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Overview | Suggested Statistics | Training Information | Level Information

Bard Overview

Bards are by far my favorite class. I think they have a good blend of fighting and casting skills as well as some pretty darn useful skills. They are difficult to play however, and newbies should definitely wait a while before trying their hands at a bard.

The most useful skill a bard has is the sing command. Sing works to rejuvinate the hps of all players in a room. Like meditate, it can be used every two minutes. It has the same strength as a cleric's vigor, 1-4 plus an extra point for each level. As sing can be used in no magic rooms and works on everyone, the bard is a welcome addition to groups.

Their other main skill, charm, is now in my opinion close to worthless. If you fail once, you have to wait another 10 minutes to use it again. I much prefer being able to attempt a few times on a monster in a row, but hey, no one cared to listen to me when they were changing it. Well anyway, charm works like a personal stun. The monster is incapable of harming you for the duration, however, it can still harm other people who are attacking it. Constitution and your level affect your failure rate, and piety and your level affects how long it will last. At level 13, expect to only be able to charm the occasional traveling minstrel.

Bards also have the ability to cast the fortune spell. However as far as I know, the actual scroll of the spell is not in the game. You can use wishbones to cast fortune on yourself and others though, and determine how far away from neutral your alignment has strayed.

Suggested Statistics

str: 7 dex: 3 con: 8 int: 18 pie: 18
Pros:
If you want a casting Bard, then go with these stats picking elf. However, you won't be able to hold any armor.
Cons:
With lower strength your Bard won't be a very efficient fighter. Of course, if you are mainly stunning and casting this won't be a problem for you.

str: 13 dex: 3 con: 8 int: 12 pie: 16
Pros:
Battle oriented bard stats: With 14+ points of intelligence (by choosing an elf) right away, you can cast just fine and with your available skills can get by killing some pretty big stuff without even needing a stun.
Cons:
With low dexterity, you'll never achieve a good low ac.

str: 11 dex: 3 con: 6 int: 18 pie: 16
Pros:
These are thats that were used by Silvara, using the human race. Just enough str to hold all armor and extra weapons, while having enough Int to stun like a mage. At level 17 you will get 7 dex, so no AC penalties either. See the discussion on these stats.
Cons:
There really are no downsides to this unless you are fanatical about having the most intelligence you can. At level 18 you will have 23 int, which should be enough to stun most perms.

Training Information

Training to level 2 is done in the Ormenel St. Celduin facility. It is marked as "A" on the map of Celduin in the map section. In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a leather saddle. The leather saddle is dropped by stableboys in the stables (13 on the map).

Training to level 3 is done in the Crissagrim St. Celduin facility. It is marked as "F" on the map of Celduin in the map section. In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a wishbone. The wishbone is dropped by giant roosters around the farmhouse.

Training to level 4 is done in the Sweetwater Ave. Parth facility. It is marked as "C" on the map of Parth in the map section. In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a mining pick. The mining pick is dropped by dwarven miners in the sewers, or in the Prospector Inn.

Training to level 5 is done in the Briar Lane Parth facility. It is marked as "F" on the map of Parth in the map section. In order to get into your training room, you must obtain an abacus. The abacus is dropped by jewelers in the jewelry shop in Finwe.

Training to level 6: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a juggling pin. The juggling pin is dropped by jesters in Prince Brunden's tent in Shanty town.

Training to level 7: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a sextant. The sextant is dropped by various monsters on the Ithil Express.

Training to level 8: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a mortar and pestle. The mortar and pestle is dropped by alchemists in Spindril's Castle.

Training to level 9: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a hourglass. The hourglass is dropped by advisors in the university in Celduin.

Training to level 10: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a marble chess set. The marble chess set is dropped by Fallon in the home of Church the cleric in Celduin.

Training to level 11: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a musical notation. The musical notation is dropped by the minstrel of esgaroth in the parth amphitheatre.

Training to level 12: In order to get into your training room, you must obtain a poetry book. The poetry book is dropped by romandancil adepts and priestesses in the romandancil shrine in brethil forest.

I'm too busy to detail the rest of the training quests at the moment, as I'm trying to finish this site and get back to "real" work!

Training for levels 13+ is done in Parth in the library's Golden Door. It is marked as "4" on the map of Parth in the map section. There are no items or keys required.

Level Information

Use the Isengard Stat Engine to create your character!

I just thought it might be interesting for people to find out what each specific class' hps/mps are at each level. Starting with 7 Con of course.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
HP 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
MP 3 7 11 15 19 23 27 31 35 39 43 47
Level
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
HP 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130
MP 51 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 85 89 93

For those of you who want to know what statistic will go up at your next level, here is a table showing which stat raises at a given level.

Level 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Stat dex int con str pty dex pty int con pty dex int
Level
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Stat con str pty dex pty int con pty dex int con str


� K. Welch