|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So, I now feel I've played enough Bard to talk more knowledgeably about how the class feels at low levels (1 and 5).
Character Creation (Layout): Flipping back and forth looking at compositions and spells was very frustrating. BUT, I am glad for the page number to the composition.
It's been said elsewhere but I'll say it again, Spells and Compositions should not be in the same place. If a Wizard cannot take a Composition unless she multi-classes into Bard, then Compositions should be found in the Bard section. This was SUPER confusing.
Spell Points: I get trying to reduce complexity, but I will always miss the specific over the general. Bards have performance rounds. I know this is semantics (because the current use isn't "rounds"). I don't know, I want Spell Points to be specific to my class and not a generic, homogeneous thing.
Also, the more I think of spell points and Compositions, I get confused as to why I'm tracking two resources for the same thing. If Compositions are spells then they should be tracked with spells. If they are not spells, then they shouldn't be with the spells and tracked with a completely separate pool. It's so confusing.
Inspire Courage: OMG thank you! Being able to freely inspire has been so great!
Action Economy: Right of the bat, the change to the action economy gave Bards a wonderful boost. Being able to begin a performance, move up to a baddie and attack them in one round has been phenomenal!
Spell Casting: So... while we got a buff (now 10 lvl casters) we also go a nerf. It's an odd feeling to not be able to cast as many spells. I've continually run out of spells. This is especially bad when I'm the sole healer of the group (going to get to this in a second). 2 spells at level 1 and 4 Spell points are gone in 2 encounters. Which leaves me swinging for the final encounter. I've overcome this by just not using resources in the first encounter. Which means people die. "I'm saving it for the BBEG" is the worst excuse to someone who is on the ground with the dying condition.
Bardic Healing: Sit down, this is going to be a long one. Overall, healing in the playtest is immensely difficult. The only spell in the playtest with descent through-put as far as healing goes is "Heal", however, that is only available to Clerics and Druids. And Druids who bring heal suffer from the same issue the Bard does I mentioned above in Spell Casting. You get 2 and you're done. With Resonance this means that there is very little healing going on if you don't have a Cleric.
Having said that, as a player that enjoys healing, "Heal" is the BEST spell in the game and it is blocked to Bards :(. Not only that, "Heal" is a fun spell. It's versatile and effective and makes healing exciting. I'd love for Bards to have heal but, in reality, what I really want is for Bards to heal their allies as well as Clerics, if their spec'd for it. The discrepancy isn't just in the 1d6 vs the 1d8, or the range, but also in the fact that at first level the only spell that heals multiple targets at range is Heal.
One thing I was thinking is what about a bonus if you are using an Inspire ability (Courage, Competence). Instead of the range being touch, it is "one target affected by your Inspire abilities". Then maybe Soothing Words allows you to choose between it's current effect or choose to allow your Soothe spell to affect multiple targets, however, all targets need to be affected by your Inspire ability and within 30 feet of you. The through-put wouldn't be as great as a Cleric's "Heal" but it would offer up another viable healing class.
Of course a lot of this would change if spell casting changes, but the main thing I want to point out is that healing is on the fritz. I've played games where I was the only healer, I've played games where it was me and an Alchemist or me and a Paladin or me and a Druid and I've played when it was me and a Cleric. It is night and day having a Cleric. I think the problem lies in the fact that they are the only class that can mass heal the team. This has caused the side effect of everyone NEEDING a Cleric. Not HEALER - CLERIC. This greatly diminishes Alchemists, Bards, Druids, and Paladins if Clerics are the clear winner of the healing wars and no one can touch them.
Add to that the fact that, it seems, a lot of people don't like healing, relegating it to just one class means even fewer healers. Not only do I have to like healing now, I have to like Cleric, even though I love Bards more. This was an issue in PF1 too. I hated this. If you want to heal you have few choices, even though you could have many.
This creates fewer and fewer healers because all the hoops they have to go through to play the spec they like. However, if classes that have healing can spec into healing, it adds many more opportunities for more healers. Today, as the playtest sits, Cleric is the game's healer, everyone else is pointless.
So I say all that to say, I like SOOTHE, I like the idea that Occult does healing differently. But differently cannot completely inferiority, otherwise there's no point to learn Soothe, if I always have to get next to the person dying and I can only heal one person and I do less healing than the other "better" healing spells. It cannot be all those things.
Having said all that, I have really enjoyed the rest of Bard. Muses are great (I cannot wait to see more) and there is so much good stuff packed into the class, from shadow spells to buffs. I am sad we don't have Ear-piercing Scream, the Finale spells and the Inspiration spells (Timely Inspiration, etc). However, so far (levels 1 and 5) the class feels very bardy and performs (pun intended) well - outside of that healing bit.