Talk:Bard/@comment-86.126.92.190-20170119071859/@comment-5395153-20170120212812

It would be a good build if Mana regen was quick enough in order to support the Charisma discount bonus but the build feels like it wants to do too much and there aren't enough points available for it. At high levels I imagine it would be a good build but I think there are a few problems with it in 1.03/1.03.24 which stop it:


 * Without loads of Intelligence investment there's no way of supplying mana other than via a use of a mana potion. Early game it'll work, but later on the points spent on Divination will become almost nullified. Intelligence can be invested in to help with it, but then the class loses out on the Charisma bonus that it wants. Dwarves don't get access to Summon Mana or Meditation and effectively have no way to boost their MP regeneration.


 * Wealth is good for dwarves, but without good Charisma or Diplomacy investment, they will still be prone to early game rushes, attacks and losing map control. If one skill is invested in, the other isn't and the Dwarves like both. Daemons are ruthless early game opponents, and without Diplomacy it may already be game over. It's true Banish will help a lot here, but map control may still be difficult (Daemons just need to stock up 400 stone & Crystal to stop it). Banish can only be used by the hero, and Daemons will smash any mine left unattended by the hero (they don't care about Ballistae, Crossbowmen or even Runelords, which they can defeat easily enough).


 * Which brings me onto this issue: Dwarves don't have particularly great anti-air. Dwarf Crossbowmen and Ballistae are both vulnerable to flying, physical attackers (and to an extent, so are Runelords). They can definitely take some fliers out, but those two units are all they've got until T4 where the Runelords come in (except for retinue). The Dwarf Lord skill does help a lot, but investment into that means less investment in Wealth/Diplomacy.


 * Producing units which don't cost gold will still be problematic. The Bard can't do anything about that other than to invest in Charisma.

In general, Dwarves have too many problems to fix. I believe the Bard does have good anti-meta qualities such as Banish and Dwarves do like Wealth+Comprehension but In short I don't see the class comparing well with the meta, let alone defining it. Other race/class comboes are stronger and reach a high level of power at low hero levels and early in the game. The Dwarves never had much weight in the metagame in 1.03 or 1.03.24. They're better in 1.03.25 but still suffer from some of the above.