long as it doesn't upset balance. Now i'm sounding like a Druid.

The thing about bards is, they have light armor. Other classes with light armor: rogues, swashbucklers, shamans, priests, and scouts. Oh, and mercs if they like using ranged weapons. There you go, you already have them thinking that they should be able to fight like swashies and rogues. Then you tell them that if they're dancing, they get combat bonuses. Wow, that's even better. Sounds like this class should be even better than rogues up-close, right?

Well...yeah. Not really. I'm pretty sure that a light-armor priest would actually tank better than a bard, what with the sanctuary and the armor and the healing and the not having to mod every single stat.

Maybe the help files should be changed to suggest that they're much more of a supportive class and suck in actual melee, or maybe they should just be given cloth armor. The thing is, they LOOK like they should handle themselves okay in melee, but they can't. Ergo, le drama.

EDIT: Whoa, Jeckel, personal attacks are out of line! Kin admits that he's not the most experienced player here and he's playing what is probably the most difficult/confusing class in the game, so give him a break. You're not exactly the patron saint of maturity yourself.

Bards aren't bad at melee.

Then lemme clarify. I'm not talking about their ability to deliver damage, I'm talking about their ability to take it. That is, unless bards are actually awesome tanks and I knew even less than I think about what I'm talking about.