The mere fact that there would be a MAJOR UPROAR makes it obvious that not
being able to bind is a far more serious detriment than you would have us
believe. Binding is bar-none the most powerful ability in the game, period.
There is no ability that makes up for it nor any package of abilities that
does so balance-wise.
To call Clerics pure casters is a joke. Clerics and Shamans are hybrids
plain and simple. Both can melee effectively at some levels and sit back
and cast at other levels. Pure casters are never effective at melee. There
are four Pure caster classes in this game. Magician, Enchanter, Wizard, and
Necromancer. Clerics, Druids and Shamans are hybrids that lean heavily to
caster. Shadowknights, Rangers, and Paladins are hybrids that lean heavily
towards melee. Balance would suggest that Bards are hybrids that lean
neither way. We get the worst of both worlds for the most part. The lousy
defensive skills of the caster hybrids and the lousy offensive spells of the
melee hybrids.
It takes a particular type of person to have fun playing a bard. Bards can
be fun to play, no doubt about it, but those who find them so, myself
included, would have fun playing a bard no matter what the abilities were
just because that's the type of people we are. I'd just like to be able to
have as much fun playing the class I am most attracted to as my friends do
playing the class they are most attracted to. Right now, character
balance-wise, that ain't happenin'.
Oh and the Identify spell isn't the only spell those pure casters get at
that level is it? In fact it isnt even one of 4 per level group but more
like 1 of 8 or ten. also our 12th level DD does 7 points of damage max.
Yeah we can cast it a lot if we don't cast anything else since none of our
spells have the 45+ minute duration of cleric buffs.
Kitasi the exasperated
[mini cleric topic]
Just to clear up any misconceptions here are the Cleric DD spells
Lvl - Dam/mana - Name
1 - 10/12 - Strike
5 - 19/20 - Furor
14 - 83/70 - Smite
29 - 200/145 - Wrath
44 - 510/240 - Resolution
As you can see, these are some of the worst DD spells in the game. And
after level 14, there is a 15 level gap before an improvement. The levels
just before a spell upgrade are the hardest, as you are using spells from 14
levels ago. I do believe that Clerics are positioned just about right for
DD spells, as they do have better defence compared to all other pure
casters. There are some sweet spots just after they get a new spell where
they can solo somewhat, but there are dead spots where they are very
ineffective with DD spells.
[back to bards]
Here was the original message I replied to:
> As a result, [hybrids] 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,
> then perhaps we can get a
> pure caster attribute like bind to make up for it.
Ok, instead of arguing about the battle worthness of a Bard I should have
just used your own argument against you. The level 14 song was a pure
caster type song. Only pure casters got the identify spell. You felt that
bards needed a pure caster type song, and you already had it. Happy now?
If any class (Bards for example) get binding, there will be a major uproar
from all other classes without binding. I mean MAJOR UPROAR. So it doesn't
matter what kind of Vulcan logic you use to argue that Bards need binding it
won't happen. Putting BardBind in your petition will do no good at all, and
probably cause Verant to not fully consider the rest of your petition.
What you need to ask for is to have all classes be able to bind anywhere (or
maybe just Inns) they choose instead of just a city. Verant is much more
likely to consider something that would be fair to all classes, and not just
for Bards.
Wayne