On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Wayne Sheppard wrote:

>
> >As a result, they get magic
> > plus superior battle skills. Since our battle skills are less than all
> other
> > hybrids...really on par with clerics if truth be told,
>
> And Bards have much better battle skills than a cleric. It isn't even
> close. Bards are much closer to Rangers than Clerics in combat abilities.

I disagree. My ranger friends typically do nearly twice the
damage I do (probably 30% of that is due to double attack, the
rest due to stat bonuses/modifiers). And our defensive skills
are a joke compared to theirs. Clerics are almost our
defensive equivalent. Their melee skill is weaker (4 pts/lvl
vs our 5 pts/lvl + dual wield), but their magical offensive
capabilities more than make up for it. My L31 cleric friend
is easily able to solo battles using wrath, root, melee, and
heal that I wouldn't stand a chance in at L35 (aside from
using charm).

In terms of raw combat ability (melee + magic), I'd say at
high levels, bards are the worst of any of the classes. Our
strength is in augmenting the combat capabilities of the
others in our group.

--
John H. Kim
kim@...