Bard - BG1 thru BG2

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Going to take a bard through the entire saga and thought I would post some details to help all those who have thought about using a bard before but never tried.

Race Half-elf
Gender Male
Alignment CN or NE

Str 18
Dex 18
Con 15
Int 14+
Wis 10+
Cha 18

Weapons Smallsword+
Bows+

The stats may seem a bit powergamer(ish), but they are very easy to roll with a bard as the bard has some good minimum stats.

Choose smallswords to start with as there are better +1/+2 weapons early on. e.g. you can get a +1 dagger in candlekeep if you have a cha 18.

I will play as an archer and supporting mage roll and will only engage in melee when needed. Bards can use longbows so a good weapon is available half-way through the game.

The mage spells I will concentrate on will be area effect and enchanting spells, just to try and fit in with the spirit of a bard.

My character will wear chainmail whenever he isn't casting spells as it gives AC5. No magic armour so I can make use of rings, etc. I will also use the Shield Amulet for extra AC when in tough battles. Plus mirror image and blur for extra protection.

Party members will probably be:-

Me Bard - Party leader
Minsc Ranger - Tank
Jaheira F/D - Tank and Priest
Vicona Cleric - Priest
Imoen Thief - Archer, locks and traps
Xzar Mage
or Edwin

I like Minsc as a character and he makes a great up-front fighter, although there are better tanks such as Kagain.

I have never really used Jaheira to her full potential and usually have her as just a priest, but she actually has good HP's and is a half-decent fighter especially with the gauntletts of ogre power much later. I have used Faldorn at times, but for this game I need a more powerful front-line.

I always use Viconia when using a Cleric. She is just awesome and will become my romance later.

I may even dual-class Imoen (T7/M8) and then use either Coran or Shar-Teel as my party thief, in which case I won't need another mage.

If I keep Imoen as my thief then I will need a decent mage. I really like Xzar's personality and quite often use him as my mage. Edwin is better, but I don't like his personality.

If I can wait until arriving in BG, then I may try out Tiax as he always looks like fun.

Any thoughts you guys have will be welcome as usual.

 

If you're going to be evil dizz Imoen and Minsc and trade them with Kagain and Montaron.

 

I'm playing a CN Bard 18,18,16,13,12,18. Missle and Blunt weapons. My party consists of Kagain, Shar-Teel, Montaron, Xzar and Viconia. We are all 2nd level and in Beregost. A wonderful evil kick ass party

 

In my last game I played an evil mage/thief, which was great fun. I had Kagain, Shar-Teel, Viconia, Faldorn and Garrick.

I loved Kagain, he was a great tank. I wasn't that fussed on Shar-Teel though as she kept die-ing too easily.

I was trying to stick fairly closely with the starting party for BG2, for the sotry sake, but some of the evil characters are more fun.

I never liked Montaron much because of his personality, but he does look like he should be a good thief. He should make a good back-stabber as well. I might use him and have him run around with halberds (should look good) and just use smallswords for backstabbing.

Would you stick to Xzar over Edwin?

 

First off, I am also playing a Paladin with Imoen, Kahlid, Jaheira, Minsc and Dynaheir. Can't get any closer to BGII than that Kagain rules as a tank! With that 20 Con, you don't have to heal him I picked Xzar over Edwin, because I read somewhere that something happens near the end if you have him and Montaron in you party.

 

Yeah, but nothing exciting. It justs stops you getting into a battle in Baldurs Gate itself. If you have Edwin then you miss out on killing a bunch of Red Wizards for a nice ring. So that's another good reason not to take Edwin. I think I'll stick to Xzar. Besides which I just love his dialogues. Especially the one about rabbits!!

Does anyone do lots of stealing from shops with their Bards? I always lift some chainmail from Candlekeep and ususally steal a couple of Large Shields +1 from the shop at Nashkel. Okay you can't selll them later, but what a savinf of cash early on.

@Sorvo: A good party with all bases covered. I wonder though whether the default party should be You, Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia and Edwin as this is the default for the TOTSC mission pack party and Viccy and Eddy are mentioned in the BGII manual.

 

IIRC it was 20. Just to be presice...

 

Daephon, You are correct! It is a 20, If it were 19 he wouldn't regenerate a hp every 6 turns. I also steal those sheilds in Nashkel, great protection for low level characters. At the beginning of BGII you find out that Kahlid and Dynaheir were in your party when you got captured

 

Yeah you're right! It is strange how the default party changed from TOTSC to the start of BGII. I presum ethe story is that you left Khalid and Dynaheir while adventuring and picked them up again after TOTSC.

I always use the shield amulet for my Bard thet I buy from Nashkel fair. There is another one that you can find somewhere - I think it's Durlag's Tower. Can anyone remember?

I've always used short/long swords for my Bard, but this time I am tempted to upgrade to a 2HS or Halberd so I can do some damage and just stay out of range if needed.

Does anyone use "Blind" at all and do you find it useful?