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NobleNick · 08-31-2004, 10:31 AM

Stratos,

My initial reaction to your post was, "No way!" But as I thought about it, I realized that I have no character that can prove you wrong; since I haven't DCed my Fighters into "battle mages," yet. (Temporarily shelved that party, started before I got HoW, in order to experiment with Bards and Druids.) Now that I think about it, my DC Fighter/Thief CAN use long bow, so why not a DC Fighter/Mage? Ooops!! Where did I get this firm conviction that DCs involving Mages could not use long bow? I hope you are right, Stratos. In the meantime, everyone, please accept my apology for spouting off about something I haven't proved. (BTW: low STR wouldn't be the problem, since I ensure that all my Fighter mixes, with the sole exception of the very tough to roll DC Fighter/Druid, have a minimum of 18 STR with no modifier.)

I hadn't thought of hasting Berserkers; because it seems like they come ALREADY hasted! And I very rarely use Haste, since I don't like the after effect. How many hits does a Berserker normally get in per round? It's gotta be at least 3, and my best guess is 4 or more ApR. So a hasted Berserker would get... Oh, WOW!! I don't believe that answer! I'm going to have to do this just to see it!

There is a phase in the latter game of IWD where it seemed that the tough fights included a boss or group of monsters that required magical weapons for the attacker to get a hit, which greatly lowered the value of Berserkers. However, they were still very sturdy cannon fodder AND excellent against enemy summons. And, though it seemed they were running out of steam towards the end of IWD, they picked up in value in the expansions, where they saved my bacon several times. I found many more battles for which they could have been useful; but this spell is so powerful that I found myself hoarding it in HoW/TotLM as my ace-up-the-sleeve.

As much as I like Bards, soloing one is not my idea of fun. (Soloing doesn't sound like fun, period. But if I were to do it, a Bard would be low on my list of characters to try.) Their power lies in their ability to highly leverage the strengths of other party members, especially members that like to melee. Yeah, I guess, you could load down the Bard with summons spells and have her sing to her own creations; but, as I guess you are finding out, when the enemy requires you to have magical weapons to get a hit, this tactic loses its luster.

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!

08-31-2004, 10:31 AM	#12
NobleNick Quintesson Join Date: February 5, 2002 Location: Huntsville, AL, USA Age: 64 Posts: 1,045	Stratos, My initial reaction to your post was, "No way!" But as I thought about it, I realized that I have no character that can prove you wrong; since I haven't DCed my Fighters into "battle mages," yet. (Temporarily shelved that party, started before I got HoW, in order to experiment with Bards and Druids.) Now that I think about it, my DC Fighter/Thief CAN use long bow, so why not a DC Fighter/Mage? Ooops!! Where did I get this firm conviction that DCs involving Mages could not use long bow? I hope you are right, Stratos. In the meantime, everyone, please accept my apology for spouting off about something I haven't proved. (BTW: low STR wouldn't be the problem, since I ensure that all my Fighter mixes, with the sole exception of the very tough to roll DC Fighter/Druid, have a minimum of 18 STR with no modifier.) I hadn't thought of hasting Berserkers; because it seems like they come ALREADY hasted! And I very rarely use Haste, since I don't like the after effect. How many hits does a Berserker normally get in per round? It's gotta be at least 3, and my best guess is 4 or more ApR. So a hasted Berserker would get... Oh, WOW!! I don't believe that answer! I'm going to have to do this just to see it! There is a phase in the latter game of IWD where it seemed that the tough fights included a boss or group of monsters that required magical weapons for the attacker to get a hit, which greatly lowered the value of Berserkers. However, they were still very sturdy cannon fodder AND excellent against enemy summons. And, though it seemed they were running out of steam towards the end of IWD, they picked up in value in the expansions, where they saved my bacon several times. I found many more battles for which they could have been useful; but this spell is so powerful that I found myself hoarding it in HoW/TotLM as my ace-up-the-sleeve. As much as I like Bards, soloing one is not my idea of fun. (Soloing doesn't sound like fun, period. But if I were to do it, a Bard would be low on my list of characters to try.) Their power lies in their ability to highly leverage the strengths of other party members, especially members that like to melee. Yeah, I guess, you could load down the Bard with summons spells and have her sing to her own creations; but, as I guess you are finding out, when the enemy requires you to have magical weapons to get a hit, this tactic loses its luster. -------------------- What's a party, without a song? Bards ROCK! Party On!!