I'm new to Baldur's Gate and want to roll a Bard

[Rithm Fluffderg]

I haven't done too much studying yet, mostly because the one source I found was biased as hell and favored Fighter/Mage over every other character, while bashing character creation options for being either redundant or "sucky". And then I heard information that any class can do well as long as you build them right.

I want my main character to be a Bard. I think I may go with the Skald kit simply because the songs seem better on a Skald than a standard Bard. Is this doable?

Also, how difficult is the learning curve on this game?

[DarkExcalibur42]

Because Fighter/Mage is ridiculously powerful. Their bias is accurate in that regard. But boring if that's all you play, and I've never played a Fighter/Mage for any length of time.

Bard... is probably the worst class in the game. But yeah, they can still do alright.

To give you an idea a Bard is a Thief without skills, a mage without spells, and a cleric who can't fight AND grant buffs at the same time. EVERYONE does what Bard does better than a Bard.

All the same, you can build effective Bard characters. Effective is not the same as strong. Skald isn't bad, though the better Bard choice is the Blade. But then you're really basically just playing a melee character and may as well go Ranger.

[GKL206]

Any class is doable.
You have a party of six characters, yours plus up to five NPCs who you recruit and control. What matters is as your party is balanced: you need a couple of tough hand to hand fighters, one to cast healing spells, a thief to unlock chests and disarm traps, one to cast offensive spells and one who specialises in ranged weapons is very useful (and some characters can fill more than one role; there are decent fighters with healing skills and good ranged skills, theives genrally make good archers etc.) So long as your party has the skills it's not that important what the Player Character does. Personally I've never really got on with bards but they're by no means unplayable, it's just a matter of preference.
How steep is the learning curve? Fairly. There is a lot to remember, it's quite fiddly compared to newer games. You will die, often, especially early on as you learn the game as it's notoriously unfogiving of mistakes, especially at low levels where you have very few hit points but it's by no means impossible, just difficult enough to be fun if you enjoy a challenging game. With a few false starts anyone should be able to beat the game with any class at Normal difficulty.
For a first time player there's a lot to be said for a Paladin as your first character. They get boosts to certain stats so you don't need to re-roll for ages to get a goofd character and they have great survivability as tough fighters who can wear the heaviest armour and have some limited healing spells.

[Talana 💃]

I know that many claim this game to be very difficult to learn. If you are a little patient, I say it isn`t. BG was my first rpg , and I had no clue to D&D rules - I did not have internet, and knew no one who could help me. I did not have a manual of any kind.
But what I had, was loads of Fun ! I did not even know what "turn undead " meant , - I thought maybe it meant undead would turn around and flee ,so I never used that one till late in the game !
Took a lot of saves and loads, that`s for sure !
Been a D&D fan since then ;)
Bard is maybe the most interesting character to play with pen-and-paper , which D&D games was original. But in the pc game, playing Bard can be frustrating.
When they sing, they cannot fight, and if they fight, they cannot sing.
But if you insist, you should check out this guide :

http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Classes_and_Kits

For stats, I would choose this:
Str - 15 +
Dex - Max
Con - Max
Int - Max
Wis - Min +
Char - Min

As for weapons, I would choose ranged.

Good luck

[GKL206]

One thing you could do with a Bard is make him a wand specialist: whenever I play BG1 I end up with piles of wands I've saved "for later" and never used. Another good guide to classes is this one http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/663933-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/faqs/65403 which certainly doesn't say "you must play this way"

[ÄmJii]

If you're new to Baldur's Gate I'd advise to steer away from Bard class until you've completed at least one playthrough. Not because Bard is terrible class, but it plays very similarly to (albeit bit weaker) Fighter/Mage which also takes a lot of time getting used to. Plain Fighter is probably the easiest pick for newcomers, but they tend to have quite one-dimensional (a.k.a boring) playstyle which doesn't appeal to everyone.

If you want a protagonist who can buff and jump in combat I'd recommend considering Fighter/Cleric Dwarf. It's a fairly durable & easy to use, being restricted to blunt weapons isn't really bad as it first sounds and you can cast spells even while wearing heavy armor.

There are few Bard companions along the way (first one in Beregost, although he is unofficially titled as "Worst NPC in BG1" for a reason), you can pick one of them and see how Bard class functions in general. In BG2 you'll find one Bard companion who is fairly good (although it takes some practise to make most use of him), you don't miss out on Bards even if you don't make one.

[Rithm Fluffderg]

Originally posted by GKL206:

One thing you could do with a Bard is make him a wand specialist: whenever I play BG1 I end up with piles of wands I've saved "for later" and never used. Another good guide to classes is this one http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/663933-baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/faqs/65403 which certainly doesn't say "you must play this way"

Wow, that guide is the polar opposite of the guide I saw.

"Errghhh Gnomes suck because of illusion"
"Omg halflings suck because they are pointless and we never have a use them in our DnD group"
"Argh Sorcerers are just worse versions of Wizards"
"Blade is just terrible, always roll a Skald instead"
"Dragon Disciple removes any benefit a Sorcerer has!"

Thanks for showing me that. Bards aren't useless :D In fact, I think I may end up going with one that uses a lot of wands whenever I find them. So in that case, I'll go with a Skald (I'm not all that excited about pickpocketing on a Bard anyways) and make my party mostly melee characters with a mage and a cleric.

As far as a Paladin goes, I'll eventually start one, I just happen to be in a bard mood now.

EDIT:

I know starting a Bard isn't going to be a piece of cake. However, I have never started a pure melee character as my first character in any game in years, and I'm not about to start now. Fighters and Barbarians are just not my cup of tea, no matter what game I play. Monks are an option for me since they generally end up having some interesting quirks to make up for the lack of armor and weapons, but we'll see about that.
The fact that I'm creating a Bard instead of a Mage is a bit of an aberration, but not a stretch since Bards are my second favorite archetype next to Mages.

[GKL206]

One final tip (it's far better to just get on with playing rather than have other people tell you how to play the game) - the one wand you do want to save is 'Wand of Monster Summoning': it's invaluable in the final boss fight.

[DarkExcalibur42]

The guide you saw insulted gnomes and halfling?!

That was a crappy guide. Halfling Thieves rock.

As for Monk? Doesn't redeem itself until high level. Meaning Baldur's Gate 2. But they become LETHAL.

[Talana 💃]

Originally posted by DarkExcalibur42:

The guide you saw insulted gnomes and halfling?!

That was a crappy guide. Halfling Thieves rock.

As for Monk? Doesn't redeem itself until high level. Meaning Baldur's Gate 2. But they become LETHAL.

Agreed ! My halfling thief just now made a nice lethal trap for that guide - just show us where it is

I never tried playing Monk , interesting thought

[happy]

bards can be fun,but only if youre excited to play one

i would suggest picking bows and very high dexterity and fair strength, that way, your bard won t be frustrating and will actually do something in most combats, crossbows suck

concerning spells, you should concentrate on wacky ones, ones that once cast make you feel proud about yourself and feel like you ve achieved something, so forget damage spells, prefer enchantments(makes more sense, youre a crook, a seductive hobo, not a flame thrower)
main reason is that you will have very few spell slots, so you should pick ones that DO something, not just 13 points of damage)

in a good party, theres always room for a sucky character, let it be your personal one
bards have decent hit points, so on lvl1 and 2 you will actually be better than any mage or thief
things will be different on lVL3 though, but who cares
, BG is a roleplaying game, not a FPS

enjoy your bard

on the other hand, if you enjoy monthy pythons bard Patsy and his uselessness and songs, have a try with Garrick, he sucks but is my favorite companion for his banters, he s a perfect bard, he s got a pretty stupid jock baby face, is good at nothing and often flees by himself in combat when he gets hit once, singing holly grail lines

[ChevyNoel]

I think blade is actually one of the best class/kits.

Thief HLA traps and UAI

Thief level progression - fastest leveling in the game, much faster than a fighter, a mage or a fighter/mage

Highest caster level due to thief progression - spells will be much higher level than a mage and definitely a fighter/mage (ie: more powerful chromatic orb, higher damage fireballs, etc)

Two weapon fighting - can put three points into two weapon fighting

Offensive spin - which IIRC can get you to 10 apr, with all of them doing massive damage, long duration compared to similar skills

Defensive spin - huge armoor boosts at high levels, IIRC you can move if you have free action

Defensive and offensive spells - stoneskin, resistance, transformation, etc

Ability to cast up to 9th level spells from scrolls - preserve using simulacrum

things of minor use - good lore and pick pocketing

[Fablewynd]

The Bard is my favourite class (from both a roleplay perspective, and a class perspective). If you download and install the Rogue Rebalancing mod (which should really be baseline in the game, anyway) it will really improve your experience. Basically, it brings Thieves and Bards more in-line with how they are in D&D, and makes them much better at what you do - it is only available for BG2, however. Honestly, though, if you're going to play through BG1, you really should be aiming to continue in to BG2, since that is generally considered the superior game.

If you want to check out what Rogue Rebalancing does, here's the link: http://readme.spellholdstudios.net/readme_rr.html

The Blade can be incredibly powerful at higher levels, and makes for fun gameplay since they can use any item because they are a bard. You'll find, that in BG1 the bard is slightly weaker than other classes in the beginning stages, but as you progress (and definitely in BG2) they come in to their own, and you'll find them slicing up foes left, right, and centre.

Additionally, if you do plan on importing your character to BG2 after you've finished BG1, bard get the best (in my opinion) Stronghold in that game; so that's something to look forward to.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

As mentioned in many posts above, any class is both playable and enjoyable, especially in the right company. Even a spoony bard. Enjoy!

[Rithm Fluffderg]

I love this forum. Thank you so much for all of the advice, guys!

I will plan to go into BG2EE, but the problem being that I do not yet own it :P I will rectify this when I can, but that will take time.

The only real issue I have is... Neutral Good, True Neutral, or Neutral Evil? Hmmmm... let me narrow that down actually: Good, or Evil?

Yes, I have to pick before I play. I'm weird like that.

[ChevyNoel]

A couple things that might factor into what starting alignment you pick:

familiars (not sure if those stats are all accurate): http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14828/which-familiar-is-the-best

starting reputation based on alignment:
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Reputation