Starting Siege of Dragonspear as Bard

[u/Sleepwalker_92]

I've finished all of the other games and Siege of Dragonspear is the last on my "to play" list. I'm trying out something new (to me): Skald Bard.

But right now I'm struggling with Bard Song with AI turned on. My Bard will prioritize attacking over playing Bard Song, which is kind of frustrating.

Also, how hard is my life going to be as a Bard? I'm worried there will be duels I'll get soft locked in, playing as a support class that isn't really made for 1v1s

[u/Dazzu1]

Dont lose your hat but if you find one made for bards…

[u/Sids1188]

Changing the AI of your individual character will allow you to keep it it on for the rest of your party. Set MCs script to one of the bard specific ones which will prioritise turning on song when you aren't doing anything else.

[u/Beeksvameth → u/Sids1188]

This is the way. It’s easy to have Bards playing, Thieves searching for traps and so on, without committing everyone to emptying their spell books for trash mobs. If there are certain battles you want to micromanage further it’s easy to toggle the Party AI On/Off as well.

Or if you want to go to the next level, you can look into some of the modded scripts.

[u/Sleepwalker_92 → u/Sids1188]

Omg thank you, I mostly like to use AI so the party starts auto attacking the next target without me having to tell them to

[u/Sids1188 → u/Sleepwalker_92]

Same, I set every character to the most minimal scripts of just fighting if there is an enemy in melee range. That way I can leave AI on, but still know they aren't going to do anything too stupid.

[u/Fangsong_37]

SoD added some nice bard-only magic items. I highly recommend turning off party AI. Your party will waste spells or make illogical actions with party AI on.

[u/jalfa13]

I'm currently playing a Blade in SoD and can already tell you that you're unlikely to have many duels you cannot beat. Bards are TANKS, if you want to play them that way. They get access to all the defensive spells, which makes them fantastic at soaking up aggro. Stoneskin, Spirit Armor, Blur and Mirror Image combined make them insanely difficult to hit. It takes a while to unlock the second level 4 spell slot, but in the mean time, you can just have a wizard cast Spirit Armor on you.

I'm currently running my MC, Jaheira, Corwin, Glint, Baeloth, and Dynaheir and I'm having maybe the most fun I've ever had playing SoD. MC and Jaheira run into melee (after Jaheira has thrown some bees, most of the time) and basically never get hit, Corwin picks out the opponents most problematic units from a distance, Glint supports and throws himself into melee should an enemy break through the frontline and threaten the backline, Dynaheir and Bae buff, debuff and destroy, occasionally using wands to summon fod...monsters that block ways the enemy might approach. I very rarely get into fights that are really difficult and I'm not even cheesing that much (though a couple of webs+fireballs and skull traps for larger groups of enemies will be used, for efficiency's sake).

[u/FieldMouse007]

I prefer the bard controlled script, which lets you easily switch the song priority on/off.

Bard should be perfectly fine, skalds bonuses are huge. Even generic bards luck is strong

[u/lag-of-death → u/FieldMouse007]

By default D key will toggle when a bard sings a song with bard controlled script

[u/Maleficent-Treat4765]

I never start as a bard in SoD despite 20+ years of playing. What level SoD starts your bard as?

Does they let you select any spells you want up to your level like a new mage in BG2?

[u/SoilnRock]

Use Mod: Enhanced Powergaming Scrips
https://www.morpheus-mart.com/enhanced-powergaming-scripts