The Bard is one of the available Classes in the game. Bards excel at fighting with a party, but are relatively weak on their own. They are unlocked by recruiting a named npc (i.e. Judge Charisma does not count) or by buying them with heroic points.
Starting State[]
Stats:
- Life: 100
- Stamina: 12
- Weight Limit: 15
- Strength: 0
- Intellect: 2
- Agility: 1
- Will: 0
- Vitality: 0
- Charisma: 3
Equipment:
- Dagger
- Traveler's Clothes
Abilities[]
Bards can detect the position of towns and people (20 square range) from a distance. Towns will be shown as big blue dots on the map, people are shown as blue arrows at the edge of the screen.
Ballad of Heroism:
- Requirement: none
- Uses: once per day
- Cost: 1% Energy
- Increases party's attack power by 1.5x, reduces damage received to 2/3, lasts 60 turns
Dash:
- Requirement: none
- Cost: 2 Stamina
- Increases Movement Speed for 20 turns, drains Stamina while active, cancelled by any other action besides movement
- Lasts only 8 turns on Maniac Mode
Defend:
- Requirement: Level 10
- Cost: 5 Stamina
- Reduces physical damage taken to 1/3, but also attack power to 1/3, lasts 5 turns
New abilities in Plus[]
We Love Monsters:
- Requirement: Level 30
- Cost: 5x(number move used + 1) Charisma LV
- Brainwashes one monster to fight for you
- Monster becomes a cooperating npc and will follow you and attack enemies but doesn't join the party (Unsure if monster gains any boosts from Charisma or Ballad of Heroism) (It does receive the effects from Ballad of the Final War and Ballad of Peace however)
- Controlled Monsters health becomes visible to the player
- Range 3 Tiles
- No effect on monsters involved in the story or Bosses
At level 50 you may choose either Ballad of the Final War or Ballad of Peace but you may not learn both[]
Ballad of the Last War:
- Requirement: Level 50
- Uses: once per day
- Cost: 18% Energy
- For 40 turns the attack of party members and cooperating npcs in a 5x5 tile area is increased by 2x but the damage the player takes is increased by 2x
Ballad of Peace:
- Requirement: Level 50
- Uses: once per day
- Cost: 5% Energy
- Party Members and cooperating npcs have their health restored by (Attack Power + Force Power)x2 but their attack power is decreased to 2/3 and their recieved damage is reduced to 1/3 for 40 turns
Pros and Cons[]
Pro:
- Very strong with a party
- Can tank a lot of damage when buffed
- Doesn't miss towns
- Can easily escape any dangers with dash
- Good intellect gain allows access to supporting Force Powers
Cons:
- Weak physical Attributes, especially Strength and Vitality
- Deals very little damage when alone
- Weak starting equipment
- Dies easily without the defensive buffs
Tips[]
- You can take the +Charisma and Loyal Pet perk, then recruit Judge Charisma from the starting castle to start out with 2 companions from the start. This makes Bard viable on any difficulty, even when you can't find recruitable story npcs.
- Take care of your party. Contrary to intuition, they are not there to protect you, you are there to protect them. Especially with frail members like the pet, you should try to take every hit in the front (frontal hits always hit you, rear attack always hit the party, side attacks can hit both).
- Make use of your defensive abilities. Since your party is supposed to deal most of the damage rather than you, you can safely ignore the attack penalty on Defend and concentrate on keeping yourself buffed and healed. The Force Power Phalanx is a very good addition too, if you manage to find a teacher.
- If an enemy is too strong to take out (e.g. early Demon Lord encounters on higher difficulties), use Dash to make sure they can't reach you. Taking strong attacks in the back can quickly lead to casualties in your party.
- Party members do not suffer penalties when you are wearing a Training Bracelet, but they receive all the benefits of exp gain. If you can get party members and a Training Bracelet early on, it's easy for your party to overpower your enemies because of the sheer amount of exp you're getting. Because of how strong your party mates are with this strategy, they are capable of shielding you as long as you are facing the proper direction.