The Bard's Melee Weapon powers

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Hello there, everyone!
So, quick and dirty: does anyone else agree most of the Bard's Melee Weapon powers are sorely lacking in relation to his Implement/Ranged Weapon powers? And if so, do you also think that's a problem?

 

[Riastlin]

Not sure if you mean that he has notably fewer or if you mean that they just are not as good.

When I was playing my bard, I honestly didn't really notice it. I had a mix of both melee and ranged powers, using my songblade to power all my attacks (this was pre-versatile expertise).

Personally, I found the bard to be pretty darn versatile, though I never attempted to make a pure melee bard either.

/shrug

 

[Klaus]

Bards are incredibly versatile (as befits them), with Melee Weapon, Ranged Weapon and Ranged/Close/Area Implement powers.

Since it has both Melee and Ranged Weapon powers, the Bard is a perfect race to model Aragorn.

 

[BobTheNob]

Funny really. Our party had a bard for a while, but they ended up hating the character (well, not really. It became a running joke because I injected the character into the party so they had a healer of some form, the party just love hanging on the DM's "crappy" character design) and had to retire it.

But for that short period (2 levels ) the bard did alright. Had a mix of melee and ranged. Didnt excel, but didnt suck either.

 

[fafhrd]

Bards suck grog nards.

 

[Mummolus]

A player in my group has been looking at this the very same way - he's going to be playing a bard in our Dark Sun game, and he ended up deciding to focus heavily on his ranged powers. Not a bad thing given the composition of our group, but yeah.

Personally, I think bards are pretty well-suited to just about anything - they're adaptable and perfect for the skirmish-style of battle I favor. Most of our group finds dungeon crawls pretty dull unless we expand the tunnels to four squares instead of two, because standing there behind a tank and shooting stuff can be pretty inane.

 

[fafhrd]

The 4e bard's boons are much akin to 3e Dodge, perfectly forgettable fiddly bits.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

his utilities are a bit crappy... especially compared to the cleric... but his majestic word is nice

 

[Thorvald_Grimbjorn]

Hmmm... Perhaps I should have been clearer?
I am not asking whether you think the Bard class is good or not, nor am I asking you to compare it to other Classes; I am asking if you also feel the Bard's Melee Weapon powers - and only his Melee Weapon powers - are noticeably weaker, for the most part, when compared to his - and only his - Implement or Ranged Weapon powers, and If so, I was also wondering if you agree that's a problem, or not.

 

[fafhrd]

Well, when I use Guiding Strike, the victim is usually ignored or attacked on a different defense, while when I use Vicious Mockery the target tends to be focus fired to death prior to making another attack. Let's call it a wash.