I have a level 15 bard with 98 music - and he just got powercast, I am seriously considering changing him to a Psionic or a fighter (not sure if fighter is an option.

Any items or abilities that I will miss out on if I change him now? -, if so when is a better time to change his profession.

If he is a Psionic, can he still play the instruments?

I am considering the fighter option so he can hold his own in the front a little better (better armor, more hit points, etc...)

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by zehrfox:
I have a level 15 bard with 98 music - and he just got powercast, I am seriously considering changing him to a Psionic or a fighter (not sure if fighter is an option.
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Been there, thought the same thing. Powercast is useless for a bard (or any other non spell caster).

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Any items or abilities that I will miss out on if I change him now? -, if so when is a better time to change his profession.
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I believe that there are some instruments that require level 18, but I have not found them yet.

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If he is a Psionic, can he still play the instruments?
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Yes -- but his skill will stop growing -- not that it has much room to grow.

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I am considering the fighter option so he can hold his own in the front a little better (better armor, more hit points, etc...)<hr></blockquote>

Or a Rogue seems like a natural move -- BUT, IMO changing profession is not a good idea. I have two reasons:

first -- even though your bard will continue to be able to play instruments, he will not improve in them with increased levels. He will be casting some of the more powerful instrument spells at level 1 forever.

second -- he will never be a great psionic (or fighter or whatever). At best, he will get to the equivalent of level 10 in the new profession. I tried switching my mage to a bishop at level 18, but found that I could not get even 2nd level psionic skills for another 3-4 levels. If you go to a pure psionic, it still might take you 5 levels to get to 3rd level spells (I'm not sure). By then you are almost done with the game.


This version of wizardry (unlike wiz 7) is really tilted into making profession changes not worth while.

Great info - thanks!

I suspected the level 18 - item thing, and I did not realize how slow the new class would progress. I see what you mean, by the time he is useful, its the last battle of the game.

Well, the other reason being, if you're going to change your bard into something else, when will you have time to use the instruments? Why be on the front line hacking away, exposing yourself to attack if you're not going to hit back. If that's the case, just be a fighter or a rogue from the start.

I found my bard's high level instruments incredibly useful in the end game. She could group heal, damage every monster in sight, haste, silence, and paralyze. Plus, with an arablast and lightning bolts, she was absolutely devastating with her ranged attacks. She may well have been the MVP of the party.

Joshua

I changed my bard to a ranger at level 19, and it was really a good decision. I still can use all the fine instruments, but if I don't want to, she's doing quite some damage with the bow, even some criticals.

Never forget your towel, cheers
Philipp

Pyrates,

I've been using my bard as an archer since the beginning, and she criticals rtegularly. I wonder if the class change makes much of a difference.

Joshua

Pyrates,

I've been using my bard as an archer since the beginning, and she criticals rtegularly. I wonder if the class change makes much of a difference.

Joshua

Well, the criticals are coming from the bow, whereas Rangers can use any ranged weapon to roll a critical, but it's unclear what that rating is since Rangers dont have the critical strike skill that Samurai Ninja and Monks get.

Hmm, Josua, I also used my bard as an archer before, but didn't get any critical hits (ok, I wasn't using the good ammo I'm using now), and now they're quite lots. I can't compare, since I don't have an "original" ranger and my bard... well, she's a ranger now, right? Maybe you're right in leaving her a bard, because I guess the success of using an instrument is also somewhat dependent on your level (her music skill is 100), because she's quite often fizzling with the Infernal Horn :-(. But on the other hand, if the fight is hard, I don't use the Horn but support stuff, so that doesn't really matter... duhhh, I'm happy with it [img]smile.gif[/img]

Never forget your towel, cheers
Philipp