After this latest play through of Bard’s Tale 3, I figured it might be a good time to do a full class write up, going over strengths, weaknesses, some party ideas and my own experiences.
Warrior
Let’s start with your basic fighter class. The Warrior in Bard’s Tale 3 really isn’t special. Their main focuses are acting as a front line tank, doing decent early damage, higher hit points, being able to obtain high armor class (AC) through equipment, using most weapons/armor and having a high attack rate as you level. However, Warriors are really bland and are better off a candidate for swapping to a Geomancer down the line. That way, you still get to use your weapons and armor (maybe more!) but you’ll gain more abilities. Without the swap, you’ll be limited to a damage cap based on your weapon and attack rate or you’ll need to obtain a Stoneblade to one shot high life foes.
Paladin
Paladins are similar to Warriors except they do have access to some special holy weapons and armor. Also, they gain bonus saving throws. However, they cannot use all armor such as a Titan Suit, which is the best armor in the game. Damage-wise, they’re about the same as a Warrior and can use a Stoneblade to help compensate in the end game. Also, like Warriors, Paladins make for a good choice as a candidate to eventually switch to a Geomancer.
Monk
Monks start off weaker than most of the fighter classes until the reach level 6 (I think) where they begin to gain multiple attacks and do far more damage with their bare fist than with a weapon. Also, at each level, their AC lowers until it hits -50. They do use a limited number of armor and items but can do high one shot damage to a single target. So down the road, they become natural tanks, although in my experience they still have less resistance than a Paladin.
But Monks really drop off in Malefia where many monsters exceed the 2k HP mark, which is where most Monks probably end up with regards to damage. Even with 16 attacks through a Divine Intervention won’t be enough to take down some of these monsters. Monks though aren’t as great candidates for Geomancers because of the high probability that most players won’t keep a spare set of gear lying around. But you will need to farm up new gear if you do intend to swap. For the end game, Monks are good initially in Malefia as the point person because of their high AC. Also, they’ll probably have a fair amount of free inventory space. Yet at some point in Malefia, they just lose all value and you’re better off dropping them for a better class or switching them to a Geomancer once you get enough gear (preferably including a Stoneblade to eventually help out with those one shot Petrify attacks)
Hunter
In a way, Hunters are almost like the opposite of a Monk in that they start off with relatively decent gear for survival but depend on a high critical hit chance, which they won’t have, to take out their foes. But down the road, they won’t receive as much AC compared to Monks and eventually become the best fighter in the group. I found that Hunters are one of the few classes that can kill Rock Men in melee as most other classes can’t touch those monsters. Also, Hunters have ranged critical hit capabilities, which can make them valuable against high hit point foes (usually in Malefia).
Usually, around level 35, you should be critically hitting with a Hunter fairly reliably. One way you can compensate early on is by equipping a Stoneblade. That way, if you miss on the critical hit, you’ll at least be able to Petrify an opponent. A Hunter’s best weapon arrives in Malefia in the form of a Hunter’s Blade, which also helps increase their AC. By that point, in all likelihood, your critical hit will be 99% so it’s unlikely you’ll need a Stoneblade anymore. However, your AC will be lower than other fighters so you’ll need every single source of AC boost you can get.
I personally think it’s a waste to swap a Hunter to a Geomancer. They’re very valuable especially in the late game so you might eventually want to level one up for emergencies.
Bard
Considering the game is called The Bard’s Tale, the Bard is practically indispensable. They aren’t good fighters by far and act as a decent utility type of character that can do a little bit of everything. With the right equipment, a Bard can also critically hit, provide infinite songs (spells), heal, help the party run away, provide light, regenerate spell points (which is great early on) and lower the party’s AC. There’s even a few additional songs you need to learn down the road that can help with some AoE and more defense.
However, Bard’s are a poor choice to change to a Geomancer. You don’t absolutely need a Bard because there’s no section in the game where a particular song is needed (I think there’s a puzzle that supposedly needed a Bard to ring a special Triangle quest item, but I heard that was bugged or bogus). But they bring both a unique flavor and great overall utility at all stages of the game where you don’t want to leave home without one.
Rogue
Well, if you haven’t guessed why this game is called “The Thief of Fate” then you might as well just go play hopscotch. In short, yes, you absolutely need one because there are certain encounters that only a Rogue can handle. Not to mention, they have a few abilities that help alleviate the need for Trap Zap or Identity spells. Mostly, you want the Rogue to handle distant foes that can’t be hit by melee, spells nor ranged or foes that might be too dangerous for your melee to deal with.
Conjurer
Conjurers feel more like the best utility class with Mage Compass, Greater Revelation (eventually superseded by Cats Eyes) and Major Levitation as well as decent lower level healing and teleportation. The Summoning aspect in this game is not worth it (outside of a particular Apple 2 bug/cheat) while Trap Zap proves to be invaluable early on and later for QoL once you get sick of typing “Death Blades”. Also, I think Conjurers are one of the easiest classes to level to 13. Usually, I’ll start with two magic users, one as a Conjurer for low level healing and low level group AoE (War Strike) and switch them to a Magician.
Magician
The better early AoE damage dealer and healer in the group. Spells like REST prove to be invaluable even in the end game. Dragon Breath and Ice Storm are great lower level group damaging spells while Ybarra’s Mystic Shield provides a nice little AC buff. As I want my Conjurer to be the one to swap to Magician after hitting level 13 and gaining access to level 7 Conjurer spells, I prefer Magicians to switch to Sorcerer upon hitting level 13. Having at least two spell casters with REST, Death Strike, Ice Storm, etc. is critical early on especially in handling the starter dungeon.
Sorcerer
The main reason to get one of these as soon as possible is to aim for Mind Blade, Rimefang and Preclusion. Rimefang is the best major AoE spell until Mangar’s Mallet as Rimefang can hit all opponents (within a certain distance) as well as do decent damage. The rest of a Sorcerer’s spells are pretty bland, namely their illusions. Sorcerer Sight though is the other buff that’s really helpful in dungeons.
Wizard
Wizards in this game feel useless. There are some very special use cases where you need Wizard spells but for the most part there’s just better stuff around. You only want to obtain all Wizard spells and level 13 for the attributes and spells.
Archmage
You’ll need at least one. Need might be strong of an opinion but it’s basically borderline on that thought. I do prefer making sure my Archmage has access to every single school and spell though (besides Chronomancer and Geomancer). By the time you get to Malefia, you’ll want at least one. In certain party combinations, two is better and there won’t be any scenario you can’t handle.
Chronomancer
Obviously, this is one class that is required due to the time travel aspect. But the real trick is knowing when to convert your old magic user and from what class. I think the starter dungeon area transforms a lower level magic user into a level 1 Archmage with all spells from the other four schools. So I believe you can convert this Archmage over. However, I’ve encountered weird bugs where my character didn’t get credit for the Brilhasti kill but would receive the 600k bonus XP. So my solution for dealing with this problem is just making sure the Chronomancer has all previous spell schools to really maximize their attributes. The problem is that leveling a Chronomancer can be tedious with high experience requirements until level 13. So you don’t want your Chronomancer lagging too behind the rest of the party.
Beyond their obvious usage, I find Chronomancers to be decent offensive spell casters. If you’ve taken the full Archmage route, the Chronomancer will have pretty decent spell points and with enough levels can be competitive in damage to an Archmage. Also, they have a few really nifty spells like Far Death, Vitality and Youth mixed in with lower level offensive spells. Once you hit around level 45 and obtain a Staff of Gods, then you should just be helping your Archmage NUKE opponents. I tend to trade off where I’ll use my Archmage until her spell points are below 100 then switch to my Chronomancer. Obviously, I’ll use Harmonic Gems to replenish them but I also have Familiar Fgn equipped to help with slow spell regeneration.
Geomancer
Really a novel class. Mostly an offensive type, they have some utility such as Earth Ward for disarming a dungeon’s level traps or Pathfinder for mapping. But they start to shine around level 40 or so if you equip them with Stoneblades. Their high AC is very good and periodically you can use them for one shotting tough opponents like Rock Men or opponents that you aren’t as comfortable killing with a normal fighter. Their NUKE spells start to become effective around level 50. I feel that you’ll want at least one for the end game.
Overall
I think the best party I’ve made consistently has been a Paladin/Warrior -> Geomancer, Hunter, Bard, Rogue, Archmage x2 and Chronomancer. Double Archmage solves the problem where I need to pull in foes from 80s and can dish out up to x4 NUKEs. Most of the time, x4 NUKEs will evaporate most Malefia monsters. Also, I’ll never run out of spells with this party composition.
The last party I worked with was Monk, Paladin + Warrior -> Geomancer x2, Bard, Rogue, Archmage and Chronomancer. This was a far more challenging party to build over time due to swapping two power house fighters and making them lose their resistance and critical hit ability through their Stoneblades (meaning they would miss most of the time). The Monk only did well up until Malefia then promptly fell off.
Now, if I had known the Monk was going to fall off that badly, I would have tried saving more gear early on and swapped her with everyone else. However, that would’ve meant more power leveling and I just wanted to play the new party. I could have added the Hunter instead of a Monk but the Hunter is very weak early on. I think gradually swapping the Monk is the better option as you can push the other two Geomancers into a reasonable spot while your Monk handles point and acts as a mule.
The one downside with the x3 Geomancer approach is that you’ll have a lot less inventory space and have three ineffective characters for a while. If you swap classes later, you also have to return to Kinestia which is a hassle. And you won’t be able to belt out as many NUKEs or DIVAs compared to a x2 Archmage + Chronomancer party because in all likelihood, you’ll want your Geomancers to be using x3 Stoneblades. What space you have remaining will be devoted to Harmonic Gems (or Flare Crystals if you manage to find any) since you’ll probably use as many slots as possible to bring your AC to its lowest. However, with x3 Geomancers, you will be able to do anything in large fights and there shouldn’t be any situation you can’t handle (with enough levels).
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