Only thing rogue seems to have going for it is great sneak attack damage and disable devices, and neither bard nor sneak attack do very well if they aren't the main feature of the class build. It's impossible to know how important trap removal will be before playing the module. So maybe if I combine them, I should take 1 rogue level to 5 bard? Also, does UMD help bards in NWN2?

Also I hear NWN2 is quite combat heavy, so I'm thinking I'll take a level or 2 of fighter early on just to make the start a bit easier.

Bards are little bit useless compare to other classes in nwn, personally i dont recommend it. I know that a main campain quite easy, but if u do that combination ur other 3 chars do all the work and ur bard just slow them down.

Bards may have been pretty useless in earlier D&D games, but they aren't in NWN, and they're actually one of the most powerful classes in NWN 2, provided you remember to play on their strengths. Bards can do good melee damage while also buffing the rest of the group and providing lots of utility.

Multiclassing them with a rogue might work decently since both classes have some synergy, but it'd cost you the better songs like song of heroism (or song of requiem in MotB) and slow down your spell progression. Trap removal isn't that important and you get the rogue NPC really early anyway.
Taking 1 level of fighter early is great though, since it allows you to wear medium armor (and still be able to cast with battle caster) and mithril full plate counts as medium, plus you get a wider weapon selection.

I played the OC + MotB with a bard that had 1 fighter level and it was really fun (although a bit too easy).

Agreed. Bards are very good in NWN 2. Second only to Cleric in melee combat and both better than your standard Fighter.

Check out one of the most popular and powerful Bards builds here:

http://nwn2db.com/build/?294

that's the point. I find these D&D RPGs are never lacking enough good warrior types to fill the party up. So, the idea of bard is to boost the groups already good fighting abilities, and it doesn't hurt that the bard is more than capable of taking on all the leadership, social and other useful skills.

The beauty of a bard is that they can fulfil a number of roles in a party and are very self-sufficient (similar to Cleric or Favored Soul). They can buff, heal, debuff, protect, enhance and fight very well. They also work well as a main (as you stated) because of social skills. They even have access to UMD and Tumble - two very useful skills that Rogue's get.

Bard's do require a large investment to pay-off, which is why they are normally taken with small class dips. In the case of the build I posted above, Cleric gave access to Turn Undead - and therefore Divine Might (and later, Epic Divine Might for truckloads of damage) and Shield, Evasion and Feint (at a fraction of the cost), Blackguard gives you the wonderful Dark Blessing and RDD boosts Strength and Charisma - two valuable attributes for a Bard.

Legionnaires March and Hym of Requiem are the Bard's "ultimate" weapon. Let's not forget all the awesome spells that Bard's get access to either. Examples: Displacement, Haste (and even Mass Haste), Ethereal Visage, Improved Invisibility, Bulls Strength, Ghostly Visage - to name a few.

Bards have never been weak in any kind of D&D game. I have seen videos of people finishing all infinity games with a single bard (aka solo the game with bard). They are very powerful if you know how to use it. I dont :)

in NWN (first game) it is true that bard is a little weaker than its normal reputation. However, in NWN2 you can be god-like even without the rest of your party. Many times bard was the one who saved the a** of the others.

Okay, I've decided to go bard with 2 levels of fighter and one of cleric with water and war domains.

Awesome! Hope you enjoy. If you are going with Cleric, make sure you pick up Divine Might and Divine Shield, which will later allow you to get Epic Divine Might. Can't say no to a feat that gives you twice your Charisma modifier as Divine Damage to your attacks ;-)

Enjoy!

That's blatantly untrue. In BG 1&2 and Icewind Dale, bard is one of, if not the weakest class. The fact that people can solo those games with one is more a testament to how easy these games can be if you know how to exploit its AI than how powerful bards are.

Many people can probably solo the IE games with any class, bards just have it a bit easier than some other classes like fighters because they have access to some useful mage spells and, more importantly, they can use scrolls which allows you to cheese many tough fights.

If you play with a group as intended, bards bring nothing to the table that other classes don't do better, and their class features (songs and free identification) are useless.

3rd ed games (NWN and IWD 2) made them a bit better but still underpowered. It's only in NWN 2 that bards are awesome, thanks to both buffs from the 3.5 ruleset and some powers specific to NWN 2.

Don't get me wrong, i still gonna say that bards are weak compare to other classes. Iv also completed the nwn 2 game by solo bard and know what im talking about. Bard are good start to create multiclass or prestige, but again, the time u spent to play is not rewarding. All i want to say that bards and probably bow ranger something like youtube challenge to play - not a regular advenrure.

Actually:

In Icewind Dale, Bards get a bunch of nice songs, which make the class useful, provided you're *not* soloing. In particular, there's a song that boosts luck (changing dice rolls in your favor), another that is a save-or-disable that costs nothing, and another one that provides defense and health regeneration to the whole party; with that last one, you no longer need to use spells or rest for HP recovery.

Also, in Baldur's Gate 2 (assuming non-EE and no fixpacks), you can have a high level Bard cast Mislead to create a clone that can sing, and the bard song granted by the HLA, from what I understand, *stacks*. This can get your party a bonus to hit and damage as high as +20 if you abuse this to the max.

Solo bard? Yeah no wonder you think bards are weak, bards shine when in a group, preferably in a melee oriented one too. If you've only played a bard solo then you have no idea just how powerful bards can get. They're definitely way better than bow rangers...

And if you think bards are only good for multiclassing in NWN 2, then no you really don't know what you're talking about.

Maybe they buffed songs enough in IWD to make them useful, I haven't actually played a bard in that game. But in BG, they're nowhere near worthwhile.

And sure if you're willing to use exploits, you can do pretty insane stuff with any class. But even a +20 bonus to damage (to-hit just doesn't matter by that point) wouldn't make bards anywhere near as powerful as a mage with all their insane spell combos or a fighter with greater whirlwind.

In BG, the bards thac0 progresses as fast as any of the multis. and then it stops progressing obviously. But the blade is amazing at melee until that point, and then gets traps. Skald would be good if the song HLA didn't fuck the balance up 3/4 into the saga. So at least one and 3/4 of the bard picks are good.