POLL: Is the invisible jester tactic cheesy?

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For the first time, I tried to play a jester and found them very effective.
When he's invisible and sings his bard song, (red marked) enemies enter into a state of confusion and kill each other (it can take time).
If he has the cloak of non detection... it's hard to lose a battle against groups.
Great fun, but I feel guilty.

1) It seems to easy to be good practice
2) In the kit description they say that jesters madly cavort in front of the enemy which confuses them. But if a jester is invisible, how can one see his cavorting?
3) On the other hand, Bioware didn't prevent an invisible jester from singing his bard song, so maybe they thought it was balanced
4) And you may rationalize this way: It's the strange and nostalgic music that confuses enemies, make them mad... Of course, sound means your bard should be localized, so it's a weak argument.

In the end, I say: big cheese!

I ask your vote and comments.

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 17 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Is the invisible jester tactic cheesy? (17 votes.)

Is the invisible jester tactic cheesy? (Choose 1)
* Yes - 35% (6)
* No - 65% (11)

 

It is technically allowable within the game's rules as they are implemented in the game engine but I must say that an invisible singing bard ought to draw some attention to him/herself and as such this is at least somewhat cheesy.

Of course this should hold true for a lot of invisibility situations. If a mage casts invisibility right in front of my fighter type then chances are a nice big arced sword swing would carve the mage up - but this isn't possible due to engine limitations.

 

Well, not perhaps most cheesy, but you get no exp from those (unless you attack them when they're weak,) so it's up to you whether it's worth it or not.Also, most enemies make their saves often later on.

 

I always imagine the Jester's song not so much as singing, per se, but more as "capering". I like to think of the chaos a jester could cause while invisible: standing behind enemies cackling so their mates take a pop at them, throwing random insults, making over-exaggerated stomping sounds to induce paranoia... All feasible when you disengage from the notion of a "song", and closer - I believe - to how the jester's confusion effect actually originates. In that context, it's quite believable that the effects function with invisibility. Of course, that doesn't make it not cheesy, but it is far from being the most devastating exploit in the first place. It just seems so obvious to think how it could work, that I can't hold it up as a true exploit.

[ August 11, 2005, 18:50: Message edited by: The Magpie ]

 

Dang it, I was gonna say the same thing as Magpie! Oh well. So long as you can rationalize it, it's not that cheesy.

With my current F/M/T solo in BGI (who I plan to take to BGII), I do something similar (backstab, invis., backstab, invis., ... ) that really ought to confuse the heck out of them, but doesn't.

 

I agree with The Magpie here.

 

My vote is 'No' - for the reason that The Magpie gave so nicely. I never understood the Jester's (my favourite kit, btw) abilities as actual singing; how would that work anyway? More as posturing in front of hostiles, displaying all sorts of gestures and highly offensive, irritating behaviour, with the result of his targets starting a chase of the fool to have a word with him. Or they might otherwise loose their temper. When invisible I think he would have other means to push his adversaries over the edge, mostly of the verbal kind. See The Magpie.
Fair? Nay. Then again doing battle is all about winning and getting out of it in one piece, but hardly fair play.

 

Nothing wrong with using your abilities. The jester's song can be viewed as a music so irritating that it drives people crazy, not just taunts. Still if you don't get XPs for these fights then you're the one disadvantaged.

 

I was mostly worried because the kit description talks of your "mad cavorting", and it seems impossible while invisible. But I have read here nicer rationalizations than I had made up, esp. by Magpie.

You're right about XP, I didn't think about it. It's a real trade-off then. But sometimes you don't want XP (if you want to be same level with Imoen)!

I'm changing my mind now, after all it's not that cheesy. Back to fun. I'll report back if I find unbearably cheesy victories the trick allows.

 

Most difficult opponents aren't going to be affected by the song anyway.

 

Unfortunately, the cloak of non detection will not work with the invisibility spell, which is maybe a bug. You must send first a hidden ranger or thief (the cloak works then) so that the opposition waste their 'true sight' spells before you walk in with your jester. Strange but not cheesy if you're just trying to get around a bug.